When it was announced that Kanye West had beaten 50 Cent in that puffed-up sales contest they recently had, Kanye urged everyone to keep buying his album – but it seems that everyone decided they preferred country music instead.
Reba McEntire's Reba Duets album – featuring songs sung with everyone from Justin Timberlake to Kelly Clarkson – has barged past both Kanye West and 50 Cent to reach the top of the American album sales chart, ending Kanye West's number one tenure after just a week. Since the charts now seem to be operating on some sort of confusing 'loser retires' system, Reba McEntire now has to demand the resignation of all the other artists with new albums in the top 10. And, since that includes Barry Manilow, James Blunt and KT Tunstall, we'd say that just about outweighs the fact that a third of a million Americans now own a contract-fulfilling album of duets by a 52-year-old ginger cowgirl containing gratuitous amounts of LeAnn Rimes.
Just.
For all the boasting and bragging that went on during the recent Kanye West/ 50 Cent album sales face-off – the debates, the promises to retire, the lorryload of ridiculous excuses – it didn't really come to much, did it? Kanye West may have beaten 50 Cent to the number one slot, but he didn't have much time to celebrate his victory – one short week later and middle-aged country singer Reba McEntire, from the movie Tremors, has beaten him to the number one spot with an album of duets that had first-week sales a third the size of his.
Reba McEntire – performer of hits like Happy Birthday Jesus, (There's Nothing Like The Love) Between A Woman And A Man and Whose Heartache Is This Anyway – is unusual in the country music scene because the only heartbreak she's been through has been one divorce and a plane crash that killed her entire backing band, an easy ride by country music's ridiculous standards. But her comparative easy ride hasn't stopped 301,000 long-distance truck drivers stopping by their local backwater music shop last week to buy Reba McEntire's new album Reba Duets, containing duets with famous bollock-grabber abusers, famous mother-daters and famous tour-cancelling failures alike. E! Online reports:
A week after Kanye West's Graduation topped 50 Cent's Curtis in one of the biggest battles in chart history, Reba McEntire knocked both artists down a peg. For the week ended Sunday, Reba Duets rocketed to number one, selling nearly 301,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan numbers released today. "I am beyond thrilled to have my biggest sales week ever with my 31st album," McEntire said in a press release. "To get to share it with all my friends on this duets project is icing on the cake!"
But forget Reba McEntire – if she got to number one by selling just 301,000 albums, what happened to Kanye West and 50 Cent's sales? Last week Kanye West sold 957,000 and 50 Cent sold 691,000, but this week sales of their albums fell by 77% and 79% respectively. That's a pretty poor show, not just for Kanye West and 50 Cent but for all of hip-hop, to be beaten so thoroughly by country music. And it's not just in albums sales that hip-hop is falling behind, either – country music's beating it in the bad-ass stakes as well.
After all, while country music is awash with a blizzard of shootings and chokings and alcoholism and battery and denials of homosexuality and child-molesting, what's hip-hop got left to offer? Flaming bottoms and happily-served community service orders? That just makes us sick. More child-molesting please, hip-hop.
Wait, we're pretty sure that wasn't what we meant to say.
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Fake Boobies Spice says
50 and Kanye, forgettable noise that will be forgotten in 5 years. Reba has real talent.
Mike says
What an idiot Stuart Heritage must be. Referring to the highest selling female in country music history as “That Woman From Tremors”. And picking a few very old songs that one was from a christmas album (happy birthday jesus) and the others were to make her appear that all her hits are about heartbreak. When those weren’t even considered hits really by her standards he forgot Fancy, Is there life out there, Walk On, Somebody, some of her real hits that aren’t all about heartbreak. Even the ones that are, are awesome I do believe a song that someone wrote from the heart about a lost love is much more entertaining than “does your bling hang low” or something along those lines.
This lady has sold more albums than Janet Jackson, and is up there with Celine Dion, Mariah Carrey and people along those lines which is alot to say for a country female. Also making like its a small thing and or its funny or nothing that her band and friends died in a plane crash shows you sir have no class and are very tacky. You seem to be trying to portray Reba as a hick with no sense and her fans as all truckers in the backwoods. For one there is not hing wrong with any job trucking included. 2. She has been on tv she sells to sell out crowds tickets at $60+ for people to see her for 2 hours. You blog on here, seems funny that the hick is doing so much better than you are. She has more class than you will ever know has done so much for charity and is well known by one name Reba for her music and acting.
That stuff annoyed me but the thing that bothers me most is you treating a subject like child molesting as a joke. Lets hope nothing like that ever has happened to you or your children. Can you imagine how that must feel someone reading a blog or news article on album sales and it getting into child molesting? You have to be very desperate and sad.
Ben says
shutup mike
Adam Gade says
Second.
Mike says
Funny the 2 comments telling me to shutup, funny when someone is jealous that she won and so unintelligent from listening to rap thats all they can come up with, facts hurt huh?
tots says
Facts do not hurt Michael. Guns hurt. The type of guns that are used in country music to shoot innocent people with, just so they can go and write a song about. You don’t get that sort of violence in rap music.
haaa-doou-ken says
Guns don’t kill people, folk singers do.
scene.
Adam Gade says
Why would I be jealous? Of some lowest common denominator, honky tonk spitoon junkie? I don’t think so. I just think it’s funny that commentors like you (fanboys) like to roll out every single fact sheet they can find on their demi god and then consider themselves right. I’ll give you an example; You don’t like Stuart’s writing because you looove Reba, correct? Of course correct. Moving on, I can assume that if Stuart wrote an article bashing say, Puff Daddy, you’d think, “Ha! The idiot rapper!”, and then move on, right? You wouldn’t really care about the “facts”. You’d probably only see the point and that is satire, sarcasm and cynicism. See my point is that you only care about facts when they directly apply to you and what you care about.
It makes seeing past the obvious foolishness of the article and only getting the humor impossible for people like you. By the way, I don’t like rap, I just like taking people like you to task.
haaa-doou-ken says
who cares? rap and country both suck ass.
I’m all about chiptune and breakbeats baby.
Mike says
I really do think you are jealous you just keep on its sorta humorous and pathetic at the same time. I didn’t roll out every fact sheet there is plenty more I could state. And I don’t like Stuart’s writing because its complete lies. I don’t really listen to Puff Daddy so I probably wouldn’t even read an article on him but if I did and seen lies and complete put downs of him I would say something. And I didn’t know this site was meant for pure humor and or child molesting and the death of someones friends in a plane crach was that humorous. Or is that how British humor is, they said child molesting haha! so funny. I guess if Stuart’s job is sitting and writing blogs/ news articles putting down people that are doing much better than he is then I don’t need to say anymore. Thats pathetic probably as low as you can go he doesn’t need me to say anything about him.
But honostly see if any of them will be around in 30 yrs making a debut at #1 on the charts. I guess that proves everything right there she is a legend very few if anyone can say they have been out mostly steady that many years.
Gilbert Wham says
Well, in 30 years she’ll be dead, won’t she? Seeing as how she’s about a million and six already. Hopefully someone will have developed a gun powerful enough to see off 50 cent with a single shot by this point also, don’t get me wrong, they’re both unmitigated shite. Please continue though; long, rambling screeds by outraged fans are the reason I read this blog so avidly.
chay says
I HEART GILBERT WHAM. Why do morons who are too dense to get the brilliance of this website always rip on the writers? Go read something warm and fluffy, idiots.
Jason Coyer says
I will make this short and sweet………..Only a degenerate would attack such a humble and hard working music icon!!! Reba has a very loyal fan base and has worked her ass off to become a household name that is beloved by so many………..The last time I checked, Reba’s career accomplishments are far more stellar than Kanye West or 50 cent………..Furthermore, Kanye West and 50 Cent might not be #2 and #3 on the charts now if they had spent all week like Reba promoting their albums and getting in touch with their fan base. However, they chose to act like to spoiled kids arguing over petty bullshit. It serves them right that Reba claim the #1 spot.
Jason Coyer says
When did a debut of 301,000 albums sold turn into a dissapointment? I think it’s pretty stellar after 31 years in the music business. I highly doubt Kanye or 50 cent will be around 31 years………Honestly, neither one of them is either talented or charismatic enough to have any sticking power.
Peggy Mount says
Who is this Reba McEntire anyway?
toony says
shut up all of u
gir says
Right, you heard toony, you lot, now clear off or you’ll feel the back of toony’s hand.
jay says
So this Reba person sells300,000 copies in her first week – which is HALF of what 50 Cent sold in his first week (and STILL couldn’t) debut at No.1 on the Album charts and about A THIRD of what Kanye sold to get to No. 1 and for some reason she’s still a winner?
Yeah, I know the so-called ‘writer’ of this article is trying to get all sarcastic over 50 and Kanye’s immature ‘loser retires’ rap battle by pointing out the fact that two hip urban black males who get saturated media coverage have been toppled by a 50 something white woman who barely is a blip on the media radar, but really when Kanye and 50 have sold around a million each after two weeks while her albums sales in the same period will be half that – it hardly constitutes a ‘triumph’ – unless you’re talking about the bra!
Following the authors ‘logic’, shouldn’t the NEXT person who debuts at No. 1 demand Reba’s retirement then? You DO realize that IF Reba had released her album a week ago she would have debuted at a paltry No. 3 behind the aforementioned rappers, right?