How did Taio break so big?

[koganbot]

Any idea how Taio Cruz's first U.S. single "Break Your Heart" hit the Billboard number 1 only a week-and-a-half after it was released? Any tie-ins or visibility that I don't know about? It's getting decent beginner's airplay (19th rhythmic and 26th top 40, in the fifties overall), but nothing that would explain all the downloads. It helps that he's had a British career, and that the song fits into the DeRulo, Iyaz, Jay Sean pretty-boy sweet-AutoTuned r&b-dance amalgam, but still, this is his first U.S. single. To leap so high and so fast right off, you usually need to win American Idol.

Comments

[poptasticuk.livejournal.com]

I've never heard Taio Cruz called pretty before!

Rationalization

[koganbot]

"Pretty" here is a sociological term, like my friend Nathan talking about the "pretty girls" in his high school, which really meant the mainstream girls who were into New Kids On The Block and dressed like pretty girls; so if you sing like Jason-Iyaz-Jay-Taio you're a pretty boy whether or not you're pretty.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

It's probably on an advert for something. That would totally be enough in the UK in 1999 - less so now I think. In 2010 it would have to be an advert for something *awesome* (or an awesome advert for something, like the Dairy Milk gorilla ad with 'In The Air Tonight' as backing track).

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

The UK seems to be exporting its most boring pop stars to you a year after the fact these days, in return for all those years of the US exporting its most brilliant pop stars to us a year after the fact. You basically don't need to have an opinion on Taio Cruz (or Iyaz, or Jay Sean, or Jason Derulo OH GOD THESE MEN ARE SO DULL).

If male r&b is suddenly so popular where are the No 1 hits for Jeremih, The-Dream, Omarion, Lloyd, Raheem DeVaughn and Jagged Edge anyway, all of those artists have made thoroughly excellent songs within the last year and yet we have to think about Jay fucking Sean instead?

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I really hate the way mediocre-to-bad artists monopolise the conversation. It puts me off wanting to take part in the conversation. This is a larger, non-specific thing triggered by a) the canon discussion on freakytrig, b) Ke$ha, c) this. I don't want to talk about any of these things, I think they're all not just bad but boring, I want to talk about the Lloyd EP!

~tumbleweave~