Not one black recording artist hits number one spot on the charts in 2013

[alphanguy74]

The first time in history this has happened, since 1958, when the charts started, and 44 of the 52 weeks has a white artist at the number one spot on the R&B chart. A perfect example of the general decline of the quality of black music (with only a few exceptions)

http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/story/black-artists-top-singles-chart-2013/

[All My Shadows]

Bruh. Nobody gives a sh!t about the charts anymore.

[Cheap21]

[Winchester91]

Meh, Pharrell was slaying this year. It's not about race; it's about who deserves it the most.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Maybe I'm just a weird old lady in a 25 year old's body, but I still find it sort of interesting to look at the Billboard Hot 100, just to see what's popular (even though I'm mainly a rock, 70s/80s, new wave, indie rock and alternative rock kind of girl, so yeah, a lot of the stuff I listen to is definitely not on the Hot 100).

Has anyone here ever heard of or watched the internet pop music reviewer Todd in the Shadows? He gives commentary on popular songs currently in the top 10 (which, given how stagnant the top 10 has been this year until recently, hasn't been easy lately), as well as reviews on bands/artists known for being One Hit Wonders. He is awesome, and I highly recommend him.

Here's his website:

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/tis

And his Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/ShadowTodd

You might have heard of one of the other reviewers on that site, the Nostalgia Critic. He's a favorite of mine, too. I should warn you though, that this a website FULL of nerds, so if you find that you're not an overly nerdy person, you might not have much use for a lot of these reviewers .

[alphanguy74]

and yes, he DOES deserve it (He's one of the exceptions, along with Ceelo). My point is that by and large the black music scene has gone down the tubes with self indulgent, shallow, misogynistic crap, and the charts are showing it. Just pick any year and you see and hear the huge difference. !972... is there any question as to the gravity of talent contained in Roberta Flack compared to Beyonce (who is just a glorified hoochie mama) Does anyone think someone like Mavis Staples would have a prayer of getting a record deal today? signing with her sisters and senior citizen father? Is there any song in the last year that has something REALLY important to say,. such as "I Am woman"?

[Eric83]

Good day.

You never think anything has something to do about race. I wish we all could live in your little bubble where racism is a myth.

[quartermainefan]

Charts used to matter because radio wasn't so isolated by genre and Top 40 was where every style of song had to battle it out for dominance. You would listen to Casey Kasem or whoever and you would go from Kiss to Streisand then to Gloria Gaynor and then Blondie. You really got exposed to everything back then and when a song became popular it was truly popular, and not the way half these songs go to number one and you never even heard of it.

[Graham]

Thank God that mess known as Pharrell did not have a #1 song.

[Eric83]

Happy was #1 for 10 weeks this year

[All My Shadows]

I know for a fact that I won't be having this conversation with you again, but just to recap from the last time this happened. You're using old school, irrelevant methods to judge popularity in the music industry, and as such, your findings are inaccurate. Success is no longer chiefly measured by radio airplay and chart performance. Radio and the charts are no longer an accurate display of all that is popular in the current music scene. It's 2014, and people get music from so many different places now, but you're still acting as if listening to your car radio is the only way.

And of course it goes without saying, your Beyonce comment is just plain ridiculous.

[All My Shadows]

Aaaaaaand he was featured on (and produced) two of the biggest hits of last year.

[ReddFoxx]

Music is digital now and the charts mostly all about airplay, which isn't as big of a deal as it was in the past, since radio stations don't have as many listeners as before. Radio is still a big factor in country music, but that's only because country listeners skew more rural.

[All My Shadows]

And I do think it's interesting that the takeaway from this is about "black music" when most of the songs that hit #1 in 2013 were heavily influenced by traditionally "black" genres.

[quartermainefan]

I miss radio. We use spotify at work and the wind up is people just put on what they already like. There are lists and charts but that takes clicking to find and usually what happens is someone just starts spotify up and walks away so it is stuck where it is. Radio brought music to you without you having to make an effort.