Opinion: MMLP2 won't set any sales records

[kkaniff]

Who said it was going to set any sales records in the first place?

[slimsoxshady]

it's gonna sell 2 mill first week an break all the records.... fact (I don't care if only 1.1 mill are being shipped, it's still happening)

[Cinderella Stan]

I think OP meant it won't set a sales record for this year... the current best selling first week album is JT 20/20 Experience which sold more than 900k. But I am optimistic that Em can break that.

[MikeBett]

Will MMLP2 sell well? Of course. If Eminem makes it, a lot of people will buy it. I doubt it will break a million during the first week. I'm expecting 550,000 units sold on week one.

Some history.

SSLP - My Name Is was strong lead single, and the album sold really well for a debut.
MMLP - The Real Slim Shady was a strong single. High sales.
TES - Without Me was a strong single. High sales.
Encore - Just Lose It wasn't so good, but he rode the buzz of his earlier albums.
Relapse - Worst lead singles. His weakest seller.
Recovery - Not Afraid and LTWYL were great lead singles. High sales.

With MMLP2 there are 3 singles, but none of the triumvirate are clear winners. They each have their checks and balance, but what Eminem really needed was a knockout punch.

Berzerk is easily my favorite of the three, but I doubt the public will respond to it nearly as well as I have. Rap God is for his hardcore fans only who eat that spiritual-miracle stuff up. And Survival is really confused (it's quite safe, yet not mainstream-friendly enough).

It seems like he tried to slice up a little something for everyone with three quite different singles, but none of them really hit hard. Because it feels like he made it court support from specific people rather than appeal to anybody (as his other strong singles have).

Just to clarify, Just Lose It was huge, It set some record, pretty sure it was his first straight to numer 1 debut, I remember thinking how weird it was that his worst single was his biggest.

[ladelsofgravy]

Not sure why my post disappeared but here goes again..


It's so annoying to see tons of people with no clue about sales make these stupid ass summaries and predictions.

550k first week? Em has never sold below 610k in his first full week except SSLP. He doesn't need hit singles to shift albums. Add in that sales are always higher in the latter months of the year and you have a minimum of 700-750k in the pocket just like his label predicts. History also shows that Em typically outsells predictions so we might even be looking at 800-900k and depending on what 'The Monster' does, maybe even more.

A lot of people think that The Monster will not affect his sales much because Rihanna isn't an album seller but they're looking at it the wrong way. Em is using Rihanna as a way to reach out to the public by getting airplay. He isn't aiming for her fanbase but his own. Em has a lot of "dorment" fans that are hard to reach with singles such as Berzerk and Rap God. It's also one of the reasons his first week sales nowadays aren't as high but his longevity more than makes up for it.

He's also gained a lot of new fans since Recovery. As much as some online gatherings like to hate Recovery, it was pretty well received in the mainstream. There's also the CoD tie-in, which I suspect will result in at least 50k additional sales.

My post was not including the possible success of monster, but only going by the first 3 single. When The Monster comes out, I could change my estimates. It's just strange that an artist would wait until their 4th single to actually try to get sales for their album.

[ladelsofgravy]

Just to clarify, Just Lose It was huge, It set some record, pretty sure it was his first straight to numer 1 debut, I remember thinking how weird it was that his worst single was his biggest.

It was but it was less effective than Without Me and Real Slim Shady. While Berzerk is much better, it still made the least amount of splash. Basically, Berzerk was for Em fans pissed at the whole Recovery phase. Aside from some curious people, the mainstream isn't bumping Berzerk. They're not bumping Crap God either.

[ladelsofgravy]

OP also thinks Rap God is trash so his opinion is not valid eitherway.

It's not trash. It's actually kinda good. It's just not worthy of deification.

[ladelsofgravy]

It might not break sales records, but it is going to do very well. Btw, Rap God *was* the "knockout punch" you were referring to in the OP. Just because you didn't personally enjoy it doesn't mean it didn't resonate with the bulk of his fan base and set the game on fire when it dropped.

That shit was trending on twitter for like 5 days, wasn't even considered an official single and charted better on itunes than Berzerk and Survival, and was even responsible for reigniting Berzerk and Survival as they started climbing up the charts after Rap God dropped.

It might not be the commercial juggernaut Recovery was, but that's because it'll be less commercial friendly. Not because he lost relevancy.

Rap God was that knockout punch for most of his hardcore fans, but not for the casual listener, which is what a single should do. To be fair, as dark as The Way I Am and Cleaning Out My Closet were, they still had that appeal.

I'm not saying it's bad because I don't like it. I'm saying it's a weak SINGLE (not a weak song in general) because people aren't bumping it.

There's nothing wrong with alienating casual listeners and making an album for the hardcore fans (though any alienation this album causes is not for lack of trying). But the fact is if you don't have strong lead singles, your sales won't be as strong as if you did.

Ironically, Recovery (aside from Relapse, which had the worst singles of his albums) was his weakest selling album. And I don't see MMLP2 taking down Recovery.

[ladelsofgravy]

Em has a lot of "dorment" fans that are hard to reach with singles such as Berzerk and Rap God. It's also one of the reasons his first week sales nowadays aren't as high but his longevity more than makes up for it.

Agree, I was ecstatic to hear Berzerk and watch him dye his hair blonde again. He probably should have just released an EP or a mixtape with songs like Rap God rather than waste space on the album. That's how I feel about Rap God. Amazing mix tape song. Not so good album song.

[kkaniff]

"Recovery was his weakest selling album"
Do you actually read the shit you type?

[ladelsofgravy]

"Recovery was his weakest selling album"
Do you actually read the shit you type?

Aside from Relapse (which I denoted) and the discontinued Infinite, what else is there?

[MikeBett]

It might not break sales records, but it is going to do very well. Btw, Rap God *was* the "knockout punch" you were referring to in the OP. Just because you didn't personally enjoy it doesn't mean it didn't resonate with the bulk of his fan base and set the game on fire when it dropped.

That shit was trending on twitter for like 5 days, wasn't even considered an official single and charted better on itunes than Berzerk and Survival, and was even responsible for reigniting Berzerk and Survival as they started climbing up the charts after Rap God dropped.

It might not be the commercial juggernaut Recovery was, but that's because it'll be less commercial friendly. Not because he lost relevancy.

Rap God was that knockout punch for most of his hardcore fans, but not for the casual listener, which is what a single should do. To be fair, as dark as The Way I Am and Cleaning Out My Closet were, they still had that appeal.

I'm not saying it's bad because I don't like it. I'm saying it's a weak SINGLE (not a weak song in general) because people aren't bumping it.

There's nothing wrong with alienating casual listeners and making an album for the hardcore fans (though any alienation this album causes is not for lack of trying). But the fact is if you don't have strong lead singles, your sales won't be as strong as if you did.

Ironically, Recovery (aside from Relapse, which had the worst singles of his albums) was his weakest selling album. And I don't see MMLP2 taking down Recovery.

I feel like with Rap God, He just kind of took the formula that people went crazy for the last couple albums with; Im having a Relapse, and the Despicable freestyle, (BET cypher somewhat). He just decided to make it an album cut this time, and not waste the awesomeness....

[TheShadyAftermath]

Actually interscope shipped 1,5 million albums only in the us their prediction is that eminem will sel 750.000 albums in the us first week.

[kkaniff]

@Ladels, so we should just ignore the fact that album sales have dropped by a staggering amount?
Recovery is about to go 5x platinum in the U.S, what other artists are seeing those sorta numbers nowadays?
I've said it before and I'll say it again, if not for the general slump in album sales, Recovery might have been Eminem's best selling album. EVER.

[kkaniff]

@Ladels, so we should just ignore the fact that album sales have dropped by a staggering amount?
Recovery is about to go 5x platinum in the U.S, what other artists are seeing those sorta numbers nowadays?
I've said it before and I'll say it again, if not for the general slump in album sales, Recovery might have been Eminem's best selling album. EVER.