Yelawolf - Love Story (Q1 2015)

[Recene]

Why do Shady Records and SH be so mediocre at everything except overhyping shit and flopping?

[Drax207]

Or you know ... Maybe there's nothing hype worthy yet ...

[Mike_88]

http://instagram.com/p/qb8Dl5COGU/

Maybe there will be somethig about LS, but probably not.

[cement]

box chevy 5 now has like 900k views

[Rafael]

<3

[Rafael]

Ur the homo fgt

[Mike_88]

Lol. Stop this shit, folks.
We need a fuckin' release date already!

[Supershade]

This album gona be good or what ?

[TonyTilt]

This album gona be good or what ?

DONT EVEN

[Mitchell3K]

I feel kind of bad for Yela. He has a style that could easily thrive in the underground scene, I could see him being like Tech N9ne, selling 150K-200K on each release and making himself into a cult figure with a small but dedicated fanbase and do well for himself. But, as a major label artist, he's hopelessly impossible to market. He's a rapping redneck, when you get down to it, that's his image. Which creates problems from every angle. Most rap fans are the opposite of rednecks, and most rednecks hate rap. He's the white guy from Alabame wearing a rebel flag in a black art form, which sn't gonna endear him to radio stations or BET. 150K-200K fans is his maximum potential for an audience, and that's not good enough for a major label artist. I imagine the people at interscope listening to "Love Story", trying to figure out how the fuck their gonna sell it and pulling their hair out of their heads from frustration. They should just let the guy leave and save everybody the stress.

[EminemBase]

I feel kind of bad for Yela. He has a style that could easily thrive in the underground scene, I could see him being like Tech N9ne, selling 150K-200K on each release and making himself into a cult figure with a small but dedicated fanbase and do well for himself. But, as a major label artist, he's hopelessly impossible to market. He's a rapping redneck, when you get down to it, that's his image. Which creates problems from every angle. Most rap fans are the opposite of rednecks, and most rednecks hate rap. He's the white guy from Alabame wearing a rebel flag in a black art form, which sn't gonna endear him to radio stations or BET. 150K-200K fans is his maximum potential for an audience, and that's not good enough for a major label artist. I imagine the people at interscope listening to "Love Story", trying to figure out how the fuck their gonna sell it and pulling their hair out of their heads from frustration. They should just let the guy leave and save everybody the stress.

The problem with your theory is the assumption people only like or listen to people if they completely identify with their image and/or agree with it.

Mos Def is a racist fool but I love Black on Both Sides as much as anybody.

Melody & Creativity trump everything: you can have one (melody) without the other (Nelly) and shit will still sell but rarely the other (creativity) without the one: Melody. Yela is melodic as fuck, he can sell. Doesn't matter what you look like - be it fat (Biggie), fugly (Jay) or dumb as fuck (Wayne) - all these fuckers have sold and continue to sell a cunt-load. And most all of their sales came/come from white suburban kids who are not black gangsters and do not identify with that image either.

If you can make catchy music, regardless of content, intelligence or originality: you can sell.

Whether Yela will or not all depends on the myriad of factors of timing, marketing and whether he creates material that strikes in a moment to make an impact or is simply heard by the right people. But I am glad that he is struggling to breakthrough and sell as, in my opinion - it forever deads the stupid as fuck myth that white = sales. And nobody can just say white+alright = sales. Because Yela is more than alright, he's fucking brilliant and given props even by the likes of Rakewon and he has been given the pass of ALL passes by way of signing by EMINEM: the biggest rapper ever and THEE fucking white of all white rappers. Ever.

And yet... ehhh ehhh!

At the end of the day, Yela hasn't created an album worthy of impact yet. Not saying the likes of Wayne have, but, in his own way - he has. He made albums totally consistent with his vibe and mind, regardless of your opinion on it. Where as Yela's very first album was com-pro-mised from the gate. So, existing fans felt conned and potential new fans felt like they were being sold to by a snake oil salesman.

The likes of Em, Jay, Nas, 2Pac all created unique and brilliant albums to get where they got. You can't shortcut the shit with a few formulas. None of these legends copied formulas. It was because they rejected the formulas and created something new that they won.

Yela has plenty new to offer and has created many new sounds, but Radioactive was not new. It was about 50% new vs. 50% trend-hopping bullshit, which just isn't enough when making an initial impact. He hasn't earned that respect to be lax yet and I can't believe he would even risk it or live with himself to be able to do that at any stage but ESPECIALLY his first shot at having his voice heard.

Yela deserved to flop for that. But, I have great confidence and believe that Love Story will be a classic and I can't fucking wait to hear it. His impact is about to strike.

[Mitchell3K]

I feel kind of bad for Yela. He has a style that could easily thrive in the underground scene, I could see him being like Tech N9ne, selling 150K-200K on each release and making himself into a cult figure with a small but dedicated fanbase and do well for himself. But, as a major label artist, he's hopelessly impossible to market. He's a rapping redneck, when you get down to it, that's his image. Which creates problems from every angle. Most rap fans are the opposite of rednecks, and most rednecks hate rap. He's the white guy from Alabame wearing a rebel flag in a black art form, which sn't gonna endear him to radio stations or BET. 150K-200K fans is his maximum potential for an audience, and that's not good enough for a major label artist. I imagine the people at interscope listening to "Love Story", trying to figure out how the fuck their gonna sell it and pulling their hair out of their heads from frustration. They should just let the guy leave and save everybody the stress.

The problem with your theory is the assumption people only like or listen to people if they completely identify with their image and/or agree with it.

Mos Def is a racist fool but I love Black on Both Sides as much as anybody.

Melody & Creativity trump everything: you can have one (melody) without the other (Nelly) and shit will still sell but rarely the other (creativity) without the one: Melody. Yela is melodic as fuck, he can sell. Doesn't matter what you look like - be it fat (Biggie), fugly (Jay) or dumb as fuck (Wayne) - all these fuckers have sold and continue to sell a cunt-load. And most all of their sales came/come from white suburban kids who are not black gangsters and do not identify with that image either.

If you can make catchy music, regardless of content, intelligence or originality: you can sell.

Whether Yela will or not all depends on the myriad of factors of timing, marketing and whether he creates material that strikes in a moment to make an impact or is simply heard by the right people. But I am glad that he is struggling to breakthrough and sell as, in my opinion - it forever deads the stupid as fuck myth that white = sales. And nobody can just say white+alright = sales. Because Yela is more than alright, he's fucking brilliant and given props even by the likes of Rakewon and he has been given the pass of ALL passes by way of signing by EMINEM: the biggest rapper ever and THEE fucking white of all white rappers. Ever.

And yet... ehhh ehhh!

At the end of the day, Yela hasn't created an album worthy of impact yet. Not saying the likes of Wayne have, but, in his own way - he has. He made albums totally consistent with his vibe and mind, regardless of your opinion on it. Where as Yela's very first album was com-pro-mised from the gate. So, existing fans felt conned and potential new fans felt like they were being sold to by a snake oil salesman.

The likes of Em, Jay, Nas, 2Pac all created unique and brilliant albums to get where they got. You can't shortcut the shit with a few formulas. None of these legends copied formulas. It was because they rejected the formulas and created something new that they won.

Yela has plenty new to offer and has created many new sounds, but Radioactive was not new. It was about 50% new vs. 50% trend-hopping bullshit, which just isn't enough when making an initial impact. He hasn't earned that respect to be lax yet and I can't believe he would even risk it or live with himself to be able to do that at any stage but ESPECIALLY his first shot at having his voice heard.

Yela deserved to flop for that. But, I have great confidence and believe that Love Story will be a classic and I can't fucking wait to hear it. His impact is about to strike.

A couple of things to point out with your theories as well.

1. It's admirable to know that your able to separate your personal opinion about Mos Def's attitude on race relations, that's a character trait that takes alot of objectivity. However, it's also one not shared by the masses, which would make you the exception that proves the rule. Most rap fans won't support an artist who they disagree with on issues like that. Why do you think no rapper ever comes out and supports a Republican politician?? With all the rappers out there who glorify Greed, you really think there aren't a few who voted for Bush, McCain or Romney??? Of course they did, but they'll never say it in public because almost all rap fans are liberal democrats and there careers would be over. Bottom line is that, yes, almost everybody buys records from artists they relate to, which is why the more of a douche bag Kanye makes of himself, the lower his sales go.

2. When you talk about "Melody & Creativity" being determining factors in mainstream acceptance, I can't help but wonder if you've discovered a time portal and just returned here from the year 2002. Because in 2014, it's not just about being Catchy or Unique, it's about making songs that blend in comfortably with every other song on the playlist. If you look at the rappers who are hugely successful today, Wayne, Drake,Iggy, Rick Ross, Nicki, T.I, etc etc etc.......... They all basically share the same audience, which is why they collaborate with each other over and over again, put together package tours and all work with the same producers. It's because they are all targeting their music to the same people, the contemporary mainstream rap radio audience....... And that is an audience that will never be interested in a guy with an off beat flow singing country music style hooks. Radio DJ's play songs that they think will keep the same group of people happy without anyone changing the channel. Their is 0 room for diversity............ Even Eminem's only radio hit lately was a Rihanna collabo.

3. Radio plays aside, even most regular rap fans don't fuck with Yela. I couldn't even begin to put a number on the amount of people I've heard say he ruined Asap Rocky's "1 Train" track. Wiz Khalifa once told a story about touring with Yela back in 2010 and feeling bad for the guy because he got boo's on multiple occasions. The artists themselves may respect his unique style but the sentiment is not reflected in the opinons of the average Raekwon fan.

4. When you talk about guys like Pac or Em or Nas breaking through by being Unique, your talking about an era that ended close to 20 years ago. Even Kendrick, a guy who the world agrees dropped a classic album, had to sell it with Songs like "Poetic Justice", a song with a standardized pop style beat built from a janet jackson song, and a Drake feature. Without that song, we're looking at a different result for that albums sales. Kendrick is one of the few guys who is lyrical enough to be respected but still middle of the road enough to slide in with the Drake and Wayne fans. Yela ain't that guy, hell, MGK couldn't do it with all the French Montana features and Puff Daddy cosigns in the world either.

I have no doubt that Yela will drop an album that I MYSELF, may like, as his recent mixtapes have been dope to me. But I'm also pretty sure that my opinion won't be shared by most, and for that reason I say he'd be better off on his own. Eminem's cosign has done nothing for him, other then get fans to shit on him because Interscope forced him into compromising his integrity. On his own, he could carve out a niche for himself, and keep a bigger percentage of the 150-200K sales he's gonna get either way. He's already got whatever fame he's gonna have, it would just make more sense to control it yourself.

[EminemBase]

^ Good points yo.

Except, I don't think a feature or a trend hopping track is what sells the album. I think everybody seems to think that and I may obviously be really wrong and label execs/record companies I'm sure have data to support it, if not then they're fucking idiots;

Either way, take a look at B.o.B. His first album: he had... a TWO gigantic worldwide singles (Nothin on You & Airplanes), one of which was a smash #1 and the other a #2 not to mention other top 10's and what did his album sell 1st week?... 84k? And that was in 2010, the new era you're talking about.

I believe Kendrick would have sold what he did without that single and tact you refer to.

It's like, Em scored a #7 with Rap God? Nothing about that song is commercial. I mean, aiyt, it's got a kinda weird trance beat but when you step back from the familiarity of it being Eminem - it's weird as fuck, musically, lyrically and conceptually and not at all conforming to standards or trends and yet it charted better than "Survival". We also have "The Monster" which is a pure template song and which was a big hit... fair enough, but I honestly don't think that is what is selling the album. At all.

The kind of people who just want singles, nowdays, just listen to singles. They aren't the kind of people who would buy an album anyway. Somebody who doesn't really love Eminem and therefore want his whole album... somebody just wanting to hear Rihanna on a fucking hook... is not going to be lining up or even slowly moseying their ass to the store to pick up a whole CD of Shady.

And his real fans ain't buying the shit for the Rihanna hook.

<< So we have a kind of double negative there which makes the compromised song pointless, but I think it provides a false economy point-of-sale in the minds of marketers. I think they see SMASH #1... then big album sales and make a presumption of connecting dots. Again, I could be wrong/data could prove that.

But the fact Em sells millions with or without that and the fact you have the likes of B.o.B who has worldwide chart-topping, template-song bananzas coming out of his asshole yet is struggling to reach for a fucking gold plaque I think (to me at least) points to the fact that singles: sell singles. Not albums.

''single minded/fad people'' are different to album minded people and neither is buying the album for the reasons presumed to justify the compromise. So I think that's bullshit.

I think unique art is still what sells. Not saying bullshit doesn't sell, but just that it's selling for reasons other than a single being a hit; aka image or intrigue in the ARTIST (positive or negative) from an angle which delves deeper than a feature on a hook or a style of a beat.

[Mitchell3K]

B.O.B's first album went gold if I remember correctly.

I would be perfectly happy in a word where your theory on Unique art selling was factual but I just can't pretend to see something that isn't there.

Here is a list of the best selling rap albums year to date........ I think this sums up my point quite well....... Also, props for engaging in a debate without resorting to the usual internet bullshit, you seem like a sharp dude.

RICK ROSS - Mastermind : 359,000
SCHOOLBOY Q - Oxymoron : 274,000
IGGY AZALEA - The New Classic : 192,167
YG - My Krazy Life : 175,000
KID INK - My Own Lane : 153,000
FUTURE - Honest : 118,000
KID CUDI - Satellite Flight: The Journey To Mother Moon : 111,000
YOUNG MONEY - Rise Of An Empire : 79,000
50 CENT - Animal Ambition: An Untamed Desire To Win : 73,936
TECH N9NE - Collabos: Strangeulation : 61,000

------------------------------
TOP 20
------------------------------

ANDY MINEO - Never Land EP : 50,000
ATMOSPHERE - Southsiders : 38,500
THE ROOTS - and then you shoot your cousin : 33,100
KEVIN GATES - By Any Means : 25,000
TY DOLLA $IGN - Beach House EP : 24,500
TEDASHII - Below Paradise : 21,500
KB - 100 EP : 21,000
FREDDIE GIBBS & MADLIB - Pinata : 20,000
ISAIAH RASHAD - Cilvia Demo : 19,000
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Mud Digger Volume 5 : 17,100

------------------------------
Other albums (more than 1k sold)
------------------------------

SAGE THE GEMINI - Remember Me : 16,793
MOBB DEEP - The Infamous Mobb Deep : 12,800
SZA - Z : 12,600
STEP BROTHERS - Lord Steppington : 12,500
DIZZY WRIGHT - State Of Mind : 11,000
MAYDAY & MURS - Mursday : 9,800
DIE ANTWOORD - Donker Mag : 9,500
MOONSHINE BANDITS - Calicountry : 8,565
BIG SMO - Kuntry Livin' : 8,000 DEBUT
ASHER ROTH - RetroHash : 7,500
KCAMP - In Due Time : 7,100
IAMSU! - Sincerely Yours : 6,759
GRIEVES - Winter & The Wolves : 6,224
PHAROAHE MONCH - P.T.S.D. : 6,000
THE GROUCH & ELIGH - The Tortoise & The Crow : 5,608
ARMY OF THE PHARAOHS - In Death Reborn : 5,500
STYLES P - The Phantom and The Ghost : 5,300
MIGOS - No Label II : 5,100
DOE B - Definition Of A Trapper 3 : 5,000
SAGE FRANCIS - Copper Gone : 4,500
T. MILLS - All I Wanna Do (EP) : 4,239
BODY COUNT - Manslaughter : 3,624
BAS - Last Winter : 3,601
LIL WYTE & FRAYSER BOY - B.A.R. : 3,294
JUVENILE - The Fundamentals : 3,160
PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS - 12 Step Program: 2,981
BLU - Good To Be Home : 2,200
HS87 - We The Plug : 1,800
SKYZOO & TORAE - Barrel Brothers : 1,700
QUE. - Who Is Que. (EP) : 1,215
AXE MURDER BOYS - The Garcia Brothers : 1,202
APATHY - Connecticut Casual : 1,200
LIL DEBBIE - California Sweetheart (EP) : 1,200
GUCCI MANE - Brick Factory: Volume One : 1,150
ONYX - Wakedafucup : 1,100
LE1F - Hey (EP) : 1,001
LIL ROB - R.I.P.: Recording In Progress : 1,000

Total number of albums on chart: 57

^^^^^

If you can spot one album in that top 10 that has the creativity of a door knob, I'll shut the fuck lol

[EminemBase]

^ No I'm not saying only unique art is what sells, or the art being unique is what sells it.

I am saying - it is more than a single or a feature or trends, evidenced by B.o.B's low sales. The shit is gold yeah, but it had 2 worldwide smash singles, like, world-WIDE, not just US and it was trend-and-feature-heavy as fuck.

I think catchiness is the be-all-and-end-all, regardless of the creativity or inventiveness of the art. Dumb as fuck catchy shit can (and mostly does-Wayne, Britney) sell, and intelligent catchy shit (Em, Beatles) can sell. What they all have in common is catchiness. The catchier something is, the more melodic and memorable it is - the more it will sell, regardless of content or anything else.

But I think if you have ULTRA catchiness with intelligent art, that is the ultimate combo.

Most shit in the charts is catchy and dumb, because that's easier and there is more catchy dumb people than catchy intelligent people and even more catchy dumb artists in this world.

What I am saying is that I don't believe the singles is what is selling.

How can you deny that:

Fan #1: Loves popular songs and features/fads - fickle minded person who isn't interested in long-lasting pleasure, obsessive study or anything which requires effort or long focus. They listen only due to the ease of accesibility, not out of an interest in the core artist or their work.

AKA this fan is the one who loves the single, but would not buy the album/regardless.

Fan #2: Loves deep analysis of work, has select favourite artists who they study constantly; follow their whole career and demand total integrity in art.

This fan would be buying the album... regardless and the single is neither here nor there, in fact - if anything, it could only deter this kind of fan due to them losing respect for the artist.

So what is gained by the catchy single? Single sales. Who is buying the album from these big singles?

I think Lil Wayne fans buy his albums because they like Lil Wayne and his stupid image and punchlines, not because he has a feature with Drake. Wayne may be really famous from shit like that but I don't believe that is what's selling the albums or anybody's albums. I think that's the smoke-screen.