This may be harsh, but firing Diddy is the smartest career move Nicki Minaj has made to date.
For, since replacing with him with managment company Hip Hop Since 1987, her gigs have only gotten bigger and better.
Case, point example: her upcoming set at the 54th Annual Grammys,which will see her perform material from ‘PF:Roman Reloaded‘, her upcoming album.
Now peep the ad she shot in support of the show, featuring the night’s host, LL Cool J below…
Peep this official snap of LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj in support of the 2012 Grammy Awards.
Airing live on CBS, February 12th, the event will see LL play host and Minaj serve as a multiple nominee and performer, set to deliver a cut from her upcoming LP, ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded‘.
Many thanks to Nicki Daily.
Los Angeles’ famed Shrine Auditorium played host to the 41st annual NAACP Awards last night. Each year the NAACP (Nation Association For The Advancement of Coloured People) honours the achievement of figures, shows, films etc which aid its cause. This year saw R&B star Keri Hilson, who debuted a new look (above), take home Best New Artist.
Other celebrities in attendance included Precious star Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Nick Cannon, LL Cool J, Gabrielle Union, Eva Pigford, and more. Check out more red carpet pics below:
The much anticipated video for ‘We Are The World 25 For Haiti’ premièred literally moments ago. Check it out below:
Legendary producer Quincy Jones assembled over 80 artists at in Los Angeles last night to record the 2010 version of ‘We Are The World’ in support of Haiti. The session, which has been spear-headed by Jones and Lionel Richie, who together with the late, great Michael Jackson fronted the original 25 years ago, was recorded at the Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood – the same place the 1985 version was recorded in. Look out for the track’s debut during the Winter Olympics later this month.
Stars who recorded during the session for the new version included:
Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Kanye West, Celine Dion, Lil Wayne, Barbra Strisand, Wyclef, Pink, Gladys Knight, Justin Bieber Akon, Snoop Dogg, Mya, Brandy, Robin Thicke, Tyrese, Trey Songz, Jamie Foxx, Toni Braxton, Kid Cudi, LL Cool J, Keri Hilson, will.i.am, Nicole Scherzinger, among others.
Interestingly, though Michael Jackson’s original vocals will not feature, the Jackson family will have a presence on the track; with Janet Jackson confirmed to record and submit her vocals remotely, and some members of Jackson trio 3T also present during the session.
Tidbits: It’s also been reported that Lady GaGa will be featuring on the track in some capacity. Like most, though, I am wondering where Beyonce is…
In any case, check whole lot of pics from the session after the jump…
Despite laying the smacketh down on him a few weeks back, Mary J. Blige was all smiles with husband Kendu Issacs at the 36th annual People’s Choice Awards last night at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre. Many other celebs hit the event, including Mariah Carey and hubby Nick Cannon, Nicole Scherzinger, Queen Latifah and LL Cool J. Peep more pics below:
Yahoo Music published a real interesting list recently of the Worst Selling #1 Albums. Though kinda long, it was a very insightful read; after all, labels and publicists are oh-so-quick to tout an artists #1 selling status, yet we often hear very little thereafter. Check out the full list below (which is complied from the 365 albums that topped the Nielsen/SoundScan chart from May 25, 1991 through December 31, 2006), I’m sure some of the entries will surprise some:
1. Omarion, 21, 390,000. This was the R&B artist’s second album in a row to open at #1. Omarion’s solo debut album, O, had achieved the feat in March 2005. But 21, which charted in December 2006, has sold only about half as many copies as that earlier album (see #17). The key song from 21, “Ice Box,” reached #12 on the Hot 100. This was the lowest-selling #1 album of 2006.
2. Jaheim, Ghetto Classics, 446,000. This was the R&B artist’s third album, but his first to reach #1. It charted in February 2006. A key reason Ghetto Classics is on this list: No songs from the album made the Hot 100, whereas two songs from each of Jaheim’s previous albums made the top 30.
3. Johnny Cash, American V: A Hundred Highways, 491,000. This charted in July 2006, nearly three years after Cash’s death. It was the country legend’s first studio album to reach #1. His only other #1 album on The Billboard 200 was the live Johnny Cash At San Quentin in 1969. So this wasn’t really a dud. This is the only album on this list that had first-week sales of fewer than 100,000 copies. (It bowed with lukewarm sales of 88,000.)
4. Juvenile, Reality Check, 505,000. This was the rapper’s eighth album, but his first to reach #1. It charted in March 2006. The key single from the album, “Rodeo,” peaked at #41, a drop-off from such previous Juvenile releases as “Slow Motion” (featuring Soulja Slim), which hit #1 in 2004.
5. R. Kelly & Jay-Z, Unfinished Business, 524,000. This was the second collaboration by the superstar pairing. The first, The Best Of Both Worlds, peaked at #2 in 2002. But that first album has sold a healthier 933,000 copies. This was the lowest-selling #1 album of 2004-as well as the lowest-selling chart-topper of the Nielsen/SoundScan era to that point. (It may have been undercut by Jay-Z’s collaboration with Linkin Park, Collision Course, which was released just five weeks later.) Unfinished Business charted in October 2004 with first-week sales of 215,000. That’s 41% of its total.
6. Marilyn Manson, The Golden Age Of Grotesque, 526,000. This album, which charted in May 2003, was Manson’s second #1, following Mechanical Animals in 1998. Both of these releases were the lowest-selling #1 albums of their respective years. The Gothic shock rocker is the only artist to have the lowest-selling #1 album of the year twice in the Nielsen/SoundScan era.
7. LeToya, LeToya, 529,000. This was the solo debut by LeToya Luckett, a former member of Destiny’s Child. LeToya left the group in early 2000, after the release of its top 10 blockbuster, The Writing’s On The Wall. LeToya has sold about one-twelfth as many copies as that album has. The album charted in July 2006. The single, “Torn,” reached #31 on the Hot 100.
8. Prince, 3121, 530,000. What’s a legend like Prince doing on a list like this? Anybody can have an album that under-performs, to use a favored industry euphemism. 3121 charted in March 2006. It was Prince’s fourth album to reach #1; his first to do since Batman in 1989. “Black Sweat” was the only song from the album to make the Hot 100. It spent one week on the chart at #60.
9. Private Parts soundtrack, 562,000. The rock soundtrack to the Howard Stern comedy/biopic charted in March 1997. It was that year’s lowest-selling #1 album. In fact, it was the lowest-selling #1 album between May 1991 and May 2003, when a Marilyn Manson album did even worse (see #6). It’s also the lowest-selling #1 soundtrack from 1991-2008 (except for the two-week old Twilight, which will quickly surpass it). Apart from the four oldies on the album, no songs from the album made the Hot 100.
10. Gridlock’d soundtrack, 585,000. This soundtrack charted in February 1997, five months after the movie’s star, 2 Pac, was shot to death. The album features two 2Pac tracks, one a collaboration with Snoop Doggy Dogg. No songs from the album made the Hot 100.
11. Busta Rhymes, The Big Bang, 613,000. This was the rapper’s seventh album, but his first to reach #1. It charted in June 2006 with first week sales of 209,000. A single, “Touch It,” had run its course by the time the album was released. The follow-up, “I Love My B***,” stalled at #41 on the Hot 100. By contrast, five Busta Rhymes songs from previous albums made the top 10.
12. Bruce Springsteen, Devils & Dust, 650,000. This was The Boss’ seventh #1 album; his first since The Rising in 2002. But it has sold less than a third as many copies as that album has. Devils & Dust charted in May 2005 with first-week sales of 222,000. It was that year’s lowest-selling #1 album. The title song stalled at #72 on the Hot 100. It spent just one week on the chart, compared to 11 weeks for the title song from The Rising.
13. Madonna, American Life, 674,000. This was Madonna’s fifth chart-topper; her first since Music in 2000. But this has sold less than a quarter as many copies as that album has. American Life charted in April 2003 with first-week sales of 241,000. That’s 36% of its total. The album included Madonna’s 2002 hit “Die Another Day” from the James Bond movie of the same name. The problem: No other songs from the album cracked the top 30.
14. India.Arie, Testimony: Vol. 1: Life & Relationship, 688,000. This was the R&B artist’s third album, but her first to reach #1. It charted in July 2006. The single, “I Am Not My Hair,” had one fleeting week on the Hot 100 (at #97). India.Arie’s 2001 breakthrough hit, “Video,” logged seven months on the chart.
15. Diddy, Press Play, 700,000. This was the rap icon’s first #1 album since 1997, when, as Puff Daddy, he topped the chart with No Way Out. But Press Play has sold less than one-seventh as many copies as that album has. Press Play charted in October 2006. The album’s key track, “Come To Me” (featuring Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls) went top 10 on the Hot 100. (By contrast, No Way Out contained four top five hits.)
16. Rod Stewart, Still The Same…Great Rock Classics Of Our Time, 719,000. This was the English star’s first pop/rock album following four million-selling Great American Songbook collections. It charted in October 2006. The Songbook albums were trending downward in sales, from a high of 3,221,000 for the first to a low of 1,112,000 for the fourth. A fifth Songbook outing would probably have sold about what this did. So this wasn’t a bad showing, just not as good as many figured. It was Stewart’s fourth #1 album.
17. Omarion, O, 758,000. This was the R&B artist’s solo debut album, following a pair of top 10 albums with the teen group B2K. O charted in February 2005. The title song reached #27 on the Hot 100. Omarion is the only artist with two albums on this list. (There’s another dubious distinction.)
18. Nas, Hip Hop Is Dead, 764,000. This was the rapper’s third #1 album, following It Was Written in 1996 and I Am… in 1999. But it has sold only about a third of what those albums have sold. Hip Hop Is Dead charted in December 2006, with first-week sales of 355,000. That’s a whopping 46% of its total. The title track, featuring will.i.am, peaked at #41 on the Hot 100, lower than such earlier Nas hits as “Street Dreams” and “I Can.”
19. Incubus, Light Grenades, 773,000. This was the hard rock group’s sixth album, but its first to reach #1. It charted in December 2006. The key track, “Anna-Molly,” peaked at #66 on the Hot 100, a far cry from the top 10 showing of the band’s “Drive” in 2001.
20. Godsmack, IV, 815,000. This was the hard rock group’s second consecutive full-length album to reach #1, following Faceless. But this has sold about half of what that 2003 album has sold. IV charted in May 2006 with first-week sales of 211,000. The key track, “Speak,” reached #85 on the Hot 100.
21. The Isley Brothers featuring Ronald Isley, Body Kiss, 815,000. This was the veteran R&B group’s second #1 album; its first since The Heat Is On in 1975. Body Kiss charted in May 2003. R. Kelly wrote and produced the key track, “What Would You Do?,” which stalled at #49 on the Hot 100.
22. Led Zeppelin, How The West Was Won, 818,000. This live, three-disk compilation charted in June 2003. (It’s the only album on this list that comprises more than a single disk.) This was the legendary hard-rock band’s seventh #1 album; its first since 1979′s In Through The Out Door.
23. LL Cool J, G.O.A.T. Featuring James T. Smith The Greatest Of All Time, 822,000. This was the rap superstar’s ninth album, but his first to hit #1. G.O.A.T. charted in July 2000 with first-week sales of 209,000. It was that boom year’s lowest-selling #1 album. “Imagine That” was the only song from the album to make the Hot 100. It peaked at #98.
24. Various Artists, The Neptunes Present…Clones, 827,000. Pharrell Williams was featured on six tracks on this hip-hop collection. One of them, “Frontin’” (featuring Jay-Z), went top five on the Hot 100. The album charted in August 2003 with first-week sales of 249,000.
25. A Tribe Called Quest, Beats, Rhymes And Life, 828,000. This charted in August 1996, making it the oldest album on this list. It was the lowest-selling #1 album of 1996-and the lowest-selling chart-topper of the Nielsen/SoundScan era to that point. (It took the unwelcome title from Depeche Mode’s 1993 album, Songs Of Faith And Devotion.) Beats, Rhymes And Life was the New York-based rap trio’s fourth album, but its first to hit #1. No songs from the album made the Hot 100.
Granted some of the names/releases on the list have stories behind the poor sales, it’s still pretty compelling stuff all the same.
Your thoughts
LL Cool J stopped by The Tyra Banks Show this week to promote his current effort ‘Exit 13′. In the entertaining interview, the veteran rapper reminisced on his lengthy career, fitness regime, ‘retiring’ and much more. A good watch, I must say.
Your thoughts?
Hip-Hop veteran LL Cool J performed his brand new single ‘Baby’ along with The Dream on So You Think You Can Dance this week. Great song, great performance.
‘Baby’ is featured on LL’s 12th studio album ‘Exit 13 – due September 9th.
What do you think of the performance?
Will Smith has been named the highest earner in Hollywood by Forbes magazine:Will Smith’s $80 million (£40 million) salary from the past year has made him Hollywood’s top earner.In Forbes’s Highest Paid Actors list, the star came in first place with Pirates Of The Caribbean’s Johnny Depp landing in second with $72 million.
This year, Smith also broke a box office record after Hancock became his eighth consecutive film to cross the $100 million mark in the US. {Source}
It’s especially great to see Will achieve such a feat as a black actor. It goes to show the doors opened by the Sidney Poitier’s and Denzel Washington’s before him were not done so in vain.
As a fan much of Perry’s work, I’ll most definitely be checking for this one. It looks like it’ll be a winner. ‘The Family That Preys’ hits theatres across the US on September 12th.
Will you be going to see ‘The Family That Preys’?
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