So it's finally the fourth quarter in the music industry and record companies are desperate for some real sales. CD's practically have one foot in the grave anyway so whatever dollars record companies can squeeze out of consumers by Christmas is a miracle.
But alas, the heralded fourth quarter isn't looking so bad. Jay-Z has a new album out today, and he's competing mainly with baby Michael Jackson himself, Chris Brown, who also has a new CD out, Exclusive, in record stores today.
It appears that, just like Kanye and Fiddy, these two are going neck and neck, but, at least from this vantage point, it's going to take a lot for a 38-year-old retired/unretired MC to outsell an 18-year-old, dancing, acting, and singing phenomenon. While Jay-Z's American Gangster is a step up from the relatively lackluster Kingdome Come album, it still reeks of an old man trying his hand at a young man's game. As hip-hop pundit Greg Tate recently wrote in Vibe Magazine, "The day it matters what anybody over 25 thinks about hip hop is the day hip hop will have truly died."
Meanwhile, Chris Brown is still wet behind the ears, but the tracks that have surfaced on Exclusive all bring a freshness to R&B that's well needed.
You be the judge.
Which video is hotter?
Chris Brown's "Kiss Kiss"
Jay-Z's "Blue Magic"
-Jonathan Cunningham
