Color Blind: No African-American Artists Had a No. 1 Hit in 2013

[john blackcorn]

http://entertainment.time.com/2014/...ican-american-artists-had-a-no-1-hit-in-2013/

Somehow, Beyonce didn't have a No. 1 hit in 2013. Nor did her husband. Or Kanye. Or....

Read more: Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kanye African Americans Miss Billboard Hot 100 in 2013 | TIME.com http://entertainment.time.com/2014/...artists-had-a-no-1-hit-in-2013/#ixzz2q4SxO0N6

Hip-hop stars Beyonce, Jay Z and Kanye West may have the power to turn everything they touch into gold but not when it comes to scoring a huge pop hit in 2013. In fact, they and other African-American artists did not have a single No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in all of last year.

According to writer Chris Molanphy, who surveys the pop charts, in a piece for Slate, this is the first time this had happened in the Billboard chart ‘s 55 years. It represents a huge contrast to 10 years ago when a person of a color recorded every chart-topping hit. Rather, African-American artists were featured on other artists’ songs last year, such as Rihanna on Eminem’s “The Monster” and T.I. and Pharrell on Robin Thicke’s inescapable summer hit “Blurred Lines.”

In a similar role reversal, Molanphy also cited that white artists topped the No. 1 spot on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart in 44 out of the 52 weeks last year.

The color omission also applied to this year’s recent inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in which there is not one living African-American artist among them — E Street Band sax player Clarence Clemmons will be posthumously inducted.

As for why this is happening, Molanphy wrote: “Music fans are playing out an unironic version of Stephen Colbert’s joke about not seeing color…and yet somehow, when the data is compiled about what we’re all buying and streaming, the Timberlakes and Matherses and Macklemores keep winding up atop the stack, ahead of the Miguels and J. Coles.”



Read more: Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kanye African Americans Miss Billboard Hot 100 in 2013 | TIME.com http://entertainment.time.com/2014/...american-artists-had-a-no-1-hit-in-2013/#ixzz2q4SjbzBt

 

[King Natty]

Wow

 

[GhostWriter]

Nobody got my money last year.

 

[Mr MajestiK]

And this information is important why?

Who gives a flying fuck if no African-American Artists had a No.1 hit in 2013?

That shit is of zero importance to anyone genuinely interested in positive forward progression that actually ensures real upward financial mobility for African-Americans not overly dependent on sport or entertainment for the acquisition and generation of sustainable wealth.

 

[john blackcorn]

And this information is important why?

Who gives a flying fuck if no African-American Artists had a No.1 hit in 2013?

That shit is of zero importance to anyone genuinely interested in positive forward progression that actually ensures real upward financial mobility for African-Americans not overly dependent on sport or entertainment for the acquisition and generation of sustainable wealth.

u cared enough to comment, so you give a fuck. btw thanks for the bump

 

[Black Radical]

And this information is important why?

Who gives a flying fuck if no African-American Artists had a No.1 hit in 2013?

That shit is of zero importance to anyone genuinely interested in positive forward progression that actually ensures real upward financial mobility for African-Americans not overly dependent on sport or entertainment for the acquisition and generation of sustainable wealth.

I agree and it is pretty meaningless. Maybe less kids will want to be rappers now.

Few black mainstream artists are producing high quality music. Jay-Z, Beyonce and Kanye just to start. I think MIguel is really dope though.

 

[Bjack37781]

Drake had a #1 single with Hold On We're Going Home. Maybe they don't classify him as black anymore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_discography

 

[Mr MajestiK]

u cared enough to comment, so you give a fuck. btw thanks for the bump

Of course I cared enough to comment.

Why wouldn't I?

Where there any actual African-American artists in the running?

Does the term artist even mean anything anymore in an industry where very few African-American's other than Prince or Me'shell Ndegeocello even play fucking instruments anymore?

My riginal post in this thread was not intended as a diss towards you but merely me thinking aloud about a shitty state of affairs that's been irking me for a long while.

 

[Rick Spanish]

Drake had a #1 single with Hold On We're Going Home. Maybe they don't classify him as black anymore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_discography

It wasn't an Overall #1, which is what this article is about.. That song only reached #1 on the R&B charts.

 

[nolaboi504]

And this information is important why?

Who gives a flying fuck if no African-American Artists had a No.1 hit in 2013?

That shit is of zero importance to anyone genuinely interested in positive forward progression that actually ensures real upward financial mobility for African-Americans not overly dependent on sport or entertainment for the acquisition and generation of sustainable wealth.

I feel you, but I think it's important because it's showing you whats going on in the industry IMO. The majority of the music that was atop the chart was black music, but sung by WHITE artist doing black music. Long story short is we don't have sh*T musically because they're making our music and most people could care less. Rock N roll all over againg

 

[Joe Money]

I feel you, but I think it's important because it's showing you whats going on in the industry IMO. The majority of the music that was atop the chart was black music, but sung by WHITE artist doing black music. Long story short is we don't have sh*T musically because they're making our music and most people could care less. Rock N roll all over againg

If black songwriters and producers are behind-the-scenes, isn't it more like we're giving them our music?

 

[Mr MajestiK]

I feel you, but I think it's important because it's showing you whats going on in the industry IMO. The majority of the music that was atop the chart was black music, but sung by WHITE artist doing black music. Long story short is we don't have sh*T musically because they're making our music and most people could care less. Rock N roll all over againg

And part of that is due to the fact that most of these talentless asswipes that call themselves "artists" these days are so obssessed with getting crossover appeal that they rush to endorse white performers like Eminem and his ilk thus helping them climb to the top whilst dissing their fellow peers in the game who don't have that complexion for the connection.

We don't support or celebrate the real artists in our midst but stay endorsing idiots 24/7.

What these crackers like Robin thicke are making isn't music that's even original but with sellouts like that bitch ass twat, Pharrel helping Thicke out, is it any wonder that he's at the top?

 

[GOLDIE]

And this information is important why?

Who gives a flying fuck if no African-American Artists had a No.1 hit in 2013?

That shit is of zero importance to anyone genuinely interested in positive forward progression that actually ensures real upward financial mobility for African-Americans not overly dependent on sport or entertainment for the acquisition and generation of sustainable wealth.

Because we run this shit !(style whys).

 

[BigATLslim]

And this information is important why?

Who gives a flying fuck if no African-American Artists had a No.1 hit in 2013?

That shit is of zero importance to anyone genuinely interested in positive forward progression that actually ensures real upward financial mobility for African-Americans not overly dependent on sport or entertainment for the acquisition and generation of sustainable wealth.

Well, damn...since you put it that way, hell naw it doesn't matter.

If black songwriters and producers are behind-the-scenes, isn't it more like we're giving them our music?

Yeah, and this is what I am single handedly trying to prevent. We GOT to stop doing that sh!t!

 

[d-weezy]

It's black behind the scenes and let's be honest, last year was an average to below average year for many black artists.

 

[Nzinga]

Cacs have stolen all black American music, and now
the other cacs, who decide what is a hit, are ignoring
the black Americans and buying black music from cacs;

You even have cac Rappers who are openly racist. How
can this be. Rap used to be the voice of the oppressed,
then cacs turned it into the music of thugs, then into the
music of everyone, and now into their music only. You
watch and see

 

[jack walsh13]

I agree and it is pretty meaningless. Maybe less kids will want to be rappers now.

Few black mainstream artists are producing high quality music

 

[ugk]

Complaining about black artists not having a #1 hit on a forum that loves to bootleg their music

the irony

 

[batmanobx]

Maybe Black Artist need to stop making this Stadium Euro Metro Sounding Garbage and make music For Us, then Us might Buy it. Black Music is Broken we need a Fix.

 

[Count23]

Complaining about black artists not having a #1 hit on a forum that loves to bootleg their music

the irony

 

[stretchwallz]

Maybe Black Artist need to stop making this Stadium Euro Metro Sounding Garbage and make music For Us, then Us might Buy it. Black Music is Broken we need a Fix.

^valid point

The billboard charts are based on a formula of airplay, YouTube views and sales. What this report informs us is that black artists are being pushed out of the industry, and won't be able to make a living soon. Imagine if none of the players in the nba all star game were black...this is essentially the same. Music has always been our strongest contribution to American culture, frightening to think what happens to us once we no longer have that influence. Messages and ideas in music can affect society drastically, seems that our voices are being silenced

 

[keone]

 

[respiration]

What you SHOULD know is...

A lot of this is the fault of Billboard Magazine.

In early October 2012, they basically RIGGED the way record sales/play are tabulated in such a way that white artists and those with a POP sound are favored.
A significant part of what we are seeing now is the direct result of those changes.


There was an article in the NYT from October 2012 called, "Changes to Charts by Billboard Draw Fire". It details just how this happened:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/arts/music/billboards-chart-changes-draw-fire.html?_r=1&

Here are a few excerpts:

Three weeks ago, the editors at Billboard, who for decades have defined what makes an American hit, shook up the song charts for various genres.

The magazine started counting digital sales and online streams along with radio airplay in its tallies for most major formats. It also created two new charts using the same criteria, breaking out rap songs in one and R&B songs in a second.

The results have given stars with a pop-oriented sound and broad crossover appeal an advantage over other artists, upsetting and puzzling some music fans. Take Psy, the pudgy South Korean pop star with the infectious dance moves whose video “Gangnam Style” went viral on the Internet. Since the new rules took effect, “Gangnam Style” has been the No. 1 song on the new Rap Songs chart for the last three weeks, even though Psy does not rap on the track and most American hip-hop radio stations have yet to embrace him as a bona fide rapper.

On the Hot Country Songs chart, Taylor Swift’s pop single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” has held the No. 1 position for three weeks, even as many country stations have rejected it, and Rihanna’s pop hit “Diamonds“ has remained atop the Hot R&B-Hip Hop Songs chart, causing dismay among R&B purists...Some R&B and hip-hop fans were dismayed that Rihanna’s song jumped abruptly to No. 1 from No. 66, and that it has remained at the top of the chart ever since.Fans of R&B singer Brandy were particularly incensed, because her song “Put It Down,” featuring Chris Brown, ]which had been in the Top 10, dropped like a stone after the rule change, even though it remains a favorite on urban radio stations.

Similar changes were made a few months ago to the Hot 100 song chart, the main chart that measures popularity across genres, and they have been widely accepted by the industry. Some critics have said there is a subtle price to pay for the new rules. For starters, it becomes harder for artists of a traditional bent, or whose work lacks crossover appeal, to attain a No. 1 hit in their genre.

Billboard made one other change to its methodology that rewards crossover hits. Previously, the magazine only counted airplay on country stations for the country chart, and spins on R&B stations for the R&B chart, and so on. Now it is counting all the plays a song receives on 1,200 stations across genres.

Kyle Coroneos, who writes a blog for the Saving Country Music site, said Billboard’s decision to count the airplay a country song gets on other formats is important. This means that traditional country artists, whose songs are played only on country stations, will be pushed down deeper into the charts, while pop-oriented stars, like Ms. Swift or Lady Antebellum, crowd the Top 10. Labels in turn are likely to encourage artists to make country records with a pop flavor, he said.

“It erodes the autonomy of the country charts in general,” he said. “I have a theory all the genres of music are coagulating into one big monogenre and this emphasizes that.”

 

[jack walsh13]

Complaining about black artists not having a #1 hit on a forum that loves to bootleg their music

the irony

 

[Lola]

I dont have time to be worried about millionaires, but anyhow, Black artists have encouraged this shit....

Justin TimberFAKE on stage singing a beautiful soul classic like this? He should never be encouraged to sing any song by the great Marvin Gaye....EVER.

Look at this shit--Beyonce happy as hell to sing with this white punk...

 

[Shitty Drawz]

u kats had a good run

 

[(0_0)..l.. finger]

Complaining about black artists not having a #1 hit on a forum that loves to bootleg their music

the irony

word..........

 

[peterlongshort]

Music sucked last year. If black people keep rapping/singing about popping bottles and luxury items we don't deserve to have a #1 hit.

You want a #1 hit? Make timeless music, not this ghetto some type of way trash that's out now.

 

[(0_0)..l.. finger]

I dont have time to be worried about millionaires, but anyhow, Black artists have encouraged this shit....

Justin TimberFAKE on stage singing a beautiful soul classic like this? He should never be encouraged to sing any song by the great Marvin Gaye....EVER.

Look at this shit--Beyonce happy as hell to sing with this white punk...

 

[Lola]

why are you fill with so much hate, Lola? Only hate the ones that don't like you or you people....

I dont like Justin TimberFAKE after he played Janet Jackson. Fuck him.

Why is every black person on that "Kumbaya" shit when it comes to accepting whites into black culture? Fuck white "culture vultures" and the black folks that support it..

 

[GAMETHEORY]

Wow

I didnt know that they were still making MUSIC...

 

[Black Radical]

Maybe Black Artist need to stop making this Stadium Euro Metro Sounding Garbage and make music For Us, then Us might Buy it. Black Music is Broken we need a Fix.

yup. That shit aint black music.

^valid point

The billboard charts are based on a formula of airplay, YouTube views and sales. What this report informs us is that black artists are being pushed out of the industry, and won't be able to make a living soon. Imagine if none of the players in the nba all star game were black...this is essentially the same. Music has always been our strongest contribution to American culture, frightening to think what happens to us once we no longer have that influence. Messages and ideas in music can affect society drastically, seems that our voices are being silenced

Voices being silenced? Thats laughable. What voice does Jay-Z, Beyonce or Kanye give us? Macklemore has more compelling themse in his music (or so I'm told I never heard it myself).

Beyonce doesn't even make R&B. Shes a pop artist. Shes half rapping on most of her stuff. About being in her knees giving a blowjob. If this is the best they have, I'm ok with it being silenced.

When we have real artists making quality music then I will cry about the shame of them being silenced. Until then, I'll stick with Raheem Devaughn.

 

[Ill Paragraph]

Peace,

I dont like Justin TimberFAKE after he played Janet Jackson. Fuck him.

Why is every black person on that "Kumbaya" shit when it comes to accepting whites into black culture? Fuck white "culture vultures" and the black folks that support it..

This.

 

[exiledking]

And this information is important why?

Who gives a flying fuck if no African-American Artists had a No.1 hit in 2013?

That shit is of zero importance to anyone genuinely interested in positive forward progression that actually ensures real upward financial mobility for African-Americans not overly dependent on sport or entertainment for the acquisition and generation of sustainable wealth.

I agree and it is pretty meaningless. Maybe less kids will want to be rappers now.

Few black mainstream artists are producing high quality music. Jay-Z, Beyonce and Kanye just to start. I think MIguel is really dope though.

yeah, it's interesting, but shit. I dunno the stats of how many years it was ONLY Black artists.

And yeah, maybe we're doing something else.

How must the Chinese feel?

 

[DiGeneral]

Maybe Black Artist need to stop making this Stadium Euro Metro Sounding Garbage and make music For Us, then Us might Buy it. Black Music is Broken we need a Fix.

Ehh, This would be the answer if WE actually were the demographic whom bought music. I agree black music is broken but, we aren't the consumer base that matters in terms of who the industry caters to (at least not right now). If dollars and cents matter to artist "A", he will need to aim his sights at those who hold the buying power. Again this is my opinion.....