5 Reasons Why Slaughterhouse “Failed”

Posted by Justin Boland on Aug 21, 2009 | 0 Comments

The excellent blog The Smoking Section put up a rant blaming internet hip hop fans for the “failure” of the Slaughterhouse album, which “only” moved 18,000 units.  As they put it, “plain and simple it did Brooke Hogan numbers.” The conversation they sparked has been a fascinating look at all the factors that make the music biz such a complex and confusing place in 2009. 

First of all, as Dart Adams already pointed out, making an album in one week on an independent label and moving 18,000 copies…that’s not failing. That’s not platinum, either, but that’s still good money.

Second of all, let’s really talk numbers.  Brooke Hogan is an Amazon monster of a punchline, but “Brooke Hogan numbers” are both way better and radically worse than Slaughterhouse numbers.  Her first album moved 29,000 copies in the first week.  Her second…well, that one pushed exactly 3,381.  Apparently she’s up to 6000 now…months later…ouch. 

But enough about women who could rape Mike Tyson.  The debate around Slaughterhouse brings up some really important points about where the music biz is at in 2009, especially the world of hip hop.  Let’s get right into it:

1. Not Touring Enough

Nobody with a brain would tell you that internet promotion has actually replaced all the other forms of promotion that the music industry has been using since the Ice Ages.  Sure, there’s been a recent, over-hyped study by the Stern Business School that demonstrates that blogs have more influence than myspace when it comes to hype resulting in actual album sales. That does not mean that blog coverage will be enough to break an album.  Blogs are just part of a larger equation. 

Did Slaughterhouse neglect the rest of that equation?  It doesn’t look that way. Their album was released on E1, which is the new name for Koch, who have 20 years of experience distributing pretty much everyone in the industry, from Death Row to Diplomats.  Slaughterhouse was also busy onstage this summer, touring on all 11 stops of Rock the Bells 2009, playing at the Paid Dues festival, and doing tons of press and radio interviews.

Here’s a fucked-up thought: maybe that’s not enough in 2009. Maybe that’s only a good start. I only say this because I’m thinking of another independent group, Atmosphere, and the opening week for their last album When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold. They moved 36,000 units and debuted on the Billboard Top 10.  Atmosphere also played the Paid Dudes festival, they also do tons of press and radio interviews, but more importantly, they have a much more ambitious touring schedule.  While Rock the Bells was slowly lumbering across the country, Atmosphere was moving non-stop, taking only one or two days off a week.  By my own non-scientific count, they have played at least 75 shows around the world since 2009 started.

Of course, Atmosphere has another huge advantage that’s even more important than their insane touring schedule…a strong back catalog. 

2. The Lack of a Back Catalog

When artists drop a new album, around 50% of the sales they make come from their back catalog…not their new album.  Attention for the artist is attention for their brand, and all of their products will see a rise in sales.  Slaughterhouse, on the other hand, have no back catalog.  There hasn’t been any mention of the four members seeing a sales boost on their solo catalog, either. 

The equally high-quality blog Hip Hop is Read offered a response to The Smoking Section, titled “Laughter House,” which offered this dose of perspective:

“Pushing 18,000 units is a blessing in 2009. Little Brother, a group which I believe is a bit overrated (though I still enjoy their music), released their album Getback in 2007. Hyped by blogs the web over, LB only managed to move a little over 9,000 albums in their opening week! It took them an entire month to get to 18,000!”

And bear in mind…Getback was Little Brother’s third album. So perhaps a back catalog is no guarantee of anything in 2009. 

3. The Overall Collapse of Hip Hop Album Sales

I recently covered this in detail in an article called “Hip Hop 2009: Year of the Glut.” One sentence summary: Since hip hop album sales peaked in 2000, we’ve all been competing with more people for less money, every year.

Since the attention span of the average fan is shorter than ever, this leads to the next problem, not major but worth mentioning…

4. Just Plain Bad Business

Personally, the biggest blunder I see is courtesy of Joe Buddens.  No…not the high school drama surrounding a punch to the face.  I’m talking about the fact that Joe Buddens moved up the release date for his solo album, Escape Route, to fall on the same day as the Slaughterhouse release.

Ever wonder why Apple never launches 2 products at the same time?  Because that’s fucking stupid, and proven to be bad business. It’s really damn weird that Joe’s label, Amalgam Digital, didn’t have the sense (and spine) to veto that.  I don’t mean to paint them as amateurs because they are anything but-which is why it’s so puzzling.  I’d like to think they just know something I don’t…but Escape Route only sold 1700 the first week…so I’ll assume they kinda fucked up. 

(As always, leave a comment if you know more than me.)

5. David Banner Syndrome

The Smoking Section made some excellent points, though.  Here’s my favorite:

“No more complaining about Wale making songs with Gucci Mane and Lady GaGa. No more grumbling because Wayne has too many “Ms. Officers” on his album. Zip it. Why would a label care what you think? You’re not affecting the marketplace and in the grand scheme of things, the 18,000 albums you’re going to buy are just a drop in the bucket compared to the sales that “selling out” provides.”

I call it David Banner Syndrome because Banner has already run into this wall in his own career and re-calibrated since then: “The American public had an opportunity to pick what they wanted from David Banner. I wish America would just be honest. America is sick…America loves violence and sex.” Or, as he put it in his memorably blunt testimony before congress: “I can admit that there are some problems in hip-hop. But it is only a reflection of what is taking place in our society. Hip-hop is sick because America is sick.”

This is the disturbing question that we’re facing in 2009: Is America so fucking stupid that good hip hop cannot survive?

I hope that’s not the case.  It’s worth pointing out that the consensus, on blogs I’ve been reading, is that moron-grade street rap like Maino, Ace Hood and Gucci Mane is blowing good underground music out of the water.  The numbers don’t back that up, though. Maino’s last album had the exact same opening week numbers: 18,000 units. Ace Hood did 33% better, clocking 24,700 first-week sales of his boring and generic Gutta.

I’ve already used this 9th Wonder quote once, but it fits perfectly here:

“You really can’t call it underground anymore; whatever that means now. When your biggest artist like a Soulja Boy is selling 40,000 in the first week, what’s underground? It’s kind of hard to put somebody in that box and I’m glad that box is going away.”

Like it or not…this is what hip hop looks like in 2009.

So in the end, what was it? Greedy internet nerds? Joe Buddens being the King Midas of Shit?  Mainstream rappers hypnotizing America’s youth?

Nah…it’s the economy.  18,000 albums in one week is not a failure in 2009.

Let’s just hope that we don’t look back on this as “better days” in 2010…