When this column launched one year ago this week, Kanye West was locked in a mortal struggle for the top of Billboard‘s Hot 100, first defeating and then retreating from a smash by Soulja Boy.
Twelve months later, the smash holding down the No. 1 spot has changed—this time, it’s from a more seasoned hip-hop figure, T.I.—but the challenger is the same. West storms the ramparts again, this time with his all-singing hit “Love Lockdown.” An eye-popping iTunes debut gives West a No. 3 entrance on the big chart, the best start for a single in his career. It also gives him a clear shot at scoring his fourth career No. 1 single next week.
And while Kanye’s reveling in the reception his first straight-R&B joint is receiving, he can glance over to the new No. 1 single on Hot Country Songs. There, a guy 11 years his senior is showing chart historians how this whole crossover thing is done.
Industrial chimneys spew black smoke; pigs wade in oil. An old man waits for his Metallica call-back; a tree catches fire. A robot horse rides through the night as fighter planes swoop down from above. The bomb explodes and a family’s picnic is interrupted by the friendly robot horse. A child watches TV. Fighter planes flap their wings like birds and approach the old man. A baby scowls. An army general surveys a junkyard, throwing soldiers off a tower of cars. The old man looks on. A baby scowls.
Epitaph is getting into the “Special Edition” biz by remastering and adding a 24-page booklet to the Offspring’s 1994 album Smash, once a seemingly ordinary OC punk release that sold over 11 million copies worldwide by mixing Nirvana with the Circle Jerks. More »
