For over a year, career artists have been gracefully accepting the state of the music industry, and the possibility that sales of their new releases have little chance of topping previous milestones. Then Lil’ Wayne had to go and sell over a milli of The Carter III, leaving some to wonder why they had to take a sales hit and not this gratingly-voiced punmaster. And when we say “some,” we mean Usher. Word is that Usher’s blaming Here I Stand’s weak showing compared to Weezy on Benny Medina, the manager he replaced mother Jonetta Patton with a little over a year ago. While the “full-time grandmother” has kept herself busy by knitting booties, running a label and managing other artists, its doubtful she’d reject her precious baby’s cries of “Mommy!!! Mommy!!! Make me No. 1 again!!!”
Medina, who’s an expert at holding artists’ hands, reassured Usher that his latest sales were nothing to be ashamed of, considering the current climate of the record business. But then, three weeks later, Lil Wayne’s album, “Tha Carter III,” sold more than one million copies its first week out.
“Usher was livid!,” claims an insider. “He threatened to fire everyone.”
Also troubling were the ratings for the BET Awards. While the show pulled 6.3 million viewers when Beyonce opened it last year, the Usher-headlined show drew only 5.8 million.
“People have been telling Usher to listen to his mother,” says a source. “Nobody knows how to sell him better than she does. Usher can be stubborn. But he may be ready.”
But even if Ush does return to the bosom of she that birthed him, it’s worth noting that those currently receiving her attention–Natasha, Dante, Kwiet Storm, JLack, and JPat Records–aren’t exactly setting the charts on fire. Even with her guidance, there’s no guaranteeing that Usher’s moment in the sun will fully return. At the very least, one hopes she’ll get him to rock the shades a little less and let people see her little sweetie’s eyes.
Usher mulling the return of mom-ager Jonetta Patton [NY Daily News]
There really wasn’t a single thing that went right with [i]Here I Stand[/i], as far as following up a megaseller like [i]Confessions[/i]: constant anticlimactic early leaks, the P.R. disaster that is his family life, the subpar TV performances, making the horrible “Moving Mountains” a single, etc. Even when “Love In This Club” hit #1 it didn’t really seem that big of a hit. But, y’know, this would only be a tragedy if the album was actually good. He just needs to do better next time (I’d say he can salvage this album with the right single, but I’m not even sure what that would be).
Said it once, I’ll say it again: “Love in This Club” is a fundamentally weak single. Radio’s been playing the hell out of it for months, but I’m convinced that few beyond his hardcore fans have actually fallen in love with it the way they did “Yeah!” and “Burn” in ‘04. That’s how you move a million albums in a week: you release songs people actually love.
@Al Shipley: JINX! Buy me a coke.
@Chris Molanphy: I’ll disagree, partially. I’m not a hardcore Usher fan by any stretch, but the intro to that song gets me excited every time.
At the same time, the song’s really just a package for that initial “Ay!”.
@Al Shipley: There are a couple of “nice” songs on the album, but there isn’t another single… unless he wants to submit a smooth jazz remix of “Here I Stand”.
He also took too damn long to put it out. Four years between albums while Rihanna, Beyonce, Lil Wayne and others were pumping out one record after another is ridiculous. In a singles climate you need to have something new out every three months (six months at the outside). He needs to hire some hot producer to put some new records together for him and get them out there fast.
Sorry Ursh. You can’t blame Medina for this one. Go listen to your record: not good. Oh, and what was that performance on Dancing with the Stars? Get outta here. Your steez needs updating. Yeah, seriously.