Songs that shifted an artist's entire career

[kcdawg13]

This is a bizarre topic but I was thinking about how without Blinding Lights being the hit that it was, we might've not gotten Dawn FM or any of The Weeknd's other 80's synth inspired music that continues to this day. It basically shifted the whole trajectory of his career.

I wanted some other examples of stuff like that happening. I don't particularly know what you'd call this phenomenon but it's interesting. 

[iHype.]

"Uptown Funk!" single-handedly turned Bruno from a Pop singer to a 70s/80s R&B tribute act the past 8 years.

"You and I" was the pre-cursor for Joanne, A Star is Born, and overall post-2013 Gaga that is toned down, traditional, and middle-aged appealing in the midst of her electronic/club music era. She was always the most proud of that song out of any song from the Born This Way album, and it was actually the earliest song unveiled (she began playing it in concerts 1 year before the album dropped). It's the only completely self-written song on that album too.

"Can't Feel My Face" was beginning of Weeknd abandoning his strict alternative/indie R&B sound prior and transitioning into being some contemporary Pop act that emulates MJ and wants to be the biggest Popstar in the world. 

"OMG" single-handledly had Usher in the crosspaths between chasing current Pop and staying true to R&B for the entire 2010s.

"On The Floor" single-handedly making J. Lo drop the 2000s R&B/Pop crossover formula and going into Dance-Pop music the entire 2010s.

"I Know You Want Me" made Pitbull completely permanently shift into a Pop radio artist and turn away completely from his core Hip-Hop audience.

[tekkenguy]

Moves Like Jagger turned Maroon 5 from the funk-rock band they were in the 2000s into the pop act they are known as now.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together was Taylor transitioning away from country for the first time.

Get the Party Started by P!nk was her going full pop-rock and ditching her old R&B sound from her first album.

California Girls was Katy Perry transitioning into a pure pop star after being a P!nk clone on her first album.

Since U Been Gone was Kelly Clarkson’s first true pop-rock hit while her older stuff was pure pop plus some AC ballads.

Right Round was when Flo Rida began to move from being a ringtone rapper to the dance-rap he’s best known for now.

The Goo Goo Dolls started out as a hardcore punk band when Name became a sleeper hit. They’ve since become full pop-rock afterwards and John Rzeznik became the sole lead singer.

Hey Baby by No Doubt. It was a reggae-influenced pop rock hit that turned them from alternative act to pop act and paved the way for Gwen’s solo career a few years later.

The Plain White T’s were an emo pop-punk band. They had a flukey acoustic hit with Hey There Delilah and have since made more songs like that.

Lifehouse’s You & Me was a big hit for them and led them to embrace a softer Matchbox Twenty-style as opposed to the post-grunge of their Hanging by a Moment days.

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

After two flop albums, Janet finally had got her breakthrough hit with "What Have You Done For Me Lately" by working with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and paving the way for more successful hits.

"Como La Flor" helped gain Selena Quintanilla more popularity in Mexico and Latin America. It is considered her breakthrough hit and her beginning of peaking on the Latin charts. Second, "I Could Have Fall In Love" and "Dreaming of You" would have made her a bigger star in the English market had she lived longer. Her first English album would have been the first time in her life her family wasn't involved in the songwriting process. She was going to work with different producers.

Her lead single "If Your Girl Only Knew", along with "One In A Million" album marked the beginning of Aaliyah working with Missy and Timbaland. She would continue to work with them until her death. And sadly to promote "Rock Da Boat", the video would ultimately end her career AND life.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

“Thinking out loud” was the worst song from X but ever since it became s biggest hit, Ed has been recreating it in various ways ever since, leading him down a road of bland pop ballads.

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

"Bedtime Story" foreshadowed what Madonna's Ray of Light album would sound like.


"Fantasy" marked the beginning of Mariah's collabs with hip hop artists.

[Glove Slap]

Let Me Blow Ya Mind for Gwen Stefani and No Doubt

The 00s Gwen was born there, and No Doubt shifted in their sound enough for it to have a stronger effect when combined with the new look.

[wjr15]

After ‘Havana’ became a huge hit, it seems like Camila Cabello’s label has really been pushing a Latin Pop sound with her: Señorita, Liar, Don’t Go Yet, Bam Bam. Even ‘My Oh My’ has a slight reggaeton influence to it.

[Deleted]

P!nk - Get The Party Started (I actually thought it was a Geri Halliwell song), then Don’t Let Me Get Me came and we saw the new rock influence
Nelly Furtado - Maneater
Madonna - Frozen
Alanis - You Oughta Know
Shania Twain - You’re Still The One
Christina Aguilera - Dirrty
Kelly Clarkson - Since You’ve Been Gone

[Daenerys]

Umbrella shifted Rihanna's career completely, prior to that her career prospects were a bit unsure. Despite the success of Pon De Replay, and S.O.S. many saw Rihanna as a fleeting act that wouldn't have much longevity. Umbrella opened the gates for her to be the hitmaker she is now known to be. She was never 'on the bubble' again with her record label.

Similarly, Madonna's career shifted with either Lucky Star or Borderline (I forget which came first), as it kicked off a stream of top 10's on the Hot 100 which went unbroken for 6 years, and 3 'eras'. She matured these types of pop songs progressively until she changed course during the Bedtime Stories era which as another poster alluded to paved the way for Ray of Light, Music, American Life, and Confessions before she sort of changed course again with Hard Candy. 

'Toxic' for Britney was also a game changer, in that it spiraled her off into the dance zeitgeist deeper than what she had ever done before. Toxic was the blueprint for Blackout, which has informed most of her other albums since -- Circus, Femme Fatale, and Britney Jean. It has sort of defined her sound for the second half of her career up until Glory.

Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful' also feels relevant here. A lot of people talk about 'Dirty', but I think Beautiful did more for Christina's music career than that song did, in that it completely transitioned her well to womanhood and to the critically acclaimed singer people know her for during her prime. There are other messages that Stripped helped to create for her - Fighter, Can't Hold Us Down, Dirty being the more vibrant singles, but it's Beautiful that I would say is the foundation of her more mature image, and what she seems to ground herself around decades later.

TLC's 'Creep' or maybe it's 'Waterfalls' one of the two - but it was a big departure of what they were in their debut, and what eventually became from Crazy Sex Cool in 96', and what people expected from them musically thereafter. Creep is a predecessor of No Scrubs, and the social commentary of Waterfalls is a precursor for Unpretty. All of these songs paved the way for the Destiny's Child and a lot of girl group successors in both pop and r&b.

Justin's 'Cry Me A River', prior to CMAR Justin was seen as imitating Micheal Jackson on his debut single Like I Love You. After that songs release, he transitioned fully into a 'man' and shed away some of the pre-pubescence of N'Sync a lot of critics still saw in him.

With Beyonce it's hard to say if it's 'Diva', 'Run the World', or 'Drunk In Love' but somewhere along the way her rapping became a mainstay of her musical output and her music transitoned away from r and b, into something more hip hop or rap orientated, which is shown more fully in her fifth self-titled album and beyond than in her previous 4 albums.

[Glass Joe]

Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under the Bridge"
Before this, they had a hardcore / funk sound. "Under the Bridge" was only originally meant to be a heartfelt ballad, but I think once they saw the success of it, they modeled a lot of their following hits after it. Such as "Soul to Squeeze," "Californication," "Scar Tissue," and "Otherside" to name a few.

[avamaxstan]

Blinding Lights didn’t just shift Abel’s career, it shifted the course of popular music for the next few years.

[Codex]

Jun 10, 2023 23:10:57 GMT -5 avamaxstan said:

Blinding Lights didn’t just shift Abel’s career, it shifted the course of popular music for the next few years.

you mean Don't Start Now by Dua Lipa, released 1 month before Blinding Lights?

[avamaxstan]

Jun 11, 2023 4:12:39 GMT -5 Codex said:

Jun 10, 2023 23:10:57 GMT -5 avamaxstan said:

Blinding Lights didn’t just shift Abel’s career, it shifted the course of popular music for the next few years.

you mean Don't Start Now by Dua Lipa, released 1 month before Blinding Lights?

No, I mean Blinding Lights, the biggest song of 2020 and biggest song of all time.

[Daenerys]

Harry Styles 'Adore You' from his Fine Line album seemed to have changed his entire course on Top 40/CHR. Outside of initial hype for Sign of The Times no additional singles from his debut era charted that well. Although his critical acclaim more than made up for it, for a strong debut. Zayn initially had better chart peaks. But with 'Adore You' Harry really came around to become a big radio staple - paving the way for Watermelon Sugar, As It Was, Late Night Talking, and Music At A Sushi Restaurant. You could say that Adore You was the precusor for a lot of Harry's pop music formula.

'Dangerous Woman' from Ariana Grande feels like it was a transition point for her into a more mature sound. It definitely felt like a music shift and departure, and is a clear delineation point from the fluffier sounds of Yours Truly and My Everything to everything that came after it where the sounds feel more mature, minimalistic, and dark.

Justin Beiber's 'Where Are U Now' also fits this category well. You could tell that Justin was looking for a hit to transition him out of the teen sound of Baby, and there was a sort of forced start with 'Boyfriend', and a lot of the Believe singles, all the way down to the Nicki feature to symbolize greater maturity. But it was 'Where Are U Now', which really made him crossover to a more mature sound and was a good bridge between Believe and Purpose. It was a left swerve and a bit of a curveball that wound up working out really well for him create a clear line to What Do You Mean, Sorry, Love Yourself, and Friends -- all of which mined similar subject matter and tone. It also made him a go to collaborator for features of massive hit songs (I Don't Care, Despacito, 10,000 Hours, Cold Water, Let Me Love You, I'm The One). A lot of the back half of Berber's career feels indebted to this song as his transition point.

Similar to Bieber - you could say there was a similar case with Selena's 'Good For You', being the coming of age single for Selena's Revival. Selena's also been successful with other features that are a bit more emotionally mature, but this song got her away from the 'Come & Get It's', 'Slow Down's'. One could argue that 'The Heart Wants What It Wants' paved the way for some of her more mature indie dance collaborations though.

[𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕓𝕤]

"Unholy" marked a radical shift in Sam Smith's career. They had been toying with more straightforward pop with Love Goes, but the sexual, abrasive SOPHIE-lite production (shoutout to Splice!) and verse from Kim Petras was unlike anything else in their catalogue. smith's wardrobe, following singles, performances, photoshoots, tour...it's all wildly different than it was a few years ago. Sam Smith was once synonymous with 'sad desexualized ballads', not with controversy, wild outfits and sluttery

Tove Lo was always a bit wildly sexual (her second album is literally called Lady Wood), but "disco tits" and Blue Lips as a whole are the start of the second act of her career. the clubs are darker and sweatier, the sex is grittier and hungrier, the breakups are more desperate, the drugs are stronger...