The Rap Up: Week of December 30, 2013

The Week In Music:
Late last week, hip hop artist Doe B. was shot and killed in Alabama at Centennial Hill Bar & Grill. An Alabama native and emcee signed to T.I.’s Hustle Gang label, Doe B. was one of eight people in total who were victims of the gunfire at Centennial (six others were wounded, one other person was killed). This week, Doe (born Glenn Thomas) and his unfortunate killing have made the news once again as a suspect has been arrested after turning himself in, and faces two counts of capital murder. Thomas’ killing is one of several unfortunate incidents of its kind which have occurred in recent times, and serves as a reminder that the hip hop community still has issues that need solutions. Thomas was a mere 22 years old.
For the third week in a row, Beyoncé’s self-titled visual album claimed the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart. After releasing an additional video last week, it seems as though the R&B queen has an unstoppable momentum attached to her at the moment. It will be interesting to see how Beyoncé’s latest controversy with NASA over the sampling of The Challenger space shuttle tragedy (which resulted in the deaths of seven astronauts in 1986 and is sampled on “XO” from the new album) will affect her stock in the near future.
Finally, international artist MIA announced that she is no longer involved with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation management. After signing with the management team in mid-2012, her Matangi album was all but shelved until about a month ago. The split comes after a noted rift between the two entities, as MIA has previously alluded to both abandoning her team and needing Kickstarter in the future. It will be interesting to see where the multi-faceted artist’s career goes from here, with her number one dance/electronic album Matangi recently released and her being under new management.

The News:
Justin Timberlake sold the most albums in 2013, while Robin Thicke had the biggest hit
KISS to play first ever outdoor hockey game in LA’s Dodger Stadium
New cryptocurrency named after Kanye West set to launch
Eve and billionaire fashion designer Maximillion Cooper now engaged
New Bruce Springsteen album High Hopes arrives early on Amazon
Alicia Keys and Blackberry no longer partners in business

The Tunes:
Drake – “Trophies”
A$AP Ferg – “Hood Pope” (Video)
Timothy Bloom – “Stand In The Way (Of My Love)”
Nicki Minaj – “Boss A** B****” (Remix) (ft. PTAF)
Vampire Weekend – “Step” Remix (ft. Heems & Despot of Das Racist & Danny Brown)
Audio Push – “Tis The Season” (ft. Joey Bada$$) (Video)
Angel Haze – Dirty Gold (Album)

The Charts:
Hot 100: Eminem – “The Monster” (ft. Rihanna)
Radio: Eminem – “The Monster” (ft. Rihanna)
Digital: Pitbull – “Timber” (ft. Ke$ha)*
200: Beyoncé – Beyoncé
R&B/Hip Hop: Beyoncé – Beyoncé
Rock: Lorde – Pure Heroine
Independent: Garth Brooks – Blame It On My Roots

The Bonus Track:
Meek Mill & 2 Chainz Give Back, Chance The Rapper Gets His

The Rap Up: Week of December 23, 2013

The Listening Magazine is back, once again, to let you know about the hottest news and music to come out of this week!

This Week In Music:
The minds behind the immensely popular Rap Genius lyrics website are in hot water this week after attempting to “hack” or “bypass” Google servers in the quest for new viewership. Rap Genius co-founder Mahbod Moghadam attempted to gain this viewership by partnering with pre-existing blogs and essentially using them to link-build, a genius sneaky move for the website that would result in massive traffic. Google, however, was made aware of these actions and subsequently punished Rap Genius by moving their results off of the front page of the Google search engine. If the plan would have come to fruition, Rap Genius would be the extreme beneficiary of a database of Justin Bieber’s lyrics.

The Rap Up: Week of January 23, 2012

We might be two days late, but not two dollars short. This week in music:
Madonna has been named as the headliner for the upcoming NFL Super Bowl on February 5th. The iconic pop star will perform at halftime when the surging New York Giants match up against the perennial powerhouse New England Patriots. Madonna has recruited a host of fellow musicians to perform alongside her, including Nicki Minaj, M.I.A., and Cee-Lo Green. Madonna also has several tricks up her sleeve, which have intentionally been kept under wraps. Those who like surprises should feel inclined to tune into what is sure to be one of the more exciting halftime shows in recent memory.
In other news, Rihanna has become the first female artist to reach two billion views on music video website VEVO. With numerous hit records such as “Man Down”, “Rude Boy”, and “What’s My Name”, the female pop sensation has experienced a huge amount of internet and digital success in addition to her success on the airways. Considering the fact that the music industry is moving into a more digital environment, Rihanna’s achievements are remarkable and should be applauded.
Finally, rap super group Slaughterhouse has announced a release date and title for their sophomore studio album. The LP, entitled Welcome to: Our House, will be released on May 15th. The album will be the group’s first since signing with Shady Records in early 2011, and it will be executively produced by label founder Eminem. In order to promote for the album, the skilled lyrical conglomerate will embark on a two month tour. The tour will begin in March and end in May prior to the release of the album. Now that they are being backed by Eminem and the Shady Records brand, it will be exciting to see what the group can do in a mainstream spotlight.

News:
D’Angelo performs for the first time in 12 years
Stones Throw Records reveals the Stones Throw Digital Discography
Kid Cudi releases track listing for upcoming WZRD album

Releases:
Bruce Springsteen releases “We Take Care Of Our Own”, single from Wrecking Ball
Up-and-coming songstress Elle Varner releases Conversational Lush mixtape
Rock duo Sleigh Bells drops a video for their new single “Comeback Kids”
NY emcee Saigon releases the third installment of his Warning Shots mixtape series
Mixtapes: Chip Tha Ripper, Young Buck, Emilio Rojas, Rockie Fresh, Lyriciss
Wichita rapper XV drops a video for “Batteries”, his Trae the Truth-assisted single
New artist Yuna releases the Pharrell-produced single from her forthcoming album