Post by CarolinaCutie on Jul 15, 2003 12:26:50 GMT -4
Millions of CDs later, he's still 'unknown
Selling warehouses worth of albums doesn't necessarily make you a star. Consider the mono-monickered singer Jaheim.
Devoted R&B fans know him for the massaging caress of his voice, which recalls the sensuality and care of a young Luther Vandross. But the 24-year-old singer would inspire only shrugs and scratched heads from most mainstream music fans.
Yet Jaheim Hoagland's first album - 2001's "Ghetto Love" - has sold more than 1.7 million copies and his latest, "Still Ghetto," has moved 1 million while still floating in the top half of Billboard's Top 200 Album chart 34 weeks after its release.
"When we tell people he sold all those records, they say, 'Yeah, now how many records did he really sell?Most people still don't know who he is."
Jaheim's below-the-radar sales success measures several quirks and flaws in music's starmaking machinery.
First, this New Brunswick, N.J.-born singer sold his albums over a long period, so there was no big-bang debut number to get the big media dogs up and sniffing.
Second, Jaheim sells to a demographic - older, monied urban R&B fans - that draws little interest from the mass press, which favors performers with more rebellious images and edgier music.
Third, and perhaps most disastrous: Jaheim has never been involved in any kind of crime.
"No trouble, no headlines," says Wayman Jones, a senior marketing vice president for Jaheim's label, Warner Bros. "Jaheim is low key."
Jaheim refuses to fly. The extra travel time it would take to get him to auditions cost him several possible sitcom and film parts. Likewise, his low profile has meant some mainstream TV bookers have turned him away.
Yet, Jones says, the slow and steady method has advantages.
"It gave us a chance to develop him," he explains. "Jaheim is a kid from the projects. When we first saw him perform, we thought, 'What's going on here?' Without the spotlight, we got to help him with the show and his interview skills. He also had time to develop a core audience."
All that may keep Jaheim's name around longer than some whose stars shone brighter, faster.
NY Daily News-Entertainment
This is a shame when real talent like Jaheim's isn't recognized. But nevertheless, I'm a fan of his for life because the boy can blow both on record and performing live! I got the chance to see him on the Seagram's Tour back in 2001 and he had everybody like "whoaaaaaaaaaaa"!!! Even my parents like his music, so keep doin' ya thang, Jaheim, 'cuz you my dawg! ;D
Selling warehouses worth of albums doesn't necessarily make you a star. Consider the mono-monickered singer Jaheim.
Devoted R&B fans know him for the massaging caress of his voice, which recalls the sensuality and care of a young Luther Vandross. But the 24-year-old singer would inspire only shrugs and scratched heads from most mainstream music fans.
Yet Jaheim Hoagland's first album - 2001's "Ghetto Love" - has sold more than 1.7 million copies and his latest, "Still Ghetto," has moved 1 million while still floating in the top half of Billboard's Top 200 Album chart 34 weeks after its release.
"When we tell people he sold all those records, they say, 'Yeah, now how many records did he really sell?Most people still don't know who he is."
Jaheim's below-the-radar sales success measures several quirks and flaws in music's starmaking machinery.
First, this New Brunswick, N.J.-born singer sold his albums over a long period, so there was no big-bang debut number to get the big media dogs up and sniffing.
Second, Jaheim sells to a demographic - older, monied urban R&B fans - that draws little interest from the mass press, which favors performers with more rebellious images and edgier music.
Third, and perhaps most disastrous: Jaheim has never been involved in any kind of crime.
"No trouble, no headlines," says Wayman Jones, a senior marketing vice president for Jaheim's label, Warner Bros. "Jaheim is low key."
Jaheim refuses to fly. The extra travel time it would take to get him to auditions cost him several possible sitcom and film parts. Likewise, his low profile has meant some mainstream TV bookers have turned him away.
Yet, Jones says, the slow and steady method has advantages.
"It gave us a chance to develop him," he explains. "Jaheim is a kid from the projects. When we first saw him perform, we thought, 'What's going on here?' Without the spotlight, we got to help him with the show and his interview skills. He also had time to develop a core audience."
All that may keep Jaheim's name around longer than some whose stars shone brighter, faster.
NY Daily News-Entertainment
This is a shame when real talent like Jaheim's isn't recognized. But nevertheless, I'm a fan of his for life because the boy can blow both on record and performing live! I got the chance to see him on the Seagram's Tour back in 2001 and he had everybody like "whoaaaaaaaaaaa"!!! Even my parents like his music, so keep doin' ya thang, Jaheim, 'cuz you my dawg! ;D
The boy can blow I tell ya. These people better start opening their eyes, their missing out on some good talent.
But nah, girl, I undastand where ya comin' from so I know you're not hatin'. 
However, what I'm tryna get ova is how a person that can sell this many records still go unrecognized. 
and mine neither 