PurpleKnight said:

You've got some conflicting realities there. Black Sweat won't be a hit because it isn't good, and songs that aren't good usually become hits.

rainbowchild said:

And now it´s #1

PurpleKnight said:

Back in the days, I think, it was like that: You could score a hit

either

1) by giving the public what they want (easily digestable stuff, not too complicated)

or

2) by massive promotion

or

3) by making something unusual, new, never-heard-before, remarkable (or, if not innovative, at least well-done) song.

Somehow, I think, Nos. 1 and 2 still exist, but No. 3 has died.

What makes me doubt about the hit potential of BS is not that it's not good, I think it's too good. It has that light taste of modern R&B at the beginning, but the heavy Linn drum and the Prince falsetto, which might work great for us around here, are just too much for the kids who usually expect a mediocre rapper starting his out-of-tune-I'm-so-cool routine after the first few sounds, or a forgettable female voice singing something forgettable that could eventually qualify as a hook or melody in the widest sense. It's two leagues above contemporary pop music, and that makes it unlikely that BS becomes a massive hit imo. Maybe something smaller like "Call My Name".

Btw, I can't even remember the last big hit with decent musical quality. Maybe some of the Lauryn Hill stuff from the late 90's...
[Edited 2/22/06 14:45pm]

renfield said:

WTF are you talking about? I like Black Sweat.

It's really too early to write off Black Sweat, although radio isn't warming up much too it on any one chart, it is being played increasingly on several formats. It's getting heavy rotation on what's left of the video channels and is doing very well in it's first couple days on iTunes. Add to that, we're nearly two weeks away from the retail single. Sales numbers should help boost the chart performance on Billboard and if there is a slammin remix, that will add to the charting numbers, as well. I predict this thing will go top 40 on Mainstream and Urban charts and Fury could go much higher than that, if it's the next single.

Black Sweat is #83 on the singles chart...

Byron said:

And BLB is #16 on the R n B chart, which makes me think it's around 200 on the overall singles chart.

Moonbeam said:

You mean on the iTunes chart or Billboard??...

Byron said:

iTunes

"Black Sweat" is number 9 on the R n B chart, so if I extrapolate in a linear way (which doesn't seem too outlandish since it is number 16), it seems logical that it would be toward the bottom of the top 200.

Moonbeam said:

Ah, ok...well, the #83 spot I mentioned was indeed on the overall Top Singles chart on iTunes..lol .

PurpleKnight said:

I don't foresee a top 10 hit, but top 50 would be nice and I think is feasible.

Moonbeam said:

i'm hoping top 40 so its goes in the next edition billboard's top 40 hits book

PurpleKnight said:

You know I've said it to you before, don't try to defend yourself all the time. Some just don't get it. The way I see it, he might get good airplay, but a really big seller... ain't gonna happen. And why wait for it? I thought we were happier with Prince being a respected underground artist.

Up to 81....

PurpleKnight said:

the ONLY reason Prince stopped having high charting hits in the last 10 years is because airplay had become such a big portion of the hot 100 makeup that Prince really never had a shot..2 years ago before they started counting ITunes sales Musicology WOULD have been a hit cuz it sold well on Itunes but it wasn't counted..now finally by counting itunes sales into the hot 100 chart Prince finally has a shot at a decent hit and doesnt have to rely on whatver airplay he gets

it's just becasue (Prince said this on MTV in 2004) the current industry is so producer driven.

I don't understand why Prince doesn't just let one guy produce one song for him or do a remix? He's so stubborn

Am I the only one who wants 2 hear how he would sound like if produced by either Dr.Dre or The Neptunes? I think those producers are creative enough to him something groundbreaking.

goat2004 said:

I would very much like to hear a Prince track produced by Dr. Dre. Those two could create a monster jam!

PurpleKnight said:

You didn't answer my post but I'll take it anyway.

It's the word "never". James Brown was way past his hitmaking prime when he had a hit with Living in America. It was not followed by more hits, but you know someone like you could have said in 83 that JB would never ever have a hit again. You don't know, you simply don't. So what's the point of making all seeing predictions?

Beyond that, I don't consider "hits" to be great music just because they are hits. Once in a while a good song makes a big splash. Maybe in today's radio world, it's far less likely than it was in the 80's but I don't see why you, PurpleKnight, can say with utmost certainty Prince will never have a hit again.

It's like Alex Hahn and his "rise and fall" -- whatever you think of his book, it was arrogant of him to just announce Prince had fallen and would not get up.

Aerogram said:

James Brown had Dan Hartman produce and write that song for him. Plus it was part of Rocky movie soundtrack.

Prince needs assistance. Each lp the music is getting worse and worse. He's running out of ideas.

Thumparello said:

Whatever he does in the future, we don't know. So we can't say "never". It's as simple as that.

PurpleKnight said:

You mean it's just a prediction? Ooooooh.. my bad!

Seriously, if you are confident enough in your predicting abilities, that's great. Now we just have to wait to see if you'll have eat your words -- which you'll be happy to do, I'm sure.

As for me, I'm not making any predictions. My crystal ball has been making a weird noise -- maybe it's broken. I'll take it to the gypsie garage tomorrow.

RADIO & RECORDS - 2/24/06 Charts

http://www.radioandrecord..._chart.asp


Beautiful Loved & Blessed enters the Urban AC Top 30 at #24.

newpower99 said:

I wonder if Prince will be "robbing" some CD sales from Tamar by having BLB on his CD as well as on hers, with his CD coming out first...

Byron said:

I think she'll probably have a second single out before her album drops for that very reason.

Up to 79...

76

Aerogram said:

Well, some predictions are just really obvious and easy to make.

Prince's last hit was over a decade ago, he's clearly past his prime as a recording artist since then, and he's way less marketable now.

Seriously, every single US hit single attempt since TMBGITW has been a total failure. Do you really think Prince, who still does it all himself, will suddenly be able to write this big hit?

Hell, the guy's getting way, way less help with radio than back then, too. Come on, it's obviously just not likely.

I'd be glad to eat my words, but I really don't see it happening.