Seen on HHC!
Yahoo! Music’s Paul Grein puts Drake’s first week TML sales into historical perspective.
Drake’s first full-length album, Thank Me Later, enters The Billboard 200 at #1, with first-week sales of 447,000. This constitutes one of the biggest openings ever for the debut album by a rap artist. It’s bigger than Eminem’s first week with The Slim Shady LP in February 1999 (283,000). It’s even bigger than Kanye West’s first week with The College Dropout in February 2004 (441,000). And today’s sales climate is less favorable now than it was back then (to put it mildly).
Read the full article HERE!
D-Sisive‘s highly anticipated album Vaudeville drops today! After a long hiatus from music, D returned in 2008 and has been consistently releasing quality music and videos – as well as questionable viral promo videos and blog entries (lol). This is his 3rd official release in as many years so he definitely needs to be commended on his grind. Find Vaudeville in stores or online now!
Previous: NEW MUSIC: D-sisive “Daddy”
1LoveTO wins the MMVA for best tweet of the weekend, lol!
Congratulations Drizzy! Congratulations Canada!
TheNeptunes.org’s reporting that Rhea, who was previously supposed to become the fourth member of N.E.R.D., is still with Star Trak, just as a solo artist. She’s dropped a new song called “My Motorcycle”, produced by The Neptunes, @ an Activision Event in L.A. earlier this month. Apparently the song is to appear on the upcoming video game “True Crime”.
Hit the jump for video of her performing the song live.
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From Exclaim.ca!
Shad just keeps his TSOL campaign going with news of a tour collabo that can only be called SICK!
Shad and K’naan Team Up for Fall Canadian Tour
6/17/2010 By Stephen Carlick
Exclaim! hip-hop faves Shad (pictured) and K’naan have blown the minds of more than a few Canadian hip-hop fans by announcing that they’ll team up this fall for a five-date tour through some of Canada’s major cities.
Shad is on his own headlining tour of small-town Ontario at the moment and will appear at a number of Canadian festivals later this summer, while K’naan is prepping for a number of Canadian festival appearances on the West coast before embarking upon a headlining tour through Europe. The two will join up in Vancouver in September and will trek through Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg on the way to their final show in Toronto on October 1.
In case you haven’t yet picked it up, Shad is the cover star of Exclaim!’s June issue and is supporting his new album, TSOL. K’naan, who recently took some heat over his controversial partnership with Coca-Cola, graced the cover of Exclaim! in February 2009.
Shad & K’naan Tour dates:
9/25 Vancouver, BC – Malkin Bowl
9/27 Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall
9/28 Edmonton, AB – Edmonton Event Centre
9/29 Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre
10/1 Toronto, ON – Kool Haus %
Previously: NEWS: Eye Weekly Magazine Reviews Shad’s TSOL Album
See, I told you Shad was everywhere! From EyeWeekly.com!
Shad: TSOL
Black Box
BY Chris Bilton
Editorial Rating: 4/5 Stars
Canadian rap sensation Shadrach Kabango may be best known for his video riffing on Fresh Prince and his charming, clever wordplay, but his third full-length, TSOL, is some serious shit. Whether he’s explaining the origin of his handle (“my first name came from a slave in Babylon” from “A Good Name”) or name-dropping superheroes, Shad’s breathless delivery is captivating, while the untouchable production (check the slamming beat on “Keep Shining” or Brendan Canning’s ethereal melodies on “Lucky 1’s”) provide a diamond mine’s worth of sonic discovery. Throw in earworm choruses (“Rose Garden”), greasy R&B politicking (“At the Same Time”) and an inventive take on self-aggrandizement (“Yaa I get it”) and you’ve got a record that’s infinitely playable.
Previous: NEWS: The Vancouver Sun – Top 10 Canadian Rappers
Previous: NEWS: Shad Featured in Now Magazine
Previous: NEWS: Shad Featured In Toronto Star
Previous: NEWS: Shad Cover Story w/ Exclaim!
Previous: VIDEO: In Studio – Shad w/ The National Post
Via ATF! 40, Boi-1da, T.I., Bun B and Nicki Minaj talk the making of Thank Me Later with Complex Magazine! Click on each song title below to find out how they all came about. Thank you Complex.
1. Fireworks (Feat. Alicia Keys) (Produced by Noah “40″ Shebib)
2. Karaoke (Produced by Francis & The Lights)
3. The Resistance (Produced by Noah “40″ Shebib)
4. Over (Produced by Boi-1da)
5. Show Me A Good Time (Produced by Kanye West)
6. Up All Night (Feat. Nicki Minaj) (Produced by Boi-1da)
7. Fancy (Feat. TI and Swizz Beatz) (Produced by Swizz Beatz)
8. Shut It Down (Feat. The Dream) (Produced by Noah “40″ Shebib and Omen)
9. Unforgettable (Feat. Young Jeezy) (Produced by Noah “40″ Shebib and Boi-1da)
10. Light Up (Feat. Jay-Z) (Produced by Noah “40″ Shebib and Tone Mason)
11. Miss Me (Feat. Lil Wayne) (Produced by Boi-1da and Noah “40″ Shebib)
12. Cece’s Interlude (Produced by Noah “40″ Shebib)
13. Find Your Love (Produced by Kanye West)
14. Thank Me Now (Produced by Timbaland)
Bonus
15. Best I Ever Had (Produced by Boi-1da) [International Bonus Song]
16. 9 AM in Dallas (Produced by Boi-1da) [iTunes Bonus song]
A list like this without Saukrates just takes away all forms of credibility to me. Just my two cents although I don’t actually know the criteria for their list. Anyways, shouts to The Vancouver Sun newspaper for upping their hip-hop quotient. Features Maestro, Shad, Drizzy, k-os and more…
Few success stories in recent memory can compete with the sudden, startling rise to fame of Drake, a homegrown hero who has made more inroads in the U.S. than any Canadian rapper to date.
His full-length debut, Thank Me Later, arrives in stores and online this week amid an avalanche of hype and expectation. After a pair of Grammy nominations, two Juno wins and collaborations with Eminem, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, he’s within breathing distance of the hip-hop elite. Clearly, his days as an actor on Degrassi: The Next Generation are long behind him.
Although the 23-year-old (born Aubrey Graham) is head and shoulders above the competition in Canada, Drake is a new chapter in a book that has been in progress for more than 20 years. The rap scene in Canada — low in visibility but high in quality — has always been brimming with talent, as evidenced by the list below.
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
Caught this in the paper the other day. Here’s the online version! Shouts to Shad who continues to KILL IT. He just sold out The Opera House on the weekend and has basically been featured in every media outlet known to man. TSOL is in stores now!
You may think of Shad as a savvy rapper influenced by smart hip-hop acts like Common, Ras Kass and OutKast, but you’d be surprised at some of his influences.
Shad’s work is often defined by his political convictions and deep personal introspection. At The Same Time, one of the more serious, guitar-driven cuts from his new album, TSOL (Maple), has a noticeable punk message.
“That was largely inspired by Billy Bragg. I’m a big fan of his work,” says Shad from his Vancouver kitchen. “I think hip-hop changes on its own – every day, month and year. The range of influences is constantly growing.”
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
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Previous: NEWS: Shad Cover Story w/ Exclaim!
Previous: VIDEO: In Studio – Shad w/ The National Post
