Coolio
365 days in music is never complete without few artists who didn’t quite make it to the top to the music tree and ended up going back to their jobs in Tesco or whatever.
This year has been no different, so here we take a somewhat brief look at the rap ‘stars’ who are now gone, and somewhat forgotten.
Coolio
Coolio, or Artis Leon Ivey, Jr. to his parents, was once a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and actor. Well, to be honest, he still is, as no one’s asking for the award back, but still, you get the idea.
After he rose to fame with his cult 1995 hit single "Gangsta's Paradise" there seemed to be great things ahead for Coolio, and to be honest, he did a fairly good job of milking it before he unceremoniously vanished from the face of the earth.
He did however, turn up again on the 2009 series of Celebrity Big Brother (where else?) as he and his fellow Americans La Toya Jackson and Verne Troyer did their best to get their name back in lights. Sadly it didn’t quite go to plan, as Coolio only seemed to piss off his fellow housemates with his offensive jokes and comments.
So, in the year that has followed he has appeared on Channel Five in the UK to discuss Barack Obama's election, stating that he would "take a bullet" for the President, as well as ‘starring’ in the online series 'Man in the Box'. Classy.
Perhaps the highlight of his year would be appearing alongside Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner and Jon Favreau in the director's cut version of Daredevil, where he played a kind-hearted man who was accused of murder. The only problem was, he didn’t actually make it into the final film. Shame - back to the £3 CD rack for you then.
Chris Brown
Some might argue that Chris Brown hasn’t flopped this year (considering he’s just released a new album and all) but let’s face it, being arrested for assaulting your mega-famous girlfriend isn’t going to do anyone any favours.
I know they say all publicity is good publicity, but unfortunately in this case, that little phrase doesn’t quite apply.
To be honest, at the end of 2008 it looked as though Chris might have had a nice 2009 ahead of him, what with Rihanna on his arm and having been named top artist of 2008 by Billboard magazine.
The problems came when Brown started to work on his new album, Graffiti when he started to copy fellow American singers Prince and Michael Jackson, leaving his album to chart at a disappointing number 55 after its December 15 release, with a mere 1 out of 4 star rating. Ouch!
The question on everyone’s lips is of course whether it was her battering of Rihanna which led to this sudden loss of public support, as it did of course lose his commercial fans, as several of his commercial ads were suspended, his music was withdrawn from multiple radio stations, and he withdrew from public appearances, including one at the 2009 Grammy Awards.
So, can he make one last go of his music career in 2010 or do we think he’s done for good? In a Larry King Live interview, he stated he does not feel that his career is over, so that’s a glimmer of hope for him then.
Soulja Boy
Soulja Boy is always going to be known for ‘that Crank That song’ in my opinion, but whilst I never failed to get my dancing shoes on when it came on in a club, I have to be honest with you, I can’t name anything else he’s done.
Considering the fact that Crank That was released in 2007 and I can’t name anything he’s done since, this could be pretty grim news for the Soulja, but he did make an impressive seven non-consecutive weeks starting at the top of the US charts *pats on the back.*
I do know that on October 7, 2009, My Boy was arrested on one count of obstruction, a misdemeanour, for running from police when he'd been ordered to stop, but he was released on $550 bond.
So, one single and an arrest… hmm. Let’s hope his release of The DeAndre Way serves him better next year!
Lethal Bizzle
It pains me to put Mr Bizzle in my flop list, considering one of my favourite PR folk is ‘representin’ him, but as the ‘rap kid’ in our office has stuck his name forward for my flop list (and I couldn’t think of anyone else, I have to put him in)
To be honest, when I saw Lethal mooching around the Leeds Festival press area, I was a bit scared… he was with his crew and looked like he could pop a cap in my ass if I accidentally dropped my reporters notebook in his path.
No, I’ve not heard much of his music, but it does baffle me that he plays festivals (Download 2008 & Leeds 2009) when he looks like a rap star, and not like Noel Gallagher… surely it’s dangerous to sleep with all that bling in your tent Mr Bizzle?
He has had some moderate success though, thanks to the first single from his new album being released, titled, Go Hard. Although the highlight for him was probably being interviewed on SKY tv's Soccer AM on Sat. 12th September 2009.
Let’s hope, for The Professor’s sake, that he can do better next year.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison