Is Justin Bieber's new album too hip-hop for pop?
theGRIO REPORT - They are early reports that Justin Bieber's first week sales for his new album are disappointing worldwide and the finger pointing as has already begun as to why...
Justin Bieber’s first week sales for his new album are disappointing worldwide and the finger pointing as has already begun as to why.
The “Boyfriend” singer’s Journals will be his lowest debut for an album in his brief but successful career, coming in at number 46 in the U.K. next week.
There aren’t any definitive facts to explain why Bieber’s album has under-performed. Some critics point to the fact that Bieber was giving away a free track from the album each week on Twitter, plus if you’ve followed the pop idol in the media over the past year, he hasn’t been receiving the most positive press.
From being caught in the Brazilian brothel, to the taped physical altercations with the paparazzi, Justin Bieber the baby faced teen is no more. A more mature Bieber is here; ready to sing about real love and adult passion.
The default leader of the new generation of blue-eyed soul, Bieber gave his mostly tween fanbase an R&B album that would be more likely reviewed by The Source than Seventeen. Critically, Journals has been well-received, but Justin Bieber’s new bad boy image may have backfired.
History has shown that when white pop artists want to reinvent their image or sound, it doesn’t hurt to swerve into the hip-hop lane. Before Miley started twerking, there was Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears. They all reached out to elite rap producers to make their music more edgy.
Bieber has always straddled the line between R&B and pop but the emergence of Miley Cyrus in the hip hop genre has changed the game.
Being labeled as a ‘twerk’ queen was beneficial to her mainstream sales as Bangerz cruised to a number 1 debut on the Billboard charts. Though her recent interviews alluding to sex and drug use could be labeled as crass, she’s maintained her core group fanbase, unlike Bieber.
Bieber allowed the public to know about the speeding tickets, the crashed cars and that he has rapper friends like Lil Twist and Tyga and the term ‘acting black’ was thrown around. Seeing America’s favorite teenage heartthrob transform into a tattooed bad boy so quickly may have been too much for the “Beliebers”.
It’s not just his music. Bieber’s first full-length concert movie Never Say Never made $99,036,827 worldwide at the box offices while its 2013 follow-up Believe was critically panned and bombed with a
$6,021,552 opening.
Still, Bieber’s management team shouldn’t be in crisis mode, but they may want to take a step back and gauge how the “Recovery” singer’s image is damaging his success in the long term.
You can check out Kyle’s musical coverage on theGrio music page, and follow Kyle on Twitter at @HarveyWins.
