Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia

[Juan Carlos]

Jan 28, 2021 11:37:00 GMT -5 spiritboy said:

Jan 28, 2021 7:10:13 GMT -5 GP said:

There's a date for the Moonlight Edition oop

Finally, when?

I don't think there's a date for the Moonlight edition of Future Nostalgia yet (unless Dua decides to drop the remaining tracks that day too), but "We're Good" will be officially released in two weeks.

[Juan Carlos]

This is the artwork of the Moonlight edition of Future Nostalgia.

[Lost In Musical Reverie]

She kind of looks like Charli XCX here.

It's an alright cover, though it looks like a fan edit. After the incredible original album cover, I guess I was expecting something more out-there, especially with such an intriguing title as "Moonlight Edition"

On another note, can someone confirm if this edition is really only going to have three new tracks + her 2020 collaborations? That would be such a shame - I was really hoping for a proper Side B.

[GP]

Dua how many different fonts do we put on the cover?
Dua: YES

[Deleted]

whoever gave the cover a go is wrong for that.

[kacpi]

IMO it's not that bad. It's cute but the artwork of the standard version simply raised the bar too high

[Choco]

It's fine. But the original is so iconic. They should have just recoloured the moon on the original or something.

[𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕓𝕤]

Jan 29, 2021 11:13:43 GMT -5 Choco said:

It's fine. But the original is so iconic. They should have just recoloured the moon on the original or something.

they already did that for the club future nostalgia + future nostalgia 2 CD release

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2021 11:13:43 GMT -5 Choco said:

It's fine. But the original is so iconic. They should have just recoloured the moon on the original or something.

It's the way she is obviously standing in front of a picture of the moon that I think dulls the effect of it for me. Not sure why they didn't go for the obvious and make it appear as if she were levitating (duh) in front of the moon. Or they could have gone for the Tesla in space theme again but shot from a different angle, e.g.



I'm sure there were some outtakes from the original shoot that also could have worked. The original cover did set a high bar, but I still think they could have matched it with a little more effort.

[thegreatdivine]

I love Dua as much as the next person (I became a huge fan in this era [Don't Stop Now/Future Nostalgia were my single/album of the year]) but is anyone going to call her out on this mess she does for her album eras where she tacks on songs she appeared on to boost her streams?

I got turned off when she did that for her debut album era because it was just so foul to me adding all those features to the album and I'd hoped that this era would be different. The standard version of the album is perfect as is and even if she wanted to release a deluxe version, songs from the original sessions would have been better imo. Apparently Prisoner & Un Dia (One Day) are a part of the new version of the album dropping and I can totally see her releasing a third version of the album if she does more features this year that take off.

I remember Nicki Minaj getting slaughtered online and on multiple music forums when she added Fefe to her album back in 2018 but what Dua does is much worse. Imagine if other bigger streaming acts did the same?

[andrebra]

Since when is that something new? Camila tacked on Señorita to Romance well past its peak. Sam Smith just did it with Dancing With a Stranger, How Do You Sleep?, and like 4 other singles from in-between their pervious album. I have never understood why this is so controversial to some people, if anything it organizes the songs from that era into one album so you don’t have to go searching in 5 years for a single in a growing discography.

[¤ Matthea ¤]

Jan 30, 2021 13:45:34 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

I love Dua as much as the next person (I became a huge fan in this era [Don't Stop Now/Future Nostalgia were my single/album of the year]) but is anyone going to call her out on this mess she does for her album eras where she tacks on songs she appeared on to boost her streams?

I got turned off when she did that for her debut album era because it was just so foul to me adding all those features to the album and I'd hoped that this era would be different. The standard version of the album is perfect as is and even if she wanted to release a deluxe version, songs from the original sessions would have been better imo. Apparently Prisoner & Un Dia (One Day) are a part of the new version of the album dropping and I can totally see her releasing a third version of the album if she does more features this year that take off.

I remember Nicki Minaj getting slaughtered online and on multiple music forums when she added Fefe to her album back in 2018 but what Dua does is much worse. Imagine if other bigger streaming acts did the same?

Other streaming acts are free to do the same. The labels and artists are still trying to figure out how to keep an era alive after the album release. Too many eras are done the moment the album drops because the post-album singles flop.

So yeah, we can see several different strategies. Some artists release a lot of singles and finish the era with the album drop, some artists release deluxe editions of their albums just a few weeks after the release of the standard album. And some artists, like Dua Lipa, keep the era going by collaborating and releasing new singles before wrapping up the era with a re-release that features all the songs from the era. That's really convenient for the fans to find all of the music from the era in one place.

[thegreatdivine]

It's very messy because Dua isn't doing it with her own songs. She's doing it with songs she's featured on and it sets a messy precedent. To me, that's as messy as the new trend of artists releasing 8-14 new tracks (essentially a brand new album) to an original album and calling that a deluxe.

If Dua's label wants to extend her album eras so badly, there are better ways to do that. Re-releases like Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, Katy Perry's Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, Chris Brown's Exclusive: The Forever Edition or even Shawn Mendes first releasing If I Can't Have You & Senorita as singles before adding them to his self-titled album. Those all work.

Tacking on all your features from an album era to your original album is wonky because those songs already live somewhere else and you don't have lead artist credit on them. They most likely also won't share any sonical continuity with your original album and they're the most obvious way to boost the streams for your album, only doing so with songs that aren't yours.

I don't know. I just know it sets a bad precedent and that it would become a huge issue if the biggest rappers (who are usually the biggest streaming acts) started to do that with all their features.

[#brayden]

Jan 30, 2021 13:51:25 GMT -5 andrebra said:

Since when is that something new? Camila tacked on Señorita to Romance well past its peak. Sam Smith just did it with Dancing With a Stranger, How Do You Sleep?, and like 4 other singles from in-between their pervious album. I have never understood why this is so controversial to some people, if anything it organizes the songs from that era into one album so you don’t have to go searching in 5 years for a single in a growing discography.

Pretty sure "Señorita" was always on Romance. It wasn't added later.

[FutureNostalgia]

Jan 30, 2021 13:45:34 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

Imagine if other bigger streaming acts did the same?

They do.

[thegreatdivine]

Jan 30, 2021 15:19:04 GMT -5 FutureNostalgia said:

Jan 30, 2021 13:45:34 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

Imagine if other bigger streaming acts did the same?

They do.

Care to list some rap albums that have features tacked on them? The only person I know of who has done that is Nicki Minaj with Fefe.

[Deleted]

Jan 30, 2021 14:45:08 GMT -5 #brayden said:

Jan 30, 2021 13:51:25 GMT -5 andrebra said:

Since when is that something new? Camila tacked on Señorita to Romance well past its peak. Sam Smith just did it with Dancing With a Stranger, How Do You Sleep?, and like 4 other singles from in-between their pervious album. I have never understood why this is so controversial to some people, if anything it organizes the songs from that era into one album so you don’t have to go searching in 5 years for a single in a growing discography.

Pretty sure "Señorita" was always on Romance. It wasn't added later.

He meant she released Romance with Senorita on it when it was well past Senorita's peak. In fact, Shawn and Camila both used Senorita for album boosting purposes, just from different ends - Camila releasing the album long after the song was over, and Shawn tacking it on to Illuminate long after promo for Illuminate was over. Senorita clearly wasn't recorded for either album. What Nicki did with Fefe was most similar to what Shawn did*. The way Warner is handling Dua is a mix.

I don't mind it personally. It's really just a way of measuring all the streams gathered within a certain time frame. Placing it all under one album title makes that easier to grasp and tout in a way that doesn't read like a stan tweet.


*well, aside from the 'featured artist' thing which I'm just now realizing on a re-read is what thegreatdivine is complaining about, more so than the 'tack-on' method itself. I don't care about that either tbh but I can see why one would see that as different or unfair.

I will say that fwiw Dua does not have minor parts on almost all the add-on songs. Like, she's the sole vocalist on Scared To Be Lonely, One Kiss, and Electricity and she is co-lead on Kiss and Make Up, Fever, and Un Dia; so that's just her claiming her own songs. She is technically labeled as a featured on Prisoner, but not only does she sing 50% of it, but she has the opening verse. I doubt anyone not paying attention would think she was the featured act on that one. No Lie is really the only song where it's arguably an issue IMO since she is 'only' the hook singer there.

[kimberly]

Jan 30, 2021 14:21:17 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

I don't know. I just know it sets a bad precedent and that it would become a huge issue if the biggest rappers (who are usually the biggest streaming acts) started to do that with all their features.

I mean, biggest rappers tack entire new albums onto their albums as a "deluxe" to boost it instead of calling it what it is... Or release full-length projects without calling them albums, like Drake & Megan Thee Stallion, both artists I respect.

This is just a strategic decision on Warner's part and it's all about wording. Billie Eilish tacked "everything I wanted" on WWAFAWDWG, Lizzo tacked "Good as Hell" on Cuz I Love You (Super Deluxe Edition), Beyoncé tacked "Black Parade" on The Gift. 

Considering Dua is a co-lead for all but one of the songs she tacked on her debut album ("No Lie" being the exception), I don't really understand what the issue is. Same thing for Future Nostalgia. She's a co-lead for "Un Dia" and "Fever." And I honestly don't know why she isn't a co-lead on "Prisoner" because she carries that song. 

"FEFE" was an iffy situation because Queen already had a deluxe version without it. Nicki released a "bonus track version" on streaming services mid-week to boost numbers, and then removed it from streaming a week later. 

[thegreatdivine]

kimberly I agree with a lot of what you wrote and you would have probably seen that if you read my posts more closely. I have no problem with deluxe versions of albums or adding songs to an already-released album.

Dua tacking on her collaborations to her albums isn't to extend her album eras as some people have suggested. It's strictly to boost the overall streams of her albums (especially on Spotify).

If the intent of her label was really to extend her album era, a re-issue of the album is the smartest way to go and the best time to do that would be this year. Release 1 or 2 new singles, re-release the album with a couple new tracks and then after that release a third single from the new songs if you want to extend the era even more. It worked well for Katy Perry, Rihanna and Chris Brown back in the day. That way works even better because it also gives the album continuity sonically.

Everything I Wanted, Good As Hell and Black Parade are all songs that the artists have lead credit on. They don't already live on another album, they're not collabs and they actually fit their respective albums sonically.

What Dua does would be similar to Drake adding Look Alive, Walk It Talk It, Sicko Mode, Yes Indeed, MIA and Going Bad (all top 10, multi-Platinum smash hits) to Scorpion since they were all collabs he did during the Scorpion era. If he did that, there's absolutely no way people wouldn't have a problem with it and maybe if more artists started doing that, you'd get what a mess that would make if embraced by the entire industry.

My focus was on the precedent Dua sets by doing that because the music industry is mostly monkey see, monkey do. It only takes one artist doing something for many other artists to follow suit. That's how many artists jumped on bundling. One artists did it, others saw it and jumped on it till it became such a mess that Billboard rendered it's use on their charts pretty much useless. The current trend is this mess with releasing several new tracks to a new album and calling it a deluxe. Lil Uzi Vert did it and several other artists have done the same - all within the span of less than a year.

[kimberly]

Jan 30, 2021 17:29:01 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

If the intent of her label was really to extend her album era, a re-issue of the album is the smartest way to go and the best time to do that would be this year.

I read your posts and I'm just not understanding how a record label strategy makes the music sound worse?

Not sure if you're aware, but they are gearing up for a full re-release with a brand new single coming out in February, which will also include songs she released after the original version of the album came out. She's doing quite literally what you're asking her to do.

[thegreatdivine]

kimberly I never said anything about her label's strategy making her music sound worse and her re-releasing her album is the very reason why I made my original post.

Jan 30, 2021 13:45:34 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

Apparently Prisoner & Un Dia (One Day) are a part of the new version of the album dropping and I can totally see her releasing a third version of the album if she does more features this year that take off.

[kimberly]

Jan 30, 2021 17:55:22 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

kimberly I never said anything about her label's strategy making her music sound worse and her re-releasing her album is the very reason why I made my original post.

I mistook you saying her debut strategy "turned you off" as that. 

I think this makes sense, it collects everything she's done in this era under one roof. Again, these aren't features—they are co-led singles. I don't think this is similar to Drake's Scorpion-era collaborations, some of which he isn't even credited on, most others features. 

Another thing to consider is context. Drake is a rapper. A large chunk of his chart entries are features. He's been featured on many hits. Unless you want 50-song albums, it's unreasonable to expect a compilation like that from him. Dua Lipa has 13 chart entries in the US. She's a lead/co-lead on all but one ("Prisoner"). Why would she not want nearly half of these 12 chart entries ("One Kiss", "Electricity", "Scared to Be Lonely", "Un Dia", "Kiss and Make Up") as part of her discography?

[thegreatdivine]

kimberly Drake is actually credited on every collab he's ever done, with the exception of Sicko Mode and with Dua, co-lead or feature, those collabs aren't her songs, which is why they're originally on the albums of the main lead artist.

I really don't understand why Dua needs to have those songs tacked on to her albums to count as a part of her era when fans can easily search her name on any music streaming service and every song she's ever appeared on will be made available to them. I think using that as an excuse for her to have those collabs on her albums is lazy. Other rappers have many more collabs than Dua does and their fans still manage to find their collabs whenever they want to listen to them. Also, they already count as a part of her discography - albeit her singles discography. She doesn't need to add them to her albums for that to be true and I think you're skipping over the implication of what she's doing. Those songs bring a massive boost to her album's streaming numbers, which is what I was trying to highlight with the Drake example and which is the only reason why her/her label does that.

Imagine Roddy Ricch adding Rockstar/any other collab he's done during his album era to his original album or Megan Thee Stallion adding WAP to her album to boost her album's numbers.

Like I said earlier, it's one thing if she re-issues her album with brand new tracks that are HER songs and not collabs. The plus side to that is that in addition to the new tracks she could potentially push as singles, the songs function as an extension of the original album and will most likely fit the original album's sound and style. That's been done many times in the past and it's been proven to be a viable way to extend an era.

What she's currently doing with adding collabs to her albums, sets a messy precedent and I think the only reason you're not seeing that is because she is currently the only artist doing that. If it was an industry-wide thing, you'd see how problematic it is, just the way bundling eventually became problematic and the way the current deluxe version tracks thing has become problematic.

[kimberly]

Jan 30, 2021 19:23:53 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

kimberly Drake is actually credited on every collab he's ever done, with the exception of Sicko Mode and with Dua, co-lead or feature, those collabs aren't her songs, which is why they're originally on the albums of the main lead artist.

I really don't understand why Dua needs to have those songs tacked on to her albums to count as a part of her era when fans can easily search her name on any music streaming service and every song she's ever appeared on will be made available to them. I think using that as an excuse for her to have those collabs on her albums is lazy. Other rappers have many more collabs than Dua does and their fans still manage to find their collabs whenever they want to listen to them. Also, they already count as a part of her discography - albeit her singles discography. She doesn't need to add them to her albums for that to be true and I think you're skipping over the implication of what she's doing. Those songs bring a massive boost to her album's streaming numbers, which is what I was trying to highlight with the Drake example and which is the only reason why her/her label does that.

Imagine Roddy Ricch adding Rockstar/any other collab he's done during his album era to his original album or Megan Thee Stallion adding WAP to her album to boost her album's numbers.

Like I said earlier, it's one thing if she re-issues her album with brand new tracks that are HER songs and not collabs. The plus side to that is that in addition to the new tracks she could potentially push as singles, the songs function as an extension of the original album and will most likely fit the original album's sound and style. That's been done many times in the past and it's been proven to be a viable way to extend an era.

What she's currently doing with adding collabs to her albums, sets a messy precedent and I think the only reason you're not seeing that is because she is currently the only artist doing that. If it was an industry-wide thing, you'd see how problematic it is, just the way bundling eventually became problematic and the way the current deluxe version tracks thing has become problematic.

Dua Lipa is not a rapper. That makes it more feasible for her label to collect everything she's done this year in a record. I can see how problematic this can become in the future but I don't think this is messy or a turn off for Dua, like you mentioned. You came here asking why no one's calling her out and I'm telling you this is a smart business move and she's one of the very few/first people that do it. Is it a fast and easy way to boost streams of her albums? Yes. Does it make it more convenient for us to go back and listen to her eras? Also yes. Why would we complain?

[gabe]

please stop contaminating this thread with dr*ke discussion

[thegreatdivine]

kimberly her not being a rapper really doesn't matter, lol. Why aren't other singers (who also do collabs) doing what she's doing then? I'm glad you finally see the potential it has to be messy if more people start to do it. That's really what I was trying to highlight.

The only way it's smart from the label's perspective is that it boosts the streams of their client's parent album. They aren't doing it to make it more convenient for fans to find those songs because a simple search will bring those songs up. Alternatively, anyone can make a playlist of all of Dua's collabs if they really want it all in one place.

I get why it's being done and hey, that's the music industry for you. Labels will always find ways to put their artists in advantageous positions. I was just making a note of it in the event that it becomes an industry-wide practice.

[kimberly]

Jan 30, 2021 19:55:36 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

kimberly her not being a rapper really doesn't matter, lol. Why aren't other singers (who also do collabs) doing what she's doing then?

lol. all of your examples of "what if Drake/Megan/Roddy did this?" don't mean much precisely because Dua is not a rapper or an artist that has many features.

as for your question—good question. they should. Halsey tacked "Be Kind" onto Manic (Deluxe) and it did wonders for her. Dua's team pioneered this strategy in the streaming era. you keep asking questions you yourself have answered already. 

[Choco]

Jan 30, 2021 13:45:34 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

is anyone going to call her out on this mess she does for her album eras where she tacks on songs she appeared on to boost her streams?

No.

Have a nice day.

[felipe]

I actually like this idea that you can go straight to her "deluxe editions" and find there all the songs from her era. I actually wish people had started it sooner.

[aussie1]

I think adding on all the songs you have done during an era into a deluxe is great idea. It sort of umbrellas everything into one spot. However an album as clean FN but not work with these added on singles.

But to think that Dua is doing this just to boost her album streams is kind of irrelevant? A songs streams can only count towards one album. So I think that her adding them onto a deluxe is harmless, as they would count for the other persons album anyways.

Ariana added Bang Bang onto My Everything and Anne Marie added her features onto her album as well. So this random targeted attack on Dua feels more personal.

And at the end of the day if it bothers someone so much about having these added songs onto the album, thats fine just stream the regular edition of the album, easy fix.