>>Shit, how many singles did
>>Sisqo get to put out?
>
>Got To Get It, Thong Song
>(mega-bubble), Incomplete (sat in the
>top 20 for quite awhile...
>i think it even hit
>#1). They were smart
>to stop after "Incomplete" so
>as not to interfere with
>his DMX collab, and to
>not overdo it anymore than
>they already had.
>
>Voodoo still had a lot of
>potential, i just think that
>Virgin got scared and didn't
>want to risk having another
>single flop.

i think you may have missed my point.

i brought up sisqo to demonstrate that even a mega-successful r&b act doesn't get to see very many singles releases (i thought it was 3, but wasn't sure). the point is, virgin released a fairly typical number of singles from the D record. i don't think they were scared, i think they were pragmatic. they did what they could with an unconventional modern r&b record. and i'm sure you realize that "voodoo" wasn't an easy album to market in today's r&b climate. i hope you also realize that r&b albums as a general rule are pretty hard to market. if your r&b artist doesn't have a hit on radio, there's not much else you can do. (contrast that with hip-hop, where cats with little radio play can still go gold...because you've got mix tapes, college radio, and hip-hop media...there isn't an R&B equivalent to The Source (don't say Vibe, the analogy doesn't work*)...there isn't any level of serious R&B mix tape scene...it's a hard thing to push...r&b crossover is an uphill climb, for whatever reason, so you have to break the urban market or die...).

* Vibe tends to mix it up: hip-hop, R&B *and* pop. Any given cover might go to a hip-hop artist or a pop star, but how many R&B male quartets have you seen on the cover? R&B female soloists? Anyway, when R&B cats are in Vibe, it's superstar level cats like R. fucking Kelly ("fucking" is officially a part of his stage name now, btw. ha.).

I could talk about this all day, but I won't.

I am of the opinion that Virgin did okay: not great, not horrible. You disagree. It's all good.

Know that R&B records are hard as fuck to market though.

I would respect your opinion a lot tougher if you threw up an alternative marketing plan. What would you have done?

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