Usher’s opening week number prediction for his new LP ‘Hard II Love’ has arrived.
How he’s set to fare?
Find out below…
Mac Miller (Warner Bros.) 35-40k SPS, 30-35k album
Aaron Lewis (Dot/BMLG) 32-37k, 30-35k
Usher (RCA) 25-28k, 20-23k
So, what went wrong?
As many have pointed out before, Usher’s biggest problem doesn’t stem from his music, but from the presentation of his music.
For, as the likes of Beyonce & Drake surround themselves with masterminds tasked with shaping their brands, Usher’s team seem to have taken an incredibly relaxed approach to his Pop culture positioning.
He’s an icon.
Alas, his camp seem to have forgotten how easy that is to forget in a game as this one.
The last two years since ‘Good Kisser’s release should have been spent turning him into a soulful/youthful Adult Contemporary act.
Unfortunately, more effort has gone into making the mistake of transforming him into Chris Brown‘s contemporary.
Like so many seasoned artists before him, Raymond made the mistake of trying to turn back the hands of time to win over “younger fans” with visuals and material that are beneath him.
What he should have been doing instead?
Wooing those who have already been there with a campaign which presented him as Bryson and Brown’s older, wiser yet spirited older brother, and flaunted said vitality with fitness-focused shoots.
Alas, his inability to see the value of his age and experience are the reason he is struggling to compete with artists he fathered.
One also has to wonder who approved the project’s trypophobia-inducing cover.
![Extended Trailer: Prime Video's 'Cruel Intentions' Series [Starring Savannah Lee Smith, Sarah Catherine Hook, & Zac Burgess]](https://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cruel-intentions-prime-trailer-tv-adaptation-thatgrapejuice-2024-464x260.jpg "Extended Trailer: Prime Video's 'Cruel Intentions' Series [Starring Savannah Lee Smith, Sarah Catherine Hook, & Zac Burgess].")
Ooh my gosh.
Usher should be marketed as a legacy act, like Barbra Streisand…his team should focus on his FANS, NOT a new generation of kids…Barbra consistently gets #1 albums because her team KNOWS who her real fans are…she’s not trying to collaborate with Future and Young Thug lol…Usher needs to collaborate with John Legend and Babyface, JUST LIKE Barbra Streisand did! His R&B music should have STYLE, CLASS and REFINEMENT, just like he USED to make…No Limit was HOT GARBAGE…Mariah and Usher need to have a meeting over brunch lol….Wale, Rick Ross, Meek, Future and Young Thug collaborations need to be replaced by Kanye, Jay-Z, Drake, Weeknd and Ed Sheeran collaborations!
I agree, By now Usher should’ve been heading the John Legend/Luther Vandross route and doing adult contemporary and should only sing his classics and dance at award shows or if anyone wants to see him in concert.
What usher/male singing artists forget is that as a woman you can be a “pop tart” (no offence) for a while as long as you wear a nice dress and get a few magazine covers. As a male artist you have to grow with your core group and for women that is becoming a mature man and not trying too hard to be youthful.
Mariah Carey is doing great at almost 50 years old thanks. Her timeless Xmas music will always saly worldwide every year to begin with. Usher (no shade to him) is not on that level. Sorry.
Even my Flotus paved a better way…
Beyonce is lowkey a legacy act while we are at it.
Please it is not fair to compare a 38 year old User to a 75 year old Streisand
Usher had so many highs and lows in his musical life
the album had nearly zero Promotion it was not promoted and marketed well
What the hell are you kids talking about? Lol. Beyonce’s real fans, the ones who were actually old enough to appreciate that era are still pissed that she refuses to do a straight R&B album. The truth is the chicks in the hood would rather listen to a Rihanna song (who is at times more pop than Beyonce could ever be) than Beyonce.
My bad you guys I meant to put this in the comment below.
The main difference is, no matter what genre Beyoncè sings, she will sell. She can make a full-country album and still do 300k+ first week. She can sell off her name alone.
I think its because Rihanna has been Rihanna for longer than Beyonce has been this version of Beyonce and it came too late. If Rihanna at 30 started doing country music people would question her motives to why she didn’t do it before. There is something to be said about evolving and staying true to your sound and changing completely
Let me go buy this album. It’s actually really good! It’s just that I subscribe to Tidal which he is co owner in and he’s paid off that alone but honestly Usher is at a stage in his career where sales really don’t matter. I don’t think they matter to any artist anymore. It’s all about the Tour really because people are listening to the music it’s just the way of getting the material has evolved so much,
Yall remember usher mom got fired by his son?
This is what happens when you don’t listen to ya fans. Alicia Keys has been making great rnb and still found a way to evolve without ditching ha craft. So did brandy. And Monica. And jazmine sullivan. Hell even Beyoncé. EVEN rihanna! They LISTEN to their buyers! This is so sad I feel for usher.
I beg to differ on Beyonce….she does not always listen to her fans, i mean The Hive has been begging her to put her album on other streaming sites, doing more promo aside from random performances…..Or make more pop oriented songs. She has gotten very urban and more experimental, which has alienated some of her fans…ESPECIALLY WHITE PEOPLE. But where she prevails is that, she has such a strong brand that no matter how experimental she gets she will always sell..not on adele’s level, but she will always be consistent…WHICH IS BETTER, IN MY OPINION.
No you’re right. White people have been seriously upset with ha lately but she got her pop music out when she released ha third album so I feel like she’s been down that route and even then she still didn’t abandon ha craft.
I agree also. Beyonce older fans who would never consider themselves have members (because most are too grown) are screaming for the Beyonce they knew and loved, the non swearing overtly sexual one.
Exactly…To be honest…i really think Bey hates singing pop music. She probably hates singing songs like Single ladies etc…mainly songs from the I AM…ERA. Though it was her most commercially successful era, its almost like her DAD just made her sing those songs to keep the WHITE people happy….BEYONCE IS AN R&B ARTIST TO THE CORE, IT’S VERY CLEAR. FROM HER DESTINY CHILD DAYS, R&B AND HIP-HOP IS WHERE HER HEART TRULY LIES, AND THAT IS WHY GETTING RID OF HER FATHER WAS VERY GOOD FOR HER..SHE FOUND HERSELF AGAIN. LORD KNOWS, IF MATHEW WAS STILL AROUND, THERE WOULD BE NO LEMONADE OR SELF TITLED.
Right. I hated when people were like “lemonade and self titled are her blackest albums” like no she was making hood s*** since check on it. She never cared too much about politics but now that ha brand is so strong she’s in the best position ever.
It wasn’t only white people who loved her singing those songs, black people also enjoyed her music in those era’s. Also, if Beyonce wrote half of those songs as she claimed then why would she hate singing them, she wrote them
@surprise i love how you anlyse this s***!
уєα αℓι¢ια ωαѕ нσт υитιℓ тнαт gιяℓ σf fιяє αѕн. вυт яєѕρє¢тfυℓℓу αѕ α fαи ι’м αвℓє тσ fσяgєт тнαт вє¢αυѕє мαувє тнαт’ѕ ωнєяє ѕнє ωαѕ αт ιи нєя ℓιfє. αятιѕт ∂єѕєяνє тσ єχρєяιмєит вυт ι тнιик тнєу ѕнσυℓ∂ ∂σ ιт ωιѕєℓу. нανє α fєω ρσρ ѕσиgѕ вυт кєєρ тнє яσσтѕ σf тнє αℓвυм тнє ѕαмє αѕ ωнєи ρєσρℓє fєℓℓ ιи ℓσνє ωιтн уσυ. ι тнιик ℓαвєℓѕ тєи∂ тσ gσ ιи тнє ∂ιяє¢тισи σf ωнαт ιѕ σи тнє ¢нαятѕ αт тнє мσмєит ωнєи тнєу ѕнσυℓ∂ яєαℓιzє тнαт α gяєαт αℓвυм ¢αи ¢нαиgє тнє ¢нαятѕ. тнє мυѕι¢ ѕнσυℓ∂ αℓωαуѕ ¢σмє fяσм ωιтнιи. мαувє ιт’ѕ ωнαт υѕнєя ωαитє∂ вυт ι fυℓℓу αgяєє ωιтн тgʝ ωιтн тнєιя αѕѕєѕѕмєит σf тнє ѕιтυαтισи. ι нσρє тнιѕ ¢αи нєℓρ α αятιѕт ωнσ мιgнт ѕєє тнιѕ. ѕтαу тяυє тσ уσυя ¢яαfт αи∂ ѕιиg fяσм уσυя ѕσυℓ αℓωαуѕ.
what is this mess, delete your account right now
Good kisser,all falls down, she give to you don’t mind not on the album like he doesn’t care his fans black ppl hate his ass.
i guess if u aint white or make borin music like adele u cant sell albums sad
Usher’s debut album from 1994 sounds more mature than his new album…THAT’S the problem!
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/76/Usher-raymond-album-1994.jpg
Damn,,,and before any of u say its because of TIDAL….i really thing even if he put it on all streaming sites the numbers would not have been that different. Usher is one of those artists that at this stage of his career, he needs a HIT to sell…and CRASH AND NO LIMIT, WERE NOT.
No limit went top 30 soooo it was a hit.
A MODERATE HIT……..HE NEEDS A HIT LIKE EITHER CLIMAX OR ‘OMG’ TO SELL AN ALBUM.
DEATH AT USHER BEING OUT SOLD BY MAC MILLER???? LAWD!!
YIKES
Wow…..The mess started with the cover!
No, the mess started with not staying true to your fans.
Right Jamie.
I think lack of promotion was at fault, that and album wasn’t really that good.
I think his mistake was choosing Tidal as his platform to sell this album. Tidal is a hot mess. His other mistake is his choice of music. Nothing he released this year is any good. He should stick with his original sound, instead of doing what’s popular. Not all artist can keep up with modern times, & Usher is one of them. So if he wants better results, he should just be his self. This “sales” stuff only proves how corrupt the music business is… because Usher is the best of his kind.
OMFG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
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I’ve been telling off those JT fans saying “JT was always better than Usher” but now they have ammo to tell me off now 🙁
HASHTAG: #Nooooo
Did you buy the album?
Don’t buy CD.
Im not really surprised. Hes been throwing random singles out for like a year, none of them that are really of his normal high standard. I dont think anyone had any clue when the album was going to drop. The lack of promo for the album doesnt help either.
I expected low, but not that low. Ouch. With that said, this album didn’t do much for me. Same old dreary music a lot of popular r&b artists are putting out now. He better call Pharrell lol.
This wouldn’t have happened had he sold an album during good kisser and I don’t mind. Even though I hated I don’t mind it still was a major success and could’ve been his “yeah” moment for this album and then released a ballad with a beat for urban radio and could’ve done a solid 150000 first week.
I totally agree. “I DONT Mind” was a hit. #11 on the charts with 0 promo and was leaked months prior to the offical release date and radio add on date. he should have released the album then, even if it was not ready. dragged out the single with a s*** music video, even 2 to keep our attention. opened up the grammys and released the album around holiday/ new years / valentines day. but he scrapped that project for this new music. im a huge usher fan, but this is nothing i want to buy. there is no rnb in it. there is not hip hop and b in it. there are weird edm 2012 dated tracks…im just not a fan at all
There is nothing edm about this cd what are you talking about?
well the last few songs are more dance pop than rnb with the vocal style, and instrumentals.
This is horrifying.
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Usher is his name, USHER.
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The single (“No Limit”) currently has over ’50M AI’ thus there should be no excuse for him selling under anything under 50K units in the first week and the fact that may be selling less than Fantasia and on par with Ciara is simply atrocious!
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Overall, in my opinion, his career is clearly at a confusing crossroads. He can either accept being an urban AC artist with a loyal, yet small audience or continue to strive for mainstream success. He’s choosing the latter but his music, image and promo game doesn’t match that choice. If you want to be relevant in your late 30’s, the music has to be fresh and the marketing should be smart i.e. Beyonce.
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Usher’s album is the same stuff he’s been making throughout his career – no evolution. Lyrically, it’s actually a lot less mature than his second and third album and he was underaged when he made those. Why is he talking about beating p**** and fat ass / thin waist? He should be above that after 20+ years in the industry. He got it right with “Climax”…
AGREED!!!!!!!! 100%……..ITS LIKE USHER DOES NOT WANT TO GROW AS AN ARTIST. IN HIS MIND, HE STILL THINKS HE IS LIKE A CHRIS BROWN OR TREY SONGZ. ‘CLIMAX’ IS STILL ONE OF THE BEST LEAD SINGLES I HAVE EVER HEARD…THAT SONG IS SO AMAZING AND FRESH AND COOL AS HELL. CRASH AND NO-LIMIT BELONG IN THE GARBAGE.
Agreed
i disagree as i feel he is going backwards instead of growing. he gave us adult cont. with here i stand. he was fun, a married man with his first child. when trey songz came with that 3rd album and did his best numbers (still not comparable to what usher did with here i stand), usher went down that same path as he was divorcing, single again which was understandable. he made music that reflected where he was in life. omg did amazing so did the other dance songs, so i GET why he chose the dance stuff on looking for myself. he had dive, which was a twist and similar sound to there goes my baby. idk how he felt this stuff was going to be good when all of the fails he had with these trap and b songs.
Justin Timberlake came in and stoled Usher’s spot. Usher brah what happened??
And usher let him. I hate to say it but Justin is consistent.
Justin is “consistent”? Like 2007-2012 were just so consistent in musical output..
Look…I can’t stand him neither but he HAS been consistent. All his albums have stood the test of time so far despite how generic he can be sometimes. He’s kept james Fauntleroy, ester dean, Tim mosley as well as himself as an ok writer. Usher on the other hand has switched teams so many times in order to keep up. It’s the truth.
Consistent cultural appropiating
Whatever. The bottom line is that JT (on the same label) wouldn’t be doing these kinds of numbers. Miss me with that emotional ‘appropriating’ BS, that has nothing to do with this topic. In the business and marketing game, Usher’s team is no where near as smart or thorough as JT’s.
You gotta also remember that his fan base was always scattered. He had young kids and old folk listening to him. And now most of his fans actually AREN’T young. Like Beyoncé, he has a fan base that’s still buying CDs. And the rest of them could’ve gotten it on Itunes or Amazon but the exclusivity stuff ruined that. The album wasn’t so horrible but…
As i said…..even if the album was not an exclusive, i don’t think ti would have done any much better…..HE NEEDS A MASSIVE HIT TO SELL AN ALBUM NOW. That is the diff between Usher(in 2016) and Beyonce.
@SURPRISE…
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Exactly. Furthermore, one of the biggest problems is that he doesn’t have a current hit on adult R&B radio – the demographic that usually buys albums. Yes, “No Limit” is big on Urban and Rhythmic radio right now but those listeners are more likely to stream than buy (and even then the song is doing poorly on SPOTIFY and in sales) and with his affiliation with Tidal right now, well…
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Nonetheless, even for an act like Usher, his name alone should have garnered him at least 50-60k in pure sales – This is just all around despicable from a man who opened with 1M + in the first week a decade ago and was going diamond… even our faves don’t have that!
Yup…USHER IS A LEGEND ON HIS OWN ACCORD AND RIGHTFULLY SO. THAT GUY HAS ACCOMPLISHED THING JUSTING TIMBERGAY COUDL ONLY DREAM OF DOING. ITS KIND OF EMBARRASSING…. HE NEEDS TO GET BACK TOGETHER WITH RICO LOVE AND MAKE MORE SONGS LIKE THERE GOES MY BABY OR MORE UNIVERSAL APPEALING SINGS LIKE CLIMAX…UNTIL THEN, FLOP FLOP FLOP
Death… Lol
It just sunk in now…….K.MICHELLE last album sold more in its first week than USHER…..ONLY IN 2016, DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A MESS AND A SHAME
Yet yall tried to call Britney a flop. LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOO TRY AGAIN
I was actually going to write that. But had to fix it. Lol. Britney deff isn’t a flop. But this… Uh. Yeah …
Britney is a flop. Just become someone came and flopped worse than her, does not get negate her failure.
And you guys have the nerve to talk about other artist sales. SMH!!! U guess need to realize. Music isn’t selling like it used too. Especially to the artist who have been here longer. Give credit when do. They still putting out music. So what if they don’t sell alot… It’s music!!
They are commercial artists whose job it is to sell. So yes, sales are important. You think his videos, flights and outfits paid for themselves? Profit must be made for his staff to be paid.
Artists make their money from touring
Most artist income comes from touring.
Honestly, the general public doesn’t even know he’s still singing, let alone got a new album out. Anyways, Beyonka is the only artist from that era still relevant. She officially outlasted all her competition.
EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE REALLY IS THE ONLY ONE LEFT AND JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE TOO THO.
Eminem? Pink?
Eminem is very relevant too. Pink was very relevant 2012-13 but if she released an album now i doubt it would sell 100k+ first week.
TF? Beyonce had music out during Usher’s Nice and Slow?
she was with destiny child. she may have been solo starting in 2003, but she was in the music industry since 1997.
WOW. No lie I thought it would be around 110K. This sucks…
He had a VERY GOOD run. We’all know it’s hard to return from those numbers. Time to retire usher.
Usher is like the male Christina Aguilera. Lost fans due to inconsistency and Genres changing from album to album.
The only similarity I see is that they both space their albums out by four years and they are always outshone by their mediocre peers (I.e. Christina vs Brit, and Usher vs JT).
The sad thing is that Usher wasn’t always outshone by JT. He was literally the biggest male singer during the last decade, but he let JT take his throne a few years ago due to inconsistency.
I bought hard to love Album and i’m listining until now. I could certify for having been a long time fan that it is a very good album. For me, the main problem was the choice of the singles for the promotion like no limit, missing U, crash and champions. When I began to listen, I understood the problem because he let aside other singles of the album like FWM, Bump, Downtime, tell me (brillant single of 8 minutes and a jewel for the heart) and other news. He needs to make some ViDEOS to increase his sales if he is not so disappointed to boost the sales.
“The last two years should since ‘Good Kisser’s release should have been spent turning him into a soulful/youthful Adult Contemporary act.
Unfortunately, more effort has gone into making the mistake of transforming him into Chris Brown‘s contemporary.”
Realest s hit you ever wrote!
Him and Tank and R. Kelly!
The thing with this project was that the buzz/approach wasn’t there. The promo is/was very lazy. Usher made r&b and many of you still complained. His fan base is very diverse. He shouldn’t have to be stifled creatively because other people want him to remain in a box. He needs that song that’s fresh & connects with the public. See “Climax.” Even still, his sales should be much higher than this. Hopefully, a few of his singles catch on. Radio has to start supporting these artists. And he makes all sorts of great r&b. Just because he’s contemporary doesn’t mean that he’s trying to compete with Chris/Anyone else. He’s an Icon. R&b music isn’t selling. When these artists stick to that many of you still don’t support it.
This album is horrible! I had to create a best of Usher playlist, just to feel better. He should have locked himself in the studio with Miguel, frank ocean, the weeknd and I bet he would have had an amazing album!
Well, not much of an album, didn’t really deserve to sell that much anyway. It’s not like he put that much work into most of the songs. Most of the songs sound like they were recorded in one 5 minute sitting. It’s like he scrapped a whole entire album and grabbed metro boomin’ r. city, the dream and a long list of others and just threw this together at the last minute.
But Tell Me, now that’s how you do it! It’s like a lost treasure from the early 2000’s!
EYE AM CRINE!!!! What the hell are those numbers! from the King of R&B of all people ? He needs to change the cover and rerelease a deluxe version.
It is a very good album. I Know music well but this time, Usher choices was unfortunately not understood by his fans. This is the problem of genius artists who want to take other directions with new vibes and tempos but because of that fans don’t follow them. Usher need to make good ViDEOS with new Stuff that he brings in the album nearly before the pre-order. It is not normal. For me, it is the Best and mature album that he has done with a bad promotion and a bad cover, I agree with You.
What the hell? That’s seriously all? Damn! I just hope that he goes on tour and it fares much better. But then again, who knows? I’m sure the album will eventually be certified platinum through streams, so he should be fine.
Damn even Basic Instinct nearly sold more than this and Jackie combined.
I will always have respect for Usher but he has no identity in today’s music.
He’s still making money off Bieber though so he’s good.
Random: I always felt Usher should be right next to Beyoncé. Not sure what happened to usher.
That his own fault who beiber into music industry.
Why you comparing an album from 2010 with an usher album released in 2016? If anything compare basic instinct with Raymond v. Raymond. In that case Usher reigned supreme that year.
You right
So he sold basically as the same as Jackie
Usher outsold Ciara’s entire catalouge bruh. Beyonce wishes she went Diamond. She has PR machine to hide her decline.
Bitxh what decline!?! Lemonade pushed 650k units its first week and has sold 2mil+ copies WW in pure sales. Usher wishes he could sell a fourth of that. Beyoncè has sold more records and is more commercially successful globally. Usher’s peak was HUGE but he is nowhere near consistent as Bey who was one of the biggest artists in the world then and still is now.
Usher is beside Beyonce. Musically, he stands ahead. He just needs a creative team behind him.
Peak Usher is musically great. 2016 Usher is eons behind Beyoncè; you cant even compare this s*** to Lemonade or even Self-Titled.
The album is actuallly ???. I blame it on lack of promotion.
He’s slowly turning into a Chris Brown musically.
His music is just not of quality anymore. Releasing trap music left n right and his choice of features is poor. Young thug really?
Damn less than Monica fertile flop self, Didn’t think it could get any worse than that. Poor Flusher!
F u usher flop fan.
Monica had 32k, Fantasia 26k, and Usher 20k..this just means R&B artist are selling less. With no platform, I can see why. Btw, I know you’re not throwing shade when you Stan for TinMan, girrrl lol..The shade definitely writes itself.
Meh… Cover looks like that rock thing from Neverending Story. Can’t believe he only sold that much tho… The landscape of music AND how to promote it has definitely changed…
These numbers are standard for R&B artist now a days. Especially those with RCA
They’re not standard for usher.
The MacMiller is kinda good.
Oh the numbers are in? I thought these were only predictions seeing as the album has only been out for a day but whatever. People can say it’s for the music but that’s not true. This album is great and almost all the reviews have been ranked very high. The real reason is because he didn’t get much promotion. I Have seen a lot of people that didn’t even know it was in stores already.
This is really low for him. I mean I´m not willing to call any album a flop cause nowadays almost no album sells over 100k copies first week, and most R&B releases for example cannot make it to 50k copies. But for an artist like him who not long ago had like the biggest (or one of the 3 biggest) R&B fanbases out there this is really really low. It is more like ciara type of numbers. Sorry to hear. Although I have not listened to the album and who knows… maybe people (his target audience) have listened to his album and think it is a rally bad album. Fantasia had a pretty strong fanbase too and she really sold too little this same year too. I don´t know, I just think the industry is almost done. Only 5 to 10 releases per year get some shine and can make numbers towards the million or half a million copies. And the rest almost don´t exist. Sad.
so sad…… smh… And I used to Live for Usher down! my fav album is “8701”. I just cant believe this for him….
Now when Justin Timberfake pulls more numbers, The argument isnt black & white… Its what kind of team and music they are pushing, and what age/audience they are targetting.
Marketing! Marketing! Markerting!
That’s what the music biz is. And that’s what Usher didn’t do.Beyonce’s “Lemonade” wasn’t that great with just the music. If she wouldn’t have done all that marketing and movie it would have been mediocre. Imagine hearing “formation” on the radio without that incredible visual. The entire project (movie, message, marketing, music and performances) is what’s amazing.
Usher needs to step up his marketing and promotion. With the right marketing and promotion you can sell anything, good or bad.
Like, Why isn’t he doing the Super Bowl!!
completely agree Kama as a Beyonce fan I was underwhelmed with the album just listening to the songs without the videosindividuals were definitely captivating great marketing by her and her team
No matter how you feel about the album, the gp and critics(who really matter) loved the album and bought it. Its one of the most critically acclaimed albums ever and the album could’ve been s***** but it would’ve still sold based off of Bey’s name alone. Usher cant sell off his name alone anymore.
And the reason they bought it was because of great marketing.
To have longevity, you have to know HOW to ride the trends, not simply ride them. Diana Ross did the Supremes in the 60s, but she perfectly tapped in to the market in the 70s with Touch Me in the Morning, Mahogany, and Love Hangover. She resurged in the 80s with Upside Down, Endless Love, Missing You before misstepping with Workin’ Overtime, which, like No Limit, was a hit, but something not interesting to long-time fans.
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Usher needed to think long and hard about what an Usher record should sound like at 38 yo and 20 years in the game. No Limit is NOT what an Usher record should sound like. I Don’t Mind and Climax were closer to what he should be doing.
AGREED!
Is everyone forgetting that this album hasn’t been out for a full week yet, and was only available on Tidal?
How are people calling this album garbage? This is so of his most solid work in a very long time. Although it is younger, you have top remember Usher is on the voice now, and is the God Father to a lot of top Male talents today. it’s not insane that his management would try to tap into a young audience seeing his currently position in HollyWood.
This was had promotion period. Usher should be doing electrifying performances like Bey, and putting out his albums in the way that a legend should. That is the only problem here. The album is FIRE.
Tell Me
Missin U (Those two beat and style switch ups. Are people not listening?)
Bump (Hot 100 Potential)
Downtime
FWM (Hot 100 Potential)
Rivals
Hard 2 Love
This albums is dope. The problem is, music is coming out so fast now from so many people that we listen to albums in minutes and say it sucks. This album is Steak. Chew your food and enjoy it.
Thank you! Somebody understands.promotion was the problem with this project. I only saw him on a few radio interviews and maybe one or two performances to promote this album.most of them had more to do with the movie than the album.on top of all that his album has only been out 2 days!
In my first two previous comments, I warned You about the problem of promotion that needs to be done on this album. I’m happy to have bought the album and I can’t keep on listining. I am not fan of VIDEOS but I havé a good feeling to recognize good albums. Nowadays, in the music industry, garbage songs with beautiful ViDEOS are well sold. It’s like this and USHER needs to follow the evolution of music.
AFTER confessions , the media has done everything to bring down Usher from his throne… this is the problem!
How so?
No. After Confessions, Usher and his team became sloppy and disorganized. They thought that they could ride the wave of that album for the next two, but it didn’t work that way.
So, wow. Tamar and KMichelle outselling Usher now??! I don’t know how to feel about that at all. I strongly agree with what some of you all have pointed out. Usher and his team need to focus on his fans! He should be catering to those who have loved him for years instead of trying to appeal to Justin Bieber’s demographic.
The lack of promotion and the material is what did this era in. Good Kisser could’ve been pushed harder and an album built around that.
I honestly think Usher got comfortable after the confessions era and just thought he could rest on the strength of that.Usher may be huge to us, we grew up with him,these teens today don’t know him.
A greatest hits two years after L4M would’ve at least grabbed the attention of people who never heard his entire discography or knew about him Good Kisser and a more pop oriented single could’ve been placed on the greatest hits album as singles. There’s no reason why an album by Usher should be debuting on the charts with less than 50K sold.
Wow…commercially, Monica stands as one of the most relevant r&b singers from the 90’s.
True, I agree.
Lmao, besides “Still Standing” Monica hasn’t done anything special in years!
But even code red sold 10k more than usher did, with only one single/video.
And thinking about it now, these artists from the 90’s and 00’s could look at still standing’s formula as a blueprint.
Usher old news and wash up now.
Monica is a flop and I’m glad usher flopped too. He was wayyy to arrogant. He came from the era of Brandy, Monica, Aaliyah. Your not the male Beyonce. Have several! Hahaha
I’m shocked! I had to look at those numbers twice after my mouth dropped! I mean, he just sold 128K his first week in 2010! I thought he’d at least pull in 80K! Honestly, it’s sickening to see it growing ever more difficult for the 90’s and early ’00’s R&B artist to win commercially! This isn’t Usher’s fault! They barely have a platform! They barely get promotion! Mainstream apparently don’t want R&B music coming from our vets (that have made the genre what it is) and they seem to forget about their icon/legendary status too (in so many cases)! I’ve never seen so many deserving artists NOT be celebrated the way that they should be after putting in 10-20 years! It’s not a surface issue and unfortunately, so many accomplished, true R&B and soul artists are getting the bad end of the stick! … R. Kelly (39K/2015), Mary J Blige (55K/2014), Maxwell (57K/2016), Toni/Babyface (67K), Mariah Carey (58K) and Ciara (19K) have all suffered in sales recently! You know Alicia and a few others will be next! It’s a losing game in this decade! This is exactly why we need to stop calling some of these artists a flop!
*he just sold 128K his first week in 2012!
Usher should’ve pulled a janet n focused on a physical distribution deal…like someone said his audience still buys cds…cater to them musically n business wise
We don’t buy CD,S any more nowadays.
Less than Fantasia, smh.
Honestly how do you go from 1 million in your first week 20 million worldwide in 2004 to 20K in your first week in 2016 over 12 years the dip shouldn’t be that big. 20,000 copies?! This man just received a star is considered a legend yet can’t get any hype for his album, he couldn’t even get RTs on his twitter account for it and he has 11 million followers. Bieber’s shoutouts didn’t help either. Remember when it was Tameka’s fault that theory can be thrown out the window now.
It’s disappointment but the music industry has changed greatly since the 90/00’s with technology, plus it’s all about young hip/hop when it comes to the black success. Maintaining success is harder than achieving now a day with the internet.
The Internet has been around for Usher’s entire career.
Thats bc Ush fans are on Facebook aka his age demo.
Internet has been around with usher but not as grate as it is today. Streaming, twitter etc I remember when there weren’t so many laws that we were stealing music online to hear if we wanted to buy album now it’s just about 1st single to sell. I’m sure that album cover turned people off just ugly?
Hmmm. And so many of you were in here pretending that Usher was gonna “slay” when the album finally dropped. Usher flops because he’s inconsistent and panders to trends. Something he always did, but over the last 8-10 years it’s become more apparent and more desperate-seeming. Kids already have Zayn and Bieber, they don’t need a near 40 year old trying to be part of their crowd. Meanwhile, Ushers long time fans don’t appreciate seeing him pander to the latest teenybopper trends, when they know that he’s capable of better. So, honestly, I don’t know what to tell him. He’s not gonna be able to be all things to all people like during his 8701/Confessions days. He needs to accept that he’s now past his commercial peak, choose a crowd to cater to, and accept that whatever choice he makes will alienate the other side. Only teens and 20-something pop stars are able to walk the fence and co-opt a whole bunch of different demos at the time time. He could do that once, but now that’s over.
So a lot of you ar surprised but im not. The problem with Usher is he gave a HUGE middle finger to the public when he MARRIED Tameka. He was no longer americas Single Heart throb and lets not forget him lashing out on TRL in her defense. Granted its his wife he made a decision. That my friends is when Ushers Public appeal begin to decline. He was never able to go backwards and reclaim his throne as single eligible bachelor, when he got married with kids HIS PUBLIC image became that of a GROWN MAN. Its almost like when women singers have kids. You ever wonder why Beyonce’s self titled was the album where she was more sexual then most? sHE DIDNT WANT TO LOSE THE PERCEPTION Of S** symbol. She had to show the world she was still viable and commercial and not an old woman. Any way its all good he’s worth 150 million he will be okay either way.
Blaming Usher’s marriage on his downfall is an excuse. Plenty of celebrities get married and keep their careers in tact. JT has been to Jessica Beil for how many years? Jay-Z and Beyonce have been married for how long? If things went sour for Usher while he was with Tameka, then all that says is that his house was built on sand.
Clearly he mommy issue.
TROSE…. WTF are you still talkin about ex tameka…. he divorced her years ago.. and he’s been screwing his manager for the past 6 years….and now he’s married again…. his new wife grace Miguel and manager did a terrible job managing his career. THATS THE PROBLEM. No promotion no marketing nada that’s why he’s not selling … I heard the album and some of the tracks are okay… but the album is lacking.. if you ask me he USHER SHOULD STOP SLEEPING WITH HELP. !!
#1 RULE—-NEVER MIX BUSINESS WITH PLEASURE!
USHER SHOULD STOP SLEEPING WITH HELP!! -LA
SCREAMING!
You are right at that point of view. Fans are too demanding to their artists. Of course, Usher is a human being who make some errors as any of us and we don’t have to blame him for that. As fans, we respect the artists and it is not good to see how youth project their sexual desire on artists. Some of them Young and good looking even though their album are not so good are good sales only due to their physically apparence, Young age and notoriety. It is a very problem that the music industry need to focus on because the Numbers of the sales are sometime biaised and cannot be used to judge the quality of an album. This album is very good even though the sales don’t réflect the reality.
Crazy! Ashanti’s Braveheart sold 30k first week and she’s independent so Ushers camp really f***** up somewhwre.
I don’t feel that bad, honestly. Usher let himself go and has become musically sloppy. I’m bored with him now, and apparently so are a lot of people. bad music shouldnt be rewarded.
Usher fans i think that let him retire because he also flop now.
Sips Lemonade
Not him selling less than K Michelle. He should’ve just stuck to Urban AC, whose base is very loyal. All of the singles leading up to this were so desperate sounding. I think No Limit is only a hit because it sounds like a typical Young Thug collab.
Random comparison (don’t downvote me for this) but another thing about Thugger is that his vocals are weird as hell, but he does his own thing and it sets trends, look at rappers like Lil Uzi Vert blowing up now. That’s why he receives acclaim from both critics and rap fans. He doesn’t do as well with sales but his streaming helps a lot. Usher could get that same acclaim now, with much better sales, if he remained true to himself instead of chasing urban trends. Young Thug’s career won’t last as long though.
Strongly disagree.. You can cater to multiple audience while being an icon. If your fan base is diverse, then that’s cool. It’s radio. Plenty of these artists make good music.
You always sound like such an airhead.
First of all, I notice that most of You have not listenef the Whole new album hard to love. Before You judge the quality of an album of 15 tracks, it is impressive, You need to listen the Whole 15 tracks on streaming for exemple. Since after Adele album, I have not Heard à song like Tell me of 8 minutes. I don’t talk of downtime, FWM, let me and hard to love. He had received good critics for the album is on the Market after having had a bad promotion. He has to blame himself for the bad sale Numbers.
How have you noticed that most haven’t listened to the album in full? How do you think they’ve based their opinion?
All the people complaining over here must be downloading the album from a pirated site rather than than buying and supporting him. This is album is far better than L4M and has nice tracks lie missin u, need u,crash, no limit and my personal fav Tell me. Tell me is a signature usher track. There are a few tracks like Bump(trey songz influence), let me(the weekend influence), Mind of a man(zayn influence), FWM (calvin harris influence) are trend hopping. But still album is pretty decent however it seems like he released the album in a rush due to his movie hands of stone. I m suprised with scooter braun he should have come up with some good idea. Usher should just let his mother do the management things he was doing great until she was managing his career.
And 1 more thing HARD II LOVE is far better than the 20/20 double disc s***.
Yes, I agree with You. He seems like he has packaged the album in a hurry before taking the time to make good ViDEOS on relevant tracks, having a good marketing and promoting the album through his huge fan base. Some persons on the site said they did not Know Usher has released a new album. Others gave superficial responses solely based on the bad sale numbers. It is easy to criticize a work of three years to four years witout giving your personal opinions on the tracks. As fans of Usher or not, we need to be relevant in critics if we want home to improve its sale results. To laugh at him because of his bad numbers of sales without any argumentation is useless for him actuelly.
i agree with trose usher’s mom did all the things to make him a s** symbol but usher blew it all. The transition of him from s** symbol to married family man was to fast and ppl couldnt get accustom to it specially his female audiences. He was very weird after his marriage to tameka firing his mom, defending tameka on trl, showing middle finger to paparazzi he brought his downfall by himself. He has always been interested in more aged women i mean its ok but giving his career into the hands of women who cant lead him to success is a bad idea. Usher still has time to make his mother manager and let her do what she is capable of. Usher is who he is only bcoz of his mother thats it if he dont reliaze this now then he should better retire.
Hard II Buy with that album cover #justsayin
I’m really trying to figure out why people are so strange.maybe they’re trying to be funny. It’s just a damn statue. I have seen far worse things on album covers before.
Yes, I agree with You. Usher is a Genius and talented artist but he has not the skills to promote himself his album. It is normal that he gives this part of the very important work to a dedicated person who would take the Time for the relevant ViDEOS on 15 impressive tracks and makes all the marketing and the promotion. It seems that he has not questioned his fan base on relevant tracks as It can be done by a short survenu. Off course, his mother managed him well but he is now an adult and I can understant that at nearly forty years, he doesn’t want to be managed by her. But he could have kept her mom only for all the marketing and promotion process and as a mom who gives him good advices, perhaps, she may have not refused to help him.
Being adult doesnt mean u cant hire your mother as manager she was the one who asked jimmy and terry lewis to produce certain tracks on the classic 8701 including You Remind Me and confessions diamond status itself speaks for her marketing strategies. Usher is a great artist and an entertainer but the management thing he should leave it to his mom.
Loook
Im not gonnan disrespect but why o why did USher use all these UNkowns to write his album??? Where is jd ?? Where is Bryan Micheal C** ??? Where is Priscilla Rene?? Where are the legendary writers with the God given gift??? That is where his problem lies Usher wrote 4of the songs n the whole album tanked he isnt Justin Timberlake…… try some Loyalty Justin works with Timberland wherher he is popping or NOT
I prefer when artists work with unknowns, or lower-key collaborators, because then the music isn’t overwhelmed by the name of who wrote/produced it. Too many artists run to overused collaborators, who gave them a bunch of rehashes of what they already did for that other pop star. The problem here is that the music is lackluster and Usher’s marketing is terrible.
These unknown writers as you say did a good job on his album according to me. Usher had a good idea to give a chance to Young unknown writers. The tracks are good but as S.a. And me have already mentioned with a good promotion and marketing, Usher would have sold more albums. The good and relevant tracks have not been used to make ViDEOS before the pre-orders. Many fans had no information about a new released album. Other did not listen the good tracks for not having paid the Whole album. Meanwhile the album was well received on radios. There is a real problem of marketing and promotion in the Usher camp that they need to discuss and solve. It is not normal that an international artist like Usher drops only 20-23 K on the first week!!!
It’s disappointing that these are the first week sales #s from one of the most consistent, commercially viable artists of the past two decades. Rolling Stone gave the CD a four star rating, the highest album rating of any of his CDs from RS. I think the disconnect maybe that his older fans want some “grown and s***” music from him I.e. Good Kisser and don’t really mess with the trap & b of No Limit. The younger crowd my like No Limit, may download the single, but won’t rush out and buy the album. His core fans who buy his music may think the album is like No Limit, and may stay away from purchasing it. I think he’ll be fine. He stated he knows the music game is different from when Confessions was released 12 years ago on Rickey Smiley Morning Show, the format of releasing one single, one video every few months. He should put on a dope tour and award show performances to remind people just why he is one of the best entertainers to ever do it.
Usher should have got a mega hit before releasing an album.you can’t sell on name alone these days.
This is the first Usher album I have decided NOT to purchase. I’m very disappointed! I agree with TGJ’s analysis of how the project was handled. I wish he would’ve taken a more adult/contemporary approach to this album as opposed to trying to be like Bryson Tiller/Chris Brown.
Did you even listen to it all the way through?
Even Beyonce is having a serious decline in sales but delusional fans are not seeing the trend.I wonder what trick she will use to sell the next album.blue ivy?I believe an artist should be true to their craft but at the same time make music that is commercial.you need a hit.
I’m not a fan at all of rap but I admit that I love the way Usher handles the singing rap verses to integrate harmoniously in some songs such Missing U, Bump, Let me, Downtime. I prefer that way of singing without integrating pieces of Hard rap from guests. They are still RNB songs. I remember the critics of the fans before who said they preferred him to do the Whole song without inviting raps. You will miss the beautiful song of Tell me, a pure jewel RNB, and Hard to love and FWM that pure RNB songs. To conclude, Hard II Love is a contempory RNB with a strong project that deserves to be listened. He will probably receive a grammy with the amazing song Tell Me.
tell me will definitely earn him grammy but we have to wait what justin timberlake has to offer this year coz media is very bias to him and a lot of hype will be there. But have to say that Hard 2 Love is USHER’s best album since confessions except for some mediocre tracks where he is imitating other artists. Beyonce is really very strong on visual content and usher should learn this from her.
The grammy will be probably for the pure RNB song Tell me. Please don’t skip too quickly my answer. This is just a feeling that how this song is well handled and it had nothing to do with visuals. Perhaps, Usher Will make a video for that song but good listeners are trained to reckonize good songs without visuals.
you are right but i m not talking about a specific song but the whole album. When Usher released crash ppl werent that interested in that single but as soon as he released the beautiful video, people’s perception changed for that song and many of them applauded him for that. Same thing happened with No Limit. Visuals are very important to build a certain hype and interest in the audience the trend that Michael Jackson set and many artists know that.
Due to his bad sales for the first weeks, Usher Will have to decide quickly if he wants to make ViDEOS on some tracks. Perhaps, these ViDEOS Will boost the sales for some disappointed fans but I am not so sure. The radios Will try to do part of the job to boost the sales if the tracks receive a good audience. Who know?
lets see what happens but his musical direction is right comparing to the last offerings. His fans should support him cuz this album is great and R&B too his fans are out of excuses this time.
let me is on the play
I always refuse to buy albums only boosted by visuals unless they are good to listen. My opinion perhaps I am Wrong but it seems that fans were not sollicitated at all by a good marketing approach for Usher album project of Hard to Love. He had to handle both two projects of movie and of music at a Time and it seems to much to finalise well his album. I don’t know who helped him for the marketing because they could have predicted the bad sales due to the previous results of Crash and no limit. There was such an unbelievable amateurism that is remanied hard to explain.
This album is released in a hurry. Let me, fwm, tell me should have been released as singles instead of champions and rivals but thats what i feel. His fans always make excuses whether its music or album art. there is a term called “concept” if they understand that. They didnt even knew hands of stone’s release date and plot. What kind of fans are they, not checking for their artist. I have been checking for Usher the day he announced for his new album back in 2014. What do they want, Usher should come at their doorstep and tell them “i m releasing an album and a film pls do check”? lol. This album lacks a heavy promotion and i m suprised cuz Scooter Braun is managing him. U know thats what i was telling about Usher’s mom she knows how to promote and present him. She understands black music industry well coz she is from the era of R&B greats like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, R Kelly etc.
Well you can’t really blame scooter for this he’s only taking the reigns from usher parter/wife grace miguel… she was usher manager for 6 years and that’s part of the problem… never mix business with pleasure…USHER your entire team failed you !!! I’ve been a fan since 94/95 ” “call me a Mack ” days so I’ll still support him ..
Spot on! Everytime 1 of his women manage him or is involved this happens. He should be as big or bigger than Beyoncé. His teams have failed him horribly.
Hello,
All your comments (s.a, Les) are absolutely right. Hard to love has many tracks better than Crash and No limit that could have been fantastic singles. I particurlaly listen with joy and respect for the artist off course Tell me, but Bump, let me, hard to love, stronger and FWM are also very good tracks. I hope Usher will read our advices as fans and he will make the necessary visuals that lack. Even if I have not the right to talk of his private life, as a fan of Usher, I have to admit that its very good album Hard to love was not promoted well. He has to take quickly good decisions if he doesn’t want his album to suck.
Wow
Agreed. Everytime he let’s 1 of his women run the show, this happens. Get a real manager and a real team. They would’ve told him this wouldn’t work. This is beneath him. This is a total FLOP for him. Love him & he’s still my favorite but no sir.