It’s sad then lack of talent has become so prevalent within the music industry that artists have to resort to gimmicks and even begging to sale albums.

Soulja Boy | tgpo

The latest example is Soulja Boy’s new album.  If you’re not familiar with Soulja Boy, he’s an 18 year old rapper who uses social networks to talk with his fans and spark interest in his music.  He scored a platinum album on the strong interest of his song Crank That (Soulja Boy).  He also became the butt of numerous jabs and jokes from the rap community as rappers such as Ice-T called him a fad.  Were they correct?  Is he a one hit wonder, or is he here to stay?

No he isn’t here to stay.  Of course he’s a one hit wonder.  When sales of your album are directly proportional to the number of myspace “friends” you have the views to your YouTube channel you know you’re nothing more than an internet meme.

It seems like he realized his place in Internet fad history, between Tron suit guy and the chocolate rain dude, and tried to spark interest in his new album by holding a “Platinum in a Week” campaign.  He knew his time was so limited and his “talent” is so lacking that he needed people to buy the album early before they came to their senses and realized he is nothing more than a new Vanilla Ice.  Did it work?

Of course not, his time is over.  He sold less albums than Paris Hilton did her first week.  Are people finally coming to their senses and looking to real musical artists for entertainment?  Probably not, they’ve most likely moved on to the next fad that is being crammed down their throats by the record companies.  I miss the days when people valued talent, when skill was more important than show.  I miss the days when word of mouth was only half the equation.  Instead of buying what people told you to, you would first evaluate the music and make up your own mind.  Why have we accepted the idea that whomever the record companies tell us to listen to must be great?  Why have we blindly accepted watered down stereotypical bands that are only made for radio consumption?

Source: http://therapup.uproxx.com/2008/12/soulja-boys-platinum-in-a-week-campaign-fail.html