Najee said:

it's quite plausable when you look a the statistical makeup of the US

squiddyren said:

And when was this happening, because Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri were an item way before the Super Bowl incident. And if they were an item, he distanced himself very quickly from her after that event, even going as far as laughing on a televised interview about the incident.

u people kill me when discussin the whole superbowl incident. how do u know that a black guy wouldnt've done the same thing?

ehuffnsd said:

But it's not reality, when you bring in actual observation and common knowledge about recording artists and buying demographics.

I believe that when there are artists who cross over into mainstream white America appeal it's very likely there are more white people who bought their albums than black people. Acts like Usher today, Boyz II Men in the 1990s, Michael Jackson in the 1980s, etc. had albums that sold more than 10 million units, so they definitely are not doing it with a solely black audience.

However, I wouldn't translate it into meaning that more white people like black popular music than black people -- which is how this fallacy about sales numbers has been interpreted. I disagree based on name recognition on particular artists not on the level of sales numbers like Usher and how they are regarded in third-party media and by white counterparts.

For instance, I could say the name "Keith Sweat" (someone who consistently had platinum albums for nearly a decade) to the average white person and his name wouldn't register. Or acts like Cameo would be considered little more than "one-hit wonders" or "novelty acts" based on one Top 10 pop song ("Word Up!"), when in reality they had more than a decade of consistent success and a string of gold albums. I can't recall meeting white people who had Teddy Pendergrass albums or who waxed poetic about the music of GUY. Whenever the discussion of soul artists come up in my conversations with white people over the years, it's always in terms of acts with a massive crossover audience or appeal.

So in certain situations -- like Michael Jackson, Prince in his heyday, etc. -- I can see and agree with you. But as far as wholesale numbers for ALL soul or hip-hop acts -- NO. You're not telling me there were more white people buying Gerald LeVert albums than there have been black people over the years -- if that was the case, I wouldn't have to have spent so much time explaining to several white people who LeVert was when he died.
[Edited 1/29/07 12:08pm]

Moonwalkbjrain said:

The fact is, Justin Timberlake -- not every black man or every other white man you can think of -- is the one who rapidly distanced himself from the event. The fact is Janet Jackson is the one who has caught all the flak but it was Timberlake who pulled the piece off her jacket that caused the "wardrobe malfunction."

I don't understand how anyone can listen to Justin Timberlake. His voice has one of the most annoying, irritating tones in music. And that pathetic falsetto...it's terrible! The production, however, is top notch. If someone else were singing, I would have bought the album. But, as it is, I honestly can't listen to him.

Najee said:

as far as pullin the piece u act has if he meant to expose her tit. that shit was planned and janet was just as much involved w/ the piece gettin pulled as justin, now yea it s wrong that he ran away from it and that she got all the blame but lets not try to place blame on one person when in reality it was both of them. and if it was a black guy would u be riding him as hard as justin?

Najee said:

but Janet was the one who chose to wear the breakaway leather corset. as someone who dates a costume designer and has friends that own a leather/fetish wear shop, that corset was disigned to come apart and the snaps are obivious in the pictures. she knew what was going to happen

Moonwalkbjrain said:

Or better yet, what if it was a black guy (Usher, R. Kelly, Nelly, P.Diddy) who pulled off a white woman's (Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson) piece of clothing? Who do YOU think would have gotten dogged by the media?

No, I didn't say Justin Timberlake intentionally pulled that piece of clothing off Janet Jackson to reveal an exposed breast -- you're reading your own assumptions into it.

However, it was Jackson who caught ALL the flak for the incident from the media, the FCC, etc. Instead of standing to support Jackson in the media circus, he not only distanced himself from the incident but he later was laughing about it on TV with a couple of hangers-on in the background. In fact, the incident is still mentioned in regard to Jackson's post-Super Bowl events -- Timberlake's part in the incident is pretty much forgotten.

Timberlake gets no relief not because of the event itself, but for how he absolved himself of all responsibility from the event -- leaving Jackson to take all the heat.
[Edited 1/30/07 7:27am]

ehuffnsd said:

And Justin Timberlake was the one who pulled the corset. It's pretty obvious that it wasn't the intent to have Janet Jackson's breast exposed, but it's also pretty obvious how Jackson took all the heat for it and Timberlake chose to run away from the media frenzy -- that is what is inexcusable.
[Edited 1/29/07 12:19pm]

Najee said:

the lace was sew into the breakaway piece


if you look at this pic of the inside of the cup the lace is sewn into the top of the leather with the fasterns clearly showing. meaning janet knew her breast was going to be exposed.

Najee said:

it was meant to happen, sorry. why would buy a corset with breakaway cups if you are doing heavy cherography with other people touching and pulling on your costume? love miss janet, but it was a poor choice on her part. that was no accident

ehuffnsd said:

It never struck me before but Justin looks especially filthy in this pic.

I go back and forth on the MF.

I really lost all respect for him when he did that most recent 'diss' record in which he called out Prince and Janet. Like who the fuck does he think he is? He owes so much to them artistically (and they're two of my all time faves...). He just seems to have no respect for the people who he rips off (and who's blouses he rips OPEN).

And the Superbowl...discussion is played out, but he really acted like a scared little whiny bitch. No class.

And his music? Call me lame but I like NSYNC much better than his solo stuff. I find it very generic, faux-funk. He tries to fake the funk. And he tries to be hard too much of the time. He's obviously a great dancer and good performer...but nothing in his solo repertoire of songs is anything special to me. He's sort of the white male Beyonce. Dunno. My 2 cents.

SoulAlive said:

He doesn't get any credit from me.

No love r credit from me...

I'm in total agreement with ya'll on JT's lack of artistic merit and general lack of class (re: Janet and stooping at the mic when presenting Prince's award). BUT, he knows a groove when he hears one he wants to steal, i.e., Rock Your Body and My Love. I don't own any of his albums but I recently bought a remix single of My Love and that shit is the BOMB, as much as I hate to admit it. The lyrics are simple but catchy, and the production on all the remixes is tight. But he still gets on my last nerve mostly because I feel like he doesn't have an image of his own and doesn't have an original artistic thought or concept.

BTW, has anyone ever heard the rumor that his grandmother is black? It would explain his hair. Not trying to be racist but, my fellow brohs and sistas know what I'm talking about. JT has that hair that some mixed folks who are really light have that doesn't look "quite" right. And that alone made me wonder if he was mixed way back when he was with Nsync. Not that it matters, but I'm just saying. . .

DISS RECORD?

Missed that one. What did he say on the record?

badujunkie said:

Najee said:

BREAK IT DOWN!!!!! LET IT BE BROKE!!!!!

I like Justin. I don't love him, but I like him. I enjoy the two big hits from the first album and almost all of the new one.

CinisterCee said:

Not racist it is true. Some black people are devoid of soul. Some people just
don't have it and some do.

"The Average White Band" White guys who kicked ass when it came to funk and rnb.

I don't see Justin even in the top ten of blue eyed soul singers.

Najee said:

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Sorry buddy this has been documented in the past and now RnB and Hip-Hop are at bottom in terms of sales. So no one is buying it.

Najee said:

Get ready to sell that timeshare. It has been documented in the past and right now RnB and rap are not selling at all.

So nobody likes this crap black or white.

Najee said:

Get ready to sell that timeshare. It has been documented in the past and right now RnB and rap are not selling at all.

So nobody likes this crap black or white.

Najee said:

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I will find the article and send it you. RnB songs are in the top ten but you only need to sell about 20,000.00 copies of a cd to get in the top ten these days. Sales are at a all time low.

See the article below. Rap and Rnb biggest decline in sales in 2006
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Some music merchandisers are alarmed by an
accelerated decline in R&B sales -- the broad category that also includes
rap and hip-hop, Billboard magazine reports.

With the exception of new age, the smallest genre tracked by Nielsen
SoundScan, R&B and rap suffered the biggest declines in 2006 of all styles
of music.

R&B, with album scans of 117 million units, was down 18.4% from 2005, while
the rap subgenre's 59.5 million scans were down 20.7%. Total U.S. album
sales fell 4.9% to 588.2 million units.

Since 2000, total album sales have slid 25%, but R&B is down 41.4% and rap
down 44.4%. In 2000, R&B accounted for 25.4% of total album sales, and rap
13.6%. In 2006, their respective shares fell to nearly 20% and 10%.

Looking for specific causes, merchants attribute hip-hop and rap albums'
accelerating decline to their increasingly short life span.
"Rap used to be the flavor of the month, and then it became the flavor of
the week and then the day, and now it's the flavor of the moment," says
Hinsul Lazo, owner of Miami-based H.L. Distributors.

Merchants point to large second-week declines in new albums. For example,
Jay-Z's 2006 "Kingdom Come" album debuted with 680,000 units in its first
week and then dropped nearly 80%, to almost 140,000 units.

Digital distribution may be cutting into album sales as well. Between
"ringtones and downloads, people don't have to buy the whole album
anymore -- just the music they want," says Troy Marshall, VP of rap
promotion at Interscope.

Earlier this year, Sony BMG reported that some of its acts are drawing most
of their revenue from ringtone, track and song bundle sales. In the case of
Jive Records rapper T-Pain, 43% of revenue came from ringtones alone.
A senior executive at one major label says ringtone revenue now exceeds
track download revenue. And since Nielsen RingScan started tracking master
ringtones in September, rap and R&B have comprised 87% of scans generated by
the top 10 sellers.

Interscope's Marshall points out that Jibbs, for example, "has sold an
incredible 1.4 million ringtones" -- a figure that might well offset lost
album revenue. The rapper has moved 196,000 units of his "Jibbs Feat. Jibbs"
album since its October 24 release. But figuring the ringtones he's sold at
$2 apiece translates into $2.8 million in revenue, the equivalent of another
233,000 albums at a wholesale cost of $12 per unit.
And, Marshall adds, Chamillionaire has moved more than 3 million ringtones
on top of scanning nearly 900,000 units of his "Sound of Revenge" album.

"That's probably one of the biggest success stories the industry has seen,"
Marshall says. "Consumers are buying into him as a brand. It's more than
just about the album."
A senior distribution executive, while acknowledging that R&B and rap are
currently in decline, reminds that music trends are cyclical. For instance,
while country was hot for most of the '90s, he says, it then fell out of
favor and is now back in vogue again. Indeed, country music is up 9.3% since
2000.










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Najee said:

laurarichardson said:

Fair enough. I see what you mean.