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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Jay-Z

  • Pot, Meet Kettle: Otherwise Known As Ne-Yo

    Ne-Yo’s a talented dude. His pen game is sharp, his voice is pleasant if not powerhouse, and he’s reverent enough to guys like Michael and Prince without going overboard. He’s also got a personality and a sense of humor, something most of his contemporaries haven’t been able to muster. Witness this interview in which he’s asked several questions, including whether Beyonce or Rihanna is hotter (he’s written huge hits for both artists).

    He says that he sees Rihanna as a little sister, and calls her “Bighead” because she has a high forehead.

    Cute, yeah. But, damn. Bruh, have you seen your own head lately???

    Time to bring the mugshot out again…

    Grammy Winner Ne-Yo

    It’s also funny that after sheepishly announcing Beyonce the hotter of the two, he apologizes profusely to Jay-Z. Man, Jay’s not president of your label anymore. You don’t have to worry about him pushing your album back.

  • It’s Wayne’s World, We’re Just Living In It


    So how ’bout this, folks?

    Lil’ Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” LP, which was released this past Tuesday, sold nearly half a million copies in it’s first day of sales. It’s on pace to sell 850-950,000 copies in it’s first week, which would make it the biggest first week sales of 2008, the biggest first week sales for an album in almost a year (since Kanye West’s “Graduation” last September), and would place it 4th on the list of biggest hip-hop first weeks, behind the aforementioned Kanye West album and the second and third Eminem albums. It would also immediately make it the 4th biggest selling album of 2008 to date, behind Jack Johnson, Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys.

    So I ask you, reading public, what is it about Lil’ Wayne that makes him so special. ‘Cause, I’ll be real here. This guy’s been around for a decade and some change and has made not one single song that’s moved me. While I don’t mind his guest appearances on others’ records-most of the time (he ruined the remix of Usher’s “Love in This Club”, he’s always outshined by whatever artist he appears with. I also raise an eyebrow at his sudden transformation to “Best Rapper Alive”, simply because a) as long as Rakim, KRS-ONE, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, Jay-Z, Nas, Ghostface Killah, Common, Talib Kweli and a host of others are still alive, Weezy shouldn’t be mentioned within 500 feet of that particular conversation, and b) if anyone remembers how Wayne sounded back in the early days of Cash Money, it’s hard to imagine that he got as good as he is (which is still not mind-blowing), without help from someone else (and several folks have gone on record saying they’ve ghostwritten for Wayne).

    All of this to say-why do *you* think Lil’ Wayne is so popular?

  • The R. Kelly Trial – The Major Players

    I know it seems like it has taken forever, but the R. Kelly trial is finally now ongoing. I have had a love/hate feeling about R. Kelly in the past, loving him when he came out with his double album R, and then not so much after his alleged tryst with an underage female, his supposed unfaithfulness to his wife, and after reading stories of his overall weirdness, including the time when Jay-Z kicked him off their tour for his odd insecurities.

    I don’t wish ill will towards the man at all. If he’s guilty, throw the book at him. If he’s not, he can do whatever he wants, as long as he and Jay-Z don’t make another Best Of Both Worlds. He’s not the only crazy celebrity out there and my favorite crazed celebrity doesn’t have much on R when it comes to decision making (ahem Michael Jackson). I just hope for a fair trial and that whatever happens is truly what each party deserves.

    MTV.com has a great article laying out the trial and documenting all the key players involved. They also have a one stop shop for all trial news that comes in handy if you are following the case.