HAPPYPERSON said:
Jennifer's album was expensive to produce. Ryan Tedder, Stargate, Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, Polow Da Don...they were paid more than $100,000 per song.

Somebody's paying these motherf#@+&%s $100,000 a pop to recycle Teena Marie and Loleatta Holloway songs? Oh, I'm definately in the wrong profession!!!!

From my view, Jennifer's album didn't sell well the first week because of the "weak" lead off single. They thought since R. Kelly produced it, people would like it. For the most part, the song, "Where You At" is not that great. It has so many things wrong with it. Bad grammar being the first.

If they had released "Don't Look Down," or "No One Gonna Love You," I think the album would have sold more copies.

She has an interesting personality, but I find her singing style to be average. The ebonics-laced "Where You At?" made me cringe. I keep thinking Boost Mobile will likely pick it up in its new ads.

She doesnt have any MOR appeal in her music, and although she has a great voice her songs have yet to get any radio play.

Where You At isn't exactly a crossover single. She just needs better songwriters. She needs to be working with the David Fosters and the *gulp* Diane Warrens of the world if she really wants that Mainstream success. Maybe think about working with Linda Perry.

The songwriters and producers she's working with now aren't exactly doing her voice justice.

RKJCNE said:

She doesnt have any MOR appeal in her music, and although she has a great voice her songs have yet to get any radio play.

Not really, she gets a LOT of play on urban radio. She has not managed to breakthrough to the pop side, though.

While Hudson seems like a lovely person, I have never found her musically appealing. First the voice and her technique. I don't hear any attractive quality to her voice, its just loud and she shouts to boot. Next, her material. Its unremarkable and doesn't seem to fit her voice. Finally, her presence. She doesn't have anything that appears to excite a fanbase. Again, she seems like a lovely person and of course she has seen some major success over her reality show rise to fame but she doesn't seem to have the sort of "star" quality that makes people care to run out and buy her albums the way they do other r/b pop stars.

I'm not surprised with her low sales.

119 said:

While Hudson seems like a lovely person, I have never found her musically appealing. First the voice and her technique. I don't hear any attractive quality to her voice, its just loud and she shouts to boot. Next, her material. Its unremarkable and doesn't seem to fit her voice. Finally, her presence. She doesn't have anything that appears to excite a fanbase. Again, she seems like a lovely person and of course she has seen some major success over her reality show rise to fame but she doesn't seem to have the sort of "star" quality that makes people care to run out and buy her albums the way they do other r/b pop stars.

I'm not surprised with her low sales.

I totally understand. She is a BIG singer and would probably work better as a Gospel or Broadway singer.

Snore. Another pop/soul singer who just makes we want to listen to old Motown albums. Either do better or invent a new genre.

daPrettyman said:

119 said:

While Hudson seems like a lovely person, I have never found her musically appealing. First the voice and her technique. I don't hear any attractive quality to her voice, its just loud and she shouts to boot. Next, her material. Its unremarkable and doesn't seem to fit her voice. Finally, her presence. She doesn't have anything that appears to excite a fanbase. Again, she seems like a lovely person and of course she has seen some major success over her reality show rise to fame but she doesn't seem to have the sort of "star" quality that makes people care to run out and buy her albums the way they do other r/b pop stars.

I'm not surprised with her low sales.

I totally understand. She is a BIG singer and would probably work better as a Gospel or Broadway singer.

Yes. Not only her voice, but the way she delivers a song is so much better suited for Gospel or Broadyway as well. She is just so.... intense. In the current popular music landscape it just doesn't work when most of the top selling women seem to be getting by on sweet, cutesy, sexy, sassy...etc. Jennifer performs in a very mature and intense fashion that I don't know is appealing for the popular world.

She's a bore. Vocally and personally.

IMHO, Jennifer is a boring artist and personality.

"Where you at?!" is a boring but for some reason she really loves it and said the sound defines her. R. Kelly needs to be slapped for that shitty ass song. He could've done better. Also why does she keep working with Alicia Keys, Stargate and Ryan Tedder? They do nothing for her.

trueiopian said:

IMHO, Jennifer is a boring artist and personality.

"Where you at?!" is a boring but for some reason she really loves it and said the sound defines her. R. Kelly needs to be slapped for that shitty ass song. He could've done better. Also why does she keep working with Alicia Keys, Stargate and Ryan Tedder? They do nothing for her.

Because Clive Davis said so.

This is my favorite track on the album.

daPrettyman said:

This is my favorite track on the album.

I have to agree that the girl singers of the day (minus Christina Aguilera) are all stuck in that "cutesy", synthy sound and it's completely disheartening in so far as that it's all so cliche. THAT, in MY opinion, is what's boring.

Here, in Jennifer Hudson, we DO HAVE a mature and seasoned vocalist who can REALLY BLOW and what do they do?...they team her with these same cliche writers and producers "of the day" that her voice is so far beyond. It's insulting actually. Broadway? Theatre? Sure, BUT, why not team her with soulful, intense producers who can capitalize upon her "Old School" vocal abilities such as Babyface or Jam & Lewis? Some people may say that these producers are tired and not selling anymore, but clearly, it would make MUCH MORE sense that to have her literally caught up in the UNtalented pool of female vocalists who are saturating the so called R&B scene today. Clive Davis needs to have his hearing checked. I know I reference Jam & Lewis aLOT, but look at their track record and tell me I'm wrong. I love their sound(s) and I love the way they KNOW instinctively how to bring out the best in their vocalists' projects. Flyte Tyme would do her wonders! I say all of the aforementioned with love.

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

HAPPYPERSON said:
Jennifer's album was expensive to produce. Ryan Tedder, Stargate, Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, Polow Da Don...they were paid more than $100,000 per song.

Somebody's paying these motherf#@+&%s $100,000 a pop to recycle Teena Marie and Loleatta Holloway songs? Oh, I'm definately in the wrong profession!!!!

W-w-w-what?! What Teena song has she covered?

benjaminira said:

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

Somebody's paying these motherf#@+&%s $100,000 a pop to recycle Teena Marie and Loleatta Holloway songs? Oh, I'm definately in the wrong profession!!!!

W-w-w-what?! What Teena song has she covered?

Listen to "Angel".

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

HAPPYPERSON said:
Jennifer's album was expensive to produce. Ryan Tedder, Stargate, Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, Polow Da Don...they were paid more than $100,000 per song.

Somebody's paying these motherf#@+&%s $100,000 a pop to recycle Teena Marie and Loleatta Holloway songs? Oh, I'm definately in the wrong profession!!!!

OK SO I'M NOT CRAZY. I knew I wasn't the only one who hears "I Need Your Lovin'" on Jennifer's song Angel. I told my friend, the chorus is Teena Marie. She couldn't hear it.

musicman said:

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

Somebody's paying these motherf#@+&%s $100,000 a pop to recycle Teena Marie and Loleatta Holloway songs? Oh, I'm definately in the wrong profession!!!!

OK SO I'M NOT CRAZY. I knew I wasn't the only one who hears "I Need Your Lovin'" on Jennifer's song Angel. I told my friend, the chorus is Teena Marie. She couldn't hear it.

I'll have to give it another listen, but I think parts of the song she does sound like Teena.

daPrettyman said:

trueiopian said:

Also why does she keep working with Alicia Keys, Stargate and Ryan Tedder? They do nothing for her.

Because Clive Davis said so.

Why does Clive seem to think that his female artists need an R.Kelly-produced song to take them to the top? It didn't exactly work for Whitney Houston,did it? His songs are tedious."Where You At" puts me to sleep.

Paris9748430 said:

Where You At isn't exactly a crossover single. She just needs better songwriters. She needs to be working with the David Fosters and the *gulp* Diane Warrens of the world if she really wants that Mainstream success. Maybe think about working with Linda Perry.

The songwriters and producers she's working with now aren't exactly doing her voice justice.

I agree.Her talent isn't in question.She just needs better songwriters and producers.

IMO... Outside of Urban music, I think most people know her more for non-musical things. To tell you the truth, I don't listen to much urban radio. And, I haven't heard "Where U At".... but, I still see those darn Weight Watcher's commercials constantly. And her acting career has been more successful than her main talent, which is singing.

She's become a "personality". The average person has heard of her by now, knows a lot of her story and knows that she can sing... but are probably oblivious to her actual music and pay no attention to CD releases. Yes, she has been on a 4 month publicity binge and I've seen her everywhere. But still, I'm more familiar with her and her story rather than her music. We did get her last CD, though... my 5 year old daughter likes the song that says "Don't let me hit you with my pocketbook".... Kinda' makes me cringe, whereas a Kindergartner loves it...go figure.

I don't know... It takes a crazy combination of things--stars aligning to have a successful record, film, TV show or whatever. Even great records, with great songs and massive promotion miss their mark commercially... it could be for any number of reasons.

The cd is NOT very good.

Next!

SoulAlive said:

Paris9748430 said:

Where You At isn't exactly a crossover single. She just needs better songwriters. She needs to be working with the David Fosters and the *gulp* Diane Warrens of the world if she really wants that Mainstream success. Maybe think about working with Linda Perry.

The songwriters and producers she's working with now aren't exactly doing her voice justice.

I agree.Her talent isn't in question.She just needs better songwriters and producers.

I'm not surprised at all. Jennifer is on point, but the people at the record labels today are a musical joke and don't know how to use her talents properly. She has yet to record anything special and that's a real shame. The current music industry is pretty much the porn biz now anyway.

A few things...One would be people know her as an actress, plain and simple, regardles of HOW good her voice is that is irrelevant on whether you make or record GOOD songs, Bob Dylan has a lousy voice but i'd rather hear music from him than a new Justin Timberlake song. The thing is Jennifer Hudson is doing music that any other rb female can do, mainly because the idustry is dead and the people promoting and releasing and signing new talent are all just trying to stick with the formula, and the formula is done, its time to just forget the idea that what you put out is going to sell, its not, dream on dreamgirl

First of all nobody buys a cd because they see someone on Oprah or Ellen. If you're gonna buy it you're gonna buy it. J Hud is ok and 167000 is great in this internet age so stop tripping.

What is meant by disappointing sales exactly? Are follow up album sales forver compared to the previous CD's sales/ranking? If this is the case then every artist save for Lil Wayne and Em is experiencing disappointing sales. Man it's like if you don't go gold your first week you're deemed a failure. Maybe her album will be a sleeper hit meaning it will take awhile for the good word to spread and for sales to creep up. She's only released one song and accompanying video as far as I know. She isn't touring either.

musicman said:

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

Somebody's paying these motherf#@+&%s $100,000 a pop to recycle Teena Marie and Loleatta Holloway songs? Oh, I'm definately in the wrong profession!!!!

OK SO I'M NOT CRAZY. I knew I wasn't the only one who hears "I Need Your Lovin'" on Jennifer's song Angel. I told my friend, the chorus is Teena Marie. She couldn't hear it.

Isn't this the norm with Alicia though? She always "recycles" past grooves or melodies and try to make them her own. Can any of these new artist create a freakin original melody or groove? ......Damn!