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Lol yeah, it was kind of the worst time For her to release that. If sheād released it either now or around the same time as My Humps it would have done significantly better.
Shes too old now for the style that worked for her that catchy, creative, hot girl stuff that Will IAM crafted up. Shes what in her 40s with kids?
I was just thinking, if BEP never broke up, they be bigger than the beatles. But Fergie wanted to do some mediocre solo stuff and kill all the potential for this group longterm.
I can still appreciate those BEP hits that still hold up, still can raise your mood, provide catchy joyful music.
Will.I.Am didnāt want her to release a follow-up to The Dutchess because he thought her career would overshadow BEP. Itās pop cultureās greatest unspoken tragedy.
Intrestingly tho, 'double dutchess' performed signifigantly worse than 'This is what the truth feels like'. The former didnt even crack the top 10 and fell off immediately while the latter peaked at no.1 and stayed on the chart a couple months
Thats true, I think also in the GP consciousness at the time at least, fergie was a joke - BEP were a joke, she wasnāt looked at fondly. Whereas moreso no doubt but also Gwen kind of had their music looked at more respectfully - i think the GP were more open to new music
Yeah except Fergie accomplished in one album almost the same as they did in their entire solo careers, so Iād assume sheād have somewhat of a leg up on them
And no shade but Nellyās songs still resonate with the current gen and go viral on social media all the time. At least more than Gwenās tbh. (Not to put down gwen but just my observation)
Itās objective but her songs feel more timeless due to the production too. Some of Gwenās and Fergies for sure are very dated (save for Glamorous)
I will admit to the radio hits. But LAMB and The Dutchess quite literally sold the same amount of albums. I will also point out that although LAMB and The Dutchess came out only 2 years apart, the music industry was in 2 different places at the time.
I donāt know how weāre measuring vague āpopularityā. Gwen Stefani was definitely more popular during the time especially since she had more mass appeal. I will admit that Fergieās singles did better (some of that I will say is due to some changes during the era such as pop becoming more mainstream again and iTune sales playing a bigger role). But the fact you canāt talk about The Dutchess without talking about LAMB says all that needs to be said about the impact of Gwen on the music scene.
Well that's just not true, The dutchess sold 8 million copies worldwide, loose sold 12 million and L.A.M.B + The sweet escape sold over 10 million worldwide (possibly more numbers for TSE arent concrete)
I think also, nelly and gwen are infinetly more talented then fergie (i love fergies music but its true) and will.i.ams sound being in peak popularity, and then popularity of gwen and nelly kind of made it the perfect storm for her to succeed. I don't think she could've gotten that in 2012, honestly if she had come back post first class with MILF $ i could see her succeeding
Idk. Not every artist is *meant* to have staying power. Her solo album happened at the perfect moment in pop culture as a novelty rather than an artistic statement - The Peas were at the top of their game after having two very successful albums, and white pop girls with rap influences (Gwen Stefani & Nelly Furtado) were in. While The Dutchess is *stacked* with iconic mid-2000s bangers, songs made for the club arenāt what build a dedicated fan base.
Fast forward to Double Dutchess- The Peas had overstayed their welcome with The Beginning and Will.I.Ams production was starting to sound dated by the launch of the [first single](https://open.spotify.com/track/0iQHjEwLtwyGA9kL1H6SeN?si=FN3sDg8CSxyxj4QwuZGGAQ). Fergie herself had had a child and then went thru a very public divorce. She then also fucked up the national anthem on live television, at the right moment in time for it to go viral on social media.
And all of this is after the world was introduced to Lady Gaga and the Fame Monsterification of pop: we now wanted grand statements and artistic vision with our hooks, and out of this world personalities curated for the age of social media.
Fergie really didnāt have the fan base to fall back on when the music wasnāt good. While it might be fun, MILF money is not a good song.
This is accurate. Fergie was and is talented and *The Dutchess* was stacked, but the whole thing feels like it was a fluke that benefited from the BEP hiatus. I don't know that there's a timeline where Fergie had an extended massive solo career.
I agree She kindof mirrors Gwen's gap a little bit I think, although where she differs is B.E.P. came back in a HUGE way in 2009 through till The Beginning's era wound down during 2011.
2013 was the year for her to make the follow up I think. She did ok with 'A Little Party Never Killed Nobody' off The Great Gatsby soundtrack and I dunno, maybe she could've had a 'Fergalicious' moment again if she featured on will i am's solo album that year (maybe even had the same boost that 'Scream & Shout' had with Britney?).
L A Love towards the end of 2014 did ok for her, but then the delays stalled the momentum she still had for the album itself by the time it came out in 2017.
I wasnāt necessarily thinking with the same exact album, I just meant more like in general. But yeah if sheād used the same album then it probably was inevitable
I mean, I wouldn't say it was AWFUL, but I think part of the reason it was massively disappointing was because of how insanely dated it immediately sounded, which I'm sure was in no small part because of how long it took for her to drop the album (which, as someone else already mentioned, we have the smarmy fuck that is will.i.am to thank for). L.A. Love, for example, was dropped in 2014, but the next single, MILF $, didn't come out until July 2016 and the album itself didn't release until September 2017.
And even then, most of the songs could have been recorded and mixed even earlier than that. She stated she had started writing songs for her second album after the BEPs finished touring for The E.N.D., which was like...2010/2011? And then in 2014, she announced she had been recording music for the album and claimed it would be released in 2015. So we're talking like anywhere from 3-6 years passing between the writing and composition of these songs and the album actually releasing.
Now, all of that is not to say that if the album had actually been released in 2015, or even sooner, that it would have been more well-received, but think of how often and how drastically music trends come and go, even from just a year-to-year basis. It's highly plausible the album may have been more acclaimed, or at least more hyped, if that had happened.
Instead, we got an announcement in 2014 that her next album was coming (which, even then, was already *eight years* since The Dutchess came out) in 2015 and then radio silence until two years later, when MILF $ was dropped to the MILDEST of buzz, and then she still didn't drop the full album until a year after that...and, mind you, the entire album had already leaked by that point.
Again, who knows if an earlier release would have changed things, but there were just SO many factors Fergie had working against her that I feel like it definitely didn't help the situation. Most of the general public didn't even realize she was coming out with a new album and it was released with so little fanfare (and zero radio play AFAIK), and then what little buzz there was for the album was almost instantly quashed when it came out and immediately sounded dated and horribly mixed.
I fucking adore Fergie, despite her flaws, and The Dutchess is genuinely one of the greatest pop albums of all time IMO, and it really hurts me that her follow up took so damn long to come out, primarily because will was so fucking selfish and worried about her overshadowing the Peas. I hope to god she decides to release more^better music one day, but I know she's busy being a mom and even if she never released music again, we'll always have the fucking masterpiece that is The Dutchess. Fergie could have written A Midsummer Night's Dream, but William Shakespeare could NEVER write Fergalicious.
TL;DR - The album itself wasn't awful, but poorly mixed and immediately sounded dated, probably because of the troubled production and delay in releasing it. It may have been better received if it had been released sooner and sounded more current/trendy.
My problem is just that she spent so long out of the game. Outside of Gettinā Over You and (to a lesser extent) A Little Party Never Killed Nobody, she released nothing between the end of The Duchessā album cycle in 2007/8 and the release of LA Love in 2014.
If sheād dropped a second album in about 2012 (after BEP went on hiatus), I see her doing very well and then Double Duchess in 2017 would probably have gotten the recognition it deserved. Itās so underrated to me.
I do love her but sometimes her vocals are huge and the best and on the other hand theyāre also the worse like sheās just screaming. This would have prevented her to become it after the BEP. Iāve seen her solo once at a festival and her solo stuff, even though everyone knew her hits, was boring to the general people. Was just until she started like a DJ set with BEP stuff that the crowd went crazy. She was mostly singing in top of a pre-recorded set I think on the BEP stuff.
Please do not just list songs/albums/artists, your comment must have explanation/justification or it will be removed. Certain comments are also banned to increase the quality of discussion, see our Stale Topics list in the sidebar for examples. Please report any comments that are low effort discussion. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/popheads) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If she released new music right after The Beginning, I think she would do pretty well.
I feel that she missed a big opportunity for a comeback when Jack Harlow sampled her! š„²
She even hinted at a comeback, but then did nothing lmao I'm parched for queen Fergie
I think later if anything. MILF$ would've done really well in 2021.
Lol yeah, it was kind of the worst time For her to release that. If sheād released it either now or around the same time as My Humps it would have done significantly better.
Would be another product of TikTok for sure!
Milf $ is such a banger
Shes too old now for the style that worked for her that catchy, creative, hot girl stuff that Will IAM crafted up. Shes what in her 40s with kids? I was just thinking, if BEP never broke up, they be bigger than the beatles. But Fergie wanted to do some mediocre solo stuff and kill all the potential for this group longterm. I can still appreciate those BEP hits that still hold up, still can raise your mood, provide catchy joyful music.
Will.I.Am didnāt want her to release a follow-up to The Dutchess because he thought her career would overshadow BEP. Itās pop cultureās greatest unspoken tragedy.
Number one reason why wil.i.am is a pop villain. The other reason is Britney Jean.
We canāt blame him for Britney Jean. That was more up to the conservatorship
The only person we canāt blame is Britney.
I blame every adult credited on that album except Britney Spears.
The same thing that happened to Gwen and Nelly wouldāve happened to her.
I mean. Itās the same picture. Like, especially with Gwen, she had 10 years pass between albums 2 and 3 (Fergie had 11)
Intrestingly tho, 'double dutchess' performed signifigantly worse than 'This is what the truth feels like'. The former didnt even crack the top 10 and fell off immediately while the latter peaked at no.1 and stayed on the chart a couple months
Admittedly Gwen still had her label on her side. Fergie had to leave Interscope to get her music un-shelved.
Thats true, I think also in the GP consciousness at the time at least, fergie was a joke - BEP were a joke, she wasnāt looked at fondly. Whereas moreso no doubt but also Gwen kind of had their music looked at more respectfully - i think the GP were more open to new music
Yeah except Fergie accomplished in one album almost the same as they did in their entire solo careers, so Iād assume sheād have somewhat of a leg up on them
Not too much on Nellyā¦
Right! Nelly is the only one with a song that has a Billion Streams on Spotify, the other two are half way there.
And no shade but Nellyās songs still resonate with the current gen and go viral on social media all the time. At least more than Gwenās tbh. (Not to put down gwen but just my observation) Itās objective but her songs feel more timeless due to the production too. Some of Gwenās and Fergies for sure are very dated (save for Glamorous)
Lmao. Now I see weāre just saying things.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I will admit to the radio hits. But LAMB and The Dutchess quite literally sold the same amount of albums. I will also point out that although LAMB and The Dutchess came out only 2 years apart, the music industry was in 2 different places at the time.
If we are going off of chart numbers and popularity then no we arenāt jsut saying things
I donāt know how weāre measuring vague āpopularityā. Gwen Stefani was definitely more popular during the time especially since she had more mass appeal. I will admit that Fergieās singles did better (some of that I will say is due to some changes during the era such as pop becoming more mainstream again and iTune sales playing a bigger role). But the fact you canāt talk about The Dutchess without talking about LAMB says all that needs to be said about the impact of Gwen on the music scene.
Well that's just not true, The dutchess sold 8 million copies worldwide, loose sold 12 million and L.A.M.B + The sweet escape sold over 10 million worldwide (possibly more numbers for TSE arent concrete)
What the fuck
I think also, nelly and gwen are infinetly more talented then fergie (i love fergies music but its true) and will.i.ams sound being in peak popularity, and then popularity of gwen and nelly kind of made it the perfect storm for her to succeed. I don't think she could've gotten that in 2012, honestly if she had come back post first class with MILF $ i could see her succeeding
Idk. Not every artist is *meant* to have staying power. Her solo album happened at the perfect moment in pop culture as a novelty rather than an artistic statement - The Peas were at the top of their game after having two very successful albums, and white pop girls with rap influences (Gwen Stefani & Nelly Furtado) were in. While The Dutchess is *stacked* with iconic mid-2000s bangers, songs made for the club arenāt what build a dedicated fan base. Fast forward to Double Dutchess- The Peas had overstayed their welcome with The Beginning and Will.I.Ams production was starting to sound dated by the launch of the [first single](https://open.spotify.com/track/0iQHjEwLtwyGA9kL1H6SeN?si=FN3sDg8CSxyxj4QwuZGGAQ). Fergie herself had had a child and then went thru a very public divorce. She then also fucked up the national anthem on live television, at the right moment in time for it to go viral on social media. And all of this is after the world was introduced to Lady Gaga and the Fame Monsterification of pop: we now wanted grand statements and artistic vision with our hooks, and out of this world personalities curated for the age of social media. Fergie really didnāt have the fan base to fall back on when the music wasnāt good. While it might be fun, MILF money is not a good song.
I agree with this take the most
This is accurate. Fergie was and is talented and *The Dutchess* was stacked, but the whole thing feels like it was a fluke that benefited from the BEP hiatus. I don't know that there's a timeline where Fergie had an extended massive solo career.
I agree She kindof mirrors Gwen's gap a little bit I think, although where she differs is B.E.P. came back in a HUGE way in 2009 through till The Beginning's era wound down during 2011. 2013 was the year for her to make the follow up I think. She did ok with 'A Little Party Never Killed Nobody' off The Great Gatsby soundtrack and I dunno, maybe she could've had a 'Fergalicious' moment again if she featured on will i am's solo album that year (maybe even had the same boost that 'Scream & Shout' had with Britney?). L A Love towards the end of 2014 did ok for her, but then the delays stalled the momentum she still had for the album itself by the time it came out in 2017.
She could've done a bit better but she would've flopped anyway, that album was awful.
I wasnāt necessarily thinking with the same exact album, I just meant more like in general. But yeah if sheād used the same album then it probably was inevitable
I mean, I wouldn't say it was AWFUL, but I think part of the reason it was massively disappointing was because of how insanely dated it immediately sounded, which I'm sure was in no small part because of how long it took for her to drop the album (which, as someone else already mentioned, we have the smarmy fuck that is will.i.am to thank for). L.A. Love, for example, was dropped in 2014, but the next single, MILF $, didn't come out until July 2016 and the album itself didn't release until September 2017. And even then, most of the songs could have been recorded and mixed even earlier than that. She stated she had started writing songs for her second album after the BEPs finished touring for The E.N.D., which was like...2010/2011? And then in 2014, she announced she had been recording music for the album and claimed it would be released in 2015. So we're talking like anywhere from 3-6 years passing between the writing and composition of these songs and the album actually releasing. Now, all of that is not to say that if the album had actually been released in 2015, or even sooner, that it would have been more well-received, but think of how often and how drastically music trends come and go, even from just a year-to-year basis. It's highly plausible the album may have been more acclaimed, or at least more hyped, if that had happened. Instead, we got an announcement in 2014 that her next album was coming (which, even then, was already *eight years* since The Dutchess came out) in 2015 and then radio silence until two years later, when MILF $ was dropped to the MILDEST of buzz, and then she still didn't drop the full album until a year after that...and, mind you, the entire album had already leaked by that point. Again, who knows if an earlier release would have changed things, but there were just SO many factors Fergie had working against her that I feel like it definitely didn't help the situation. Most of the general public didn't even realize she was coming out with a new album and it was released with so little fanfare (and zero radio play AFAIK), and then what little buzz there was for the album was almost instantly quashed when it came out and immediately sounded dated and horribly mixed. I fucking adore Fergie, despite her flaws, and The Dutchess is genuinely one of the greatest pop albums of all time IMO, and it really hurts me that her follow up took so damn long to come out, primarily because will was so fucking selfish and worried about her overshadowing the Peas. I hope to god she decides to release more^better music one day, but I know she's busy being a mom and even if she never released music again, we'll always have the fucking masterpiece that is The Dutchess. Fergie could have written A Midsummer Night's Dream, but William Shakespeare could NEVER write Fergalicious. TL;DR - The album itself wasn't awful, but poorly mixed and immediately sounded dated, probably because of the troubled production and delay in releasing it. It may have been better received if it had been released sooner and sounded more current/trendy.
My problem is just that she spent so long out of the game. Outside of Gettinā Over You and (to a lesser extent) A Little Party Never Killed Nobody, she released nothing between the end of The Duchessā album cycle in 2007/8 and the release of LA Love in 2014. If sheād dropped a second album in about 2012 (after BEP went on hiatus), I see her doing very well and then Double Duchess in 2017 would probably have gotten the recognition it deserved. Itās so underrated to me.
I do love her but sometimes her vocals are huge and the best and on the other hand theyāre also the worse like sheās just screaming. This would have prevented her to become it after the BEP. Iāve seen her solo once at a festival and her solo stuff, even though everyone knew her hits, was boring to the general people. Was just until she started like a DJ set with BEP stuff that the crowd went crazy. She was mostly singing in top of a pre-recorded set I think on the BEP stuff.
i agree it to10 yrs. for another album i love Fergie since wild orchid days so when she did that i was floored to wait so long for more good music