Jay-Z Parties Like A Rock Star

Jay-Z parties like a rock star. This past weekend at Jay-Z made history by becoming the first hip-hop artist to headline at the Glastonbury Festival. What was his opening song you might ask? “Wonderwall” by Oasis, of course! It was a clear message to Oasis' lead singer Noel Gallagher who, just days earlier, lashed into the organizers for booking the hip hop kingpin at a predominately rock festival. Jay-Z proves once again that good music can be relevant to everyone, whether you’re a dealer from Brooklyn or a kid from Manchester; Jay gets his point across, even if he has to do it slightly off key. Click below for Jay-Z’s Oasis cover -

Usher Explains Where He Stands

Usher’s Here I Stand not only marks his triumphant return to the R&B scene, but as he explains to VIBE.com, the album documents a journey from boyhood to manhood, one that has taken on new meaning since the birth of his son. Read Usher in his own words explain why Here I Stand is more than just an album to him.

I know it sounds cliché to say that all of [the songs] equally are my favorite, but my favorite thing that I did on this album are the interludes because honestly I feel like it's one cohesive effort to make an album. The actual song that was written – it's actually not a full song; it's an interlude. I did an interlude to my son that I call "Pray for You" – one of my greatest written pieces of work in life. That would be the most rewarding out of all of them, you know?

There are several songs that are built off of the topic of personal position, personal reflection. That's why I kind of made a difference between those songs that are on the album and in the interludes. That's always the most fun part for me. But seeing that it was for my son, specifically, was really incredible. I want to make sure that I'm proud of the father that I am to my child.

But there [are topics] of life, love, decisions, choices that are made, repercussions, the reality, you know, of the journey of life, of manhood. Here you have before you a young man, who stepped into true manhood, not only because of my child but also because of the decisions that I made in the span of two years. You know, it was all of the things that happened before that led up to this brilliant moment. But, you know, now I'm able to voice how I feel about certain things and allow myself to be vulnerable in exposing certain things through my music.

The most challenging thing about making this album was… I got to say it like this: It is very hard to tell the truth, but it's even harder to tell yourself a lie. And in making each and every song, I realized this. It was just very painful to talk about certain things, in life – just the honesty in it, and finding the voice to feel comfortable and vulnerable in a way, in a sense to say certain things. I'm sharing these intimate thoughts and this intimate place that I'm in with everybody. Of course, that is really what it is, and that's what makes it authentic soul R&B music. But it was a hard one. The ability to not conform to the standard of what music was considered at the time, and find that voice and find that place where people will understand that this is a savior of love, this is a savior of real music.

I kind of modeled this one as an example for my son to someday understand that when you stand and you stand for what's right, regardless to what anyone else's opinion may be, you are right because no man is able to judge another for what he stands for. So Here I Stand, you'll understand what I stand for.

Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 2/10/08

In yet another slow week for Hip Hop and R&B, Alicia Keys is again dethroned from the top spot, this time by the debut albums of Jack Johnson and Sheryl Crow who claimed the coveted #1 and #2 positions, respectively. Keys is stil slated to reach triple platinum by next week. Mary J Blige holds strong in the top ten, still slipping down one spot to #7 while the Step Up 2 Soundtrack [which includes Flo Rida's commerical smash hit "Low'] debuted at #13 selling 32k.
Keyshia Cole and Chris Brown, though both experiencing a %3 decrease in sales, hold the #11 and #12 spots. J. Holiday's Back of my Lac finally hits gold in its 19th week on the charts (505k), while The Dream, who wrote both J. Holiday's "Bed" and "Suffocate", has made it to just past the 200k mark in his 9th week.
Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)
Rank Artist Album This Week Total
3
Alicia Keys
As I Am
80,172
2,987,631
7
Mary J Blige
Growing Pains
44,592
1,177,054

11
Keyshia Cole
Just Like You
35,366
1,131,109

12
Chris Brown
Exclusive
32,267
1,248,205

13
Various
Step Up 2 Soundtrack
31,445
31,521


Hip Hop continues its agonizing dry spell with the highest ranking rap artist (Soulja Boy) coming in at #36. Lupe Fiasco [despite winning his first Grammy Award this weekend] still slowly inches towards his golden plaque. Currently, Fiasco has sold 317k. Raheem Devaughn, despite some glowing reviews for album Love Behind The Melody, has still been unable to crack 100k.
Other Notables… Rank Artist Album This Week Total
36
Soulja Boy Souljaboytellem.com 18,603
764,571

54
Lupe Fiasco
The Cool
14,767
316,819
57
Raheem DeVaughn
Love Behind The Melody
14,350 90,309

63
Jay-Z
American Gangster
12,994
978,362
64
Kanye West
Graduation
12,976
1,983,188

Next month, legend Pete Rock drops his highly anticipated New York's Finest, along with new albums by Erykah Badu, Rick Ross, Akrobatik, and many more. It's getting warmer this February, but will the charts reflect it?