Thanks. Stay safe out here, mod(s) moving with an agenda right now lol

If you don't have an album ready to release then this wouldn't make sense. I think it's pretty clear Kendrick didn't have an album to release.

The only reason to think Kendrick played himself is if commercial success far outweighs music quality in your/his weightings.

There were rumours floating around that he had an album ready to go by May. Maybe those were wrong, who knows? I'm speaking based on the assumption that he had an album ready to go then.

Even more that just putting up numbers, momentum is everything. One of the reasons why Drake has been able to remain as dominant as he's been is because he understands the power of momentum and how to take advantage of unique opportunities when public interest in you is at an unusual high.

Kendrick will obviously be fine regardless. I just think he missed out on having a really massive album by not dropping closer to the summer.

Yeah I agree Drake definitely does that. I think Kendrick and Drake are very different in that regard though. For example Kendrick had a 5 year gap between albums, something Drake would never do.

What have you seen from him to come to this conclusion?

Just for historical context, I think every artist caring about commercial success is untrue because a whole lot of em would have quit after their first joint. This example is not for Rap, but The Velvet Underground inspired a lot of artists and notoriously sold like s***, yet they still kept on pumping out them albums.

From what I've seen from dot, he just really loves this music s***. Yes he cares about the commercial/business aspect, but like a lot of artists, he's a creative first. His Zane Lowe interview put things into perspective for me.

not as much as Travis clearly

I don't think Kendrick chose to take 5 years off. I believe Mr. Morale was done by the pandemic but he held off from dropping the album until later. Kendrick dropped albums in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017. I think at most, he'd have taken a 3-year break before dropping Mr. Morale because he usually only goes 2-3 years between albums.

Drake is unusual, in that he really doesn't believe in breaks. Never has. 2024 will be the first year since 2014 where he didn't drop a project.

Oh yeah, Travis is a different level lol.

I just don't think any musician spends months/years of their life making songs only to not have them be as successful as possible.

What you might say is that not everyone cares about doing the absolute most to achieve success but it doesn't mean they wouldn't want the success it if came regardless of them not doing the most.

We’re talking about US streaming debut weeks

Kendrick was on Buried Alive Interlude lamenting about seeing Drake's level of success and being angry because they were around the same age and Drake was so further along in his career than he was lol.

He didn't do all those pop features for "the culture." He doesn't make radio-friendly songs for "the culture." If he didn't care about making money off his art then he wouldn't sell it. He'd give it all away for free.

Tyler is part of the big 3 so this is a solid achievement

possibly the most inescapable song of our lifetime

that’s one of his worst songs

Throwback to when Hip-Hop was was dominating so hard that pop stans were constantly complaining about s*** like this

I think that's a binary way of taking the commercial aspect of art. I already highlighted that he's in a contract, and if you're in a business, you need to satisfy the business end of your deal aka numbers. I just strongly disagree that every artist is motivated by finances first and foremost.

Most of them learn to get business savvy once they get their foot in the door, and play the game for a bit before they figure themselves out. Others, like Chamillionaire, figure the game out early on before signing anything. But there's a balance, not just one thing over another.

Her Loss

I didn't say money or success is his primary motivation. I don't think Drake or Cole fell in love with rap BECAUSE they thought it was a way to make a quick buck. I think they all fell in love with the art form and seeing as it was something they decided to do full time, they needed to be able to make money off it. My point is that every musician wants their art, which is a reflection of their time, energy and hard work, to be successful and in that regard, yes, they all care about success.

Okay yeah I agree with that. The mileage varies with how an artist handles success or failure but ultimately, success is the goal, whether intrinsic (just the process of creating alone), or making some bread off it.

Yep. That's all I'm saying. Even artists who don't make music tailored for the charts still hope it reaches as many people as possible and does well.

As people, we all want to see the things we've put our time, energy and resources into reap some soft of reward, whether it be monetary or even just impact.

Not really tbh.

The number of tracks is relevant to the streaming sales number that the album does first week.

GOOD Music 2018 7-track album first week sales in streaming units only:

• Daytona: 38K
• ye: 123K
• Kids See Ghosts: 63K
• Nasir: 28K
• KTSE: 16K

Compared to all of these artists’ next projects’ first week in streaming units, which were all longer than 7 tracks:

• It’s Almost Dry: 46K
• Jesus Is King: 155K
• Man on the Moon III: 129K
• King’s Disease: 29K
• The Album: 28K

The only one that didn’t really have a huge increase was Nas and that makes sense since he’s a legacy artist and doesn’t have a big streaming audience

you're so different

They went with Tedros huh