Idolator

Kenna can't get a break!

Props to Kanye, because this is an interesting theory/test.

In the movie world, they use the term "counterprogramming" -- it happened just this past weekend, when Hairspray opened against Chuck and Larry, and the former studio knew they wouldn't be number one, but with a woman-friendly movie they were happy to be a very profitable #2 to the male-centric Sandler flick (actually, #3, behind Harry Potter in its second week, but still). The core idea is that if the guys are seeing one thing, the ladies will watch something else (or, say, adults vs. kids; action fans vs. rom-com fans), and everyone wins.

In music, it could be argued, just the opposite is true: Luring customers into retail stores in a non-holiday week means giving the same audience twice as many reasons to go. I remember a couple of years ago, the White Stripes released Get Behind Me Satan the same week as the new Coldplay record, and they scored their then-biggest sales week, even while they sold less than half as many CDs as Coldplay. (The Stripes are 3x the band Coldplay are, but like it or not, there's some audience overlap there.)

Bottom line, Kanye has a point, and there's no shame in being a very profitable #2.

And secretly, I think he's thinking Fitty might've fallen off enough since The Massacre that he'll have an outside shot at beating him.

"The Stripes are 3x the band Coldplay are"

wow, I never dreamed someone would ever make that calculation. I would try to derive a formula for how pedestrian, boring, and middle-of-the-road they both are compared to say, Led Zeppelin, but I think it's beyond my mathematical skills.

Maybe we can call in someone from the math dept. at UCLA?

@dennisobell: I agree. While Kanye hurt his rep with the MTV Europe video nonsense, Curtis has done more damage to himself since then.

What makes people think that 50 will outsell Kanye in the first place? 50's album has been delayed several times. Considering the size of Kanye's ego, I seriously doubt he'd schedule his album release expecting to not hit number one.

@drjimmy11: Allow me to make three points:
1. Just about every band is pedestrian in comparison to Zeppelin.
2. The White Stripes are fantastic live.
3. Coldplay sucks.

@The Van Buren Boys: What makes people think that 50 will outsell Kanye in the first place?

I for one am hoping Kanye does outsell 50, but there's still hard numbers to contend with, both pertaining to sophomore albums from 2005: Fitty did 1.3m in a single week with The Massacre, and about five months later, Kanye (with the biggest hit single of his career fueling him) did an impressive-but-not-as-massive 800K-plus.

Now, what I'm implying in my original comment is, Fitty may indeed have fallen off enough in stature and fan love in the ensuing two-plus years that his drop-off might be bigger than Kanye's. (I'm certainly hoping that's the case.) But still, we're talking about each act following up two near-simultaneous albums whose first weeks differed by nearly a half-million copies. On the face of it, this is still Fitty's contest to lose.

Given all the shitty moves he's made this year, I still think he could lose it. But Kanye's gonna have to hold up remarkably well to pull it off. (And I'm not even factoring in the total cratering of hip-hop sales nationwide that's occurred since 2005, which could kill both of them.)

jesus christ! Kenna got bumped back in September? again?!?

I seem to be the only one who finds it wrong to make a big push to sell ear candy to the American public on the anniversary of 9/11.

@ Hyman- that anniversary has been whored out and abused so much, i don't think people will ever pay it that level of deference again.

Weird, because in my old math textbooks it was always "Led Zeppelin = pedestrian" as a suburban high school stoner constant.

Also, by that math: Kanye = 50, and Kanye + 50 = Led Zeppelin, and Kanye and 50 both individually = Led Zeppelin.