01. Da Truth 1:05
Toronto MC Drake, arguably the most talked about up-and-coming artist since Kanye West and 50 Cent, is involved in a serious bidding war between at least three major labels according to Billboard.
As XXLMag.com reported last month, Drake is close to signing a deal, but has yet to sign on the dotted line. Billboard has learned that Drizzy will most likely go to Universal, due to the label’s relationship with his crew Young Money. At the same time, this has not deterred other labels from baiting the So Far Gone rapper, whose mixtape single “Best I Ever Had” is receiving serious radio airplay. In fact sources tell Billboard that three majors are in possibly “one of the biggest bidding wars ever.” It is rumored that an undisclosed company has offered Drizzy $2 million to join their ranks.
In addition, Warner Music Group CEO Lyor Cohen and Chief Operating Officer Julie Greenwald made a notable appearance at Drake’s New York City concert last week, showing Atlantic’s interest in the former Degrassi actor.
Rumors hit the net last month that Drake had already signed to Universal. At the time his manager Gee Roberson of Hip-Hop Since 1978, whose clients include Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy and Just Blaze, denied the claims. “Drake isn’t signed to Universal Motown,” Roberson told XXL. “He’s currently in the final negotiations of his deal.”
Eminem's comeback album Relapse will reportedly lose its spot as the number one album in the country next week despite estimated sales of over 150,000 copies going into his third week.
Relapse, which went gold its first week, will reportedly have a combined total of over 950,000 sold discs after 21 days in stores.
The MTV MovieAwards served as a driver for Kings of Leon's increase and the continued strong sales ofEminem . Here are our projections going into the weekend: Dave Matthews Band (RCA/RMG) 385-400k, Eminem (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) 155-165k, 311 (Volcano/JLG) 60-70k, Taking Back Sunday (WB) 50-60k and Lady GaGa (Interscope) 50-55k. (Hits Daily Double)
After just two weeks, the rapper's fifth solo disc sold more than 800,000 copies.
Grammy-winning rapper Eminem's Relapse maintains its chart dominance holding on to No. 1 for the second straight week. According to Nielsen Soundscan, the rapper's comeback album scanned 211,000 copies making his fifth solo release's combined total rest at 820,400 sold records. (SOHH Sales Wrap)
He was recently awarded the title "Artist of the Decade" for selling the most albums within the past ten years alongside Nelly and Jay-Z.
1. Eminem, 31,127,000. First charted: 1999. Eminem, 36, is the top male artist and the top rap artist so far in this decade. His 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP is his best-seller. It has sold 10,178,000 copies. 7. Nelly, 21,206,000. First charted: 2000. Nelly, 34, is the #1 new artist to emerge in this decade, edging out Linkin Park. He's also the #1 African American artist, edging outJay-Z , and the #2 rap artist. Nelly's 2000 debut, Country Grammar, is his best-selling album. It has sold 8,454,000 copies. 10. Jay-Z, 19,379,000. First charted: 1996. Jay-Z, 39, is the #3 rap artist of the decade. 2003's The Black Album is his best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 3,338,000 copies. Jay-Z was the #152 album-selling act of the '90s. (Yahoo News)
Despite currently having the biggest debut of 2009, Em recently said his main focus was on attaining the fans' respect.
"I mean, record sales to me, honestly, since the beginning of my career I've always said they're not as important to me as the respect and things like that," Em explained in an interview last month. "I would just rather rap and get respect from the fans and my peers and things like that. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to sell any records, but at the same time it's not my main priority." (106 & Park)
Be sure to check Sales Wrap next week to see an official rundown of music releases.
Rap newcomer Drake is reportedly seeking legal action after an unauthorized compilation album featuring his music was released for sale via iTunes late last month.
The retail project contains various cuts from his popular mixtape So Far Gone.
An unauthorized album called The Girls Love Drake, which features selections from the Toronto rapper's mixtape and other tracks, was released May 28th by a label called Canadian Money Entertainment and distributed by the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA) oniTunes , Rhapsody and Amazon. Drake's camp, which is still trying to clear the samples on So Far Gone and his two other mixtapes in hopes of selling them in stores, says it didn't authorize the release. If it hadn't been disqualified on the grounds that it wasn't confirmed as being an official album, The Girls Love Drake would have debuted this week at No. 101 on the Billboard 200, No. 16 on the Digital Albums chart and No. 1 on the Heatseekers tally. (Billboard)
Drake's manager, Al Branch, has addressed the album's national release.
"This is a straight bootleg, a scandal. We are behind promoting records at radio, but haven't sold it," Branch said in a statement. "iTunes position is that they are a store and they stock everything. They have a waiver and as long as people sign it and are responsible for the product they submit, then they go for it." (Statement)
Aside from the unauthorized release, Drake recently spoke on possibly releasing his debut album independently.
"A lot of people argue about my buzz, 'Oh it's just the Internet buzz' or 'Oh it's not real, it can't materialize,' so I think if I did put out an album with no label, I think I could really prove a point which is the changing of a generation because we don't have the same marketing tools Roc-A-Fella used years ago, that Master P used to sell albums," Drake said in an interview. "We don't have those tools, the game has changed. I feel like if I sign to a label and go platinum the first week, they'll be like 'Oh, it was the label push,' but if I did it without, people might say this is really changing, the Internet is a powerful tool. And when you use it the right way, you can make magic happen. I really think it would be legendary, I don't know how possible it is, because there's different things you have to consider like distribution, marketing budget and what not. But we have a pretty strong team so I'ma see if we can make it happen." (Semtex TV)
In addition to his new album, the rapper is reportedly hitting the road alongside Lil Wayne next month.
We have learned that as of right now it is only LilWayne and Drake on the tour, no word on Jay-Z and Young Jeezy who were rumored to be joining as well. We also learned that the tour will begin in July this summer. No dates and venues have been announced but we can expect those soon. This information has been confirmed by Wayne's manager Cortez Bryant. We will be keeping you up-to-date on any news regarding the tour, as well as posting dates as they become available. Keep checking back. (New Lil Wayne)
A representative from Canadian Money Entertainment has said the mixtape's original intent was to popularize the rapper within the United States.
Jay-Z's first street single "D.O.A (Death of Autotune)" from The Blueprint 3 will reportedly debut tonight (June 5) on New York City's Hot 97 radio station.
While the station has yet to confirm what time, online reports claim the single will be aired in the evening.
So around 9 pm tonight EST, Hot 97's Funkmaster Flex will play the world premiere ofJay-Z's Blueprint 3 single, "D.O.A." That stands for Death of Autotune as Kanye [West] teased on MTV awhile back. The song was produced by No ID and Mr. West. On Sunday, it will be sent to the masses. (Rap Radar)
Despite past tracks like "Jockin' Jay-Z," the single is being labeled as Blueprint 3's first release and was also rumored to drop on Sunday (June 7).
"First single off the new Jay-Z Blueprint 3 album coming Sunday," DJ Skee wrote unmodified on Friday. "D.O.A. is the street track...Oh...the official OFFICIAL Jay radio single will be called 'Off That' and feature Drake.....Coming July...Last thing about Jay, Blueprint 3 release date IS 9/11. Same day as original Blueprint in 2001. RocNation. Atlantic hired for marketing. Sunday! (DJ Skee's Twitter Page)
Additional reports have said an official Blueprint 3 announcement would be made at Hot 97's Summer Jam this weekend.
Jay-Z will release his Blueprint 3 album on September 11 on Roc Nation with distribution through AtlanticRecords , numerous sources have confirmed. A formal announcement is expected Sunday on New York radio station Hot 97 and at the station's massive Summer Jam concert in New Jersey at Giants Stadium. (Billboard)
This year's Summer Jam will feature a variety of music acts.
Hosted by comedian Tracy Morgan, this year's line-up includes Mary J. Blige, The-Dream, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, Elephant Man, Young Jeezy, T-Pain & Friends, Jadakiss and surprise guests. (The Angie Martinez Show)
No further information has been announced regarding The Blueprint 3.
Summer Jam 2009 takes place Sunday, June 7th in New Jersey.
