Rap-Up.com || Amerie Doesn’t Sweat Album Sales

Despite the lackluster sales of her latest album, Amerie is not breaking a sweat. The R&B star is looking past the initial weeks and toward the bigger picture.

The “Heard ’Em All” singer’s fourth studio album In Love & War sold 12,500 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 46 on the Billboard 200. She spoke to Rap-Up.com about the sales figures.

“It’s a very weird time. I didn’t worry about it ’cause I felt like it’s not about the first week,” she said. “I knew when the album came out, it wasn’t coming out with a big hit ’cause we just went to radio with the ‘Pretty Brown’ record two weeks before the album came out, so we already knew it was going to be one of those over time things vs. a first week thing, which is cool.”

Amerie did not set expectations for herself based on the unpredictable state of the music industry. “There’s no way to tell right now. I was actually curious ’cause I kept saying, ‘This is interesting, going to radio with a song and two weeks later your album is coming out.’ I’ve never really done it like that before.”

The album was not immediately available on iTunes on its release day, but Amerie doesn’t fault anyone for the error. “That was weird. I don’t know what happened with that. The people at iTunes are really cool. I just thought that was so odd. They tried to fix it as fast as they could.”

Next up, she is planning to shoot a video for “More Than Love” with Fabolous.

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38 Comments

Nacho
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:49 am
Never been a fan, but I wish her luck!
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Joyams
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:51 am
Not a fan either, but i’m sad for her… She deserves better than this.
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Lindsay
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:00 am
Amerie does deserve better, she comes with something fresh and new each time. I got the album and its pretty good, but shes underrated. Maybe that’s why I like her so much she always seems to be the underdog.
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tbib
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:31 am
She deserves better, plus her album is really cool and fresh, not as rihanna rnb sh!t that we heard on radio. She’s so underrated!
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nemo
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:02 am
that’s what you call crappy promotion from your record label…
it takes time for a single to “take-off” on the radio
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Giselle
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:27 am
She does deserve better than this. But you know who Def Jam is… I wish her luck.
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Giselle
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:28 am
I meant HOW
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YaGirl
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:55 am
She better sign with Young Money… That’s where the $$$$$$ is at! Haaaahhahahahahahhah!!
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will
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:05 am
i thought she was gonna shoot a video for Pretty Brown Eyes. More than love is a good choice though!
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Kyle
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:06 am
That “Pretty Brown” excuse is sort of funny if you think about it. She said she never went to radio with a single 2 weeks before her album release, but it was the albums THIRD single. LOL. Regardless though, I wish the best for her and this album. I bought it the day it came out and I really enjoy a bulk of it and I’m glad that “More Than Love” will be a single because that is one of my favorite songs from the album.
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joe franco
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:27 am
go with “Swag Back” you will have a hit
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ouchhh!
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:46 am
Her performances alone indicate that she’s not as good as everybody hypes her up to be. granted..she has a good voice, good material but its the perfromance that is lacking..so even when she did her two or three TV promo performances…it didnt help garner the attention that she needed. She has what it takes to be a leading force..but she needs more umph!
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K4kenzo
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:05 am
always been an Amerie fan . that Love & War album is deadly !! this woman is sooo slept on . she`s headstrong with her biz , she writes / arranges as well unlike some other ” puppets ” we know .
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test123
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:15 am
I like her a bit, but she must be kiddin. She had 2 previous singles before “Pretty Brown” and yes, her performances are pretty wack imo. I wanna hear her sing LIVE, none of that playback bullshiat. no hit singles on the album, mediocre production overall, wack effort on stage = poor album sales
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werk! Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:31 pm
@test123,
agreed 100%. she’s blaming the wrong thing…she should be blaming her label. all the blogs were promoting so hard but her label couldn’t even get on David Letterman.
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BiBi
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:05 am
THEY SHOULD OF GAVE ALL THE PROMOTION THEY WERE GIVING TO RIHANNA TO AMERIE !
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blackrds
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:47 am
Like they say “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side” she left columbia because “she wasnt handled properly” but she got much better treatment and promotion on columbia her last album never came out physically on columbia because they knew this was going to happen and wanted to start a new album but she left and this is the result smh.
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Hautmess
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:50 am
love her, one of the best.
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cp2006
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:51 am
she needs to go gangsta on this situation and stop being a doormat! GROW A PAIR! talent not getting recognition!
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Monster
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:54 am
Def Jam spending all their money on talentless artiste who only have image (ms. fenty) while they leave the talent ones to fail (Mariah). but Karma is a biitch cause allthat hype about Rated R..FAILED AND FAILED HARD!.
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shaun Reply:
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:19 am
I hate to say it, because I’m a HUGE Amerie fan, but this album just isn’t good. I tried listening to this album a number of times, and it just bores me to tears. The last thing we need is another bland R&B album. I’m not going to get into what I felt the direction should have been, because that’s neither here nor there. But one thing I will say is, before and during this album release, this girl was NOWHERE to be found. If you have an album coming, you need to be everywhere. Parties, red carpet, events, photoshoots. You need to say “hey world, I’m here, and I got an album coming out real soon. Ugh!
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Me and Me
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:07 am
Tragic!
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Anthony
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:36 am
She consistently drops one of the best R&B albums of the year. I just hope the sales are enough in the long run so she can keep making music. “Touch,” “Because I Love It,” and now “In Love & War” are ALL fire. Keep up the quality over the quantity, Amerie.
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Maya What
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:03 am
Love Amerie and she had problems from the start with her album. I went to Best Buy and they didn’t even have it out on the shelves. They had to go get it out the back as it was still in boxes.
I’m ready for More Than Love with her a fabulous. I can see the video already in my head.
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Maya What
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:04 am
After More Than Love I hope SwagBack will be the next single.
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brandon
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:35 pm
I’m proud of her…her first album was a banger! straight…fire…
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Catie
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
She can’t really blame it on “Pretty Brown” considering she had two singles with music videos out before “Pretty Brown” was even chosen as the 3rd single. I feel like Def Jam is to blame but at the same time, she really didn’t do much either. She has a Twitter account that she could have been logged on to and she could have made YouTube videos. There are alot of ways to self-promote yourself when your label isn’t doing the job.
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YES!
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
amerie is always like this. she just loves the process of creating music but when it comes to promotion, she struggles.
i don’t think amerie realizes how BIG she can be. i just hope def jam pulls through and promote her with more effort. i am sooo ready for a MORE THAN LOVE video. that song is dope. SWAG BACK should be a single too.
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Teliah
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
i love A!
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Dave
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:40 pm
I don’t give a damn. I’m just happy she still going forth with the album, YAY Ame!
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drtash
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I agree with a lot of you guys as to why she’s failed. Def jam spent so much effort promoting rihanna’s record they had no money for Amerie, that’s why her record isn’t selling. She made a big mistake going to def jam from Columbia IMO, and now look, Rated R got bucketloads of advertising/promotion, and she doesn’t. But I agree also it’s about the performance aspect as well. She’s not that great as a performer IMO, and she really needs to work on her vocals and stage presence.
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drtash
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:22 pm
The combination of performance, singles choices and promotion is probably why artists like Beyonce are incredibly successful, and she needs to improve on all of that. It’s a shame coz she’s an incredibly talented artist (creativity-wise) with her own style but she’s gonna have to start believing in and promoting herself a lot more and start working hard on her performances. She needs to stand up for herself and really give Def jam a piece of her mind instead of letting them walk all over her like Columbia did.
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YadaYada
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:00 am
sad thing is that :love and war was a good album…smh
i love that song more than love tho.
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jojo
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:48 am
NEW MANAGEMENT FIRE LENNY!!! NOW!!
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dave
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I’m with JoJo.
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rico
December 4th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
labels don’t work records anymore unless there is a hit out the gate.
the people at defjam fucked up- how can your record not be available at the biggest retailer- itunes and how can you come out with a single 2 weeks before the album comes out, looks like LA Reid didn’t care about this one- he had bigger record to go after and that one ended up flopping.
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Adonis
December 13th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Amerie vocals are amazing… she does not did 2 work on shit… as long as she is making music ill be buying it!!! Amerie is the best
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Kevin
December 14th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
You all have hit the nail right on the head. I’m a huge Amerie fan, one of her biggest. Ever since the very first moment I heard “Why Don’t We Fall In Love” back in summer 2002, I was hooked. She’s beautiful and she’s damn sure talented. A lot of people wanna say she can’t sing but I love her voice. She’s creative and I love every single one of her albums, especially “In Love & War” and “Because I Love It.” What’s sad is I really want her to be successful, and I know she can. Personally I love her performances simply because I love her getting any T.V. time she can get, but I do agree that she needs a little more “umph.” It’s easy for her to please me, but she needs to impress the world and show them what she can do. She needs to sing her heart out and quit fooling with that “Heard Em All” mess. She’s performed that song on 4 seperate talk shows that I’ve seen and I’m sorry but it doesn’t really show us who she is. It’s just trying to get her to crossover to the pop charts. And I do like the song, however I LOVE “Why R U.” It’s brilliant. Great lyrics, she sings the hell out of it… that’s what she should’ve promoted more. I know it could’ve been a hit. She needs to blow up her Twitter account and start promoting on YouTube. And I hate to say it, but Columbia Records was a lot better for her than Def Jam. And don’t get me wrong, I love Rihanna. But that’s where all the promotion has gone. Even when Amerie was labelmates with Beyonce, she still got more than she is now. She’s blown up the talk show circuit but it did nothing for her album sales. Number 46 is disappointing. I hope she takes off the the sky because she deserves it. She will always be my number 1. Love you Amerie.
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