10 Musicians Whose Careers Were Destroyed By Just One Song
The lyrics that went too far, videos no one wanted to see, and flat-earth rapping...
WhatCulture recently ran a list of musicians whose entire careers, in some cases decades-long success stories, were derailed by one bad album. But not every artist is one terrible CD from sliding into infamy or obscurity.
After all, sometimes it doesn’t even take a FULL flopped record to end a career.
Sometimes it’s as simple as one bad track, with a few minutes of terrible misjudgement putting an end to an entire career in a matter of minutes.
Some of the songs on this list are perfectly good, and not what fans wanted from the band. Some are so atrocious it’s hard to imagine the artists recording them wanted anything to do with the finished product.
But whether it’s a too-ambitious overlong dirge that alienates fans, a tasteless lyric that leaves listeners cringing, or a misunderstood classics that the masses simple weren’t ready for, this follow-up to our recent run-down of disastrous albums which derailed artist's entire careers is here to list spotlight the songs so maligned they put an end to the potential success of their creators.
Whatever did become of that comedy rapper from LMFAO?
10. UOENO — Rick Ross
As rap fans can attest, there was a period circa 2010-2014 when Rick Ross was everywhere.
The Maybach Music Group rapper seemed all but unstoppable, racking up a string of massive hits with his albums Teflon Don and God Forgives, I Don’t. Glitzy over-the-top records, the albums and their many hits saw Ross’ larger-than-life persona merge the corny excess of glam rap with the ludicrous braggadocio of gangsta rap, reviving both sub genres at once.
The BMF rapper was near the top of the rap pantheon. Amongst the most broadly popular performers in the genre, Ross looked set to become a mainstream hitmaker alongside the likes of TI and Future, a name as recognizable to casual music fans as the likes of Kanye, Lil Wayne, and Jay Z.
Then he dropped UOENO.
A hit in 2013, the song brought together artists across Ross’ MMG label to rap about sex, drugs, clubbing… and in Ross’ verse, to make a glaringly tasteless reference to date rape. Whilst Ross later apologized for reference “slipping molly” into his date’s champagne, the damage was done. Clothing label Reebook soon dropped his endorsement, and the rapper never returned to his 2013 heights in the years since.