Day in Pop Report for 11/06/2014
Swift is the first artist who released an album in 2014 to hit this milestone. Coldplay, the second highest-selling release, sold 745,000 its first week. Swift also earned herself the largest sales week for an album since June 2, 2002 when Eminem's The Eminem Show sold 1.322 million in its second week at No. 1, according to Nielsen SoundScan (via Billboard). After just one week though, Swift has the second largest selling album of 2014, behind only the Frozen soundtrack, which has sold 3.2 million this year and 3.5 million total since its release in Nov. 2013. These are the only two albums to sell a million in 2014. Read more here.
The incident apparently happened at the Gershwin Hotel in Manhattan, New York. Police arrived on the scene at 2:15 a.m., according to ABC News, after receiving a phone call reporting the assault. The assault, recounted in cringeworthy detail by the NYPD, reportedly started when the 30-year-old rapper, born Christian Ward, and his 29-year-old girlfriend got into a dispute. "Things escalated and she reports that Ward "grabbed her by her neck, threw her onto the ground, dragged her by her hair and punched her in the face." Read more here.
But the group, which were on hiatus during 2014, has just announced that they're calling it a day. "To our loyal Furthur fans and members of the Furthur community at furthur.net, we'd like to thank you for a terrific ride," they told fans in a message on their soon-to-be-shuttered website. "We'll be closing up shop at furthur.net, and heading onward. Thanks for making the Furthur community a great place to hang out, and for coming out to the shows. We'll all be keeping very busy over the foreseeable future, and it's time to let Furthur take a bow. "We enjoyed the ride more than we can possibly express. You can keep tabs on Phil's activities at www.terrapincrossroads.net, Bob's activities at www.bobweir.net and all Grateful Dead news at www.dead.net." Read more here.
The video, premiered Wednesday night (Nov. 5) via Twitter, finds Underwood in a darkened space, the floor of which is covered completely in flowing liquid. She's flanked by a number of dancers, who leap and splash through the pool while the former American Idol winner tells her tale. Eventually, the dancers increase in number, performing a choreographed routine around Underwood as she goes through a wardrobe change, from a long peach dress to something a little more informal and a whole lot more purple, and then into another dress - this time teal. Watch the video here.
Leave it to French Montana to remind us just how classic this gag is, as the rapper has recreated the commercial using his own catchphrase, "HAAN." In the clip, recorded as a promo for Elite Daily, French and his crew "HAAN" at each other to their heart's content, before breaking off to continue their original phone call. It's a good laugh, and worth 45 seconds of your time. And just for kicks, check out the original Bud spot, and if you can, think of how much simpler the world was when we used land lines. Also, maybe we should get the Budweiser frogs back in action, right? Watch the spoof here.
It will mark the first time in 17 years that Brooks has played Tulsa and coincides with the release of his new album Man Against Machine, his first since 2001's Scarecrow. Each show will begin at 7 p.m. local time, and the tickets for the show will go on sale Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. CT. Trisha Yearwood will join Brooks at the Tulsa shows, as she has for all of the concerts so far. Read more here.
The holiday song, written by Sam Hollander and Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra, came to be when both wondered where the holiday musical philanthropy has gone after discussing Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "A Very Special Christmas" compilations, which benefited the Special Olympics. The group, called Band of Merrymakers, will donate a part of the proceeds of the song to nonprofit MusiCares. MusiCares was originally established to provide emergency financial assistance and addiction recovery resources to members of the music community. "Sam Hollander is one of my favorite people in the business," said Tyler Glenn, frontman of Neon Trees. "I thought this song that he wrote with Kevin Griffin was really fun and also expressed what the holidays are about for a lot of people." Read more and listen to the track here.
He's earned four nods total, with nominations for Favorite Male Artist, Favorite Breakout Artist, Favorite Album (for In the Lonely Hour) and Favorite Song (for "Stay with Me"). Smith is followed by Pharrell and Taylor Swift, who earned three nominations each. Meghan Trainor, Beyonce, Iggy Azalea, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Jessie J, Blake Shelton, Ed Sheeran, John Legend, Sia, Coldplay and Maroon 5 are the others with multiple nominations. The People's Choice Awards will air Jan. 7 on CBS. Public voting for each award will run on PeoplesChoice.com through Dec. 4. See the list of nominations here.
Both The Temptations and the Four Tops are teaming for a week-long double bill, which Billboard points out, is not unprecedented, as Duran Duran and Barry Manilow have both played similar residencies. It is a notable move, though, as the week in question is considered the highest earning of the Broadway season. The shows are "billed as both a career retrospective and a celebration of hits that defined a generation." This, of course, will play directly against Motown the Musical, which celebrates the same generation and the same well of hits that defined them. Read more here.
The clip keeps things simple enough, with K.R.I.T. drenched in dense lighting of blues, purples and greens, matching the thickness of K.R.I.T. speedy lyrics. Occasionally, we see the Caddy of his affections. "F-k your whip," he says emphatically at the end of each chorus. Cadillactica is the second major label full-length from the Mississippi-born rapper. It is due out on Nov. 11 via Def Jam, and features the likes of Lupe Fiasco, Raphael Saddiq, A$AP Ferg, Wiz Khalifa and Devin the Dude. It's his first proper album in two and a half years, following Live from the Underground. Watch the video here.
In the pic, Em is seen in all his boxing glory, channeling Ricky Balboa in a red satin robe with the Roman numerals "XV" on the back. This is of course, an homage to his upcoming two-disc release, ShadyXV, which celebrates 15 years of his record label, Shady Records and features Slaughterhouse, Bad Meets Evil, Yelawolf, D12, Royce Da 5'9″, Big Sean, Danny Brown, DeJ Loaf and Trick Trick. "Guts Over Fear," featuring Sia, has Em getting real about his past, so it's no surprise he'd go with a triumphant storyline for the clip. "Guts Over Fear," featuring Sia, has Em getting real about his past. Read more and see the photo here.
"Early detection [has a] 100 percent cure rate, so that's the key," Gentry told The Boot after his wife Angie was diagnosed with breast cancer. "It's devastating just to hear the word cancer but with today's technologies, medicines, all that, and having the support of people who have defeated cancer, it's great to have in your corner." Meanwhile, Montgomery beat cancer, but he agreed with Gentry's sentiment on how early detection is key. "Hopefully one of these days, we'll find that antidote, and we won't ever have to mention it again," he said. "I found it very, very early, and I'm 100 percent clean, green, rockin'." Read more here.
In an interview with The Fader, Lamar commented on her love of his song and expressed some admiration for Swift's single, "Shake It Off." "You can't put great music in different genres," he explained. "I enjoy great music outside of my own music all the time, so I definitely can see where she's coming from when she says that she listens to [my] record, and it's a great thing for her to acknowledge that and put that good energy out into the world like that." To prove his love for "Shake It Off" was true, he then proceeded to sing the chorus of the track. "Yeah, I ain't playin'," Lamar said to the interviewer who couldn't help but giggle. "I say what I mean and I mean what I say." Listen to the cover here.
The music video clip for the song features the trio decked out in piratic quantities of gold jewelry, bouncing around in front of a giant neon Y.R.N sign. Besides a few luxury cars, the only props of note in the video are a handful of massive books that all three take turns writing and reading in. It's a charming. anachronistic representation of the song's lyrical content. Watch the video here.
He's released a smattering of tracks so far this year, and now that number has grown by one: today he released "You Already," featuring rising New York MC Troy Ave. LL knows that some might consider him past his prime, and he tackles the fact head on, daring anyone to call him out. "LL you look good for your age/ I look good for any age I'm paid," he raps. "Look at the table, rose all day/ See me in the V.I.P. just wave." While he's given no official date yet, LL has been teasing a new project called G.O.A.T 2, possibly due out sometime this year. Check out the new song here.
That's not the only thing turned up about the remixed track; all the f-bombs that were not so present in the radio version of "Jealous" are added back in, creating a very adult/NSFW result. Overall, it's a nice pairing, one that certainly lends itself to Jonas' brand-new direction - one far more R&B than his previous output, both solo and with the Disney Channel band of brothers. Nick Jonas' self-titled album is due in stores on Nov. 10. Listen to the remix here.
Now, Jay Z can add champagne to his brands, as the hip-hop star has acquired Armand de Brignac, a luxury champagne company, the rap star's company has revealed. "We are proud to announce that Sovereign Brands, a New York-based wine and spirits company owned by the Berish family, has sold its interest in the Armand de Brignac ('Ace of Spades') Champagne brand to a new company led by the globally renowned Shawn 'Jay Z' Carter," Jay Z's company announced (via The NY Times). Read more here.
The L.A. producer added his own, highly identifiable bump to the track to give it a brand new life. Added the producer on Twitter, the remix is "just for my fans" and suggests you "turn up." If you're a fan of his usual material, you'll probably have no problem doing so. "Rather Be," the first major chart hit for Clean Bandit in the U.S., has peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, garnering Top 40 and club play. It's off the English electronic group's debut studio album New Eyes, which dropped in June in the U.S. Listen to the remix here.
Fancy a ballad for your next breakup? While they obviously are something we do not want to think about, breakups are just as inevitable in life as death, taxes and love songs. Luckily for the musically gifted Alexander Ross-Iver - of Georgian descent - he is able to turn expired love relations into beautiful songs, while sustaining an experimental vision to shy away from tired clich�s during the process. "Cry For You" is a song he wrote, composed and demoed in 2008, and was recently reproduced in Glasgow by John McLaughlin. The Scottish producer worked with the likes of Echo & the Bunnymen, Mick Jones, Shane MacGowan, Gary Barlow and Westlife, and received the demo from Alex, which he liked. "He told me right away that it sounds like Brian Eno meeting David Bowie, and was happy to re-record and produce the song with me at his studio." There are plenty of creative and commercial pitfalls when writing about love. "I hate love songs and pop music in general," says Alex. "I don't think it's going to be a wedding song! It's more of a serious song about love and breakups. I wrote it because I often think about my ex-girlfriends and the reasons why we broke up." In order to work around his general disdain for love songs, he found inspiration in the styles of Italian pop artist Nek and aforementioned heroes, Bowie and Eno. The song was created at his studio, featuring himself on vocals, keyboards, and acoustic and electric guitars. The finished version came to fruition in the wake of several exciting collaborations Alex did with creative talents around Europe in recent years. With Iceland's Gisli Kristjansson and Eliza Newman (ex-Bellatrix), he made the song "Fire Inside." He also composed a Christmas song with Gisli called "That Time of Year." Moreover, Yello co-founder Carlos Per�n agreed to do a remix of "4 Room Song." "Cry For You" and more new songs - released digitally during the upcoming months - are featured on the forthcoming album Nobody Knows Cause No One Cares, to be released soon. Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself here and learn more about the Alexander right here!
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