The dreaded “sophomore slump” – the career hurdle that’s caused the fall of a number of music history’s most promising acts – currently stands to add Grammy-nominated rapstress Iggy Azalea to its lengthy list of casualties.
Azalea, who didn’t exactly experience “overnight success” in her transition from virtual unknown to one of rap’s leading ladies, did see her career go from 0-100 (real quick) after her participation on Ariana Grande‘s horn-filled hit ‘Problem’ and the release of her own history-making single ‘Fancy.’ But, with the triumphs of both singles came the real “problem“: replicating their successes.
The endeavor would be doused with degrees of difficulty as the saucy Aussie’s public profile rang as the exact antithesis of her Billboard chart story. Indeed, fielding attacks from the likes of Nicki Minaj, Q-Tip, Azealia Banks, Snoop Dogg, and even fellow Caucasian rappers Eminem and Macklemore, the court of public opinion joined them in finding Azalea guilty of cultural misappropriation and inauthenticity. The effects of the verdict would be manifested in poor ticket sales for her headlining arena tour and fuel its cancellation (reportedly due to shifting focus to her debut album’s follow-up).
That follow-up, titled ‘Digital Distortion,’ found its kick-off via the bumping bop ‘Team’:
Even garnering a head bob from the staunchest of Iggy-haters, ‘Team’ initially showed great promise after its first set of promo rounds hoisted it to a #42 debut. Unknown to fans at the time, that was the good and the bad of it.
Dropping to #71 the next week, tune quickly slipped out of the Hot 100 after that. To add, despite ongoing promotional efforts on major networks and venues as recent as mid-June to support ‘Team,’ it appears its days of Hot 100 play are finished.
What went wrong? Is the backlash against the rapper so strong that no matter what or how good her product, she’ll still be disregarded? Or, was ‘Team’ simply the wrong song to silence the haters?
You tell us: what caused the failure of ‘Team’?