New York, NY — Cash Money/Universal Motown Records multi-platinum recording artist Lil Wayne expands his dynasty with Tha Carter III. The new CD is the biggest release by far for 2008, selling over 1 Million copies it’s first week, reigning #1 on Nielsen SoundScan, besting Mariah Carey’s record-breaking release earlier this year. Not since 50 Cent’s The Massacre in 2005 has an artist sold over 1 Million albums their first week. “This is truly a proud moment for the Cash Money family, says Cash Money co-founder Ronald ‘Slim’ Williams. “Lil Wayne is truly changing the game of hip-hop.” Cash Money co-founder Bryan ‘Birdman’ Williams adds “I knew my son had it in him, and this just proves what I’ve been saying all along. Lil Wayne is the most talented rapper out there right now, and these numbers prove it.”
“This is a landmark week for Lil Wayne and for our company,” said Universal Motown President Sylvia Rhone. “Wayne has not only scored by far the biggest debut of the year, but the highest first week sales in Universal Motown history. He has energized his fans and the retail community by delivering a seminal, original album that defines the state-of-the-art in hip-hop. Wayne’s explosive success proves that when the music is there, the consumer is there. This is an event release from a genius artist who represents and speaks for youth culture. ‘Tha Carter III’ had a brilliant set-up, and I want to thank my entire Universal Motown team and our colleagues at Cash Money for all the hard work, devotion, and enthusiasm that made this day a reality.”
GQ Magazine (2007) called him the “greatest rapper in the world,” proclaiming him Man of the Year, and Blender Magazine (2008) declared him the “Best Rock Star Alive.” Lil Wayne lives up to widespread critical acclaim garnering over 216 million in radio audience at Crossover and Urban radio. The talented rappers stronghold at radio extends to holding the #1 position at Crossover for nine straight weeks.
Two singles from Tha Carter III simultaneously blitz the Top Ten mainstream radio charts including the smash hit “Lollipop” at #2 and “A Milli” at #9, tagged as a Greatest Gainer. With these impressive figures, he eclipses Kanye West by nearly 10,000 units in first week performance. A dozen major retailers including Amazon, Circuit City, Kmart, Target and Walmart show Lil Wayne outselling West since the album dropped on June 10.
Star power sizzles for Lil Wayne, as a follow-up to his biggest solo effort, the multi-platinum Tha Carter II. With success squarely in the bag, Lil Wayne worked diligently to produce Tha Carter III and the result is a carefully honed masterpiece.
Lil Wayne was born and raised in the infamous poverty-stricken section of New Orleans- the 17th Ward. His rise to stardom came in 1995 at the tender age of 12 when he made his debut on his former label mates’ B.G’s True Story CD. Shortly thereafter, the rap prodigy garnered national attention as a member of the group, Hot Boys, which consisted of rappers Juvenile, Turk and B.G., with their 1997 debut album, Get It How You Live, followed by 1998’s platinum certified Guerilla Warfare and 2003’s Let Em Burn. Success continued to follow Lil Wayne, as a solo artist, his debut CD, 1999’s Tha Block Is Hot reached platinum status and was a #1 Billboard Album. He later released in 2000, Lights Out, 500Degreez in 2002 and his defining album, 2004’s gold certified, Tha Carter, which featured the hit single “Go DJ.”
Since the release of his last CD, the platinum selling Tha Carter II, Lil Wayne has guest appearances on over 70 songs for other artists including Fat Joe’s 2008 Grammy nominated single “Make It Rain,” DJ Khaled’s “We Taking Over,” and Wyclef Jeans’ “Sweetest Girl.” He also released a duet CD with Bryan “Birdman” Williams titled Like Father, Like Son in 2006 which was a critical and commercial success.
Lil Wayne heralds Tha Carter III, as ‘The album he was born to make.’
AUDIO: Lollipop featuring Static
http://umrg.edgeboss.net
http://umrg.edgeboss.net/real
VIDEO: Lollipop featuring Static
http://www.universalrecords
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WatchMojo NewsletterIt’s all Pete Doherty’s fault. No, it’s down to Red Hot Chili Peppers. Or do we finger Fran Healy of Travis? Nah, sod it, let’s blame Ewan McGregor and Jake Gyllenhaal. They’re movie stars, proper ones. They’re used to shouldering serious responsibility. If it weren’t for these artists, Amy Macdonald wouldn’t be the teen-sensation singer-songwriter she is now. She’d still be kicking round Glasgow, an undergraduate at university, studying social sciences with an emphasis on geography. The highlight of her year would continue to be her annual pilgrimage to T In The Park, whereat she and her mates would party under canvas for 48 hours, forget their own names, and maybe see some bands. Amy Macdonald would still be a nobody, instead of a somebody out of whom great songs just flood. Amy was 12 when her world wobbled on its axis. She was on a family outing to Rothesay on Scotland’s west coast. Her gran gave her some money to treat herself. Instead of buying a tenner’s worth of ice-
cream she bought a CD: The Man Who by Travis. It was the first album Amy ever owned. She was blown away: simple songs (Driftwood, Why Does It Always Rain On Me?, Writing To Reach You), sung brilliantly, roaring powerfully in her ears and in her head.
Amy’s music inspired us to write interview questions. We asked them to her. You can read, and enjoy.
Q) Your new album runs through a wide range of emotions, highs and lows. Was this your goal when you set out to make this record?
No, I didn’t think I was writing ‘an album’ `I was just writing songs when I felt inspired. I tend to write about things in normal life that me and my friends go through or things I see and so I guess that is naturally going to cover different emotions. Sometimes I have been in the mood to write something toe-tapping and other times something slower.
Q) Was “This Is The Life” inspired by a specific story, or more a general idea?
More a general idea it came really from a night out with friends - we went to see a Babyshambles gig in Glasgow and it was a brilliant gig musically and I had wanted for ages to see them play and we were having such a good time and I just looked at my friends and thought to myself ‘this is the life’ and I wrote a song about it - it didn’t take very long, I just went home, picked up the guitar and thought about the evening.
Q) Which are your favorite tracks from the album?
I really like ‘Run’ - it is one of my more recent songs and was inspired by going to see the Killers perform in Glasgow Academy - I felt inspired just watching them and thought I wanted to write a song that wouldn’t sound out of place if they sang it. I also really like ‘This is the life’ the title track because of the memories it brings back when I think about that evening.
Q) If someone was about to hear your music for the first time, what would you tell them to expect?
I probably wouldn’t say anything! I would just let them listen and wait to see if their feet started tapping as I have noticed most people’s feet or fingers start tapping after a while - people tell me it is hard not to. People do say my songs are more uplifting than sad. They’re a bit poppy a bit rocky a little bit folky! I think there’s something in my album for all ages.
Q) We hope that you are this year’s Amy Winehouse - how do you feel about her success and her apparent inability to function?
I think Amy Winehouse is a talented artist and I would love to do as well as she has done in so many countries like America. I do feel sorry for her though because when you get to the stage where you obviously have personal problems with drugs, which are then put all over the papers and you have photographers waiting outside your house and in your face all the time it must be a lot of pressure that can’t help the situation. But all the attention seems to have done her records sales a lot of good. I just hope she manages to look after herself as I think often vulnerable people who are famous get exploited when they actually need help and support to help themselves.
Q) Shameless plug time - when does your new album drop and where can people buy it?
My album is released in the US on the 19th of August this year! “This Is The Life” is available for pre-order at Amazon now and will be available at iTunes and most stores nation-wide.
Amy Macdonald – “Mr. Rock & Roll”, from the album THIS IS THE LIFE –
http://uclassics.edgeboss.net/wmedia/uclassics/amymacdonald/01_mr_rock_and_roll.wax
I’m not even gonna write anything about this… Stereogum has more info, but here are 3 of the albums tracks:
Beautiful Distraction is the engaging debut by 22-year-old Redlands singer-songwriter Marianne Keith. Full of introspective sentiments, pop sensibilities, Marianne’s expressive emotions, and keen sense of melody, lively songs such as “Kiss Me in the Rain,” give way to the composed passion found on “That’s Just the Way Love Goes.” Sultry numbers like “The Angry Song” easily connect with the open emotions and raw musical talent found in the piano ballad, “Sideways Rain.”
“I tend to write a lot of poppy songs, but I also balance them with quirkier, more unique songs,” says Keith. “Some of my songs are kind of feel-good in a way, but they’re not bubblegum.” Integrating pop, folk, country and more into her musical mix, Marianne crosses musical boundaries much like the diverse female musicians who inspire her: Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, and KT Tunstall. Keith’s many fans have learned not to be fooled by her small frame and young age, her vocals command the room as if she were an old pro.
Video for Happy Girl
Keith has been singing in church from the age of six, and decided to play guitar and write her own music when she was 16. Local gigs led to bigger audiences and accolades such as winning the Orange County Music Award in the Best Country category for the charming and up-tempo “Make You Mine.”
“People think that in order to be some great songwriter, you have to have gone through some sort of tragedy. And I don’t have a tragic life at all,” she says. “But as I see more and more of the world, I think I have something to say and share about it. I think a lot of people have had lives similar to mine.”
* Beautiful Distraction is singer-songwriter Marianne Keith’s debut
* Standout songs include award-winning “Kiss Me in the Rain” and up-tempo “Make You Mine”
* Inspired by Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, KT Tunstall
* Keith has been singing in church from the age of six, and decided to play guitar and write her own music when she was 16.
* Voted one of the top five artists in Orange County for Best Live Acoustic Female and won the Orange County Music Award in the Best Country category for the charming and up-tempo “Make You Mine”.
“Kiss Me in the Rain” (first single) audio stream:
http://www.mariannekeith.com
Kiss Me in the Rain” video stream:
http://www.mariannekeith.com
Marianne Keith Official Site:
and MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/marianne
Unison Music Official Site:
Marianne Keith Beautiful Distraction Tour Dates
June 19 The Gypsy Lounge Lake Forest, California
July 3 Market Night in Redlands Redlands, California
July 12 Fender Museum Corona, California
Check out LL’s new single ‘Rockin with the G.O.A.T’ from LL Cool J’s new album Exit 13
And we just got word that new ‘Exit 13′ street date is officially August 5th.
Although Tokyo Police Club is already embarked on a summer itinerary that includes Denmark, Japan, and Australia, the band has begun plotting a fall return to the US. In addition to previously announced appearances at the Monolith and Treasure Island Festivals in September, the band will headline the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles on September 18th, and New York’s Webster Hall on October 18th.
The band’s incessant touring is in support of their debut full length album Elephant Shell, which was released earlier this year by Saddle Creek Records. Elle called the album “a smart, furiously played, sugar-rush debut that sounds like it was inspired by Red Bull benders and unrequited love.” The Los Angeles Times seconded that emotion, describing the album as “like being in love for the first time, in musical form - that kind of rush.” Men’s Health also weighed in, calling Elephant Shell “an aural adrenaline rush, all the way.”
Finally, the band is teaming with the Lupus Foundation Of America to raise money for continued research of lupus, an incurable disease that affects over 1.5 million Americans. Tokyo Police Club’s cover of The Rentals’ song “Friends Of P” is streaming (and available for download if you’re clever) at FriendsofP.org, where visitors can make donations and possibly receive a limited-edition Friends Of P tote bag.
Confirmed US tour dates are below, stay tuned to TokyoPoliceClub.com for further tour announcements. For more info on the band’s upcoming tour dates and new album drop me a line, or contact Steve Martin and Eliot Wadsworth at Nasty Little Man.
7/24/08 – Los Angeles, CA – Hammer Museum (Indie 103 show)
9/14/08 – Morrison, CO – Monolith Festival @ Red Rocks
9/18/08 – Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theater
9/20/08 – San Diego, CA – Street Scene Festival
9/21/08 – San Francisco, CA – Treasure Island Music Festival
10/18/08 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
PLAY
