On April 7th Jadakiss dropped "The Last Kiss" which debuted at Number 3 on the Top 200 Billboard charts with 135,000 records sold.
2 weeks later, on April 21 Rick Ross dropped "Deeper Than Rap," which debuted at Number 1 on the Top 200 Billboard charts with 158,000 records sold.
Both artists debuted with good numbers but let's take a look at the breakdown of services offered to each artist:
Rick Ross Video Budgets: $600,000 - Mafia Music - Magnificent - All I Want
Jadakiss Video Budgets: $350,000 - By My Side - Can't Stop Me - Who Run This
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Rick Ross Promo Tour:$300,000 -3 month run w/ 8-member entourage
Jadakiss Promo Tour: $50,000 -2 week run w/ 1-member entourage
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Rick Ross New Media: $100,000 Jadakiss New Media: $ 25,000
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Rick Ross Single at Radio: Magnificent (peaked at #5 on Urban Charts) Jadakiss Single at Radio: Can't Stop Me (didn't spin outside of NY) ___________
Rick Ross Radio Promotions: $100,000 Jadakiss Radio Promotions: $25,000
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Rick Ross Trade/Magazine Promotions: $50,000 Jadakiss Trade/Magazine Promotions: $50,000
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Rick Ross Beefs: 5 (50 Cent, Trick Daddy, LLoyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Eminem) Jadakiss Beefs: 0
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Rick Ross Total Budget: $1,150,000 Jadakiss Total Budget: $500,000
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Difference in Records Sold First Week: Rick Ross: 158,000 Jadakiss: 135,000
DIFFERENCE: 23,000 units
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After reading the breakdown it's clear to see which artist is in the red with their company. The moral of the story is, in the climate that we're in with the music industry major record labels should not be spending so much marketing dollars based on hype, beef, bad energy, and bad decisions made by record executives. Let this be a lesson learned...