Fetty Wap was my first thought, he seemed set to be a massive name by the end of 2015 and all but vanished by the end of 2016.

This is an example of the history books telling you something different to what actually happened. The interview on The Word happened in 1992 and then he went on to have his 2 biggest hits in 1993 with "Mr. Loverman" making number 3 and "Housecall" making number 8. He also won the 2nd of his Grammy's in 1993.

Nothing to do with history books as such, as I remember the whole thing. Perhaps I condensed the timeline a little though a miss-recollection and for me and all my mates reacting so strongly from day one.

 

The episode aired in Dec '92 and yes he did win the Grammy in '93 but that event was held in February before the fallout really began to hit home and the winner was likely already decided before the organisers heard about it. Bobby Brown dropped him from his tour in early Feb and although you are correct that he managed to have the 2 hits in 1993, very few promoters were willing to book his shows and by the mid year he was forced to make a public apology. His Grammy winning album itself sold poorly both in the US and UK, for a winner and his late 1993 follow up failed to chart in either territory. After one further contractual obligation he was dropped by his label having achieved no further successes.

 

Ask yourself why would Epic decide to drop a rising artist with a double Grammy win and a high profile a little over 12 months after the show aired. They wouldn't normally but he was basically poison by this time as the fallout had only snowballed.

Where The Word was a niche late show for drunks and night owls and not seen by loads of viewers, news and details of the comments took a little longer to gather momentum than they do in these days of the internet.

I strongly remember though that every time the re-issues of Mr Loverman or Housecall came on radio and TV at least one person would bring up the story and as more and more people heard about it and the knowledge spread his reputation fell faster and faster.

97% of dance/electronic producers did.

 

Martin Garrix: From Animals to Wizard to losing big room popularity and moving on to future bass (STBL, ITNOL, and There For You) to just satisfying his big room house fans with some non-hit electro house bangers

Alan Walker: From Faded to marketing himself only in Asia

Marshmello: From 'out of nowhere Khalid collaboration' to Bastille to CHVRCHES to Halsey and bye bye

Hardwell, Nicky Romero, Showtek, Porter Robinson: same fate, albeit still appealing their fans

The EDM scene is on a downfall unfortunately :( The quality just isn't where it used to be but considering the names you mentioned, I think Alan Walker still held up pretty well with some big name collaborations very recently.

Nothing to do with history books as such, as I remember the whole thing. Perhaps I condensed the timeline a little though a miss-recollection and for me and all my mates reacting so strongly from day one.

 

The episode aired in Dec '92 and yes he did win the Grammy in '93 but that event was held in February before the fallout really began to hit home and the winner was likely already decided before the organisers heard about it. Bobby Brown dropped him from his tour in early Feb and although you are correct that he managed to have the 2 hits in 1993, very few promoters were willing to book his shows and by the mid year he was forced to make a public apology. His Grammy winning album itself sold poorly both in the US and UK, for a winner and his late 1993 follow up failed to chart in either territory. After one further contractual obligation he was dropped by his label having achieved no further successes.

 

Ask yourself why would Epic decide to drop a rising artist with a double Grammy win and a high profile a little over 12 months after the show aired. They wouldn't normally but he was basically poison by this time as the fallout had only snowballed.

Where The Word was a niche late show for drunks and night owls and not seen by loads of viewers, news and details of the comments took a little longer to gather momentum than they do in these days of the internet.

I strongly remember though that every time the re-issues of Mr Loverman or Housecall came on radio and TV at least one person would bring up the story and as more and more people heard about it and the knowledge spread his reputation fell faster and faster.

I had no idea that was the reason for Shabba Ranks' downfall, I don't remember any of that!

Alan Walker: From Faded to marketing himself only in Asia

I don't think he really counts, he was pretty much a one hit wonder in the UK. He's still releasing bangers though, his recent single 'Beautiful Nightmare' absolutely slaps!

Edited October 29, 2024Oct 29 by Mangø

Marshmello's still doing pretty well for himself too, he's released a lot of Latin music in the last few years which have racked up crazy numbers of streams but obviously doesn't make much impact in the UK.

 

'Miles On It' has also been fairly big this year as well, particularly in the US.

Nothing to do with history books as such, as I remember the whole thing. Perhaps I condensed the timeline a little though a miss-recollection and for me and all my mates reacting so strongly from day one.

 

The episode aired in Dec '92 and yes he did win the Grammy in '93 but that event was held in February before the fallout really began to hit home and the winner was likely already decided before the organisers heard about it. Bobby Brown dropped him from his tour in early Feb and although you are correct that he managed to have the 2 hits in 1993, very few promoters were willing to book his shows and by the mid year he was forced to make a public apology. His Grammy winning album itself sold poorly both in the US and UK, for a winner and his late 1993 follow up failed to chart in either territory. After one further contractual obligation he was dropped by his label having achieved no further successes.

 

Ask yourself why would Epic decide to drop a rising artist with a double Grammy win and a high profile a little over 12 months after the show aired. They wouldn't normally but he was basically poison by this time as the fallout had only snowballed.

Where The Word was a niche late show for drunks and night owls and not seen by loads of viewers, news and details of the comments took a little longer to gather momentum than they do in these days of the internet.

I strongly remember though that every time the re-issues of Mr Loverman or Housecall came on radio and TV at least one person would bring up the story and as more and more people heard about it and the knowledge spread his reputation fell faster and faster.

 

I don't completely disagree with what you're saying but it's really not as simple as his career being over as a result of those comments. Yes there was a backlash in some parts as a result. He didn't get dropped by his label until 1996 and I suspect his heyday would have been over by then anyway much like it was for the likes of Chaka Demus & Pliers and Bitty McClean.

Pixie Lott - her last album failed to make top 100, and she's only had gigs on Voice Kids (which nobody watched) and "Who Do You Think You Are" (the geneolagy programme)

I was surprised that her latest album didn't chart but aside from it having been ten years, i don't think it was given much of a push.

 

Plus the fact she didn't release much in the intervening years suggested to me that she didn't want the superstardom or the #1s anymore. The Voice Kids was a cushy gig but I believe she was also running a weekend drama school.

Susan Boyle, from the national heights of this audition to whatever came next...

 

 

Do you think we will ever see an audition as iconic as this ever again on television?

She did well to have a career as successful as she has, that was totally the type of reality show act I thought would be a 1 year wonder at best kinda thing.

I don't completely disagree with what you're saying but it's really not as simple as his career being over as a result of those comments. Yes there was a backlash in some parts as a result. He didn't get dropped by his label until 1996 and I suspect his heyday would have been over by then anyway much like it was for the likes of Chaka Demus & Pliers and Bitty McClean.

The Shabba Ranks story was a big part of why the whole Reggae scene began to struggle though. Copeland Forbes, the manager, promoter, Reggae historian and one of the most important figures in Jamaican music has spoken many times about how the reaction to Shabba's comments ignited a 'war' with the GLAAD and homosexual communities that Reggae artists 'lost'. Artists were being forced to sign contracts promising not to make statements or use lyrics that were negative towards homosexuals and if they didn't do so their careers would be affected. The whole genre suffered because of it in a way that, rather surprisingly, Hip Hop never did.

 

http://old.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20150217/ent/ent1.html

 

Were it not for Shabba Ranks the genre may well have continued the long unblemished chart success that it had enjoyed since the '60s. It's worth noting that very few Reggae acts enjoy that kind of crossover success anymore and the genre was huge in the early 90s.

 

The interview absolutely put his career into terminal decline and may well have taken other's with him.

First name I thought of was Khalid. Had real potential then just became a bit of a nothing artist.

This is one of the best examples. He had a series of big hits before the pandemic (13 top 40 hits from 2017 to 2020), with just one top 100 hit post-Know Your Worth (which was a feature on Justin Bieber album track As I Am, #24 in 2021). From a #2 album in 2019 to his latest release not charting...!

 

I think there are a few UK rappers that fit this bill at the moment too. Headie One's a good shout, Tion Wayne's had a few singles fail to chart in a row now after feeling like a consistent chart presence for a little while (bear in mind he had a huge hit with IFTK only in 2022). I think this is more part of a general trend that's affecting almost every UK rapper right now, with only a select few (Dave, Central Cee, Stormzy) continuing to be (semi) reliable hitmakers.

This is one of the best examples. He had a series of big hits before the pandemic (13 top 40 hits from 2017 to 2020), with just one top 100 hit post-Know Your Worth (which was a feature on Justin Bieber album track As I Am, #24 in 2021). From a #2 album in 2019 to his latest release not charting...!

 

I think there are a few UK rappers that fit this bill at the moment too. Headie One's a good shout, Tion Wayne's had a few singles fail to chart in a row now after feeling like a consistent chart presence for a little while (bear in mind he had a huge hit with IFTK only in 2022). I think this is more part of a general trend that's affecting almost every UK rapper right now, with only a select few (Dave, Central Cee, Stormzy) continuing to be (semi) reliable hitmakers.

Indeed - AJ Tracey & Aitch have also struggled with recent singles.

Indeed - AJ Tracey & Aitch have also struggled with recent singles.

And ArrDee's struggled a lot after what felt like a consistent run of hits!

Sean Paul here big early 00s now flop this days

Frankie Goes To Hollywood were huge in 1984 with fifteen weeks at number 1. Two years later, the lead single from their second album did get to number 4 but the next two singles only got to 19 and 28 and they split up shortly afterwards.

From a US perspective, I'd say that Paula Abdul fits this description perfectly! She achieved phenomenal success with her first two album eras in the US, which really put her up there with Madonna, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson in terms of commercial impact.

 

Both of those albums peaked at #1 and were multi-Platinum sellers. She achieved 6 consecutive US #1 Billboard Hot 100 singles, and two more Top 10 hits, from 1988 to 1991.

 

Then her third album, which didn't arrive until 1995, was met with indifference. The album peaked at #18, with its lead single only managing #28. It ended up being her last studio album. Perhaps it was a case of her taking too long to follow up, and falling out of fashion.

 

I do find it curious that she didn't try to release an album during her years on American Idol (her revival as a TV personality from 2002, and for the rest of the 2000s decade). In fact it took until 2008 and 2009 for her to release a couple of singles, which were her first since 1996, but no album materialised.

Anyway, what is the actual criteria we’re using here? Because it does seem a little all over the place. I’d imagine it would be someone who became popular all of a sudden and then dropped quickly-Duffy, The Darkness, Emeli Sande all seem to fit that. But I do still get confused with the likes of Britney and Katy being mentioned. Sure they fell, but it was hardly quick.

The Feeling - First album a top seller and spawned a fair few top 40 singles. Second album did reasonably well, lead single did OK. Other singles flopped. Third album performed moderately, flop singles. Other albums have struggled since.