MisplacedValidity wrote:
mcfan wrote:
MisplacedValidity wrote:
I think people also overestimate a bit how much R&B radio has played Mariah.
What do you mean?
For one, R&B radio has not been an automatic format for her. I mean, "I'll Be There" didn't even go top 10. "NFY" didn't do great, and neither did the gospel "AYNAF." "Forever" went top 10 at Pop, yet "Underneath The Stars" tanked at R&B radio. "Crybaby" tanked there. Even when she was depending on Urban radio with the E=MC2 singles, nothing even made the top 30. R&B radio is not devoted to Mariah. I've seen people say she should just make R&B music and target that, which is where the overestimation comes in for me; there is no guarantee she would get the R&B play of someone who has stuck to that lane (like Mary J).
For one I hardly think songs like 'Underneath the Stars' or 'Never Forget You' were heavily promoted by Sony at Urban radio. The focus was more on their Pop counterparts 'Forever' and 'Without You'.
When you think about it, those songs also came at a time when Mariah was seen as a Pop princess. And despite that, 'Dreamlover' was a #1 hit on the R&B Airplay chart while 'Hero' (her poppiest ballad ever) reached #10. Oh and 'I'll Be There' was actually #8 there (Mariah's arrangement is more Pop than the original imo).
'Anytime You Need a Friend' was her first underperforming single at Pop radio, it was not going to do amazing at Urban radio. Was the Soul Convention mix sent for airplay? I believe her R&B remixes didn't start getting promoted until 'Fantasy' (which went #1).
When Sony realized the potential of the remixes, Mariah got hits: 'Always Be My Baby' (#3), 'Heartbreaker' (#9), 'Thank God I Found You' (#10) were all top 10 hits thanks to the R&B remixes (the latter 2 were flops at Pop radio in comparison).
'Crybaby' cannot be used as a valid example at all. It was released between all the drama and as Nick said it got to where it got thanks to West Coast support alone, which is considerable.
The Butterfly era was also handled poorly in general by Sony after 'Honey' (#4). 'Breakdown' was #13 on R&B Airplay though and 'My All' was another top 20 hit.
After TEOM, Mariah released poppy singles and I'm not surprised they didn't support them after 'Touch My Body' (#2). It was like Mariah had done a loyalty deal with them (talking about how R&B success was important to her, how her wins in the R&B categories at the Grammys meant more, releasing a format-specific single) only to break it shortly after.
'Bye Bye' was entirely too Pop for the Urban landscape at the time; 'I'll Be Lovin'U Long Time' was a bigger hit at Rhythmic but by then the flop curse was in full force.
'Obsessed' is the only single I think they didn't support enough.
I also believe that Mariah's labels have done a terrible job with Urban AC radio, often not bothering to send her songs there. After 'Fly Like a Bird' they should've started catering to that format more imo. Half of the Memoirs album would've been played by those stations, but they didn't even try.