2 minutes ago, onewillowsilk said:

There are artists signed to RCA who have seen/are seeing substantial success. You can't just keep blaming the label everytime Normani fails to perform up to expectations commercially. Even with a massive push, I don't see this song become a huge hit. 

 

I feel like Normani has a fanbase from her Fifth Harmony days but she's yet to build a solid identity outside of that. That's only done through releasing music. She should have released some side projects/done a ton of collabs from the time Fifth Harmony disbanded to establish her sound/style and THEN focus on releasing her debut solo album. She has so much pressure on her regarding her debut album and I get the sense that she still hasn't figured out who she wants to be as an artist yet so her label will keep churning out these one-off singles hoping something sticks but so far...

 

Part of why the music isn't sticking is because there's no identity behind it. No one knows who Normani is as an artist or what her sound/style is supposed to be. 

I love reading your posts. I %100 agree with this. 

Just now, onewillowsilk said:

There are artists signed to RCA who have seen/are seeing substantial success. You can't just keep blaming the label everytime Normani fails to perform up to expectations commercially. Even with a massive push, I don't see this song become a huge hit. 

 

I feel like Normani has a fanbase from her Fifth Harmony days but she's yet to build a solid identity outside of that. That's only done through releasing music. She should have released some side projects/done a ton of collabs from the time Fifth Harmony disbanded to establish her sound/style and THEN focus on releasing her debut solo album. She has so much pressure on her regarding her debut album and I get the sense that she still hasn't figured out who she wants to be as an artist yet so her label will keep churning out these one-off singles hoping something sticks but so far...

 

Part of why the music isn't sticking is because there's no identity behind it. No one knows who Normani is as an artist or what her sound/style is supposed to be. 

I'm not saying RCA doesn't have people that have had success in recent years, but for example Doja's rise was pretty organic and miraculous for them. They didn't even believe in her and they even butch some of her releases still. RCA as a label just simply is a mess when it comes to handle anything tbqh

 

That being said with the hype Normani has, her 5H days and base and a Cardi feature this shouldn't be happening. She has a really plain voice so she needed to make up for it with an undeniable banger but she dropped the bomb once again. I don't know if it's lack of good material or simply lack of ear for hits

Damn

This girl will never happen. People really need to let it go.

One in A Million became a cult favorite over time. It wasn't a hit in 97. And no sleepy r&b hit from the alternative r&b crowd has yet to top the charts. So why they would choose this as a comeback single? 

 

This song will barely go top 25 I fear. I don't understand what's so hard about finding the right inspiration from black pop artists in the 90s. Brandy, DC, TLC, Mariah slayed. The reference material is there. 

38 minutes ago, BeyIridescent said:

Are songs not supposed to build over time anymore? Why do people automatically write off a song if it doesn’t smash out the gate? Let’s be honest, this is an R&B song, and the masses only support R&B music out the gate now when it is made by non-black faces. Normani will be fine.  Marketing her to a new urban market is smart. 

They're used to their faves and their quick hits debuting high, free falling afterwards and never recovering at all. 

1 minute ago, Dreajae said:

One in A Million became a cult favorite over time. It wasn't a hit in 97. And no sleepy r&b hit from the alternative r&b crowd has yet to top the charts. So why they would choose this as a comeback single? 

 

This song will barely go top 25 I fear. I don't understand what's so hard about finding the right inspiration from black pop artists in the 90s. Brandy, DC, TLC, Mariah slayed. The reference material is there. 

This. The problem is not the genre, I don't know why r&b seems to have evolved into exclusively being "boring". DCs songs were r&b and were THE bops. Normani needed a banger so catchy that you would fid yourself humming all the time.

 

The song is simply bad just like Motivation. At this point the material is the main problem. She needs to make up her mind tho, does she want to be an r&b Jhene Aiko type of artist or does she want to be a Rihanna type of one that does all kinds of genre

New Debut:

 

#6 - PS

#8 - PS

#16 - PS

#17 - Trippie Redd, LUV

#19 - John Mayer

#23-25 - PS

#30-31 - PS

#32 - Normani

 

It's lower than the John Mayer's single 

Edited July 17, 20214 yr by Carrie-is-no-1

Deserved better

This just goes to show that social media literally means nothing.

37 minutes ago, Carrie-is-no-1 said:

+1

+ an overall uninteresting artist 

10 minutes ago, TayAlison89 said:

The song received minimal playlisting and isn't even on TTH. I wish it had better numbers, but it's not bad at all considering everything.

 

Hopefully it'll rise now.

 

 

This.

2 minutes ago, Cloudy said:

I'm not saying RCA doesn't have people that have had success in recent years, but for example Doja's rise was pretty organic and miraculous for them. They didn't even believe in her and they even butch some of her releases still. RCA as a label just simply is a mess when it comes to handle anything tbqh

 

That being said with the hype Normani has, her 5H days and base and a Cardi feature this shouldn't be happening. She has a really plain voice so she needed to make up for it with an undeniable banger but she dropped the bomb once again. I don't know if it's lack of good material or simply lack of ear for hits

That's exactly my point. Doja Cat has been releasing music since 2012. She slowly but surely built herself a fanbase. Many people forget that she is 25 and already on her third studio album. Her first album didn't smash and her second album didn't exactly smash on arrival but by then, she'd released enough music (without the added pressure of needing every single thing she dropped to be a smash hit) to find her sound, her core fanbase and to even develop herself as a singer, rapper, songwriter. 

 

People just expect Normani to be this ready-made superstar and I don't get that. Just because she was part of a group for several years doesn't mean she's ready to be a superstar (even though she clearly has some of the tools already). Being part of a group and being a solo artist are two different things. 

 

I just feel like until she can establish a musical identity for herself and start releasing music that's consistent with a sound that's recognizable as hers and hers alone, people won't truly connect with her music enough for them to become runaway hits. It sucks that only female artists need to do this (establish a unique sound and identity for themselves) but that's the world we live in. 

The playlisting for this is abysmal

 

I get she's an easy target and the numbers aren't great even considering that, but let's not act as if there aren't several decently successful popstars that would barely do any better with the same treatment

The song has no replay value and goes nowhere (just like where this is going on the charts)

6 minutes ago, onewillowsilk said:

That's exactly my point. Doja Cat has been releasing music since 2012. She slowly but surely built herself a fanbase. Many people forget that she is 25 and already on her third studio album. Her first album didn't smash and her second album didn't exactly smash on arrival but by then, she'd released enough music (without the added pressure of needing every single thing she dropped to be a smash hit) to find her sound, her core fanbase and to even develop herself as a singer, rapper, songwriter. 

 

People just expect Normani to be this ready-made superstar and I don't get that. Just because she was part of a group for several years doesn't mean she's ready to be a superstar (even though she clearly has some of the tools already). Being part of a group and being a solo artist are two different things. 

Doja was no where near the mainstream popular the way Normani was exposed when she was with 5H. Plus she got 1 solo hit plus 2 huge feature hits before this. I don't expect this single to do anything huge, but ATRL was screaming ICONIC in the single thread ytd when this is in fact a horrible song. 

 

She'll do better with a better song. her brand isn't there to carry this through yet. 

Edited July 17, 20214 yr by Carrie-is-no-1

I wouldn't call myself a super fan but I always check out anything new Normani drops and I can't tell you if she wants to be a pop singer or an r&b/soul singer. It's definitely possible to do both, yes, but at the start of your career, you need to lean more into one of both so people know where to place you. Once you've done that and have secured yourself a supportive following/fanbase then you can start experimenting with genre blending more and more. Motivation was clearly a pop single while Wild Side is more r&b-leaning. That's a part of where the disconnect is coming from. 

Just now, Carrie-is-no-1 said:

Doja was no where near the mainstream popular the way Normani was exposed when she was with 5H. Plus she got 1 solo hit plus too huge feature hits before this. I don't expect this single to do anything huge, but ATRL was screaming ICONIC in the single thread ytd when this is in fact a horrible song. 

 

She'll do better with a better song. her brand isn't there to carry this through yet. 

I like the song but I can see why some people wouldn't. It really doesn't go anywhere and Cardi B doesn't add anything to it. In fact, I believe the song would have been better as a solo single with some sort of bridge that built up to something more interesting. Regardless, it's well-written, well-produced, the sample is used excellently and the background vocals are perfectly placed. The visuals are also top tier. 

 

I don't think the song is the problem. Normani herself seems lost on who she wants to be as an artist. That's something she has to figure out for herself and start pushing towards, not just churning out these singles the label thinks will become hits just because they're catchy or because they feature a staple mainstream act.  

 

How many times will she press start and then eventually restart the rollout leading to her album? It's been 3 years now. 

37 minutes ago, KillingYourCareer said:

Okay the #72 debut in the global chart is pretty bad

This is not a WW type of song

3 minutes ago, onewillowsilk said:

That's exactly my point. Doja Cat has been releasing music since 2012. She slowly but surely built herself a fanbase. Many people forget that she is 25 and already on her third studio album. Her first album didn't smash and her second album didn't exactly smash on arrival but by then, she'd released enough music (without the added pressure of needing every single thing she dropped to be a smash hit) to find her sound, her core fanbase and to even develop herself as a singer, rapper, songwriter. 

 

People just expect Normani to be this ready-made superstar and I don't get that. Just because she was part of a group for several years doesn't mean she's ready to be a superstar (even though she clearly has some of the tools already). Being part of a group and being a solo artist are two different things. 

 

I just feel like until she can establish a musical identity for herself and start releasing music that's consistent with a sound that's recognizable as hers and hers alone, people won't truly connect with her music enough for them to become runaway hits. It sucks that only female artists need to do this (establish a unique sound and identity for themselves) but that's the world we live in. 

She's been in 5H since 2012. Honestly I don't really know Normani. I don't know what her parents look like and I don't understand how she grew up. With top artists of the past, you had a back story. Even I understand that Doja has a white hippie mom and strained relationship with her South African father. She dropped out of school and blah blah. 

 

There's no material with Normani. And having such an obvious sample from a beloved and dearly departed r&b artist was lazy imho. It's literally the same instrumental with lazy "vibe" lyrics. I think Olivia just gave credit to Taylor for a sample she used and it's hard to catch because her team innovated the track so well. 

These don't seem that bad to me tbh. I dunno what peoples' expectations were, Normani was never gonna smash out the gate 

I think the real story of this song will be told in how it performs over time. Let’s hope it gets placed on TTH soon

Not that bad, imo. The song is still a bop. Hopefully it'll increase or at least stabilize in the next days.

Quote

Apple Music USA Top 100 7/16 Friday
1. Pop Smoke - Tell The Vision (feat. Kanye West & Pusha T)
2. Pop Smoke - More Time
3. Pop Smoke - Bout A Million (feat. 21 Savage & 42 Dugg)
4. The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber - Stay
5. Pop Smoke - Manslaughter (feat. Rick Ross & The-Dream)
6. Pop Smoke - Brush Em (feat. Rah Swish)
7. Pop Smoke - Mr. Jones (feat. Future)
8. Pop Smoke - Good News
9. Pop Smoke - 30 (feat. Bizzy Banks)
10. Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u

11. Drake - Wants and Needs (feat. Lil Baby)
12. Pop Smoke - Woo Baby (feat. Chris Brown)
13. Pop Smoke & The Neptunes - Top Shotta (feat. Pusha T, TRAVI & Beam)
14. Pop Smoke - What's Crackin (feat. Takeoff)
15. Doja Cat - Ain't s**t
16. Pop Smoke, Lil Tjay & Swae Lee - Genius
17. Pop Smoke - Beat The Speaker
18. Pop Smoke - Coupe
19. Polo G - RAPSTAR
20. DJ Khaled - EVERY CHANCE I GET (feat. Lil Baby & Lil Durk)

23. Megan Thee Stallion - Thot s**t
24. Doja Cat - Kiss Me More (feat. SZA)
26. Normani - Wild Side (feat. Cardi B)
29. Post Malone - Motley Crew
35. BIA & Nicki Minaj - WHOLE LOTTA MONEY (Remix)
47. Ed Sheeran - Bad Habits
51. Tyler, The Creator - WUSYANAME (feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla $ign)
65. Måneskin - Beggin

She's at #12 without Pop Smoke on AM. 

How are her stans so loud, but so ineffective? First day sales/streams are usually driven by primarily by the stans, so if this is all she can do...

15 minutes ago, Carrie-is-no-1 said:

She's at #12 without Pop Smoke on AM. 

No baby, she’s number 26 period