Face The Music: 10 Songs Artists Wanted You To Like, But Were Flops
We’ve all been there. You had an outfit you liked, a project you were doing, something you worked long and hard on only to find that those around you felt that it was…uh, how to say this…a piece of crap. It’s never easy, and these type of realizations happen every day in the entertainment world, where many an artist gets excited about a new single and release and force it on folks, only to find that those same folks wouldn’t touch that mess with a 10-foot-pole, let alone their hard earned cash. Here are 10 songs these artists thought were the greatest thing since sliced bread, but got the cold shoulder too fast.
Girl On Fire – Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys released the album Girl On Fire in November of last year, and being that it’s almost March and she’s still pushing the song “Girl on Fire” on us at every opportunity, you would think the album came out last month. It’s not a terrible song, but its attempt at being the girl power anthem of the decade fell short when people started noticing that Keys was doing a whole lot of yelling as opposed to singing. A bunch of remixed versions and different ways of performing it live couldn’t make it hot, but hey, you can’t knock a girl for trying. But it’s time to stop.
It All Belongs To Me – Brandy and Monica
This one was supposed to be the second coming of “The Boy is Mine.” It was supposed to have some great beats, a lot of energy and a side of sass from two of R&B’s biggest and boldest divas. However, the song was a bit random. Why these grown women were talking about buying their men all kinds of cars, clothes, rings and MacBooks and then taking them back, I don’t know. And while the vocals were great, this song was nowhere near the greatness of “The Boy is Mine” as these married (well, one anyways and the other soon) women with kids still singing about the struggles of men who can’t act right as a duo came off a little played out.
http://www.youtube.com/v/Mk7P1lKkCG0?hl=en_US&version=3
Stupid H*e – Nicki Minaj
This one was for the haters, right? Nicki had big hopes for this track, sending shots at her critics and perhaps other women in the rap game who came for her head, but this joint was a comical mess. From the overly simplistic chorus to the colorful but colorfully random video, I could have done without it all. The controversy of the video, which was banned on YouTube, helped get people interested, but interest faded fast. We’ve heard better from the Nickster.
Run The World (Girls) – Beyoncé
How do you follow up the greatness of “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” and the I Am…Sasha Fierce album? Managing herself after giving her pops the axe, Beyoncé thought the answer was to drop “Run The World (Girls),” which sampled “Pon de Floor” by Major Lazer. Vastly different from her previous work, the song just didn’t debut as a must buy for those outside of the Beyhive, however, Bey knows how to put on a show, so she was able to get folks to dance to the song when she performed it live. Did it get the same folks to put out their money for it though? Eh…not so much. Now “Party”?? That’s a different story.
Love In This Club – Usher
Like Bey, Usher was coming back out after releasing his much loved and commercially successful album, Confessions, so it was definitely going to be hard to follow up that success no matter what he tried to put on the radio. However, “Love in This Club” was pretty underwhelming for all involved. From the storyline (sooo…you’re really trying to get it in in the club though!?) to the boring synthesizer-heavy beat, it was better suited as a deep cut on an album as opposed to a leading single for Here I Stand. Even a sassy remix with Beyoncé and Lil Wayne couldn’t save it.
http://www.youtube.com/v/cB5e0zHRzHc?hl=en_US&version=3
Gimmie Dat – Ciara
This girl can dance her a** off, but the jury is still out on her singing abilities. After the commercial struggle that was her album Fantasy Ride, things got a bit worse for Ci Ci when she dropped “Gimmie Dat” for the album Basic Instinct. While she lauded the track a “banger” on the song, outside of the feverish beat with its heavy and addictive bass, the vocals were paper thin and the song as a whole came off a bit forgettable. Great dance moves in the video. If only the same enthusiasm could have made this song a winner…
http://www.youtube.com/v/cB5e0zHRzHc?hl=en_US&version=3
Not Myself Tonight – Christina Aguilera
In the years after releasing her Back to Basics album in 2006, Aguilera had a son, left her husband, and found her s*xy again. Hence her releasing this freak-a-licious song where she boasts about kissing boys and girls and “If you don’t like it, f**k you!” However, this “new” Aguilera (who was suspiciously similar to the chick from her Stripped days) came with an image that looked somewhat similar to the one Gaga was making a killing off of (with a side of drag queen makeup and hair). However, homegirl had nowhere near the same results with this stale song and its equally blasé album, Bionic.
Tambourine – EVE
Oh Eve…every time she comes back on the scene, we’re hoping for the same spark and energy she had back in the day when she was the pitbull in a dress. And while “Tambourine,” with its oh-so-obvious beat by Swizz Beatz was cute for the club, we couldn’t really tell you what the song was about (the video doesn’t really reveal too much either), and after a few minutes, we can’t tell you that we still enjoyed listening to the song. The intro to the song and the chorus were pretty much the highlights, but we don’t know one person who knows the words to this joint or really gets THAT excited if it plays in the club…just saying…
http://www.youtube.com/v/sWUV71G5W8g?hl=en_US&version=3
Obsessed – Mariah Carey
Okay, just to be clear, we love us some Mariah Carey, and she has classics for days. But lets be real, this is not one of them. Why The-Dream and Tricky Stewart thought to layer her vocals in auto-tune like her voice is that of a teeny bopper singer with paper-thin singing capabilities, I’m not sure, but that, as well as the lyrics, helped it come off as an attempt to just try and keep up with what was hot at the time and not to create timeless joints. This is something homegirl has become a little too comfortable doing in the last few years. But we still ride for you, girl! Just not on American Idol though…that stuff is painful to watch.
If You’re Ready to Learn – Brian McKnight
Okay, okay. So Brian McKnight didn’t end up putting this on an album of any sort, but Lord knows he used this very messy and often uncomfortable song to get attention and prove a point–if the young boys are doing it and that’s what selling records, why can’t he? While today’s singers might be a bit more risque, let’s keep it real–nobody was crossing the line of talking about making things squirt but you Brian. While he received the chance to act a fool on camera for Funny or Die with the song and a bit of infamy, he also received the side eye of many when he thought it was cute to teach women how their private parts work without their permission in song-form *shudders*.
