7 One-Hit-Wonders You Need to Give a Second Chance
<p>Not all one-hit wonders are untalented disasters. Here are eight artists that don't deserve such a label.</p>
By Tiffany WhiteJan. Three 2019, Updated 5:25 p.m. ET
Being a "one-hit wonder" in the music international is more or less like having a scarlet letter branded on your chest. It's regarded as a profession failure — they'd one hit and they blew it. But there may be extra to it than that. Sure, there are several artists who got famous on gimmicky songs that couldn't maintain other folks's attention once the novelty wore off, but many different talented artists have been simply sufferers of unhealthy publicity, shady file labels, and just bad timing.
It's time we let cross of the notion that "one-hit wonders" are untalented failures. Below, a few artists that don't deserve that label. (Note: I'm the usage of the phrase "one-hit wonder" loosely here. Basically, any artist who's most effective known for one hit song is truthful recreation in my guide.)
1. Jojo
Although it will sound cruel to explain JoJo as a one-hit surprise, it's technically true. Her debut single "Leave (Get Out)" was once her most effective No. 1 hit, and even though she had moderate good fortune with "Too Little, Too Late," it by no means reached the top of the charts. In reality, JoJo was all set to be the next Britney Spears, but thanks to a 7-year long dispute together with her label that kept her from freeing new tune, she quickly vanished into obscurity.
Her former label, Blackground Records, would not let her liberate her third album, and because she signed a seven-album deal, she could not be launched from her contract. She used to be pretty much a prisoner at her own label. It wasn't until 2014 that she used to be in any case freed from her contract and able to release her extremely anticipated 3rd album, but via then, many people had forgotten about her.
Today, many people just know her as "that girl that sang 'Leave' that one time." It's all criminally unfair, particularly when you pay attention to contemporary singles like "Mad Love" or "FAB." If any individual merits Ariana Grande-levels of reputation, it is JoJo.
2. Tinashe
On paper, Tinashe's occupation seems to be no other than Vanilla Ice's. She had one hit with 2014's "2 On," struggled to check that good fortune, and now she's doing pirouettes on Dancing With the Stars. But comparing her to some gimmicky rapper hardly seems honest. After all, a lot of Tinashe's profession failings had been on account of her label, RCA, which refused to free up her sophomore album Joyride in 2015. Instead, Tinashe was once pressured to file songs she did not like, free up sporadic singles that made no sense, or even cancel a entire excursion. She in the end launched Joyride in 2018, however although it used to be seriously well-received, maximum fanatics had already made up their minds that Tinashe was once just a few washed-up has-been.
"I get called a flop all the time," she advised Vulture previous this yr. "It becomes a mental game at that point. You can’t let people break you or let those titles and peoples’ misconceptions about you get you down."
Although there is nonetheless not anything in her library that opponents "2 On," her song is still underrated and deserves a listen. She may simply have Rihanna-levels of success if people would simply give her a second shot.
3. James Blunt
Now, listen me out first prior to you roll your eyes. Yes, James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" is de facto awful, and yes, it drove us all crazy again in 2014 after we all heard it played everywhere. Even James himself admitted the track was once "force-fed down people's throats" and that he was once sorry for it.
"The marketing also painted me out as an insanely serious person, an earnest person and, as all my friends know, I'm anything but," he advised Hello! magazine. "I have a couple of over-emotional miserable songs that I’m known for, but I think it’s turned that corner now. People can see I don’t take myself that seriously."
Maybe now not in another country where he is still slightly a hit, however over right here in the states, the general public draw back if you happen to even say his name, which is unlucky because his music isn't that bad. His 2017 album The Afterlove even is going into a poppy/dance route that opponents Maroon5. And howdy, if Adam "Douchebag" Levine will have a career, why not James?
4. The Cardigans
You may take note them from their most effective hit, "Lovefool," a music that is almost certainly on every '90s playlist. But the Swedish band felt pigeonholed by means of their massively successful single as they weren't actually a pop band and no other tracks in their library even sounded very similar to "Lovefool."
"It took over our whole existence, and it wasn't something we totally identified with," lead singer Nina Persson informed Billboard. "It wasn't necessarily our character; it felt like a bit of a freak on the record — which, objectively, it still is."
The music is in fact fairly dark when you pay attention to the lyrics, and the original U.K. version of the video is equally bleak. However, a cutesy video of the band floating in a boat was made specifically for the U.S., and sadly, that's still the picture people recall to mind after they call to mind The Cardigans.
But after "Lovefool," the band launched 1998's Gran Turismo, an album that wasn't a success within the States however proved that they had been talented and deserved not to be dismissed as one-hit wonders. Although the band hasn't launched any new tune since 2005, it's never too past due to discover their non-"Lovefool" music. You can get started with "Erase/Rewind."
5. Nina Sky
Remember them? The dual sisters have been most effective 19 when "Move Ya Body" was a runaway luck in 2004. Although they were featured on other tracks, like Sean Paul's "Connection" or N.O.R.E's "Oye Mi Canto," it took them six years earlier than they could release a correct follow-up album to their debut.
The sisters have been at odds with their file label, which wanted the sisters to adopt a look and and sound that wasn't authentically them. The dispute with their label got so unhealthy, the twins demanded to be launched from their contract. “For MONTHS we’ve had a complete album, ready for free up,” they wrote in a collection of tweets. “After months of no motion we requested to be launched + still nothing. No [acknowledgment] from the President of our label Bryan Leach… Bottom Line, we want to be released.” It took two extra years sooner than they may in spite of everything free up 2012's Nicole and Natalie.
Today, they're completely impartial and feature zero pastime in being mainstream, but judging by way of songs like "Champion Lover," they're totally deserving of every other hit.
6. Carly Rae Jepsen
OK, so I'm just about cheating here. Carly Rae Jepsen has had a few hits, like "Good Time" and "I Really Like You," but none of her singles had been as a hit as "Call Me Maybe," an obnoxious tune that also lingers over her career like a unhealthy shadow. It's unlucky too, because her last album Emotion was thought to be one of the crucial very best pop albums of 2015, with many critics calling her an "underrated genius." And in contrast to the other artists in this record, Carly wasn't the victim of shady labels screwing her over both. But nevertheless, Emotion used to be a commercial flop, and Carly's been struggling to snag any other hit ever since, although her present '80s-inspired tune is light-years better than "Call Me Maybe." Later this yr, she's freeing a new album, so now could be the perfect time to present her a second chance.
7. Tweet
Earlier this yr when Billboard referred to as Tweet a one-hit marvel, she used to be none too happy. "Thank you @billboard for acknowledging my ONE HIT…Keyword HIT!!!" she wrote on Twitter. "But let me say this …just because I haven’t satisfied your thirst or definition of success doesn’t mean I’m not valuable."
And she's proper. Although her 2000 observe "Oops (Oh My)" is her only hit, she's still making decent music. Like the other artists in this list, Tweet was once a sufferer of dangerous control from her label. After the luck of her debut album, label changes behind schedule her follow-up record. By the time she launched it, just about three years later, the album suffered from lack of promotion from the label. She then spent the following Eleven years swapping managers and moving from one label to the other. Her third album, which was once meant to drop in 2008, did not get launched until 2016.
Even although she's been on a lengthy hiatus, which she partially blames on herself, she points out that labels are simply as much in charge for one-hit wonders as artists. "And when will the record companies and management be held accountable for dropping the ball???" she tweeted. "WHERE’S THAT LIST????!!!!"
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