Billboard Hot 100 March Madness 2014: Final 4

It’s another round and since the voting/results has moved so quickly that I’m late on posting this. All is well because the top 2 haven’t been announced. Stay tuned for that.

Here were my pics for the final 4:

Lorde, ‘Royals’ v. Imagine Dragons, ‘Radioactive’

Daft Punk, ‘Get Lucky’ v. Miley Cyrus, ‘Wrecking Ball’

Here is the ACTUAL final 4 (chosen by the fans):

No surprise that it came down to P!nk v. Eminem. I am not really a fan of ‘The Monster’ which is simply why I didn’t vote for it. It was a close call, for me personally, between P!nk’s ‘Just Give Me a Reason’ and Lorde’s ‘Royals.’ I should’ve went with my gut, but both were  great songs. Voting wise P!nk won with 52%. As for ‘The Monster’ versus ‘Radioactive’ as I said I voted for the song I liked better and ‘The Monster just wasn’t it. Eminem beat out Imagine Dragons with 61%. ‘Get Lucky’ was up against ‘Timber’ and similar to that of ‘The Monster’ I went with ‘Get Lucky.’ To me it was more of a smash, but Pitbull is no stranger to domination of the airwaves. He won with 70%. It came down to Miley v. Gaga and Miley topped with ‘Wrecking Ball’ (at least I was right about something). Miley won with 70%. So my picks for the CHAMPIONSHIP round (the final 2):

P!nk, Just Give Me a Reason v. Miley Cyrus, ‘Wrecking Ball’

I would love to see these two songs go at it. I would LOVE to see the ‘love’/’breakup’ song. Realistically it could come down to ‘The Monster’ v. ‘Timber.’ My PERSONAL pick, P!nk v. Miley.

Stay tuned for the championship round & my breakdown of the final 2 tracks!

Eminem x Rihanna Announce, “The Monster Tour”, Dates

I announced a while back that Eminem and Rihanna would be going on a ‘tour’ together. I mean yes they are  hitting the road to do a show together titled after their hit song, The Monster, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a tour. The tour spans for 3 weeks and hits Cali, Detroit, and Jersey. Check out the dates and locations below:

August 7th – Los Angeles, Rose Bowl

August 16th – East Rutherford (NJ), Met Life Stadium

August 22nd – Detroit (MI), Comerica Park

As I stated, it’s not much of a ‘tour’ more of a road trip. Who knows if they’ll add more dates, but for those that get tickets I’m sure it will be one hell of a show. Ticket presale begins March 20th. Click here for all pre-sale info. Keep up with all the updates on this tour on Eminem.com.

Billboard Hot 100 March Madness 2014

32 hits have been chosen from being in the Hot 100 from May 4, 2013 to the current chart. For the past 2 years Britney Spears has reigned SUPREME with 2012s, ‘Hold It Against Me’ and the 2013 collab with Will.i.am, ‘Scream & Shout.’

This year Britney isn’t in the running, but there are plenty of fan favorites. The Sweet 16 will be announced Monday, March 10th and the winner March 27th.

Check out the chart below:

Here are my picks for the Sweet 16:

Lorde ‘Royals’ v. Avicii ‘Wake Me Up’

Pink/Nate Reuss ‘Just Give Me a Reason’ v. One Republic ‘Counting Stars’

Pharrell ‘Happy’ v. Imagine Dragons ‘Radioactive’

Eminem/Rihanna ‘The Monster’ v. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ‘Can’t Hold Us’

Katy Perry ‘Roar’ v. Daft Punk/Pharrell ‘Get Lucky’

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ‘Thrift Shop’ v. Pitbull/Ke$ha ‘Timber’

Miley Cyrus ‘Wrecking Ball’ v. One Direction ‘Best Song Ever’

Katy Perry/Juicy J ‘Dark Horse’ v. Robin Thicke/Pharrell/T.I. ‘Blurred Lines’

Tune back in next week for the official standings. It’s all up to the fans to vote so we’ll see. Vote here!

The Monster Tour

Eminem & Rihanna are teaming up this August for “The Monster Tour.” Em tweeted:

 

In addition to Em’s tweet he also confirmed this tour in a recent interview with XXL Magazine.

There are some shows coming up with Rihanna. It’s a three-city tour: New York, L.A., and Detroit coming in August. The Monster Tour.

I’m excited that the show will be coming to NYC and out of all the festivals and what not happening this summer I really want to snag a ticket to see this. I saw Rihanna in concert last March (click here for my review) and it was an AMAZING set. These two have great chemistry with their collaborations and I know that the show is a MUST SEE!

Their track, ‘The Monster,’ is currently #5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs charts, and #2 on Hot Rap Songs & Rap Streaming Songs. Eminem’s album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, is still holding tight at #1 on Rap Albums, #3 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and #12 on the Billboard 200.

50 Cent Leaves Interscope

After being signed to Interscope|Shady/Aftermath for a decade, 50 cent is parting ways with the label.

50 released a statement on his departure:

I have had great success to date with Shady/Aftermath/Interscope and I’d like to thank Eminem and Dr. Dre for giving me an incredible opportunity. I’ve learned so much from them through the years. I am excited to enter this new era where I can carry out my creative vision.

During his time on the label 50 Cent has released 5 albums collectively selling over 30 million copies. There’s no bad blood between the label and 50 and Eminem wished him well wishes.

Both myself and Shady Records are grateful to have had the chance to play a part in 50′s career. Shady simply would not be what it is without 50 Cent. I’ve developed a great friendship with 50 over the years, and that’s not going to change. We know 50 will have success in his new situation, and we remain supporters of both him and G-Unit.

He along with G-Unit Records have signed independently under Capitol Music Group (Universal Music Group. His first release under the label will be titled, Animal Ambition, and is due out June 3rd. Fans can pre-order the album March 18th and receive two tracks. In addition, there will be a new song and video released each week leading up to the album.

MMF Celebrates Black History in Music, Feb. 6

February 6, 2003 marked the release of 50 Cent’s debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ with production mainly by Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. The album featured 19 tracks including hits, ’21 Questions,’ ‘P.I.M.P.,’ ‘If I Can’t,’ and the classic club hit ‘In Da Club.’ The album sold 872,000 in its first week taking it to the top of the Billboard 200.

‘In Da Club’ was certified platinum by the RIAA and remained on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks and and remained on the chart for 22 weeks. In addition, it also held the #1 spot on the Top 40 Tracks, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and Hot Rap Tracks. It also was nominated for two Grammys, Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song.

His second single’21 Questions,’ which featured Nate Dogg, also topped the charts on the Billboard Hot 100.

By the end of 2003, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, had sold over 6 million copies in the U.S. making it certified platinum 6x by the RIAA. In 2013, the 10th anniversary of the album, it was declared that the album had sold over 8 million in the U.S., making it the 4th hip-hop album to do so. It was also named on #13 on Billboards Top 200 albums of the decade.

In addition to the success of the album, 50 Cent starred in the autobiographical movie of the same title. The movie was released on November 9, 2005 and the soundtrack was released November 8th.

The album will be re-released in a platinum vinyl format as a part of Universal Music’s, Respect The Classics, campaign on November 12th.

Universal Music, Respect The Classics, Campaign

In a recent statement releases by universal they will be re-releasing a slew of hip hop albums from artists such as Kanye West, Eminem, Lil Wayne, and 50 Cent.

Universal Music has announced that some of the major, Hip-Hop albums will be re-mastered and re-issued which will be a part of their Respect The Classics campaign. Leading the charge will be 50 Cent’s Diamond debut album Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ which will receive a 10-year anniversary platinum vinyl edition on November 12th. Other albums include Eminem’s The Slim Shady LP, Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter and more. According to the label, the aim is to highlight “spotlight iconic, genre-defining albums” from the back catalogs of Def Jam, Interscope, Priority and Virgin Records imprints.

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