Ciara is Absolutely Positively Pregnant
Over the weekend a photo of Ciara floated online leaving no doubt that the pop star is absolutely, positively knocked up…Guess we’ll see more evidence in a few weeks.
R.I.P Lord Infamous of Three 6 Mafia, Dead at 40
Lord Infamous, founding member of Three 6 Mafia, died from a heart attack on Friday evening. He was 40 years old. The rapper, born Ricky Dunigan, passed away during a visit to his mother’s Memphis home, according to Hollywood Reporter .
“He passed away in his sleep from a heart attack,” his half-brother, Three 6 Mafia member DJ Paul, told the website. “He said he was tired, he wanted to sleep. He sat down at the kitchen table, put his head in his arms to lay down … to get some sleep.”
His mother left the house for several hours and found him dead upon her return. Paul was informed of his death by Infamous’ mother and girlfriend.
“He’ll be remembered as a legend, everybody knew him as a legend, an icon,” said DJ Paul. “This year was going to make our twenty-fourth year in rapping together. His music, our music that we made together, was truly before its time.”
Beyonce Screens Visual Album in New York
A week after shocking the world with her self-titled visual album, Beyoncé got up close with fans at a screening of the project at New York’s School of Visual Arts on Saturday. Bey walked the carpet in a black Tom Ford dress and boots before heading inside to play her 17 music videos and host a Q&A. Check out some of the highlights below:
On her inspiration: “It’s interesting how motherhood changes you and it changes your perspective on life. I took all the things that I wanted to change about myself and all the things I wanted to share, and I put it into this record.”
On the message behind BEYONCÉ: “More than the music, I’m proud of myself as a woman. The biggest message is owning your imperfections and all the things that make youinteresting because I refuse to allow someone to put me in anybody’s box.”
On secretly releasing it to iTunes: “I just got off the stage, I had a glass of wine and my cousin Angie was like, ‘Are you alright?’ because I was talking to myself and I was terrified. I was so scared. I had already gone through all the horrible ways it could go in my mind… I saw it live on iTunes and I waited for the first comment. Then I woke up the next morning and… [breaks into dance].”
On the birth of ‘Yonce: “We were in the studio, and Justin Timberlake started beating on buckets. So, when you hear the beat, it’s literally a bucket. … And Dream just started, ‘Yoncé on his mouth like liquor,’ and I’m like, ‘What does that mean?’ But I love it, I think Beyoncé is Beyoncé, Mrs. Carter is Beyoncé, Sasha Fierce is Beyoncé. And I’m finally at a place where I don’t have to separate the two. It’s all pieces of me, and just different elements of a personality of a woman, because we are complicated.”
On taking charge of her career: “My father taught me so, so much. When I decided to manage myself, it was important to me not to sign to some big company. I wanted to follow in Madonna’s footsteps and be a powerhouse. When you get to thislevel, you don’t have to share your money or your success… And we did it. And it’s my company.”
Monique Hosting Love and Hip Hop NY Reunion Show
Mona Scott-Young is handing over the reigns of the Love and Hip Hop NY reunion show to Academy Award winning actress Monique.
The Love and Hip Hop NY reunion show taped this week with Monique in the hosting seat. Meanwhile LHHNY fans noticed the show was preempted last week by T.I. and Tiny’s family Christmas special and it won’t be returning until December 30th.
Nike Releasing Yeezy’s Red October
Kanye West just signed a deal with Adidas after getting fed up with Nike for not releasing the last shoe on his Nike contract the Yeezy Red October. Guess what? Nike is finally releasing Yeezy’s shoe…
Beyonce Makes History with 5th #1 Album, Breaks iTunes Record and Her Own Personal Best
Via: Billboard
It’s official: Beyonce’s new self-titled album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making her the first woman to hit No. 1 with her first five studio albums.
It follows the chart-topping “Dangerously In Love” (2003), “B’Day” (2006), “I Am… Sasha Fierce” (2008) and “4″ (2011). All five of her albums also debuted at No. 1.
The two other acts that have taken their first five studio sets to No. 1: rapper DMX and folk group the Kingston Trio. (DMX also happens to be the only other act, aside from Beyonce, to debut at No. 1 with his first five studio efforts.)
“Beyonce” was released on the morning of Friday, Dec. 13 — exclusively via the iTunes Store without any pre-release announcement — and it sold 617,000 copies through the week ending Sunday, Dec. 15, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s a record high sales week for Beyonce, as the diva’s previous best week came when “B’Day” bowed with 541,000.
iTunes is the exclusive seller of the album, released on Columbia Records, through at least Dec. 18. The physical version of the album should start to reach U.S. retailers sometime between Dec. 18 and 20. (The arrival day varies, depending on how far — and fast — the CDs travel from Sony’s distribution center to retailers.)
“Beyonce” also notches the largest sales week for a woman in 2013, and the year’s fourth-biggest sales week overall. It follows the No. 1 debuts of Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience” (968,000), Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” (792,000) and Drake’s “Nothing Was the Same” (658,000). (The last larger week for a woman was when Taylor Swift’s “Red” debuted with 1.2 million at No. 1 upon its release in October 2012.)
As previously reported, iTunes announced that “Beyonce” tallied the largest sales week for an album in its U.S. iTunes Store, and was its fastest-selling title ever globally (828,773 sold worldwide through Dec. 15).
(To note: The music industry tracks weekly sales on a Monday through Sunday basis, hence why Beyonce’s feat is being measured after only three days on sale.)
“Beyonce’s” launch is also the second-largest digital sales week overall — counting all digital retailers. It’s second behind the debut frame of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” which sold 662,000 downloads in its first week. (That number was enhanced by Amazon MP3’s decision to sell the set for 99-cents for two days during its first week. Billboard has estimated that Amazon MP3’s 99-cent version resulted in 440,000 copies sold.)
“Beyonce” is only the second digital-only album to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, following the 2010 all-star live charity album “Hope For Haiti Now.” It debuted at No. 1 with 171,000 downloads sold, after no more than two full days on sale. (It was released on an off-cycle Saturday, Jan. 23, while the tracking week ended on Sunday, Jan. 25.) It spent a second week at No. 1, shifting 143,000 downloads in its first full week on sale.
The rest of the new Billboard 200 chart’s top 10 will be revealed on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Expected top 10 arrivals include R. Kelly’s new “Black Panties” and Childish Gambino’s “Because the Internet.”
Balmain Taps Rihanna As Face of Their Brand
Rihanna is the face of the Balmain, the French designer’s spring/summer 2014 campaign. “Guess who’s the new BALMAIN Woman???!!!!!!! #BALMAIN #MommaImadeIt #CaribbeanGalRunTing,” tweeted RiRi.
The ads, which will make their debut in magazines in January, were shot in New York by Inez & Vinoodh, with styling by Mel Ottenberg.
Pharrell Signs to Columbia Records, Plans Solo Album for 2014
Pharrell Williams has signed to Columbia Records. He will join his peers including Beyoncé and T.I. Pharrell was previously signed to Interscope Records, where he released his 2006 solo debut In My Mind.
His full-length Columbia debut is due in 2014 and will include the single “Happy,” which is featured on thesoundtrack to Despicable Me 2.
BEYONCÉ Available Worldwide Now
Surprise, Surprise BEYONCÉ drops fifth album.
NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records — The fifth solo studio album from Beyoncé is now available worldwide, exclusively on the iTunes Store (www.iTunes.com/beyonce). The self-titled set is the artist’s first visual album. BEYONCÉ is infused with 14 new songs and 17 visually stunning, provocative videos shot around the world from Houston to New York City to Paris, and Sydney to Rio de Janeiro, all before the album’s release.
“I see music,” says Beyoncé about her decision to create a visual album. “It’s more than just what I hear. When I’m connected to something, I immediately see a visual or a series of images that are tied to a feeling or an emotion, a memory from my childhood, thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies. And they’re all connected to the music.”
That the album is available on the day the world is learning about its release is an unprecedented strategic move by the artist to deliver music and visual content directly to her fans when she wants to and how she wants to, with no filter. This unique approach allows music fans to be the first to listen, view, engage and form their own opinions void of any middleman. In the age of social media and an insatiable appetite for direct communication, this is the answer to the question asked over and over again, when is Beyoncé’s next album coming?
“I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it,” she states. “I am bored with that. I feel like I am able to speak directly to my fans. There’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans.”
Stripped of gimmicks, teasers and marketing campaigns, this project is truly about art before hype.
Starting now, BEYONCÉ is available globally and exclusively on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com/beyonce).
For an artist who has been the target of leaks, this is a fully designed preventative plan. The album will be offered as a cohesive body of work with every song and every video available all at once for one single purchase.
While not a concept album, the record is designed to be consumed as a comprehensive audio/visual piece from top to bottom. The antithesis of making singles, the visual album is a non-linear journey through the thoughts and visions of Beyoncé.
Manufacturing of physical albums begins today and the double disc CD/DVD will be available at retail in time for the holidays.
Facebook exclusively premieres Part One of “Self-Titled,” a mini doc feature that gives a glimpse into the entire project. It details her mind-set and artistic vision throughout the making of BEYONCÉ. By embracing an ever-evolving digital landscape, she creates an innovative, fully immersive, multiplatform experience for the first visual album of her career, completely changing the way her fans will consume music.
Not one to stand on past achievements, this is an artist who thrives on evolving, challenging herself and raising the bar. This creative process gave Beyoncé power over her music and provided an opportunity to control how the music is heard. She is not playing by the rules and breaking what is expected, preferring to put music out as an entire body of work.
Beyoncé, wearing multiple hats as writer, producer and director, put together a genius team of artists, songwriters, producers and video directors for her visual album that include JAY Z, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, Drake, The Dream, Sia, Ryan Tedder, Miguel, Frank Ocean, Hit Boy, Ammo, Boots, Detail, Jake Nava, Hype Williams, Terry Richardson,Melina Matsoukas, Jonas Akerlund, Ricky Saiz, Pierre Debusschere, @lilinternet, Noah “40” Shebib, Francesco Carrozzini, Caroline Polachek, Ed Burke, Bill Kirstein and Todd Tourso.
She recorded all over the world for a year and a half but the initial recording started after the writers and producers gathered under one roof in The Hamptons, New York’s beach enclave, in the summer of 2012 to live together, work together and to immerse themselves into her world and into her head. The fans that have grown up with the performer, mature and seasoned enough to relate to the content and the shared experiences, inspire the music, with themes that explore love, loss, fear, anger, honesty, happiness, sexuality and confidence.
For the videos, some of which she co-directed, she preferred to work with a more care-free formula. Shot primarily during her successful “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour,” the videos were veiled in secrecy, even though they were filmed in open places, including a beach in Brazil, the streets of NYC, on the famed Cyclone Rollercoaster in Coney Island, New York, downtown Los Angeles, a chateau in Paris, a roller skating rink in Houston, Texas where she skated as a child, and a beautiful church in South America. She mixed up the creative, going for big and small and set out on shoots eager to capture the spontaneity and honesty in every moment. The videos are visually stimulating, charged with visionary cinematography and clever storytelling. They capture every side of who she is, complete with vulnerability and imperfections.
BEYONCÉ is an explosive sonic and visual communiqué to music fans from an artist who has earned the right to do things on her terms. “I just want to give my album to the people I love and respect and hope that they feel the same thing I felt when I made the music,” said Beyoncé.
BEYONCÉ SONG LIST:
Pretty Hurts
Haunted
Drunk in Love (Featuring JAY Z)
Blow/Cherry
No Angel
Yoncé/Partition
Jealous
Rocket
Mine (Featuring Drake)
XO
***Flawless (Featuring/ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
Superpower (Featuring Frank Ocean)
Heaven
Blue (Featuring Blue Ivy)
BEYONCÉ VIDEO LIST:
Pretty Hurts
directed by Melina Matsoukas
Ghost
directed by Pierre Debusschere
Haunted
directed by Jonas Akerlund
Drunk in Love
directed by Hype Williams
Blow
directed by Hype Williams
No Angel
directed by @lilinternet
Yoncé
directed by Ricky Saiz
Partition
directed by Jake Nava
Jealous
directed by Beyoncé, Francesco Carrozzini & Todd Tourso
Rocket
directed by Beyoncé, Ed Burke & Bill Kirstein
Mine
directed by Pierre Debusschere
XO
directed by Terry Richardson
***Flawless
directed by Jake Nava
Superpower
directed by Jonas Akerlund
Heaven
directed by Beyoncé & Todd Tourso
Blue
directed by Beyoncé, Ed Burke & Bill Kirstein
**BONUS VIDEO – Grown Woman
directed by Jake Nava
****
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlkrm8nLCJo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Dre Black So Fresh 