Rapper T.I. dominates the charts this week on multiple fronts. The Atlanta native’s latest Long Play effort ‘Paper Trail’ stormed to the top the Billboard 200 chart with a whopping 568,000 copies sold in its first week – the highest selling debut of his career.
Elsewhere, his collaboration with Rihanna ‘Live Your Life’ breaks the record for the biggest chart jump on the Billboard Hot 100 – soaring #80-#1 – due to a surge in digital sales. Interestingly, the song unseats his ‘Whatever You Like’ from the top spot – itself breaking records 6 weeks ago after leaping #71-#1. The last artist to achieve such a feat was Usher in 2004 – with ‘Burn’ topping ‘Yeah’ on the same chart.
The week’s 2nd highest debut came from American Idol Alumni Jennifer Hudson, whose self titled debut landed at #2 – selling through an impressive 217,000. {Source}
Hot on the promotional trail in support of her great new album ‘Unexpected’, Michelle Williams stopped by The Today Show for an interview. Williams, of course, spoke about the project, going it alone (solo), fashion and much more.
Michelle’s vibrant personality really shone through on this one. (Randomness: is it me or were the interviewers a little on the snotty side?)
According to our friends over at Rap-Up.com, Brandy’s ‘comeback’ LP ‘Human’ has been delayed. Instead of arriving in stores on November 11th, the album will now be released on December 9th. ‘Human’ will now being going up against releases from the likes of Ciara, Keri Hilson and 50 Cent.
It’s a shame the album has been pushed back. Still, with ‘Right Here’ not performing as well as it should IMO, I’m all for dropping another single before the album’s release, which seems to be the plan at present.
R&B star Chris Brown stopped by The Ellen Degeneres Show today to discuss a variety of things, including his ‘relationship’ Rihanna, their matching tattoos, working on Britney Spears’ new album and more. A pretty good interview I must say (Tidbit: You can skip through the annoying ad break).
Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am spoke with Billboard recently about the group’s forthcoming album. Titled ‘The E.N.D’, the recording sessions for the LP will wrap right here in London next week. Check out what Will had to say of the album:
The album title is not an indication that it’s intended to be the hip-hop outfit’s final record. “No, no — it stands for ‘The Energy Never Dies,'” explains will.i.am.
Asked about the group’s future relationship with the Universal Music label, will.i.am said, “It all depends on how they evolve, it’s up to them to define what they’re going to be in the future.”
“We still have a contract with them,” says will.i.am, adding that the number of albums left to deliver was “not that many.”
“They want it to come out soon but I don’t know if that’s the right thing,” he added, when asked about the label’s plans for the record.
Irrespective the explanation of the album title, I’m getting ‘this is our last record’ vibes. With this being their first LP since Fergie blew up, it’ll be interesting to see how this one pans out.
Yes, this is the 100th performance of Jennifer Hudson’s ‘Spotlight’ already, but still worth a post. The Oscar stopped by Dancing With The Stars this week to perform the track, which received the ‘uptempo-ish’ treatment. Great performance.
Today sees the debut of former Mis-Teeq vixen Alesha Dixon’s new video ‘The Boy Does Nothing’. After being a little ‘on the fence’ about the UK star’s single itself, I must say I’m liking the video a lot. Good stuff.
Alesha’s album ‘The Alesha Show’ hits stores in the UK on November 17th.
As Toni Braxton continues to shine on the current season of Dancing With The Stars, the mother of two has shed light on her forthcoming Atlantic Records debut.
The set which is due in stores at the top of 2009, will be preceded by a single which Braxton confirmed will be hitting airwaves next month. Most interestingly, the cut is produced by none other than Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins.
It’s great to see Toni looking ahead of Dancing With The Stars; keeping the momentum going with her new project. Definitely looking forward to this one. {Source}
As well as premiering the video for his ‘unique’ new single ‘Love Lockdown’ on Ellen earlier this week, the Chi-Town rapper also performed the song on the show, which you can watch above.
Pretty good performance, aside from some of that ear-piercing screaming at the tail end lol. Definitely liking the track a lot more, though.
There is no doubt today has been all about the return of a certain Ms. Beyonce. With her eagerly awaited dual singles ‘If I Were A Boy’ and ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’ having made their debuts today, more Beyonce goodies have hit the net.
* Her 3rd studio album, which is due for release on November 18th, is titled ‘I Am’, she confirmed to MTV. The record will feature 10 tracks. {Source}
* She also appears in the latest issue of Essence magazine, for the first time opening up about her marriage to rapper Jay-Z as well as being protective of her private life. Check out quotes from her feature, which hits newsstands on October 12th below:
On her wedding to Jay-Z
Beyoncé tells the magazine that the wedding was very small and intimate, because she’s not a “traditional” woman and having it be “her day” wasn’t something she needed. Being a star and walking the red carpet has diminished the need for that over the years. “It’s been my day so many days already,” she told the magazine.
She didn’t want an engagement ring because “people put too much emphasis on that. It’s just material, and it’s just silly to me,” she said.
Instead of just getting wedding rings, the couple also got matching tattoos of the Roman numeral four on their ring fingers, so if they take off the bands for work or to go swimming, a mark of some form is still there. (The number four is special to the couple because her birthday is September 4, his birthday is December 4, and their wedding anniversary is April 4.)
On Why She Is So Private:
“I feel that, especially now, with the Internet and paparazzi and camera phones, it’s so difficult to maintain mystery,” she told the magazine. “And that’s so important. Even in a relationship, I feel like not being that accessible is really important. If you think about Prince or Michael Jackson, or any superstars, you couldn’t see them when they got off their planes or when they got out of the pool and didn’t comb their hair. It’s great that people see we’re not perfect. But it’s almost impossible to have superstars now, because people will never get enough. And it’s not even about my music. It’s about all the things that people imagine about me in their minds. But I can’t satisfy everyone. I know that Jay and I probably do inspire people. And I appreciate people feeling proud. But this is the only way I’ve been able to stay sane, so why would I start talking now?
“[Not speaking] controls your brand,” she continued. “It controls what you want to put out there and kind of forces people to talk about what you want them to talk about.”
But then Beyoncé lets it slip that it was a joint decision with her husband to keep quiet. “We decide everything,” she told the magazine. “My word is my word. What Jay and I have is real. It’s not about interviews or getting the right photo op. It’s real.”
Interesting. After more than 10 years on the scene, nearly half of which has been spent being the ‘superstar’ we know today, it’s great to finally see the ‘real’ Beyonce let down her guard and open up a bit. All indications point to her album being a lot more personal this go round.
* Peep this behind the scenes look at the creation of Bey’s new album, as well as a sneak peek at the videos for ‘If I Were A Boy’ and ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’ – both of which were directed by Jake Nava.
Both videos are set to premiere within the coming weeks. Definitely anticipating these – especially that of ‘Single Ladies’. Looks great.
It’s not often you see Jasmine Sullivan around these sides; that will be changing from here on out. The talent R&B singer debuted the video for the latest single ‘Bust Your Windows’ this week – and I must say I’m liking it a lot. Matter of fact, I’m really liking Jazmine’s whole ‘Fearless’ project (in stores now). Keep your eye out for Jazmine, as you’ll be seeing and hearing alot more from this burgeoning star on That Grape Juice.
It seems Beyonce fans, haters and all that fall in-between are in for a treat today as the second of her dual releases ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’ premiered just moments ago.
Put simply, ‘Get Me Bodied’ to the 100th power. Loving this one…
Rapper T.I. dominates the charts this week on multiple fronts. The Atlanta native’s latest Long Play effort ‘Paper Trail’ stormed to the top the Billboard 200 chart with a whopping 568,000 copies sold in its first week – the highest selling debut of his career.
