Katy Perry may have witnessed her fifth album, ‘Witness,’ debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 last week with 2017’s highest first week figures for a female (to date), but she probably didn’t anticipate seeing it enter record books for a historic tumble in sales just 7 days later.

That’s right, the album – which is her first major label release to hit shelves without a #1 single on the Hot 100 to precede it – was widely disregarded a week after fans got a full taste of what the ‘Bon Appetit’ beauty was serving this course. Despite an onslaught of promotional appearances in its support, refreshed reports have it Perry’s latest LP saw a whopping 89% sales drop its second week (despite enjoying the benefit of ticket bundling).  With this freefall down sales charts, Katy dethrones Queen of Pop Madonna as owner of “the largest second week percentage sales drop for a #1 debuting female album.”  Fans may remember her Madgesty once owned the title when her 2012 release, ‘MDNA,’ dropped a whopping 86.7% in sales its second week despite its numbers being padded with figures from ticket bundling (click here to read more on that).

Before Madge it was Lady Gaga‘s 2011 release ‘Born This Way’ that posted an 84% sales drop its second week.  Like ‘Witness’ and ‘MDNA’ before it, Gaga’s set had an “enhanced premiere week” due to taking an unconventional approach to album sales.  Read more about that by clicking here.

Alas, Katy’s fall didn’t hurt her too much on the chart placement front.  Check below to see where she landed and who joins her in the top 25 of this week’s refreshed Billboard 200:

Billboard 200 This Week

Your thoughts?

Dwayne Johnson leads the journey back to Jumanji!

Officially christened ‘Jumanji: Welcome The Jungle,’ the sequel to Robin Williams’ 1995 classic sees the box office titan star as Dr. Braveheart.

Johnson appears alongside comic Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillian, and Nick Jonas in the action flick, which hits US theaters on December 20th.

Peep the first theatrical trailer below…

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Lady Gaga has always marched to the beat of her own drum and she’ll be doing exactly that this summer.

For, despite being weeks away from setting sail on the ‘Joanne World Tour’ in a mix of arenas and stadiums, Mother Monster has announced that she’ll be staging another Dive Bar trek in partnership with Bud Light.

The 31-year-old originally launched her chart-topping ‘Joanne’ LP with the unique venture last October.

Billed as ‘Bud Light’s Dive Bar Tour 2.0,’ the mini-tour will feature Gaga as headliner— with two soon-to-be-announced guests. Their names are under wraps, but she tells E!:

“[they’re ] very different from me. It’s really going to diversify the tour.”

As for her motivations for the three-date excursion, she says:

“I just really love to play in bars and I miss it all the time, which is why we’ve created this amazing tour that I’m so happy other artists will be doing now.

There is something that is very hard in a way about sitting up so close to everyone and singing, but that’s sort of the joy of it—that’s really why we’re doing it, because it’s taking it back and it’s not so separated and it’s not so ‘cellphones.’ It’s just people close together, some beer and some music.

The first two shows proceed her ‘Joanne World Tour,’ while the last takes place at the same time:

Las Vegas – July 13th
July 26 – Los Angeles
August 30th – New Orleans

Like before, all of the performances will be live streamed on Facebook.

She also hinted that – while this is a ‘Joanne’ focal undertaking – new music may randomly be premiered; much like how she hatched ‘The Cure’ at Coachella. She said:

“You just might get some more music. I love making music. I don’t know exactly when. I’m sort of feeling like I’m making songs and doing all sorts of things with music, but I don’t know exactly when or how I will release them. I’m working on that.”

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While we’re still side-eyeing Gaga re the whereabouts of ‘The Cure’ video, we continue to admire her desire to veer left-field.

It’s very “new rules / no rules” and keeps her narrative exciting.

Your thoughts?

In recent years, Rihanna and Naomi Campbell were seemingly inseparable – sharing in a mutual love and appreciation for one another.

However, as reported earlier this year, the pair fell out.

The reason was a mystery, but supermodel Campbell hasn’t held back with her thoughts on RiRi.

Well, it seems like all has been revealed.

Yesterday, Ri was snapped getting all sort so close with a new bae in a Spanish villa.

It’s since been revealed that his name is Hassan Jameel – heir to Saudi Arabia’s billion dollar piece of the Toyota pie.

And based on the pics below, he had some sort of romantic involvement with Campbell dating back to July 2016:

A post shared by ElGordoyLaFlaca (@elgordoylaflaca) on Jun 27, 2017 at 9:10pm PDT

In the time since the snaps above were taken, 46-year-old Naomi has modelled for Rih’s ‘FENTY x Puma’ line and even flew in to introduce her Video Vanguard performance at the VMAs.

Needless to say, this is every flavor of messy.

Your thoughts?

#NowPlaying: Dionne Warwick – ‘That’s What Friends Are For’

Before ‘Work’ somewhat saved the day, Rihanna‘s ‘ANTI’ era was the muckiest of messes.

Hoping for better fortunes on her next swing of the bat, RiRi is readying her 9th studio album.

More renown for performing her songs than she is for writing them, Ms. Fenty appears to be assembling talent to piece together her next batch of hopeful hits.

British newcomer RAYE is one of them.

Speaking to MTV UK, the singer-songwriter revealed she has been invited to pen music for the as yet untitled LP. She said:

“I literally, like ‘thank you god’, have been asked to be part of the Rihanna writing camp, which is in a month’s time and I’m so excited!

Obviously so many people are writing for her but to be asked and to be part of it and to be one step closer is a dream come true.”

With the coast somewhat “clear” following Katy’s tanking and Beyonce’s absence, it’ll be intriguing to see how Ri capitalizes…or doesn’t.

In any case, are you as excited as Raye is for new Rihanna music?

Your thoughts?

As the early Grammy buzz for Kendrick Lamar‘s ‘DAMN’ album gains volume, the rapper has hatched the video for ‘ELEMENT.’

Directed by Jonas Lindstroem, the visual continues K.Dot’s cinematic output this cycle – a thread consistent in the clips for the likes of ‘DNA’ and  ‘HUMBLE.’

A fan-favorite, ‘ELEMENT’ sees the Hip-Hop titan assert his “top dawg” status in the most creative of ways.

Check it out below…

Another touchdown.

Your thoughts?

After facing claims that he drugged and raped the Pop sensation Kesha, the producer Dr. Luke has decided to drop the defamation lawsuit he filed against her mother Pebe Sebert.

On Friday, much to the surprise of the feuding parties’ respective supporters, they “joined forces” to release the following statement:

Dr. Luke vigorously disputes and denies that he ever raped Kesha Sebert, and he is asserting claims of defamation in a New York court against Kesha Sebert for making statements to the contrary, which statements Dr. Luke adamantly maintains are false.

Pebe admits she has no firsthand personal knowledge of the events occurring on the night of the alleged rape. Pebe was not present that night. At that time, Pebe was in Nashville, and Kesha was in Los Angeles. The dispute between Kesha and Dr. Luke about the events of that night is the subject of the New York case, and will be decided in that case. Accordingly, all parties believe it is appropriate to dismiss this Tennessee case and focus their attention on the New York case.

Luke’s decision to pull the plug on this suit means that their legal battle has been reduced to their New York case.

Your thoughts?

Migos had a wild time at last night’s BET Awards.

Nabbing a gong for their smash hit ‘Bad & Boujee’, the Hip-Hop trio found themselves engaged in two brawls backstage at the star-studded ceremony.

One of them being with Joe Budden.

Here y’all go. This is the incident everyone is talking about with Joe Budden & Migos . #BETawards pic.twitter.com/46oGEeezSQ

— ashley.elena (@ElenaSizzler) June 26, 2017

The other? Chris Brown.

Brown and the group’s frontman Quavo have been feuding ever since the latter started dating the ‘Bite My Tongue’ singer’s ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran.

Migos & Chris Brown or Joe Budden were about to fight? #betawards pic.twitter.com/ZXFrQw3eHW

— Clint The Boxer (@ClintTheBoxer) June 26, 2017

What went down?

Sources claim Quavo was pushed by a member of the Chris clan prompting a member of Migos’ camp to jump in. Alas, he was punched. Then, slighted by the disrespect, Quavo’s group members followed Chris to his car and surrounded them.

The police were called but all parties were long gone from the scene by the time they arrived.

Your thoughts?

The BET Awards 2017 certainly provided many a notable moment courtesy of the host of music stars who took to the stage.

Now, after show-stopping performances from Maxwell, Mary J. Blige, Bruno Mars, and more, see who walked away with the show’s biggest star – its coveted trophies!

A full winner’s list awaits below:

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PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake have reunited for a musical cause.

The name of their latest bop? ‘Freak in You’, a remix to PARTY‘s cut of the same name.

Young and in control, even when they stoop low. I see anything is anything and everything’s a go.

Listen below…

As for the original? That can be found on PARTY’s ‘Colors 2‘ project and was released as he celebrates the success of ‘Wild Thoughts‘, the jam he penned for DJ Khaled, Bryson Tiller and Rihanna.

Your thoughts?

The 2018 class of the Hollywood Walk Of Fame has been announced and Black talent is present in a major way.

Mary J. Blige, the decorated Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul, will receive an honor for her contributions to the music field. Joining her in this category are Snoop Dogg and Ice T. 

For their efforts in the television field, Taraji P. Henson, RuPaul, Anthony Anderson, Shonda Rhimes, and Niecy Nash will all be immortalized on the iconic Walk.

‘Straight Outta Compton’s F. Gary Gray will be saluted for his film achievements, as will actress Zoe Saldana.

Meanwhile in the realm of theatre, Bernie Mac will be bestowed a posthumous honor.

Other deserving names in the fray include:

Kirsten Dunst, Jack Black, Jennifer Lawrence, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Minnie Mouse, Carrie Underwood, and Simon Cowell. 

Congratulations to all!

Your thoughts?

[Photo credit: Getty]

Candidness is encouraged in today’s day and age. However, it can also cause chaos – just ask Halsey.

The newcomer rose to prominence on The Chainsmokers smash ‘Closer’ and hit #1 recently with her album ‘Hopeless Fountain Kingdom.’

During a promo interview with The Guardian (who also secured “that” controversial Tinashe feature), the singer made notable comments about Migos star Quavo (who features on her LP).

Having caught flack for his homophobic comments, Halsey (who is bisexual herself) took up for him and defended his intent. She said:

“I think he’s misunderstood. Just because I choose to be a socially conscious artist, and I’m pretty good at it, that doesn’t mean every artist is going to be equipped to be politically correct. I don’t think he’s inherently homophobic, I think he’s in a tough place of trying to explain what he means. I agree his apology was bullshit but I can’t police everybody.”

When the interviewer suggests that her album is one space she can police, the biracial 22-year-old  used her response to take an unexpected jab at Iggy Azalea:

 “Yes, I can. and there’s a lot of people I wouldn’t put on my record. Iggy Azalea: absolutely not. She had a complete disregard for black culture. Fucking moron. I watched her career dissolve and it fascinated me.”

As her words begun doing the rounds, it became clear that folk were not here for either of her comments. So much so that #HalseyIsCancelled begun to trend on Twitter.

Responding to the backlash, she took to Twitter to say…

Honestly? I didn’t know that Quavo had made homophobic comments when I collaborated him. We’ve never spoken a word to each other and +

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

+ I have no intention of pursuing a friendship there, unless he wants to make a legitimate apology.

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

I work tirelessly to represent & support marginalized communities I love & am a part of. I’m sorry if my actions have ever seemed otherwise.

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

I only meant to say that people can struggle being socially conscious if they don’t have the information/vocabulary. So we must educate them

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

And I’m proud to watch the young people around me work hard to educate themselves and others to stay woke every day.

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

I think thats an important point. I AM queer & I TRY to be understanding & want people to be educated. But im truly sorry for my misjudgment https://t.co/ESomRyiyBh

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

She was oddly unapologetic in regards to Iggy, tweeting and subsequently deleting the following…

“The quavo comments taken out of an off record convo about music industry homophobia. NOT a defense. Don’t regret the Iggy comments sorry.”

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Who put salt in her cereal?

Dragging Iggy is the definition of tired at this point and while she’s entitled to her views, they kinda feel catty for catty sake if she can’t be bothered to elaborate on why.

As for Migos, she’d have been better off manoeuvring away from the topic rather than that sloppy rationale.

Needless to say, someone clearly needs to sign up for Media Training 101.

Your thoughts?