For many in music, 2002 is shaping up to be a sink-or-swim year. Artists who laid relatively low in 2001 need to make a big splash in the coming months. Here’s a guide to who’s got to prove they’ve still got it or risk being forgotten.
MARIAH CAREY
Flat sales for her album, “Glitter,” scathing reviews for her movie of the same name, plus a very public breakdown, marred Mariah’s start of the new millennium.
In April she signed a multi-album deal with EMI/Virgin for $80 million, but the label reportedly is offering her $50 million to leave. EMI/Virgin denies the widely reported rumor.
The coming year will be a test on two fronts for the diva. Can she keep it together emotionally and can she prove there’s still an audience for her note-trilling ballads and adult contemporary pop?
EMINEM
His side project with his homies D12 sold a lot of records but didn’t come close to meeting his solo-career numbers. Choosing not to tour with D12, the malevolent moppet was virtually invisible for most of 2001 except for a few court dates and movie cameos.
In 2002, Eminem must prove he can still enrage adults and endear himself to the “TRL” Nation.
PUFF DADDY
Pity poor Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, nee Puff Daddy. In 2001, the rap mogul made headlines less for his music than for losing his more famous girlfriend J. Lo, adopting a pun-ready nickname and getting acquitted of weapons and bribery charges. There also was a paternity suit, a breach of contract suit and traffic charges related to separate scooter and Ferrari joy ride incidents.
The one thing Combs did that nobody seemed to notice was release “P. Diddy and The Bad Boy Family” in June. Though the album debuted at No. 2, it quickly slid down the charts and failed to crack the Billboard Top 100 albums of 2001.