Another year, another time to kvetch over the Grammy Award nominations, right? It may be music’s biggest night, but it’s hard to find a Grammy Awards that’s not fraught with controversy and/or boring as hell. The nomination process always results in head scratching decisions, and this year’s are no different. Katy Perry nominated for Album of the Year? Weird. Lady GaGa’s “Bad Romance” scratched off of the Record of the Year nominees? Uber-weird. No Lil Wayne nominations? Big Boi passed […]
Posts tagged "Drake"
The Viewfinder: “Moment 4 Life” by Nicki Minaj
Never let it be said that I don’t have an open mind. Even when artists start off on a bad foot with me, I allow plenty of room for my opinion to be changed. This has now happened twice with Lil Wayne’s Young Money artists. First, there was Drake. I thought he was incredibly overhyped-until I heard Thank Me Later and enjoyed it immensely (hell, my opinion of it has actually improved over the past few months). Next up to […]
Popblerd! Presents the Top 40 Albums of 2010: (30-26)
As we continue our journey through my favorite albums of 2010, we get hip-hop heavy with RJD2, Drake and Rhymefest.
Chart Stalker!: Billboard Year-End Version
Welcome to the first of two year end editions of Chart Stalker! Why two, you ask? Simple answer-Billboard’s year-end issue comes out before the end of the actual calendar year (to allow for publication time and ad purchasing). Generally speaking, it covers the year from December 1st of the previous year to November 30th of the current year, or thereabouts. Additionally, Billboard calculates it’s rankings by using a formula based on chart position, so where an artist ends up on […]
The Grammy Crystal Ball: Who Gets Nominated?
Award season is in full swing, isn’t it? Coming less than two weeks after the American Music Awards and less than a week after the Soul Train Awards, and just a short time before the year-end best-of lists start raining down, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences will announce the nominees for next January’s Grammy Awards. For the second consecutive year, there will be a prime time TV special announcing the nominees for the major categories, with scheduled […]
Award Show Sundays: Little Richard Steals the Thunder
This is probably one of my 5 favorite Grammy moments of all time (ooh, an idea for another list!). It’s March 1988, and the Grammy Awards are at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Presenting the Best New Artist trophy are Buster Poindexter, who is enjoying mainstream recognition for the first time in his career thanks to his cover of Arrow’s “Hot Hot Hot”, and Little Richard. What results is Richard going wildly and hilariously off-script (someone should […]
Just Like You, Drake Gets Lonely Too
So, over the course of the past year, I’ve found myself moving more and more towards Team Drake. It’s not that he’s particularly talented (because, quite honestly? He isn’t), but his music has a personal, emotional vibe to it that’s missing from much of today’s hip-hop. For his latest project, which is an R&B mixtape, Drake has decided to concentrate on his singing (which I think he’s better at than rapping anyway). The first taste of this mixtape comes via […]
Chart Stalker! 8/18/10: Change Soon Come
I’ll stand by for a sec and let you try to guess who has this week’s #1 album. Give up? It’s Eminem!! “Recovery” scans another 133,000 units this week and spends it’s 6th non-consecutive week at the top of Billboard’s album chart. “Recovery” also spends it’s 8th consecutive week at the top of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart. It’s the longest consecutive stay at the top for a rap album in 20 years. Last album to hang around that long? MC […]
New Release Report: Something to Crow About?
Another kinda slow week for music buying, at least if you like what I like. Here are some highlights. Sheryl Crow “100 Miles from Memphis”-As I have mentioned in a previous post, I haven’t really dug Sheryl’s last couple of albums. However, the smooth first single “Summer Day” has me anticipating a Sheryl album more than I have in at least a decade. Keith Richards and Justin Timberlake both guest here, and she covers Citizen Cope’s “Sideways”. She also gives […]
Drake & Jimmy: The Hottest Duo Out
I’ve gotta admit, y’all: Drake is winning (has won?) me over. When you’re associated with Lil Wayne, you have a long way to go to get me to even respect you. Add in Drake’s decidedly un-hip hop past and the overactive hype machine and the side eye was in full effect. However, the best solution for skepticism is good product. And Drake’s “Thank Me Later” is good. Not great, but solidly good. Perhaps the best album I’ve ever heard on […]
Chart Stalker! 7/14/10: Hip-Hop Saves the Day
So much for saying that rap music is a dying commercial art form. If it wasn’t for hip-hop, this week’s #1 album would have only sold 45,000 units. Rappers manage to take the top three positions on this week’s Billboard album chart, led for a third consecutive week by Eminem. “Recovery” continues to defy expectations, experiencing only a 27% drop in it’s 3rd week and selling a still impressive 229,000 copies. The last album to sell more than 200,000 copies […]