The hype machine can be the kiss of death for any new artist. For every mammoth album introduction (DMX’s growling 1998 opening salvo It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot), there’s an epic flop in the form of Kreayshawn’s recently dropped Somethin’ Bout Kreay (astonishing first week numbers of 3,900 copies). And it doesn’t stop there.

Here are 10 other trumpeted debuts that failed to live up to the buzz.

GHETTO SUPASTAR (1998)

Pras

The least talented member of the Fugees seemed to have the last laugh. “Ghetto Supastar” proved to be a monster anthem, going platinum and landing in the Billboard top 15. A Grammy nod validated the weird infectiousness of a bombastic pop experiment that brought together Pras, late Wu-Tang Clan wildman Ol’ Dirty Bastard and R&B vixen Mya. But apparently not many folks wanted to hear Ghetto Supastar—the album. It was DOA at the stores.

ASLEEP IN THE BREAD AISLE (2009)

Asher Roth

When you sell over a million downloads of your first single (“I Love College”) and your image is that of a self-effacing, non-threatening, cool ass, weed head white boy it should be smooth sailing, right? Nope. Instead, Asleep in the Bread Aisle pushed less than 250,000 units and received tepid reviews.

THIS TIME (1997)

Taral Hicks

The blame shouldn’t be placed on heralded Bronx native Taral Hicks. Afterall, the statuesque songstress had the voice, the looks (the camera seemed to lust after her in the cult classic Belly), and some serious music industry muscle behind her. Instead, This Time was commercially doomed by the chest-beating theatrics and questionable promotional moves of Motown president Andre Harrell. With an estimated $30 million salary, the former Uptown Records boss was in more ad campaigns than his own artists. Hicks never had a chance.

FLOCKAVELI (2010)

Waka Flocka Flame

Waka Flocka Flame fits the paradigm of today’s modern day rap star. He knocks out platinum singles, fires off a barrage of club and car wrecking anthems and receives frequent radio airplay. He also struggles to sell albums as evident by Flockaveli’s paltry 37,000 debut.

RADIOACTIVE (2011)

Yelawolf

Having to live up to the cultural enormity of your label boss is hard enough. But when your boss is Eminem, and you happen to be white, well…God speed. So far Yelawolf’s time on Shady Records/Interscope has produced a project tripped up by telegraphed moments: A Kid Rock-featured arena anthem and Slim Shady appearance here; an outdated Lil Jon club cut there. The final package limped to the finish line with a measly 41,000 copies its first week.

ONE (1992)

Me Phi Me

An acoustic guitar strumming, braided Mohawk singing, folk rapper? Sounds like a record label tax write-off waiting to happen. Indeed, Me Phi Me has since become a forgotten, dusty punchline, but in the early ‘90s this absurd anomaly found MTV success with his Julien Temple-directed video “Sad New Day.” But the critical hype (???) surrounding ONE failed to translate into robust record sales. Shocker.

VYP (VOICE OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE) (2008)

Lil Mama

Following the release of her top 10 hit “Lip Gloss,” Lil Mama seemed poised for stardom. Unfortunately, her 66,200-selling debut failed to break her out of the one-hit-wonder box. Mama’s true claim to fame would come later as the strange girl that bumrushed a 2009 MTV Video Music Awards stage during a performance by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. Salute.

CEE-LO GREEN AND HIS PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS (2002)

Cee-Lo Green

Cee-Lo has paced the influential southern hip-hop group Goodie Mob; penned massive singles for the likes of the Pussycat Dolls (“Don’t Cha”); has found multi-platinum and Grammy acclaim as one-half of eclectic duo Gnarls Barkley; wrote a solo global smash (“Fuck You”); and currently sits as one of the judges on NBC’s dominating singing competition The Voice. Which is why it’s inconceivable that arguably the hardest working man in show business staggered out of the gate. Although many were ready to write him off after the lackluster reception of His Perfect Imperfections, Cee-Lo knew better.

BATYL (2011)

V-Nasty (feat. Gucci Mane)

Kreayshawn’s saucy mouth cohort fared a little better with her 2011 debut. But truthfully, ringing up 4,449 units was still a massive brick for V-Nasty, the white rap hipster, YouTube “sensation” that garnered notoriety after being threatened by Rick Ross for using the N-word like she was a the reincarnation of Richard Pryor. But the biggest L goes to Gucci Mane’s cosigning of the brazen White Girl Mob member. Anything for a dollar, right?

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS (1997)

Lady of Rage

The buzz was there. A couple of track-stealing appearances on Dr. Dre’s epic 1992 masterpiece The Chronic paved the way for Lady of Rage to be the next female MC to rival the likes of MC Lyte and Queen Latifah. By 1994, the Virginia native was dropping one of the year’s most sneeringly cool radio singles “Afro Puffs.” So what happened? Rage’s Necessary Roughness finally dropped three years later, peaking at no. 7 on the Billboard R&B/Rap Album chart and 32 on the 200 Albums chart, struggling to move 100,000 copies its first year of release. Blame timing. And blame the fact that Andre Young was MIA on this Death Row set.

Props to VIBE

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