>yes... 1 million is a victory,
>albeit a minor one.

what the fuck?

dude, look at how many R&B albums were released the same year as "Voodoo". Then look at how many went platinum. My guess is less than 5% of the R&B cats that dropped ever saw a platinum plaque. and only one successful single?!?!? that's a fucking success, sparky.

question: do you really have an understanding of the music industry or are you one of those cats that complains about how a record was promoted, determines whether a certain level of sales is a success, and really has no earthly idea what they're talking about?

>but it didn't seem like
>Virgin was really behind the
>album. 3 singles...

cough. if they weren't behind it, there would have only been ONE single.

> only one
>of which received any kind
>of promotion, 1 good video,
>2 forgettable videos...

labels don't direct videos.

> damn... D
>really is trying to follow
>Prince's career path isn't he?
> (just playin!!!!)

This is D's *second* album. What the hell, man...

>>and no one
>>said we were "here to
>>save you all".
>
>not necessarily that.. but... and i
>quote... "this is what we
>need today...this is no miseducation
>....this is the blueprint right
>here!"

so, what's wrong with the album? forget about the promotion. that's on virgin. you called it monotonous, I believe. Surely you can be more descriptive than that.

>>i see influence of this record
>>more than most shit released
>>in the last few.
>
>i'm not noticing much influence except
>within the soulquarian circle.
>sure the whole "neo-soul" bullshit
>is starting to flourish, and
>i don't want to say
>where i'm seeing influences there
>because... well i don't want
>your litmus test coming up
>with false results...and once again
>*that* is inside the soulquarian
>circle.

litmus test? why would you care about his "litmus test" results anyway?

this business is about money, obviously. D's record did well enough for Def Jam to think it should put millions behind Musiq. If D flopped saleswise, I doubt Bilal would have gotten a deal. And, in terms of negative influence, I get to see this Tank guy half-naked in his video, too. Soon, it's gonna be the era of the Musclebound Singing Guy. Thanks, D. HA.

>>just because
>>d aint flex on trl
>>don't mean shit.
>
>D's market isn't the TRL crowd.
> thats why it wouldn't
>make sense for him to
>be on there. I'm
>still trying to figure out
>why Prince was on there.

Again, this is a business. You think Virgin *didn't* want D on TRL? Please...nowadays, an artist's "crowd" is whoever the artist's label is clever enough to convince to like them. ha. I mean, do you think TRL is Marilyn Manson's "crowd"? I've seen him on there...

>>so what it is is what
>>it is.
>
>and it is good... could've done
>better though... why did Virgin
>dead the album so quickly?
>was it because there wasn't
>anything radio friendly left on
>the album??? what happened
>to that proposed "Chicken Grease"
>remix?

How long do you expect them to continue promoting the album? Shit, how many singles did Sisqo get to put out? His shit sold millions. Labels don't tend to run *that* long on promotions for an R&B album. So, relax and wait for the next joint...

Thoughtfully yours,

Spirit

http://www.mp3.com/miscellaneousflux -
Just listen, you will believe...

"I don't denounce writtens, but freestyling at its essence is improvising. It's spontaneous, uncut, mind, thought, travel, energy - all at the same time...the thing is to be at a peak where your freestyle sounds like your writtens and vice versa" - Aceyalone on freestyling (Rappages, Sept. 95)

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com