Showing posts with label Lil Wayne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lil Wayne. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Miley Cyrus' Breakout Bows At #1 But Doesn't Come Close To Lil Wayne's Million



When the world's most famous 15-year-old releases a record, chances are it's going to sell like ice cream in hell. So, heading into this week, it was pretty much a given that Miley Cyrus' first studio album not to feature the words "Hannah" or "Montana" in the title would open as the nation's best-selling release on next week's Billboard albums sales chart. The one thing no one could predict, however, was exactly how many copies Breakout would end up selling.
The answer, according to Nielsen SoundScan sales figures, is: not nearly as many as you might imagine. Given the fact that Cyrus' visage graces the T-shirts of millions of tween girls and her Disney Channel series has accrued a rabid following, you'd have thought Breakout would crush the 1 million-plus sales generated by Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, 2008's biggest first-week performer. But it didn't even come close.
The teen star's second #1 debut — Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus put up week-one sales of 326,000 last summer — sold close to 371,400 copies during its first week on store shelves. For Cyrus, selling 371,400 records is still a tremendous achievement, especially for someone so new to the music industry. In fact, Breakout is the second-biggest seller of any release from a female artist this year, right behind the 463,000 Mariah Carey's E=MC2 sold during its first week of commercial availability. And as past Disney-associated releases have shown, Cyrus' record could end up being a grower, and not a first-week sales shower.
Country act Sugarland's Love on the Inside is a distant #2 with 313,600 debut-week scans. Those weren't the week's sole newcomers to the top 200, just the only two to crack the top 10. They join the "Mamma Mia" soundtrack at #3 (with 168,000 sold); Kid Rock's Rock N Roll Jesus at #4 (92,800); Wayne's Tha Carter III at #5 (85,200); Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends at # 6 (74,700); the "Camp Rock" soundtrack at #7 (66,600); Nas' Untitled at #8 (63,300); Now That's What I Call Music!, Vol. 28 at #9 (37,000); and Taylor Swift's Beautiful Eyes at #10 (35,100).
There are 18 other new releases to discuss, including Nine Inch Nails' Slip, which enters the chart at #13 after selling 29,100 copies. The self-titled debut EP from One Day As a Lion, the latest project from Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha, follows NIN at #28, scanning 17,200 copies its first week in stores. Candlebox return at #32 with Into the Sun, which generated sales of 14,400, while R&B singer Noel Gourdin's After My Time follows at #36, with debut-week sales of 13,700. U2's Live From Paris bows at #54, scanning 10,200 copies, and Counting Crows' Live From Soho enters at #66, with 8,600 sold. Slightly Stoopid's Slightly Not Stoned Enough to Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid enters at #73 with 8,200 scans, and Pepper's Pink Crustaceans takes the #83 spot, selling 7,400.
The Classic Crime's Silver Cord enters the chart at #123, after selling 5,800 units, while the Black Kids' Partie Traumatic follows at #127, with 5,500 sold. Hell Rell's Black Mask, Black Gloves: The Ruga Edition debuts at #131, thanks to 5,400 scans. Sky Eats Airplane's self-titled offering fills the #172 slot with 4,000 copies snatched up. Austrian Death Machine's Total Brutal follows at #179, with 3,700 sold. Lastly, coming in at #189 with 3,400 scans, is CSS' Donkey.
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Kanye West Joins Lil Wayne, Bemoans Nine Inch Nails Face-Off At Virgin Fest


BALTIMORE — Fans got more than they bargained for at this weekend's Virgin Mobile Festival — more Kanye, anyway.
Not content to close out the two-day festival with his headlining Sunday slot, Mr. West stormed the stage earlier in the day, joining Lil Wayne for a meeting of hip-hop's hottest. Maybe 'Ye was pulling double duty to outshine the legends (Bob Dylan, Iggy and the Stooges), big rock veterans (Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Offspring), and upstarts (Paramore, Jack Johnson, Duffy) who took the Virgin stage over the weekend at Pimlico Race Course.
Rocking a Louis Vuitton backpack, West joined Weezy on Sunday afternoon to spit his verse from the "Lollipop" remix without skipping a beat. The collabo was the high-energy point of a blistering, better-late-than-never performance. Showing up a half-hour late for an hourlong set would be a cardinal sin for most artists, but Weezy more than made up for it. The crowd chanted his name and even booed briefly while waiting for his set, but it was all love once Lil Wayne hit the stage. Wayne came with a mix of old-school, new-school and a lot of gratitude. "How many of y'all got Tha Carter III?" he asked. "I f---in' appreciate you."
He even took time to honor Static Major, asking for a moment of silence for the late rapper and songwriter before jumping into the song that catapulted Wayne from an underground mixtaper to an undeniable mainstream superstar. After welcoming Kanye up for "Lollipop," Wayne wrapped his set with even more gratitude and some laughs, lip-syncing to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" before leaving the stage.
While Wayne's day was done, Kanye was just getting started. He returned to the stage later that night like a hurricane, shrouded in flashing lights and fog. Fans threw up their Roc-A-Fella diamonds early and held them high all night. No irony was lost on 'Ye, who made it a point to prove his authenticity before jumping into "Diamonds From Sierra Leone."
"I work real hard at this rapping sh--," he said. "This is real rap."
Kanye dove into a set spanning his entire career, from his most recent verse from Young Jeezy's "Put On" to his humble beginnings on "All Comes Down," asking fans to "scream so loud I can't hear the music" if they knew the song.
And, of course, 'Ye talked, touching on everything from his mother's death to Barack Obama's nomination to crime in the festival's host city of Baltimore. He freestyled as well, expressing his gratitude for fame and his frustration that comes along with it. The raw emotion was undeniable. "I lost my mama/ I went through so much drama/ I went through so much drama/ I'm for Obama," he rapped. He then described his journey over to Pimlico Race Course, noting the flashing blue lights above cameras stationed throughout the 'hood and being content with the fact that even though many Baltimore natives couldn't afford to attend the concert, they could still see and hear the show from the parking lot outside the gates. He also shouted out MySpace, the Internet and Lil Wayne before beginning "Touch the Sky."
West took a bit of a jab at the festival's schedule, specifically the choice concertgoers had to make between his performance and one from Nine Inch Nails happening at the same time at the other end of the park (a dilemma faced by fans at Chicago's Lollapalooza a week earlier). "It's not a black-or-white thing, it's not a rap-or-rock-and-roll thing," he exclaimed. "It's a good-music thing. We jam about good things from the heart. How can you pick between me and Trent Reznor?"
But at the end of the day, Kanye's focus all came back down to his fans. Again freestyling, 'Ye expressed his eagerness to please those who came out to support him. "I hope you had a good time ... f--- that, the time of your life!" And with diamonds high in the sky and screams that could be heard around the block, the crowd's enthusiasm matched Kanye's (no easy feat).
The day before, it was up to West's fellow Chi-Town native Lupe Fiasco, who had fans bobbing their heads and singing along to "Superstar" and "Kick, Push." Despite technical difficulties, Lupe aimed to please, shouting after his microphone problem was resolved, "Let's hype this bitch back up, all right?" Given the amount of crowd-surfing during his set and the volume of fans chanting his name when he left the stage, he seemed to succeed.
But the weekend wasn't all about hip-hop. The Foos, the Stooges, Paramore and NIN brought the rock, but the guitar heroes of the day might have been Stone Temple Pilots. Taking the stage later than expected (thanks, Weezy), STP seemed to be the picture of reunification. The band was completely in sync thanks to its current 65-date tour. The focus wasn't mainly on themselves, though. Scott Weiland shared the love, shouting out those sharing the bill. "What a great day of f---ing music!," he gushed. "How about Iggy and the Stooges? And Nine Inch Nails are coming up!" He also had love for the crowd. "What a sea of energy," he exclaimed just before the crowd sang and bobbed along to every note of the band's breakthrough hit "Plush."
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Friday, July 25, 2008

Lil Wayne Sued By Rolling Stones Publisher Over 'Playing With Fire'


Add Lil Wayne to the long list of rappers who have been sued for allegedly sampling songs without permission or proper credit. Only on Thursday, Abkco Music Inc., a musical publishing company that owns the rights to the Rolling Stones' classic "Play With Fire," filed suit against Weezy not for using an unauthorized sample, but for what it said was an unauthorized release of an altered version of the song.
According to a Reuters report, the lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, charges copyright infringement and unfair competition and is seeking unspecified damages.
The issue is over a profanity-laced bonus track from Weezy's smash album Tha Carter III, called "Playing With Fire," which does not list any samples in its credits.
In the song's chorus, blues belter Betty Wright growls the line, "But you can't blame me if I set this stage on fire," which has similar wording to the Stones tune's chorus: "But don't play with me/ 'Cause you're playing with fire." Wright sings the line with a different cadence and emphasis than Stones singer Mick Jagger.
Wayne's song begins with Wright singing, "So you've got so many diamonds/ You wear all the finest clothes/ And you grill is shining/ As you're driving down the streets of gold/ But you can't blame me if I set this thing on fire." The Stones version begins with the lines: "Well, you've got your diamonds and you've got your pretty clothes/ And the chauffeur drives your car/ You let everybody know/ But don't play with me/ 'Cause you're playing with fire."
Abkco's suit claims that the Wayne track is a clear derivative of the Stones song with the original music and lyrics altered in a recognizable way. The company also says in the suit that Wayne's version uses "explicit, sexist and offensive language" and might lead the public to believe the company and the Stones approved of and authorized the new version.
A spokesperson for Wayne could not be reached for comment at press time.
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Lil Wayne Plays A Modern-Day Robin Hood In 'Got Money'


Cash Money Millionaire Lil Wayne always has the dough, but in his new video for "Got Money," he's giving back to the community — just not with his own moolah. Based loosely on Spike Lee's "Inside Man," Weezy is practically a modern-day Robin Hood as he plays one of the masterminds of a bank heist in which he and his team plan to give the loot to the citizens in his New Orleans hometown as compensation for what they lost because of Hurricane Katrina.
Toward the beginning of the clip, Weezy and his model-looking accomplices storm the bank and strong-arm the establishment. While the workers empty the vaults, Wayne makes it rain, letting his hostages get some of the greenbacks. During the performance scenes, Wayne's collaborator T-Pain joins in, wearing a T-shirt that says "He Sings ... ," while Wayne's shirt reads "He Raps ... ." And there are a bunch of other guests, such as Ray J, but we won't spoil the surprise.
We can give away that Wayne's artist Mack Mane (remember when Wayne says, "Mack, I'm going in," at the beginning of "A Milli"?) raps the last verse, making the TV version a remix of sorts. The video debuts Monday on MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV Jams, MTV Hits and MTV.com, with airings all day starting at 6 a.m. ET.
The N.O. Fireman hasn't just been showing up on his own music-video sets. He recently completed clips with David Banner for "Shawty Say" and the Game for "My Life." The latter finds Wayne and his West Coast homey doing some soul-searching in a graveyard, among other places.
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Thursday, July 24, 2008

T-Pain Says He And Lil Wayne Are Making Progress On Joint Album, But First Up Is His Thr33 Ringz LP


We've had it all wrong: T-Pain isn't actually Teddy Penderazdoun. They're two different people ... well, entities. Pain is still Pain, but Teddy P is about a foot taller and North Carolina Tar Heel blue.
Pain introduced the mascot to MTV News last week on the set of his album photo shoot. Pain's LP Thr33 Ringz is due in September. DJ Khaled, Busta Rhymes and Pain's partner in crime, Lil Wayne, are all present and accounted for on the record. T-Pain also told us that his project with Weezy is definitely taking shape. "T-Wayne is an entity that's just gonna take over a side of the game," Pain prophesied. "It's two artists that done collaborated with every artist in the industry except each other. Being that we getting together, this T-Wayne movement is getting crazy.
"He's sending me blank tracks, I'm sending him blank tracks," Pain elaborated on the project. "He's sending me tracks with hooks, I'm sending him tracks with hooks. It's just our hectic schedules are keeping us from recording. ... But we both have studios on the bus. So we take that tour bus anywhere we go — it's a done deal."

Pain and Wayne collaborated on the next single from Tha Carter III, "Got Money," as well as the first official single from Thr33 Ringz, "Can't Believe It."
" 'Can't Believe It,' I just wanted to simplify things," he said. "Basically I got a lot of stuff on my albums that's not that simple. I'm not getting away from the simplicity of things, it's just basically a way to calm things down. Then I put Wayne on it and he keeps murdering tracks I'm sending him. It's just another world, it's unexplainable."
Pain describes the meaning of Thr33 Ringz as music being a three-ring circus with him as the ringleader.
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Katy Perry, Rihanna lead U.S. singles chart

Katy Perry led the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for a fifth week on Thursday with "I Kissed a Girl," while Rihanna's former chart-topper, "Take a Bow," was No. 2 for a third week.
Chris Brown's "Forever" rose one to No. 3, swapping places with Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" featuring Static Major. Coldplay's former chart-topper "Viva La Vida" rebounded two to No. 5.
Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" slipped one to No. 6, Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" was also down one, to No. 7, and Lil Wayne's "A Milli" held steady at No. 8.
Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall scored his first top 10 hit with "Dangerous" featuring Akon, which jumped five to No. 9; the song was also No. 2 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100. Jesse McCartney rounded out the top tier as "Leavin'" jumped one to its previous high of No. 10.
Current Rolling Stone magazine cover boys the Jonas Brothers had the top debut with "Pushin' Me Away" at No. 16.
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Rapper Lil Wayne sued for Stones copyright breach

A musical publishing company that owns the rights to the Rolling Stones' song "Play With Fire" sued U.S. rapper Lil Wayne on Thursday, saying he released an altered version of the song without permission.
Abkco Music Inc accused Lil Wayne, his artistic collaborators and his record company, a unit of Universal Music Group, of copyright infringement and unfair competition.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan seeks unspecified damages.
Lil Wayne's "Playing with Fire" is a clear derivative of the Rolling Stones song with the original lyrics and music altered in a recognizable way, Abkco said in its lawsuit.
In one example, the lawsuit said a lyric from the Stones song is "But don't play with me, 'cause you're playing with fire," and the Lil Wayne version has the line, "But you can't blame me if I set this stage on fire."
Representatives for Lil Wayne and Universal, owned by the French company Vivendi, were not immediately available for comment.
Abkco also said that Lil Wayne's version uses "explicit, sexist and offensive language" and could lead the public to believe the company and the Rolling Stones approved of and authorized the new version.
Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter, was proclaimed rapper of the year in 2007 by The New Yorker magazine.
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Game Says He Wasn't Taking A Shot At Eminem In Leaked Track



No more speculation necessary: The Game says he wasn't taking a shot at Eminem in a recently leaked track.
After a version of the L.A.X. song "My Life" hit the Web on Wednesday night, fans were confused by some lyrics that seemed to be aimed at Slim Shady: "All the pictures of me and Em, I burned them/ So there ain't no proof I walked through 8 Mile/ And so since it ain't no Proof, I'll never walk through 8 Mile."
The Compton rapper explained himself with a statement on Thursday afternoon (July 24). "When I originally wrote the song 'My Life,' I was trying to think back on events that affected my life and how they changed me," Game said. "When I first got signed to Aftermath and G-Unit, I was exposed to so many different people — from Dre to Em to 50 to Proof. I always identified with Proof. We were always cool, and he would reach out to me whenever I was going through something. I remember when Proof died vividly, and now every time I think about going to Detroit, I get depressed. That is what I was trying to say in that verse. And the more I looked at it, I realized that people would take it the wrong way."
Game went on in his statement to say that the references to Em and Proof have been taken out of the song. True to his word, a new version of "My Life" surfaced Thursday with new lyrics: "I ain't no preacher, but here's my Erick Sermon/ So eat this black music and tell me how it taste now/ And f--- Jesse Jackson because it ain't about race now."
"I decided to change it so that this bullsh-- wouldn't happen, and now it's happened anyway," Game continued in his statement. "For the record, this is not the version on my album, this is not the version that radio will get, and this is not the version that I just shot the video to. Furthermore, I apologize to anyone who took this the wrong way as that was never my intention."
Game and Lil Wayne have indeed finished the video for "My Life." Game and Travis Barker also have a video for "Dope Boys" that should be hitting soon. L.A.X. is due August 26.
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Leaked Game Track -- Featuring Lil Wayne -- Causes Speculation With Curious Eminem Reference

Coming off his song "Game's Pain," it's clear the Game's mood isn't getting any brighter. "My Life," another track from his L.A.X. LP was leaked Wednesday night. It features Lil Wayne and showcases more of Game's wordplay and his very vocal torment.
"All the pictures of me and Em, I burned them," he raps, referencing Slim Shady. "So there ain't no proof I walked through 8 Mile/ And so since it ain't no Proof, I'll never walk through 8 Mile/ Sometimes I think about my life with my face down/ Then I see my sons and put on my Kanye smile."
Later, he references Notorious B.I.G. "Biggie, Brooklyn's Jesus, shot for no f---in' reason/ And you wonder why Kanye West wears his Jesus pieces."
Game also talks about his own troubles, rhyming over the slow, melancholy track. "Hated on so much, 'Passion of the Christ' needs a sequel/ Yeah, like Roc-A-Fella needs a [Beanie] Sigel."
"You ain't grindin' till you die," Wayne sings on the hook, with some help from the Auto-Tune. "So I'm grindin' with my eyes wide looking to find a way through the day/ ... Dear Lord, you have taken so many of my people/ I'm just wondering why you haven't taken my life."
Game's next video, however, is more upbeat. It's called "Dope Boys" and features Travis Barker. The two recently shot the clip in California. You'll see heavy performances as well as some explicit images of hustling. Game's L.A.X. is slated for release later this summer.
What do you think Game is rapping about?
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Saturday, January 26, 2008

Felony Charges Filed Against Lil Wayne

Carter was in court, where a judge lifted a bail restriction prohibiting him from leaving the state. He was arrested after his tour bus was stopped in southern Arizona late Tuesday and is free on bail.
Carter's lawyer, James Tilson, said his client was mostly staying positive, adding: "He is very concerned about the charges."
Free to travel outside Arizona until his next hearing, Carter was on his way to perform in Richmond, Va., Friday night.
"He absolutely will be present at his next court date," Tilson said.
Carter's bus was stopped at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Dateland, Ariz., 78 miles east of Yuma. He was traveling with 11 other people.
Ramona Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said earlier that a Border Patrol canine unit alerted agents to the presence of illegal drugs on the bus. A search of the bus yielded nearly 4 ounces of marijuana, just over an ounce of cocaine, 41 grams of ecstasy and miscellaneous drug paraphernalia.
Officials also found a .40-caliber pistol registered to Carter, who has a concealed weapons permit in Florida.
In October, Carter and several other rappers were named in a federal lawsuit filed by music publishing companies, accusing them of sampling other artists' songs without paying licensing fees.
Birdman and Lil Wayne won a viewers' choice award for their song "Stuntin' Like My Daddy" at Black Entertainment Television's 2007 Hip-Hop Awards.
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Friday, January 25, 2008

Lil Wayne manager Concert on

The rapper -- legally known as Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. -- was arrested this week in Arizona after law-enforcement officials said they found drugs on his tour bus. He is due at a Phoenix courthouse this morning to learn whether charges will be filed against him.
Yesterday, Carter's manager, Cortez Bryant, said by phone that Carter is "definitely" performing. "He'll be in court in the morning [Friday] and has a flight out of Phoenix around 1 p.m., which is supposed to get into Richmond around 5 or 6," Bryant said, adding that the tour bus carrying Carter's crew was already en route to Richmond.
The concert is slated to begin at 7 p.m., with an opening act that has yet to be named.
Law-enforcement officials said a search of Carter's tour bus Tuesday night at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Dateland, Ariz., uncovered marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and drug paraphernalia. A Drug Enforcement Administration representative told The Associated Press that agents were alerted to the presence of drugs by a Border Patrol dog.
Bryant said Carter, if charged, will enter a not-guilty plea at today's hearing.
DEA officials also found Carter in possession of a .40-caliber pistol, registered to him in Florida, where he has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Authorities are investigating whether he violated any weapons laws in Arizona.
Two members of Carter's 11-person entourage also were arrested. Each faces a charge of possession of marijuana, according to a Yuma County Sheriff's spokesman.
Carter, 25, was released from a Yuma County jail Wednesday night after posting bail of $10,185.
Carter is a prolific presence on the charts, often appearing on songs with peers including Birdman, Juelz Santana and Playaz Circle, whose "Duffle Bag Boy" with Carter is currently No. 6 on the Billboard rap tracks chart.
This isn't Carter's first legal issue. He was arrested in July on gun-possession charges and three months later was arrested and jailed in Boise, Idaho, on a felony fugitive charge.
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Friday, December 28, 2007

Lil Wayne Quietly Unveils Digital EP

With his next album, "Tha Carter III," not due until February via Cash Money/Universal, rapper Lil Wayne snuck out a five-song digital EP on Christmas day, dubbed "The Leak."There is no physical product for sale, but the tracks are available as digital downloads from Amazon.com, iTunes and Rhapsody. Cash Money and Universal had no comment about the EP at deadline.Several weeks ago, Lil Wayne told Billboard.com he was pushing "Tha Carter III" from Dec. 18 to February due to widespread leaks, including "Gossip," which appears on the digital EP.
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