Nelly Lashes Out At Label

Published: Saturday 27th Nov 2010 by Sam

Having recently scored a double Platinum hit with ‘Just A Dream’, many were surprised to see Nelly‘s latest LP ‘5.0’ under-perform on the Billboard 200 this week.

None more so than the Grammy winning rapper himself; who just moments ago took to Twitter to vent his frustrations at his label  Universal Motown – following the album’s #10 charting and 63,000 first week sales.

Check out what the St. Louis star had to say after the jump…

Via Twitter:

A record deal is a 50/50 partnership!As a artist its your job to provide the record company with music that they (record company) can sell!

Thing about the partnership is thati n the public eye the responsibility is not 50/50! The artist is always the 1who catches 90% of the blame. When a artist doesn’t deliver sufficient material they(artist) gets its budget cut for next album or worse dropped from the label!

So not only is the label ur partner but also disciplinarian and 90% of the time the one who decides if the partnership continues!

No doubt wen a artist doesn’t deliver a song that does crack top of the charts or even top10 the label is quick to say artist didn’t deliver.

So intern the artist must bare the brunt of that failure and take responsibility and consequences as handed out by his or her label!!

So whose fault is it when a artist gives the label not only a #1 hit but there first top40 #1 in label history! Sell 2mill n singles n 2.5month? Who should be held responsible wen a artist has a history for selling records so its not like a new artist n no1 knows his r her name?

Benefit of the doubt: Maybe no1 is checking for the artist anymore? Well if that was true then how do u explain selling 2mill singles n 2.5month?

I careless about haters u cant hate on#1song n 2.5mill n singles!but the fact is that some1 need to holdup there end of the partnership!

If the music wasn’t good how do u get to #1 and 2.5mill!!but if folks say they didn’t even no wen the album came out?????

If u only ship 200thound of an album how many are u f#cking tryen to sell??the artist does control that nor does he or she control marketing

“”5.0″”Every1 luvs da album n say its crazy!So wen u hear folks say they didnt no it was out r there were hardly any n the store!WTF?

Ouch…Say what you want about Nelly as an artist, but the man does have a point here. Doesn’t he…?

Trent’s sidebar: Nelly does indeed have a point, especially if the rumours reporting that half of his promotional budget was taken and used to market Nicki Minaj’s ‘Pink Friday’ album instead. Whether her album is better or not is beside the point.

Your thoughts?

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  1. Stoney-Brie November 27, 2010

    he does..

  2. LAME ASS N***** November 27, 2010

    Nobody cares about SINGLES Nelly. It’s all about selling the album. Now a days any body with a catchy hook can get #1 smash.

  3. ~AalexisR~ The Summer King (The Bahamas) November 27, 2010

    Yeah he does. His communication doesn’t need much help but that writing does.

  4. Star November 27, 2010

    So I guess it’s safe to say go Independent from now on???

  5. Bobby D November 27, 2010

    The record labels are going to s*** these days.

    look at Christina Augilera’s Bionic album….in honesty here it wasnt that bad. Same goes for Mariah’s “memoirs” which was critically acclaimed yet did horribly on the charts. Ok, now the haters can chime in. Regardless, the labels arent promoting their artists like they should be, and you would think in a partnership, both sides would be fighting for the same goal, instead of fighting each other. Nelly has a great point. And other artists have also lashed out at the labels recently for lack of promotion, such as the two artists I used as examples have both lashed out. Additionally, the producers are also lashing out at the labels for their pathetic promotions (such as the dream lashing out at Island Def Jam over Memoirs).

    It baffles me that this song “just a dream” has been such a smash hit, and done phenominally, yet the album has only sold 63,000 in the first week. Sigh……I guess that piracy of music has finally reached the pinnacle, and no one is buying albums anymore, they are downloading it. I beleive its a combination of how incredibly easy it is to pirate music, combined with the lack of promotions from the labels, who are leading to poor sales of albums. its a shame, and really, it doesnt make sense.

    Having a strong lead single usually is all you need to drive high record sales during the first week or two. And this single is about as strong as it gets. An absolutely great song, likely a great album, but yet….look where we are. The labels need to f***** step their game up.

  6. Justin_2Fly November 27, 2010

    This is very true labels are quick to blame the artist if they fail but never admit when they don’t hold up their end of the deal as a record label. Nelly spoke the truth.

  7. TWITTER.COM/SEAN_DA_GODDESS November 27, 2010

    HE HAS A POINT!

    AND MOST PEOPLE CARE ABOUT SINGLES THESE DAYS THAN AN ACTUAL ALBUM!.

    WHICH IS SAD!

    THEY GONNA STOP MAKING CD AND U CAN JUST PUT EM ON ITUNES!

    THAN

    THEY GONNA STOP DOING ALBUMS PERIOD! AND JUST START RELEASING SINGLES.

  8. harvey November 27, 2010

    I was suprised Just A dream to very very well on pop charts it was #1 like last week.I blame his label cause nelly is not a flop and never was so unversal motown needs to get there s*** 2gether they have amazing talent and they dont care if there taLENT GOES TO WASTE.HE NEEDS TO SIGH TO INTERSCOPE RECORDS CAUSE HIM ON POLOW DON CAN MAKE MAJOR MAGIC.

  9. lew November 27, 2010

    If people don’t want your music, they don’t want it. It really isn’t all that complicated.

  10. harvey November 27, 2010

    But nelly isnt a flop cause the song on his album liv tonight with keri hilson inst even a single and on charts in the U.K,CANADA,AND THE U.S.so yeah

  11. TWITTER.COM/SEAN_DA_GODDESS November 27, 2010

    NELLY IS KNOWN FOR HIS ALBUM SALES! AND HAS OUTSOLD ALOT OF RAPPERS! PERIOD!

    OBVIOUSLY PEOPLE WERE FEELING HIS MUSIC! OR IT WOULDNT HAD DONE GOOD ON THE CHARTS MEANING (THE SINGLE). THEY PROMOTED HIM WRONG PERIOD.

  12. S*** November 27, 2010

    FLOP, Poor That…

  13. harvey November 27, 2010

    somthing not to right I can tell nelly is over with universal…cause charts at number #10 in the U.S shame.

  14. harvey November 27, 2010

    @TWITTER.COM/SEAN_DA_GODDESS

    I AGREE THEY REALLY DIDNT PROMOTE JUST A DREAM AND IT WAS MASSIVE BUT IT SEEMS WHEN THE ALBUM RELEASE DATE WAS AROUND THE CORNER HE DID JAY LENO,DAVID LETTERMAN,JIMMY KIMMEL AND CHELSA LATELY

  15. Kio November 27, 2010

    Lew thank you!! People are tried of the pop sound, even thought is new song is ok, really people are done with these rappers trying to be so called singers too!!1 What he need to do is make a real street album, make it worth buying!! People are so fed up with s***** music, plus rap been dead a along time now, so that is where is fails at!! The sound of his music needs to progress beyond just rapping, bring the heat, or get the f*** out, cuz if you don’t have a song that is worthy than, oh well!!!!!!!! Nelly get real, your music is so cover with pop, plus people hear the music before they buy now, cuz this fog of the auto tune s*** is clearing out, people are done with this non talent rappers, plus I feel is age has alot to do with it in a sense!! Nelly talk about some real s*** for once then maybe you will get better numbers!!

  16. Teairra November 27, 2010

    sorry for ya.. his other album didnt sell anything either, but he has a point, neither Nicki Minaj or Kanye west have any hit singles, but they manage to sell albums, but if you look at rihanna she has 2 #1’s and she didnt sell all that much. some artist have past there prime. “has been” is what they realy are. sorry but true.

  17. Kio November 27, 2010

    No the problem is these labels need to make these artist make quality music!! Now a days an album is soooooooooo rushed, that it just gets repetitive after a white!!!! They don’t promote anymore, cuz if thay did we would have heard buzz about his album awhile back, plus, these labels only care about what is hot now!!! Nelly had his Peak, but now that you got the the younger generation f***** with this auto tune s***, till if it is not about, dancing , getting high, or some club s*** you don’t sell!! People if the music don’t get real, they not selling!!

  18. Nichole November 27, 2010

    Artists don’t sell albums, unless they are GaGa, Beyonce, Britney, Susan B, Taylor, Kanye, Justin T, Lil Wayne, Alicia Keys, etc. Sorry to inform Nelly, but in today’s mainstream music, there aren’t too many artists that can still sell a good amount of albums.

    iTunes have taken over, and many people are purchasing singles and not albums. Just ask Rihanna with her 9 #1’s.

  19. krissy November 27, 2010

    you can have a hit single and not sell an album…ask rihanna shes the queen of that

  20. THEREALNICKY November 27, 2010

    @ NICHOLE

    IS THATS WHY RIHANNA SOLD OVER 400,000 WORLDWIDE FIRST WEEK?

    AND WILL DO ABOUT THE SAME THIS UPCOMING WEEK??

    IS THAT WHY SHE’S PROJECTED TO SELL OVER 160,000 COPIES IN THE US THIS WEEK ALONE???

    YOURE DISMISSED WITH YOUR IGNORANCE!!!

    AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

  21. THEREALNICKY November 27, 2010

    I FEEL WHERE NELLY IS COMING FROM…..

    HOWEVER , IT TAKES MORE THAN 1 SINGLE TO SELL AN ALBUM AND MAYBE PEOPLE JUST ARENT FEELING HIM ANYMORE…….

    HE’S PUSHING 40 AND STILL SINGING LITTLE KIDDIE MELODIES

  22. Teairra November 27, 2010

    @THEREALNICKY
    b**** sit down, 400,000 worldwide?aint nobody care about the other music markets outside the US. shes an american intertainer. she should be pulling in more numbers, im sure you dont sit there and say “Girls aloud” from europe, or “Paulina Rubio” from latin america, sell albums, right cuz no one cares about them. so dont sit there and say rihanna sold 400,000 worldwide like its a huge deal. if anything have her sell music in Barbados see if anyone buys!! NEXT!

  23. THEREALNICKY November 27, 2010

    @ TEAIRRA

    B**** YOU’RE A GHETTO HOODRAT AND NEED TO BE CHASTISED FOR YOUR IGNORANCE LMFAO!!!!!

    NO ONE CARES ABOUT WORLDWIDE??????? B**** HAVE A SEAT…….. YOU SOUND LIKE A DAMN FOOL.

    AND HERE’S A SECRET BOO…….RIHANNA IS NOT AMERICAN…..SHE’S FROM BARBADOS AND STILL PERFORMING BETTER THAN THOSE NATIVE TO AMERICA.

    DUMB B****!

    IN 2 WEEKS ( BY NEXT WEEK) RIHANNA WILL HAVE SOLD AROUND 800,0000 ALBUMS …….SORRY HATERS!!!!!!!!!!!

    160,000+ FROM THE US THIS UPCOMING WEEK.

  24. Teairra November 27, 2010

    Dumb ass B****, aint nobody say she was from Barbados b****. her sell 800,000 in two weeks?? bahahahahahahahahahahah susan boyle be shiting on that b**** and shes from britain!! sit your raggity ass down!! b****!! 5 album out and she has yet to have a number one album!! ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah stay mad h**!!

  25. Teairra November 27, 2010

    Dumb ass B****, aint nobody say she wasnt from Barbados b****. her sell 800,000 in two weeks?? bahahahahahahahahahahah susan boyle be shiting on that b**** and shes from britain!! sit your raggity ass down!! b****!! 5 album out and she has yet to have a number one album!! ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah stay mad h**!!

  26. wtf November 27, 2010

    WOW 800,000 in 2 weeks do she have any money left because I know damn well she is buying her on CD. What Nelly is saying is the turth and I know damn well he not going to buy up his own CD’s to make it look like he is selling. 800,000 Wire said she was going to make 10 mil in the first week in the US alone. I don’t want to hear aout selling overseas. This is America I want American stats

  27. wtf November 27, 2010

    sorry 800,0000 please!!

  28. DATBITCH November 27, 2010

    SORRY NELLY BUT YOUR DONE! I CHANGE THE STATION WHEN YOUR ISH COMES ON! NO HATE #IMJUSTSAYING!

  29. harvey November 27, 2010

    EVERYBODY ON TWITTER SAYIN THAT THEY COULD’NT EVAN FIND THE ALBUM THIS HAS’NT HAPPENED JUST HAPPENDE TO NELLY BUT SHONTELLE TO.WHEN I WENT TO WALMART i ONLY SAW 1 F***** COPIE OF 5.0.i SWEAR UNIVERSAL REALLY IS A PEAICE A S*** LABEL.IM DONE.

  30. THEREALNICKY November 27, 2010

    @ WTF AKA TEIARRA

    AWWW YOU MADD BOOBOOS?

    MAD THAT RIHANNA IS SMASHING WITH HER ALBUM?

    MAD THAT SHE HAS 2 #1 SINGLES FROM 1 ALBUM SO FAR?

    MAD THAT SHE HAVE 4 #1 SINGLES AND HAS SPENT 14 WEEKS AT THE TOP THIS YEAR SO FAR????

    MAD SHE’S SELLING CONSISTENTLY IN THE UNITED STATES?

    MAD THAT SHE’S PROJECTED TO SELL CLOSE OR AT 2 MILLION+ WORLDWIDE BY THE END OF THE YEAR???

    HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

  31. wtf November 27, 2010

    The music industry has really gone down the drain. I think these records labels needs to be investergated as well as Itunes. We never had this problem until Itunes came into the picture. Itunes can be bought so easy to push artist up to the #1 spot so fast. Example Rihanna song Only Girl went from #77 #3 now that is some fishy s*** there. Itunes is making money just for singles alone this is why the CD’s are not selling. You can have 5 million people download $100 on a song and that songs stays at # 88. I mean it never moves. Just where is all this money going? Besides the label getting kickbacks.

  32. wtf November 27, 2010

    Laughing hahahaha is not funny because Def Jam should be investergated with Itunes.

  33. DATBITCH November 27, 2010

    @ THE REAL NICKY PLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS STFU!!! YOU NEGLECTED CHILD! RIHANNA DOES NOT PHUCKING KNOW YOU!! THERE IS A THIN LINE BETWEEN HAVING A FAVORITE ARTIST AND BEING A PSYCHO PHUCKING PATH!! GO TO HER WEBSITE AND STAN OVA THERE!! PHUCK!! YOU ARE THE EPITOME OF A PSYCHOPATHIC, DELUSIONAL PIECE OF S***!! GO FALL ASLEEP AND DONT WAKE UP!!

  34. Crack is wack November 27, 2010

    sometimes it is time to go on the senior circuit….

  35. Dave November 27, 2010

    Oh lord, u always get 1 of the same stan b****** in here that gotta comment 50 billion times because their lil fave artist is doing a little something. But, he is right. Jive is doing that with Ciara right now *Smdh*

  36. Melanie November 27, 2010

    Rihanna barely sold 200k in the US lol at her selling 400k in her first week.
    lies and deceit
    Poor Nelly though I feel for him

  37. Rebecca November 27, 2010

    Nelly is pretty much washed up. I haven’t heard any growth from him as an artist.

    In the years to come, I think artist will making albums and just produce singles

  38. harvey November 27, 2010

    I feel bad for nelly…I think its time for brand new mangement so top of the line management.

  39. wtf November 28, 2010

    @Rebecca

    Nelly is not washed up. Did you not read what he wrote. It’s the label! I mean they are not putting his CD in the stores the label. Someone is paying big to stop these artist from going to the top. They want to keep the no singing no talent so call artist in the game. These artist needs to start speaking up about what is going on. This was never never was like this until itunes came

  40. harvey November 28, 2010

    @WTF
    they dont get that its label cse Just A Dream is #2 on the pop charts and #1 on the rhythmic charts and #11 on itunes .

  41. THEREALNICKY November 28, 2010

    @ MELANIE

    AND HERE’S A FUN FACT

    THOSE FIGURES ARENT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT OTHER COUNTRIES WHERE IT WAS RELEASED LATER IN THE WEEK

    HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHHA

    YOU WANT YOUR WIG BACK?

  42. kaye November 28, 2010

    @DAVE

    I am glad u point out that JIVE is one f***** up record label they doing the samething to my fave right now too!!!

  43. kaye November 28, 2010

    @therealnicky

    do u have a life?
    do u go to school?
    do u have a job?
    do u clean your house?
    do u take shower?
    do u have a man?
    do u eat?

    I know this is the internet but I honestly think either u work directly for rihanna or u need some serious help…..
    I honestly hope u work for rihanna because u come off as one insecure low self – esteem stupid b****……

  44. whatnow November 28, 2010

    It baffles me that the peeps here hate on Rihanna. She has it right, a worldwide market is more important than just the US market. Gaga would only be at 3.5 million and not at 10 million plus if she only sold in the US. Rihanna is on track to outsell Rated R in the US, people ain’t sick of her even with albums every year and guest spots on the year’s biggest hits. Back to Nelly, he bombed because Just a Dream sucks in the urban world on the streets…the streets ain’t checking for that song and urban radio ain’t playing it. Nelly is like Taio Cruz now…it’s his fault for not hitting the urban market first…Usher was able to play in both worlds but even he needs to watch how pop he gets. Simple, Nelly went for the pop hit, got the itunes single sales, but the urban crowd, the same crowd pushing Kanye and Nicki Gold the first week, thinks Just a Dream is trash and will not buy the album…he needs a smash on urban radio and a pimp spot on 106 and Park quickly.

  45. Teairra November 28, 2010

    @THEREALNICKY
    hahahahahah sit yo ass down you nappy headed h**, no one cares about other music markets outside the US get that out of your head, rihanna if she so high and might should be pulling in a million albums like taylor swift. album NUMBER 5!!! 5!! B**** HER S*** HAS NO SUBSTANCE, THEY JUST WANNA PORFIT MONEY OF THAT TALENTLESS B****.. ” why did i pull the trigga pulls the trigga booom and enda n**** enda n***** life soo soon.. hahaha stay mad h**!!

  46. wtf November 28, 2010

    @Harvey

    I know that, I am speaking about his CD not selling. What is it they want it to go through itunes?

  47. ilovextina November 28, 2010

    Nelly, this isn’t the 2000s anymore. Now-a-days you need more than 1 hit single, you need to promote your ass off, & shove yourself down everyone’s throat. (Which is why Kanye & Nicki are selling as well as they are)

    Plus, Just A Dream sounded so outdated. It didn’t set him apart nor showed growth from his other singles. The competition from Nicki, Kanye, Rih, & Susan didn’t help either.

  48. Yellow Gorillah November 28, 2010

    Some pople need to SIT THE F*** DOWN!

    Rihanna may not be no god dame taylor swift selling 1 million albums in a week
    but at the end of the day rihanna’s albums always end up selling millions.

    Look at Rated R did it not sale over 3 million in ONE YEAR!
    Rihanna is fine they market her well people keep saying her label pay for her s*** no booboo rihanna has fans to buy her s***. If her lack of album sales is effecting her would she not have been dropped and why does her label keep on pushing money into her projects if they knew she does not sell albums what is the Logic in that anways (I predict loud will go on to sell atleast 4-5 million including a re-release which I hear will come out next year)

    people act like rihanna is struggling when you got artist like Nelly who don’t sell s*** *sighs*

    Just remember the haters brang up rihanna’s name first so we came stay on topic b******!

  49. Yellow Gorillah November 28, 2010

    Nobody is checking for Nelly I’m sorry to say it

    Yhh Maybe his label did not market the album well but at the end of the day nobody was anticipating his album so what did he expect! he should have atleast released two singles before he dropped the album I don’t know *kanye shrug*

    Lets wait and see maybe his sales will pick up when more singles come out.

  50. Melanie November 28, 2010

    @THEREALNICKY
    I know for a fact that the chart your showing me is mistaken. Go by Billboard sweety that way you won’t embarass yourself. Rihanna barely sold over 200k her first week.

  51. MrIncredible November 28, 2010

    Nelly has a good point but he may not be accounting for the fact that people just dont buy albums anymore. It’s easy to get a #1 hit these days, what’s hard is being an artist that people care about enough that they want to spend their coins on them. Frankly, Nelly isn’t one of those artists.

  52. harvey November 28, 2010

    @wtf
    I last night I only saw one freakin copie thats sad everybody on twitter that follows hime said they didnt know the album was out or couldnt find it in walmart or best buy.

  53. Xavi November 28, 2010

    Lol why is Rihanna always the main topic under someone else’s post?

    But I agree with Nelly….however he isn’t as hot as he used to be. So i wasn’t expecting him to sell a lot of albums. Besides, having a hit single doesn’t guarantee high album sales these days….you have to have a large fanbase

  54. mark ginnis November 28, 2010

    @ Whatnot you are right! Nelly went pop .the pop market is fickle and single oriented! he needs a hard record. That song w keri Hilson Liv tonite is even worse!

  55. daboss8791 November 28, 2010

    Everybody has their prime, and sadly I think Nelly has passed his. Record company’s are going to invest in the artists that they feel will net them the best returns. Yes Nicki Minaj has been promoted alot, but mostly she’s been building a buzz around her brand for the last year or more. I understand why Nelly has sour grapes, but no I don’t think the record company is to blame. In today’s market you have to work extremely hard to sell a record, Nelly may want to keep that in mind?

    SPREADDAWORD.COM

  56. Gilberto November 28, 2010

    Nelly had a pop hit with ‘Just A Dream’, which it’s awesome but it isn’t his format target. Nelly’s fan base is R&B/Urban/Hip-Hop listeners, most of them didn’t even listen his single (’cause this song was too pop for urban radios to play) neither they knew his album was out.

  57. wtf November 28, 2010

    @Harvey

    Now that’s sad. Maybe they want people to download his CD on Itunes. I mean maybe just a thought. But WOW!!

  58. wtf November 28, 2010

    @Kaye

    You are so right about Nicky. When does she/he sleep. Rihanna PR people don’t even work that hard. I wonder when Rihanna was on GMA was one of the two ugly girls on stage was Nicky.

  59. abeeeey November 28, 2010

    shut up Nelly! We all know that ‘Just A Dream’ doesn’t get played on Urban radio, while all the huge album numbers coming from Urban fanbase. ‘Just A Dream’ reached the top on Pop, but Pop listeners don’t buy album really that much, they buy digital singles.

  60. DATBITCH November 28, 2010

    @ THE REAL NICKY PLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS STFU!!! YOU NEGLECTED CHILD! RIHANNA DOES NOT PHUCKING KNOW YOU!! THERE IS A THIN LINE BETWEEN HAVING A FAVORITE ARTIST AND BEING A PSYCHO PHUCKING PATH!! GO TO HER WEBSITE AND STAN OVA THERE!! PHUCK!! YOU ARE THE EPITOME OF A PSYCHOPATHIC, DELUSIONAL PIECE OF S***!! GO FALL ASLEEP AND DONT WAKE UP!!

  61. Lisa November 28, 2010

    I believe you 100 percent. The nikki album was hyped up so much, I viewed the tracks on her album and I could have gone without her ever making an album. She needs to stick to what she does best, be featured on other artisits song.

  62. BENJAMIN November 28, 2010

    Nelly is pretty dead on, but stuff like this is nothing new. Record labels are just very lazy these days and don’t want to “work” for their artists anymore, it’s more about the artists generating a good single for their pockets. The music industry is laying on it’s deathbed these days. Unless you are willing to sell your originality down the river for a dance/club track to stay relevant (i.e.-Black Eyed Peas), you are going to suffer to some extent. It truly saddens me, because in my short lifetime, I’ve seen music change so drastically. Radio used to be filled with such variety, now it pumps out a sewer of garbage. I’m talking just like 8 years ago, even the most non-profile artist could sell at least 2 milli within 2 weeks. Nowadays if you sell 100,000, that is considered a job well done. I honestly don’t know if this will change. When it comes to my favorite artists, I will actually go out and buy the record. 10 bucks is not hard to hand over, before it was because cds were so expensive, but now with itunes, amazonmp3, and even places like Target and Best Buy make it affordable, so some folks are just plain lazy.

  63. Blue Kid November 28, 2010

    Nelly, is right, I feel for him, the album is bad! Love it!

  64. JAYLA November 28, 2010

    LMFAO @KAYE

    SHE WENT SO HARD ON @THEREALNICKY, BUT OR YOU ALL AWARE THAT THATS A BOY? WHY EVEN ARGUE WITH HIM?

  65. I’m A Billy Goat November 28, 2010

    I agree with Nelly!

    This new music industry pours money into gimmicks like Nicki Minaj, RihWhore, Kesha and not quality artists. If an artist does not get the marketing and publicity how do they expect that artist to sell CD’s?

  66. Kevin November 28, 2010

    Omfg this was hard to read.

  67. ~aMaZiNG.Lee~ November 28, 2010

    So he’s basically saying that because he had a number one hit, that sold 2.5 million should somewhat solidify his album success? Um, I don’t think so, boo. Although I did like JAD, it was very 2004 and didn’t garner my interest in what he has to offer as far as an album. Now I will say that alot of my friends didn’t even know his album was released.

  68. lala November 28, 2010

    Poor Nelly, he need to hook up with a better lable company or just do him. It can happened. He could make a come back if he get the right material to grab the fans. But it might be his time up, just have to see.

  69. Secret Voice November 28, 2010

    I recall Nelly recently making a blank statement about Black women so MAYBE many of those Black women refused to support him…..

  70. Secret Voice November 28, 2010

    LMAO@ the person with the name “LAME ASS N*****”.

  71. Jasmine November 28, 2010

    Nelly is dead wrong with that long essay. The truth is no one is checking for Nelly and there is little interest in his album. The reason why “Just A Dream” went on to “sell” as a single is because his label paid major payola for promotion and radio play to get the single buzz. However, that song is not and has not ever been in the top 10 on any major radio playlist (check Hot 97, 107.9, etc) so that puts him in the same boat as Christina Aguilera were the artist has a big ego and big head but their consumer base has dwindled drastically since their prime. Look at how his last album flopped. His style of music is just not hot anymore.

  72. theman1 November 28, 2010

    For starters i agree with Nelly. This man has sold a ton of albums. He deserves his respect. Nelly’s album was treated as a secondary or whatever album. His label should have sent out single to Urban as well. Lol at the people saying that the Pop audience does’nt really buy music. Then who the hell is buying Gaga, Beyonce, Swifts, and Eminems albums. Yes they all have strong fanbases but people will buy your album if they like it. Nowadays you need smash singles, a ton of promo, videos, and a great album. Jive has become a terrible label. They push to many artists at one time, but they don’t promote them. They’ll release 1 song and thats it.

    Record labels now needs to step their game up. Itunes is overrated. Even on Itunes does’nt really sale albums like that. The first week the sales are great then after that it’s the physical products that keeps the sales afloat. If your music is great i’ll buy your album period. Itunes need to start charging more for there singles. If music is only gonna be about singles then artists probably will stop making albums. I would not make music just to make a single, thats dumb. Now, you have to go all out in order for your album to do well.

    Nellys label needs to step it up.

    By the way Rihanna has sold 400k ww this week.

  73. theman1 November 28, 2010

    Another thing out of the million plus albums that Taylor has sold almost 800k of that was physical product. Take that away and she would have only sold about 200k plus. See the physical product is still very important. IItunes is only big because of it’s singles thats all. The Urban crowd buys music really ? Thats the demographic that purchases the least amount of music. Example great albums like Fantasia’s & Monica’s have only sold a little over 500k & 300k. Trey Songz had a great first week with almost 240k and yet he’s only at about 460k. So ya’ll might wanna revisit that statement, and these numbers are coming from artists that have Urban hits.

  74. @LameAssNiggas November 28, 2010

    u talkin like its easy to get a #1 hit. and are you stupid now adays its all about singles CDs don’t even sell anymore where u been?

  75. rico November 28, 2010

    Nelly is old news at uni/motown…it’s on to the next….. a few things nelly said are important:

    1) shipping 200k units isnt alot when you consider the single and Nelly’s previous sales

    2) You have a sales team at distribution that doesn’t like rap muchless black men- no over the quota for u.

    maybe nelly could only sell that many albums the first week compared to the 2 million sold single- maybe people have wised the f*** up and said Im not buying a whole f****** album of Nelly telling me how he’s trying to f***…

    No matter what you gotta respect Nelly- the dude has sold millions upon millions of albums and singles for universal who only see Nelly as diminishing returns from here on out…. hollla….

  76. Secret Voice November 28, 2010

    LMAO @ The Rihanna Stans that come on any blog that’s not about her trying to make it about her.It’s also funny how they count WW sales with her but when Chris released his cd,they tried to pretend he didn’t sell Graffiti in other parts of the world.Rihanna stans would lead many a fool to believe that Chris sold the first and only number given by a bias media in that first week and that’s it .I laughs my a** off at these people coming here lying saying she sold 400,000 worldwide when Susan Boyle sold over 328,000 in her second week of release in the states,which was more than what Rihanna sold in her debut week,love it!

    Many of her stans were saying she would sell atleast 600,000 the first week.The really pathetic thing is that she had to buy many of those cd’s herself and her shyt went on sale which means it’s a lost for Def Jam and her.Susan Boyle,Taylor Swift and the 10 year old kid that came in second ahead of Rihanna shyt didn’t go sale,which means the label makes a profit and so does the artist…KARMA IS A BEAUTIFUL THING!

    Rihanna is nothing but a lot of played out hype.She is hyped up by some in the media and she’s hyped by stans that go to various blogs using atleast 7 names to say the same shyt about her over and over.With all the publicity she got,she should have had Taylor Swift numbers because truth is everyone that has outsold her did not get the pub she go and yet their fans bought their music.

  77. Kio November 28, 2010

    I was thinking about what Nelly was saying he is absolutely right! Why Rhianna dominate the radio stations?? Somebody got some clout to push those singles out like a h** on section 8!! Benjamin was right, there isn’t any variety anymore, it just mindless bull s***!!!!!!!! The industry was became like wall street, but the m************ come from main street!!!! I beg someone to agree with if you would!!! It is a big monopoly now, they are marketing to the younger generation today, nothing is wrong with that, but at the same time it has become just to f****** much!!!! I swear man I have heard some dope ass cds this year, but they won’t get the play, unless we as a people demand that these f****** labels, radio stations, any form of musical connection possible means of that national media, we make these son’s of b****** rich, so why that f*** can’t we demand that artist to start appealing to the middle of tha f****** spectrum !!! Something has to give, we always complain about the artist we like not selling !!!!!! It’s so f*** up to say hey, make tha music the way I want to because there are so many channels of music likability , we can’t discriminate , but we have to stop this s*** by demanding they start promoting better talent, to hit them where it hurts lets f****** boycott, lets take a got damn stand for music!!!! I knoe I sound f****** off, but s*** like we got this whole Tea Bagger movement going on, so shall we do with the music!! The f****** world can end today, but the music will never die!! Real s***!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  78. TRINAFAN November 28, 2010

    Nelly your a “RAPPER” not a R&B singer…. check the soundscan on the two singles u had.. well 1 if you exclude the one w/ Kelly… “Just A Dream” was more r&B rather than rap.. did you realy expect to sell an album just off of that?!?!?! mmmmmmm #tryagain
    no h8 cuz i liked nelly since country grammar but u kidna gotta kno when ya time is up…

    everybody and they momma wanna put out an album and they needa f***** stop these labels are fukin idiots lettn some of these artists put out albums knowin they gonna flop smh…

    RIHANNA’s album was more rushed than a fast food drive thry PUH LEEZE, altho “Man Down” and “Cheers, Drink to that” was decent that sh*t was bound to flop sorry…I F**** w/ rihanna tho i bought “Good Girl Gone BaD” and really like “Rated R” this last one tho mmmm not so much

    NICKI loved loved loved will it sell a mill mmmmmmm i hope so i really do but i doubt it… i say 5 hunit thou, 6 hunit thou tops……

    #AnywayDoe FREE KAT STACKS BIIIIITCH

  79. TRINAFAN November 28, 2010

    oh if someone drop another F****** electro-pop record ima F****** BLOW MY BRAINS OUT!!

    i.e. –

    FloRida – club cant handle me
    Rihanna – only girl
    Kelly Rownland – commander

    ALL GOOD SONGS BUT ALL ELECTRO POP AND EVERYBODY ON THAT SH*T LETS CHANGE IT UP PPL!

  80. vegasgirl November 28, 2010

    I believe and agree with Nelly, all of a sudden before Nicki’s release I hear ” See through me” on the radio WAY more than just the week before. So all of a sudden everyone wants to hear that particular song?.. please. I personally never have like Nelly as an artist so hsi failure doesn’t affect me but ALL labels are doing this. If the labels have to “stop the bleeding” from lost profit, they will cut PR budgets for some to give to an artist that they want to really promote, hoping to generate $$$$.

    All labels do this but notice the artist complaining the loudest are all part of the massive Universal Music Group which included Interscope, Universal Motown, Island Def Jam, etc. UMG pumps alot of money into promo- also notice how a load of UMG artists are dominating radio and digital airplay. Nas, Dream,Eve, now Nelly have all openly complained about not receiving ” the machine” treatment from their respective labels. The reason Amerie went to Def Jam was for the promo and then look what happened to her, suddenly her promo disappeared ( I personally think it went to Rihanna’s Russian Roulette video ). They did that because they felt Amerie COULDN’T generate the profit Rihanna could.

  81. ico November 28, 2010

    Yes he does!!!!!!!!!

  82. Carmen November 28, 2010

    @trinafan said “…these labels are fukin idiots lettn some of these artists put out albums knowin they gonna flop smh…”

    Truest words in the whole post. His low album sales have nothing to do with his labelmates. I could have told Nelly not to put that album out right now because it won’t sale. Same for Llloyd Banks and Keyshia Cole. Somebody better tell her. Nelly had no Buzz or anticipation for this album so if I owned a record store why would I want it in my store to have it collecting dust for over a years time span? Just ask yourself that question. Artist have to stop being lazy and expecting the labels to do all the work for them.

  83. vegasgirl November 28, 2010

    But I don’t agree with Nelly on one thing, the relationship is not 50/50. The artist is an employee of the label, the labels have final say on EVERYTHING ( budget, release date, final song selection,everything) . May be when Nelly first was signed things may have been a bit more balanced but I understand profitwise why the labels do this. Why throw money at a sinking ship? But I also believe they are hurting themselves by not promoting and supporting more artists. They are pinning all their hopes on a few artists hoping to keep the label afloat, putting pressure on the artists to continue to get hits and money.

    The labels will do anything to get a buck, 360 deals which always will profit labels more than the artist, anything to create a buzz hopefully getting more sales. So if that means we as an audience are forced to listen an artists songs continuously on mainstream radio, to then “train” us to like a song and artist hoping the result is us purchasing songs/albums then that is what they do. It works.

  84. Carmen November 28, 2010

    @vegasgirl if Nicki’s album is a success, your argument holds no weight because Nicki didn’t have any major smashes on the radio from her cd. Her songs usually have to cross over to the pop side. Look at the numbers. Her singles move up slow and steady on the charts.

    What helps Nickis is all those features she was on. It created a buzz and anticipation, who is this girl? People wanted to hear more from her and it does help that the female rap world had been dead for years. She def wasn’t being lazy, she made it a point to have her name out there. She was on radio tours promoting, city to city pink friday album release parties, called her cd “pink friday” after the big sales day, collaborated a with breast cancer sponser, got in with Mac lipstick, generated millions of followers on twitter, and she was tweeting abt her album every minute on her twitter and facebook pages. People may not like her music, but you cant deny she was putting in work all year.

    What was Nelly doing for people that follow him on twitter to not even know he had an album out. People can holler gimmick all they want but if Nelly used one, maybe he wouldn’t be cussin out his label right now.

  85. FUTURESTARdelux November 28, 2010

    LOL at the people saying international sales don’t matter, they matter to people like MJ, Mariah, Madonna etc who have sold hundreds of Millions and most of them internationally, selling an album is selling an album IDGAF if it’s in the US, UK, Russia or Japan.

  86. fxhfx November 28, 2010

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  87. whatnow November 28, 2010

    the point is that Nelly is a rapper not a pop star, Nelly was selling 10 million in the states alone while Gaga was still an unknown in NYC. Nelly is not Gaga, Rihanna, etc..and he is not as musically smart as Eminem..LTWYL gets played on urban radio, pop radio, etc… and Eminem has a guest spot on Nicki’s album…smart…Eminem got the pop/crossover hit and never sacrificed the urban crowd or his fanbase…Nelly could do that and his album sales from this album and his last album tell the story…Should we be bring up his embarrassing song with Fergie? Telling you, Nelly needs to realise it’s his music that is the problem..people will cop the whole album they are emotionally connected to the music and the artist..Apparently, Nelly isn’t connecting to the record buying public, but they like his single. Not the same thing.

  88. whatnow November 28, 2010

    Correction…Nelly could not do that…Nelly cannot do what Eminem is doing..or Kanye, Jay Z for that matter…Nelly’s past two albums tell the story…

  89. Try Again… November 28, 2010

    He may have a point, but a lot of you are not acknowledging the fact that Nelly’s music is mediocre. I live in Saint Louis (his hometown) and don’t even listen to his music, sorry. Yeah, he’s been known for selling albums, but he’s still following the same formula-pop/club singles with no substance and now it’s getting old.

  90. Try Again… November 28, 2010

    I also agree that worldwide album sales mean a lot, so if Rihanna (ot a Rihanna hater or stan at all) is only selling 400,000 worldwide then that isn’t saying much since people do that in the U.S alone..Womp :\

  91. Try Again… November 28, 2010

    International sales*

  92. theman1 November 28, 2010

    400k is damn good ww.

  93. ChrisJCRM November 28, 2010

    who cares. Just because you had a HIT single doesn’t mean your album will sell. Perfect ex. Rhi. That b**** has/had 2 monster hit singles around the world and still flopped.

  94. MT November 28, 2010

    Damn nelly need to go back to school. Poor thing, he tried so hard to sound educated too. It’s cute

  95. tones November 28, 2010

    Nelly spoke the truth. 3 prime examples are Ciara, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera. Ciara’s first 2 albums sold 8 million albums and produced 8 hit singles and videos in one area or another, Jive promoted the hell out of Fantasy Ride, but the album leaked and people didn’t buy it, it has only sold around 350,000 copies worldwide, so the music industry for some reason began to label her as flop artist and Jive didn’t do anything, now look at her, they’re barely promoting Basic Instinct, they booked her TV shows the week before and during the album’s release. Mariah’s last album, Memiors was critically acclaimed but Def Jam didn’t promote it because they were too busy promoting Rihanna’s Rated R album which didn’t perform as well as expected and Christina Aguilera had a really good album which Bionic, but becasue Not Myself Tonight was compared to Lady Gaga her record label stopped promotion and only shipped 300,000 copies which is why it has only sold around 235,000 copies in the U.S. It’s sad that the talented artists are the ones who always suffer but the sell outs are the ones who have all the success. Honestly, Ciara, Nelly, Mariah and Xtina need to leave their labels and sign with a new label or become independent artists.

  96. monique November 28, 2010

    idsh u guys got any of ur info from his rant b/c im clueless wth he’s talking about.

  97. Katmassive November 28, 2010

    Nelly is right 100% i really didn’t know it was coming out until i saw it bootlegged damn shame.

  98. chitwnchick November 29, 2010

    NELLY DOES HAVE A POINT I DIDNT KNOW WHEN THE ALBUM CAME OUT
    ITS A DAMN SHAME WHAT THESE RECORD LABELS ARE DOING TO GOOD ARTIST !! RECORD LABELS PUTTING ALL OF THIER MONEY INTO ARTIST WHO DONT GIVE GOOD MATERIAL THEY MAY HAVE NUMBER SINGLES BUT THE ALBUM AS A WHOLE DONT BUT SOUNDING LIKE NOTHING AND ITS NOT FAIR PUT THE MONEY BEHIND TALENTED ARTIST WHO WILL ACTUALLY DELIVER SUPPORT TALENT NOT!!! THEIR SCANDALS AND HIGH FASHION OUTFITS !

    RECORD LABELS GET YOUR S*** TOGETHER!!!!

  99. lola November 29, 2010

    Bobby D

    That’s not the case. Downloading illegal music has been a controversy but it’s not as epic as people make it out to be. If it was, don’t you think music labels would be working with the government more to try to track down people who illegally download albums? Lady Gaga sold over 12 million copies of her album and artists like Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and the B.E.P. always sell over 5 million of their albums and have this past year so again, that’s not the reason.

    TheRealNicky

    400,000 first week…. wow? Honey, Nicki is selling that her first week in the US and Kanye is selling 550,000! Susan Boyle sells a million in her first week with her albums worldwide. Rihanna’s last album sold 2.8 million copies worldwide but her GGGB album sold over 9 million copies. That’s not a flop to you?

    Anyway, Nelly, just stfu! You can be bitter all you want but lets face it, you only succeeded because you were hot at the moment! You made bubblegum, trendy, catchy songs and appealed to the white/mainstream audience because catchy hip-hop was big back then. I was a bit ticked off that “Just a Dream” did so well because it’s so generic, boring, and a cop out! You only recorded such a pop song like that to get a hit single. Your album deserved to sell 60,00 copies and to tell you the truth, nobody cares about you so that’s why they just downloaded the one single and not the entire album! You need a solid fan base to buy your albums and you never had a loyal fan base, just people who fed into your hype.

  100. lola November 29, 2010

    TheRealNicky

    Rihanna’s selling 400,000 the first week internationally…. wow!

  101. lola November 29, 2010

    tones

    Honey do your reserach! Ciara’s first album sold 3 million worlwide (majority of the sales being in the states) and the second sold 1.5 million (1.3 sold in the US). Her first two album did not sell no damn 8 million! Why do you Ciara stans act like “The Evolution” was a success. Yea it went platinum in the states, but was a dramatic decrease in sales from the first album!

  102. KD November 29, 2010

    Just because people liked your single it does not automatically mean that they will want to buy your album. 2.5 million single sales do not mean shyt.

  103. Kingsly May 8, 2011

    I think everyone was getting all excited to buy his big comeback album with the success of ‘Just A Dream’ but after ‘Move That Body’ came out and dramatically flopped thanks to dr. luke i think it reminded people of Brass Knuckles and people assumed it was going to be the in same musical style of Brass Knuckles and people just avoided it!

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