Chris Rene does something that no new Idol has done since Kris Allen/Adam Lambert in AI8 has done...be a new artist to chart on the mainstream.
This normally wouldn't be big news, but considering this is a bit of a marketability blog, and largely, as seen in Epochs 1, 2, 3, and 4, (all required reading) we saw that Idol was going in a different direction than the mainstream and churning out a success rate that was way worse than most baseball batting averages. Simon recognized that and casted a bunch of R&B/hip hop type guys, and one of those guys was Chris Rene. Even back when X Factor US 1 was running I noted that their types had more marketability potential than most Idol contestants. To further emphasize this concept of "piggybacking", here's what I said back at November 27th:
So, let's start with LA's boys because it's the easiest: with Chris Rene, I already see Mike Posner, Gym Class Heroes, Andy Grammer on the charts, and that reggae-soft rap style is something that he can piggyback off of.
And lo and behold, guy gets 16.2million views for his X Factor audition video and has 4 million views for Young Homie so far. His video was released just two months ago, roughly. For reference, Scotty McCreery's video was released last August (roughly a year ago), and has 8 million views only. The whole Idol youtube shenanigans are found here.
That isn't to say Chris Rene is a full fledged success. He isn't so far, but getting his song to chart, which was overplayed three times on the X Factor, means that there's some staying power to it. For these artists, it's pretty much a-getting-one-foot-in-the-door type situation where you need a catchy song that blends in with what's out there. That's why the "piggybacking" term was used in the first place. At least it looks like he'll be a one trick pony at worst, something that looks to be on par with Elliott Yamin. And as mentioned, in this new electropop/hip hop environment where Idol just can't get a foothold in (last guys to chart in AT40, as seen in the title, are Adam Lambert and one-hit-wonder Kris Allen) that's actually major apropos to him--as a TV show contestant, blending in like that is something Idol hasn't done for a while. With the groups and boybands Simon seems intent on forcing down America's throats this fall, and with the success of those groups, he might see more hits. It will be interesting to see how that forces Idol's hand--we've talked about their lack of contemporary songs in this blog, which is probably their biggest issue, even moreso than casting contemporary contestants (because face it, their contestants are either old-fashioned, or dumbed down by the song list to be old fashioned). But, that's for another blog topic.
And considering that he can rap, looks the part of Mike Posner and sings the part of what the mainstream likes, it will be interesting to see how success LA Reid can see out of him.
And compare that to the latest Idol news today, courtesy of the Toronto Sun:
Other than Carrie Underwood at No. 3, “Idol” alumni bombed stateside with Lambert’s “Trespassing” freefalling to No. 12, last year’s Haley Reinhart flopping at No. 17, and 2009 winner Kris Allen, wheezing into No. 26 with his second studio album, “Thank You Camelia.”
It looks like Allen may soon join "Idol" winner-turned-flop Lee DeWyze as an obscure Trivial Pursuit question.
Chart is below (source: AT40)
June 02, 2012
1 - 20
This Week | Last Week | Artist & Song | ||
1 | 2 | Gotye Somebody That I Used To Know | ||
2 | 1 | Fun. We Are Young feat. Janelle Monae | ||
3 | 3 | Flo Rida Wild Ones feat. Sia | ||
4 | 4 | Nicki Minaj Starships | ||
5 | 5 | The Wanted Glad You Came | ||
6 | 6 | One Direction What Makes You Beautiful | ||
7 | 10 | Carly Rae Jepsen Call Me Maybe | ||
8 | 7 | Katy Perry Part of Me | ||
9 | 9 | Maroon 5 Payphone feat. Wiz Khalifa | ||
10 | 8 | Adele Rumour Has It | ||
11 | 12 | Justin Bieber Boyfriend | ||
12 | 11 | Kelly Clarkson Stronger | ||
13 | 13 | Calvin Harris Feel So Close | ||
14 | 14 | Karmin Brokenhearted | ||
15 | 15 | Usher Scream | ||
16 | 16 | Train Drive By | ||
17 | 18 | Rihanna Where Have You Been | ||
18 | 21 | Pitbull Back In Time | ||
19 | 19 | Drake Take Care feat. Rihanna | ||
20 | 20 | Gym Class Heroes Back Home feat. Neon Hitch |
21 - 40
This Week | Last Week | Artist & Song | ||
21 | 17 | Jennifer Lopez Dance Again feat. Pitbull | ||
22 | 23 | Ellie Goulding Lights | ||
23 | 22 | David Guetta Turn Me On feat. Nicki Minaj | ||
24 | 24 | Adele Set Fire To The Rain | ||
25 | 26 | Demi Lovato Give Your Heart A Break | ||
26 | 29 | David Guetta Titanium feat. Sia | ||
27 | 27 | Jessie J Domino | ||
28 | 25 | Flo Rida Good Feeling | ||
29 | 28 | Rihanna We Found Love feat. Calvin Harris | ||
30 | 30 | Lmfao Sexy And I Know It | ||
31 | 33 | Havana Brown We Run The Night feat. Pitbull | ||
32 | 32 | Lmfao Party Rock Anthem feat. Lauren Bennett & ... | ||
33 | 38 | Pitbull International Love feat. Chris Brown | ||
34 | 34 | David Guetta Without You feat. Usher | ||
35 | 36 | Chris Rene Young Homie | ||
36 | 37 | Neon Hitch Love You Betta | ||
37 | 35 | Taylor Swift Eyes Open | ||
38 | 39 | Rita Ora How We Do (Party) | ||
39 | 40 | Neon Trees Everybody Talks | ||
40 | - | Hot Chelle Rae Honestly |
The low AI, 8.787, indicates that Chris made that chart position purely on Epic bartering for overnight spins. Havana Brown spent about the same amount of time in the Top 50, peaked at about the same chart position as Chris, yet had over two and a half times the AI. I think Epic pretty much bought that chart position.
ReplyDeleteThe low AI is because the big market stations like Z100 and the rest never gave it a spin or added it. Out of the 155 monitored stations on the panel, only 88 added the song so how did EPIC buy a chart position? Havana Brown has that much AI because #1 stations like WHTZ, WKTU and WXRK in NEW YORK added and are spinning it. That's how songs get higher AI's. Chris' songs are on radio all the time not overnight. It gets huge daytime spins.
ReplyDeleteIMO, considering how all the big guns scorned the song, "YOUNG HOMIE" has done really well, I'd say. Never been out of the top200 on itunes since it's release and is still in the top 150 as we speak. Meanwhile the song is falling like a rock on top 40 chart. That means it's been selling steadily and that's remarkable. It shows how a good song and artist can connect. Chris' success with this song has nothing to do with anyone buying spins lol! Way to diminish someone's success. It did and continue to do well because the song is good and the artist has connected. That's all.
I think EPIC was smart to release the song that brought him fame as his first single and it did work. He's got tons of new fans and they're being smarter releasing a great summer song as the next. Here comes "TROUBLE"