January 31 brought with it the release of Kesha‘s fourth studio album, ‘High Road.’
Her first full length project since topping the Billboard 200 with 2017’s ‘Rainbow,’ ‘Road’ – released courtesy of Kemosabe/RCA Records – is colored in with 16 tracks including the previously released “Raising Hell” (featuring Big Freedia), “My Own Dance,” “Resentment” (featuring Brian Wilson, Sturgill Simpson, and Wrabel) and “Tonight.”
The good? Unlike ‘Rainbow,’ ‘Road’ was greeted with critical acclaim for steering its sonic direction toward the sounds of her early ‘Animal’ and ‘Warrior’ days. The bad? As of time reported, ‘Road’ – also unlike ‘Rainbow’ – has not seen any of its singles hit the Billboard Hot 100.
Coming as her first album to date to know such fate, look inside to see just how that lack of buzz is set to impact the set’s first week sales:
Kesha’s ‘High Road’
First Week Sales Prediction (SPS): 40k-50k
First Week Sales Prediction (Pure): 30k-35k
First Week Chart Prediction: #5-#8
If the predictions above ring true, ‘Road’ will not only be accompanied by K’s lowest first week sales to date (among her studio albums), but could also bring her lowest first week placement on the Billboard 200.
As of time of this report, that title belongs to her 2012-released effort, ‘Warrior,’ which bowed at #6 when it premiered to first week sales of 85,000.
Bonus: Click here to stream ‘High Road.’
Kesha is an amazing talent and has a lot to say as well as show. I believe that she will exceed these expectations and hit higher on the billboard charts. This is a woman that survived being taken advantage of by an awful man. Having experienced something like that how can you not have something to say. And for her to still be able to see life in a positive light makes her an inspiration.
U are talking shìt.
She will not exceed this expectation.
Kesha may have something to say but that doesnt mean people are interested in listening.
Remember she told Katy Perry to lie that dr. Luke ràped her and katy refused.
Told u, she didnt stand a chance against lil wayne.
I curious to know how much Meghan trainor sold and also k Michelle. Lol
At least Kesha is ten years into the music industry and got beat by a respected, well known rap icon. Some artists that you believe are main pop girls get beat by SoundCloud rappers, even after including a tour bundle. Cry about it.
Lmao! Ouch. Camicky so ICKY. Kesha has countless solo hits. Unlike some girls who think they’re a star ????
The label gave this album no promo. Half the album also doesn’t even sound mixed and mastered. Just a mess. And her look this era has been very…off-putting. I’m still going to the tour though. Kinky is a bop
What about Meghan? Trainor?
Definitely one of my favorite offerings by Kesha. It sounds so raw and true to herself. High Road, Kinky, Tonight, Potato Song and BFF are some of my favorites!
The promotion for this album was horrible, and not really good single choices
No promo, and no hit single, so when you factor in those two things this is pretty decent.
As a masters student in brand marketing, I’ve had SO MANY gripes with this roll-out. So, not like anyone asked, but this is what I would have done if I was in charge of her roll-out –
Step 1: Start up promo by doing as many YouTube collabs/magazine interviews as possible to hype up the upcoming start of a new era. (NOTE: This is the only part of her actual roll-out I feel was done well!)
Step 2: Release “Tonight” as the first buzz single long before the album release. Drop it alongside a video. Emphasize that the early 2010’s sound as a conscious choice and use that as the marketing ploy. (Millennials have hit, or are inching towards their 30’s and 2010’s nostalgia will be easy to capitalize on. This push alone would lead the song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, probably somewhere around 80-100. More importantly it would rope-in a lost percentage of her old “Animal/Cannibal” era fans who would go on to buy the album after being reminded of their high-school/college glory days.)
Step 3: Push the “Tonight Challenge” on TikTok. It would basically be people going comedically over-the-top, trying to hype-up their friends to the tone of “b**** we going out tonight!”. It’s lame af, but the younger demographic will eat it up, causing the single to gain in popularity, maaaaybe even hit top 40.
Step 4: Album pre-order goes up. “Shadow” included as pre-order bonus/first official single. Perform on late-night talkshows, and pray it sticks. Grind as hard as possible with promo to get the adult-contemporary demographic. Get the attention of those “oh she was great at the Grammy’s!” fans. If done right, the song could easily hit top 20 with massive staying power thanks to radio play.
Step 5: Drop an uber-glamorous video for “Shadow” to purposely contrast the gritty “chick at a dive bar” era aesthetic. Inspire tons of “Kesha Shadow make-up look tutorial” videos to drive traffic from that demographic, and increase the singles staying power.
Step 6: Release “Resentment” and “Raising Hell” as a dual-single drop 2 weeks prior to album release. Give “Resentment” the promo budget. Serve it to country radio, pop radio, classic rock radio, everything. It would have stuck eventually. Perform it as much as possible live, meanwhile releasing an accompanying video for “Raising Hell” to feed the fans who aren’t completely satisfied with the ballads. (It’s a campy western theme video to capitalize on some of the Old Town Road “lol ye-haw” demographic.) (NOTE: The campy religious vibe of the actual video was a major mistake. It surely alienated some of the “Praying” fans she earned after the Grammy’s performance.)
Step 7: Drop the album. Release “My Own Dance” video on album release day. Sweep it under the rug. It’s pure fan service. Keep pushing whatever single has performed the best thus far.
Step 8: Release “Kinky” as the album’s final “pushed” single 2 months after album release. Release a video with a bunch of popular drag queens. Guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, where they would use it as the elimination song for the episode. Pride performances. Show up to random gay bars and perform it live – reminiscent of Gaga’s “Perfect Illusion” dive-bar promo tour. With the right promo, the could easily be one of those songs that lingers somewhere in the 40’s on the Hot 100 for several weeks.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
I actually appreciate what you had to say.
Thanks for sharing your marketing perspective ?
This article includes misinformed information. “Rainbow” was met with critical acclaim. It is her best reviewed album to date. 81 on Metacritic. High Road sits at a 72.
BlTCH we are all just gagged that Keisha is still around, okurrr?