Unsurprisingly, Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 debuted atop today’s Billboard 200, thanks to sales of 476,000 copies in the time that elapsed between its release last Tuesday and Sunday night. But how did Jay’s first-week numbers fare in the more rarefied arena of No. 1 debuts? I crunched a few numbers to figure out just how all of the albums that topped the charts in their first week of sales fared, and came away slightly surprised! More »
Maxwell may not be collaborating with R. Kelly, but he has announced the next leg of his tour. Dates stretch from late September to mid-October, and he’ll be bringing along Common and Chrisette Michele. So far there are only 14 dates on this jaunt, but given that tickets sold pretty well for his summer theater tour, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few extra dates added along the way. Tickets go on pre-sale tomorrow; full itinerary at the “MORE” link. More »
The undoubtedly sexy Maxwell refutes yesterday’s rumors that he collaborated with R. Kelly, Robin Thicke, The-Dream, and Tyrese on a song that would result in spontaneous pregnancies to any ladies within listening range for Kells’ upcoming album. Aww. I knew it was too good to be true! [Twitter / Earlier] More »
Because if this list of songs for his forthcoming untitled album (which is scheduled to hit stores on Sept. 29) is the real deal, I am already way too excited about Track No. 13 thanks to its title and its roster of guest stars. I mean, come on, doesn’t “Pregnant (feat. Tyrese, Robin Thicke, The-Dream & Maxwell)” make you at least a little intrigued, too? [Hip-Hop Gone Global] More »
Maxwell’s video for the second single from his outstanding (and commercially successful) album BLACKsummer’snight, “Bad Habits,” premiered this morning, and oh Lord is it steamy. While the lyrics draw a parallel between an out-of-control sexual relationship and addiction, the video is a four-minute examination (and maybe justification?) for affairs that might not seem like logistical good ideas—i.e., sometimes the heat that’s generated by the two parties is just too much to resist. Even if they make ex post facto run-ins at fancy restaurants super-awkward! Clip after the jump. More »
Everybody’s got a crackpot scheme to save the music industry these days—giving away songs for free, sending people on wild goose-chases, just giving up and waiting for the current global mess to blow over. One radio analyst has thrown his own proposal in the ring, and it not only plays to the shortened attention span of the modern age, it eliminates the possibility of piracy from home-taped radio rips! Edison Research co-founder Larry Rosin thinks that programmers should turn pop radio into an endless stream of sub-two-minute “trailers” of songs, so that hits would be both distilled down to their essence and only available in full to people willing to pony up 99 cents. Hmm. It sounds so crazy, it just might work! Let’s hear more! More »
As promised: The state of my “2009 awesomeness” playlist, in which I collect the songs that catch my ear as the year progresses in order to not make my best-of list a last-minute-of-December clusterfuck sort of thing. (It inevitably winds up being like that, but you know, I have noble intentions.) It’s after the jump, and has some contextual links added in. Feel free to make your own and share it here! More »
Maxwell’s first album in eight years, BLACKsummer’snight, is on tap for a big heap of first-week sales, according to Billboard. The trade rag is reporting that the record could sell between 275,000 and 325,000 copies in its first week—a big number for any album this year. More »
Our look at the closing lines of the week’s biggest new-music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to BLACKsummers’night, the new album by Maxwell: More »
Attention fans of R & B: The latest entry in Tapemasters’ The Future Of R & B ziptape series has made its way online, and it looks to be a doozy, with a Ne-Yo/Brandy collaboration, Amerie’s new single, Maxwell’s outstanding “Pretty Wings,” and a track by the all-over-the-Internet Drake in the mix. (This blog has links to other entries in the series as well, in case you missed a few volumes like I did over the past few months.) [The Piff] More »
