Low album sales can be disappointing for anyone, but Tank took it pretty badly when his latest album Stronger sold just 16,621 copies in its first week. He took to Instagram to vent his frustrations, calling the release his "last real R&B album."
In a lengthy caption posted with a selfie, Tank questioned his fans and the genre of R&B as a whole. He even revealed that Atlantic Records will not be funding further promotion of the project and noted a decline in musicianship for the sake of sales.
The artist that don't give a f--k sale the most and do the most! Should that be my new route? Maybe I should have been born white then all of my music would go straight mainstream and pop radio instead of urban ac. A format that continues to kill the true R&B artist! (Not mad at white artist just to be clear!)
From the sound of it, Tank may be planning to cross over to another genre. He made no mention of what it could be, but insisted he will not be returning to R&B.
What I do know is that I will not continue to be faithful to something or someone that is not being faithful to me. I love you but I have a family. I look better, sing better, produce better, write better, and perform better than dam near everybody and this is the thanks I get?..Again I'm not angry I'm just tired.. Please enjoy my last real R&B album "Stronger" cause you'll never get another one!
Musiq Soulchild shared similar sentiments in September. He changed his stage name to The Husel and released a five-track mixtape kickstarting his rap career.
During a recent interview with Madame Noir, he explained his decision to switch things up.
"Every time I turn on the radio, I hear this sound," he said. "It's challenging to hear that sound [R&B] on the radio right now, for whatever reason. R&B is struggling right now. And I'm the kind of person to entertain people with what they're saying entertains them, and right now this sound is what's entertaining them."
Read Tank's post after the jump and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
