Archive for the ‘Album News’ Category

Too G.O.O.D. to be true, folks. With Kanye’s album still unnamed and being said that it will be pushed back, Rap Up now reports Cudi’s album is looking at an October 26th release date.  They’re usually pretty accurate, but who knows at this point.

Respectable numbers from Ross, considering he didn’t really have a smash crossover hit. Also, congrats to Eminem and Drake for still KILLING the charts! FYI these numbers aren’t 100% official, as Hits Daily Double numbers can sway a bit – but they’re generally pretty good indicators of what the official soundscan report will read.

Linkin Park “A Thousand Suns” on Machine Shop Recordings/Warner Bros arrives Sept. 14th.

Besides being a rock band, Linkin Park have always embraced the hip hop, recording albums and projects with the likes of Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Evidence, Pharoahe Monch, etc. The album is co-produced by music master Rick Rubin and key band member Mike Shinoda. Linkin Park also goes up against Kanye West’s ‘Good A** Job’ in a battle royal for most album sales on Tuesday, September 14th.

“A Thousand Suns” track listing:

01. The Requiem
02. The Radiance
03. Burning In The Skies
04. Empty Spaces
05. When They Come For Me
06. Robot Boy
07. Jornada Del Muerto
08. Waiting For The End
09. Blackout
10. Wretches And Kings
11. Wisdom, Justice, And Love
12. Iridescent
13. Fallout
14. The Catalyst
15. The Messenger

(source)

- C.A.

When it was first announced it seemed too good to be true, but Kid Cudi is the first artist to pull out of the proposed G.O.O.D. Music day of September 14th. September 28th is the new date for Cudi’s Man On The Moon 2: The Legend Of Mr. Rager. As of now, Kanye West, Consequence and Big Sean are holding tight to September 14th, but if things change we’ll keep you posted.

- C.A.

Check out Rick Ross’ entrance to his party last night above.  Anyways, Hits Daily Double, who is usually pretty accurate, already estimates sales projections for Ross to be 170-180k. They make these predictions by taking the first day numbers and statistically breaking it down for how sales usually tail off after the initial release. Here’s what they had to say:

The hip-hop superstar’s four straight weeks at #1 with his Shady/Aftermath/ Interscope album Recovery is being threatened this week by Def Jam/IDJ Miami rapper Rick Ross, whose Teflon Don is on target to do between 170-180k in sales.

****Update. Andrew from FSD clarified his statement and says the NAMES of the tracks are 100% real, but not all the production or features are correct. So it looks like we just have song names for sure.

I’m skeptical of posting a tracklists because there are many that float around that are often false. I guess people get a rush out of thinking up track names and tricking people? I don’t know.

But, my always credible Chicago resource, FSD, confirms that ALL of these Kanye West tracks are, in fact, real. The problem lies in that SOME of them are scheduled to be used for the album and others will not be on there. But, again, the key is that all of these tracks have been or will be completed at some capacity. Craziness. Take a gander:

1. Hell Of a Life (feat. Lil’ Wayne) [Kanye West & DJ Toomp]
2. Dark Fantasy [RZA]
3. Power [S1]
4. Chain Heavy (feat. Eminem & Jay-Z) [Kanye West]
5. Ghetto University (feat. T.I.) [Kanye West & DJ Toomp]
6. That’s My Girl (feat. Katy Perry & Kid Cudi) [Kanye West & Jon Brion]
7. Runaway [Kanye West & Q-Tip]
8. Lost In The World (feat. Nicki Minaj & Rick Ross) [Kanye West & No I.D.]
9. Gorgeous (Ode To Kardashians) (feat. Drake & Game & Ludacris) [Kanye West]
10. Monster [Kanye West & DJ Premier]
11. Holding Me Back (feat. Mos Def & Talib Kweli & Phonte) [Kanye West & Madlib]
12. Devil In a New Dress [Pete Rock]
13. The Joy (feat. Common & John Legend) [Kanye West]
14. So Appalled (feat. Drake & Jamie Foxx) [Kanye West & No I.D.]
15. Blame Game [DJ Toomp]
16. Sweat On My Face [DJ Premier]

via the press release

October 12 marks the latest release from Miami-based hip-hop collective ¡MAYDAY! entitled Stuck on an Island (¡MAYDAY! Music). Stuck on an Island is the follow-up to 2009’s teaser EP Technology, both of which blaze with an upbeat, tightly wound energy that keeps the listener grooving with its slick production and singing along with its ultra-catchy hooks. The album’s title pays homage to the trials and tribulations the band has faced trying to “escape” Miami. Producer/guitarist Plex Luthor explains: “Miami is paradise, but at the same time the geography has always made us feel like outsiders in the larger pond. We want to get our music to the masses, but sometimes the walls around the port of Miami make it difficult to break out. We want to make sure the world knows musicians from this city can compete culturally with the best of them.”

While Stuck on an Island is only ¡MAYDAY!’s second full-length album, the band has consistently turned out addictive urban alternative tracks that have permeated the local Miami music scene and beyond, grabbing the ear of hip-hip impresario Lil’ Wayne who used the group as his personal band in the videos “Get a Life,” “Da Da Da” and “On Fire.” ¡MAYDAY! also collaborated with Cee-Lo on the hit song “Groundhog Day” from their self-titled debut of which mtvU said, “Like Gorillaz covering Gnarls Barkley, the gospel funk-hop assault of the¡MAYDAY! single “Groundhog Day” would be enough for most to base a career on.” The music video logged over 2 million hits on YouTube in its first two days and made the band a breakout success story, garnering attention from the New York Times, MTV and URB Magazine. They went on to share stages with Daft Punk, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Method Man, winning over audiences around the country with their high-octane live show.

The dynamic songs Stuck on an Island call to mind a who’s who of alt-hip-hop’s most cutting edge and creative stars like Gnarls Barkley, N*E*R*D or Lupe Fiasco. Tracks like “I’ll Be Gone,” “Picture Perfect,” “No 1’s Looking,” “Worse Case Scenario,” and “Make a Living” form the backbone of an album of diverse styles that always manages to surprise and never ceases to get your head bobbing and your body moving.

Track listing for Stuck on an Island:

01. I’ll Be Gone
02. Stuck on an Island feat. 7King
03. No 1’s Lookin
04. Lost Highway
05. Broads & Freqs
06. Transparent feat. Snave Nair
07. Freak Show
08. Smoke & Mirrors
09. On 2 Somethn feat. Jovi Rockwell
10. Worst Case Scenario feat. The Money Making Jam Boys

It was announced earlier that Jeezy’s ‘Thug Motivation 103′ would drop August 31st, but we know better as street date changes are always a normal occurrence in the world of hip hop.

Young Jeezy ‘TM103′ on Island/Def Jam/CTE set to arrive September 28th.

- C.A.

RapUp just posted the official cover for the Legend & Roots collaboration project, called Wake Up! Really looking forward to this, even though it’s covers – but how can you deny John Legend and The Roots taking on classic records??? If you didn’t see, The Roots, John Legend, Common, and Melanie Fiona were shooting a music video the other day for the album. Also, here is the tracklist.

ALSO – John Legend took a moment to talk to the Huffington Post’s Samantha Zalaznick about why they decided to do this album:

We were kinda inspired by what was going on with the election and all the increased levels of activism and optimism, and we wanted to make an album that captured that sentiment. It came together as something that’s really soulful, really timely and really reflective of the moment that we’re still in right now, I think, because it reflects a lot of the frustrations as well as the optimism of this moment. Look at the song ‘Wake Up Everybody,’ which is the first single from the album. The main subjects it addresses are the education, the environment and health care, and as we all know those subjects are still quite relevant and contested territory.

Full intv here.

Hip Hop New Release Schedule Updated 7/15

- C.A.

Fresh off the release of How I Got Over, The Roots and John Legend are set to release their collaborative cover album, Wake Up!. The album will be a cover of songs, mostly from the 60′s and 70′s with one brand new track, “Shine.” We’ve already gotten a taste of what’s to come with “Our Generation,” but below is the full tracklist:

1. Compared to What
2. Hard Times
3. Little Ghetto Boy
4. Wake Up Everybody feat. Common and Melanie Fiona
5. Our Generation
6. Love the Way It Should Be
7. Hang On in There
8. I Can’t Write Left Handed
9. Wholy Holy
10. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
11. Shine

Via Cortez Bryant (Wayne’s Co-Manager):

“I’m putting out a [Wayne] album called I’m Not A Human Being and I’ll probably drop it on his birthday, September 27.

According to Bryant, the album will be an EP of all new Wayne material to serve as the Carter IV prelude. Fans are also warned not to expect any marketing and promotion bells and whistles.

“We not about to roll out no three month set up. I’m not even putting it out in stores. We just gonna put it out virally and maybe package it up for Christmas. Give ‘em a hard copy later for fan appreciation.”

Sounds like they’re pulling a So Far Gone, releasing it online and then trying to get some cash come Christmas time.

Here’s the official list of tracks to Posner’s debut album, 31 Minutes to Takeoff. Like it was mentioned, it seems like these 12 tracks will add up to only 31 minutes. I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around accepting such a short project, but I’ll wait for the music to drop before I come to my own assumptions.

1. 31 Minutes to Takeoff (Intro)
2. Please Don’t Go
3. Bow Chicka
4. Cooler Than Me (Single Mix)
5. Déjà Vu
6. Do U Wanna?
7. Cheated On U
8. Gone In September
9. Save Your Goodbyes
10. Synthesizer
11. Delta 1406
12. Falling

I wasn’t at a computer from about 4pm yesterday until now, so I’m just catching wind of this whole Kanye thing that went down. I read rumors on twitter that someone had obtained the entire album last night, but it looks like the tracklist is the thing that leaked. Or, I guess I should say, a tentative rumored tracklist. Take it for what it is, by FSD reports that this could be what we are looking forward to on the upcoming KWest album:

1. Hell Of A Life
2. Dark Fantasy
3. Power
4. Chain Heavy
5. Ghetto University
6. That’s My Bitch
7. Runaway
8. Lost In The World
9. Gorgeous
10. Monster
11. Holding Me Back
12. Devil In A New Dress
13. The Joy
14. So Appalled
15. Blame Game
16. Sweat On My Face

And if someone actually does have the full album leak…well…no one man should have all that power…

Wow. Second week numbers are still better than a majority of artists’ first week numbers. I think those numbers give him a little but under a million units sold already! Congrats.

Mike Posner dropped this official cover to his debut album on Friday with a little bit of info on it. Well, not that much. The album is set to drop on August 10th via J Records and as far as I know from past interviews, there won’t be too many features on it (aside from an apparent Bruno Mars collabo).

I’ve been reading around the net and it seems like people are saying the 31 minutes part of the title is actually giving the play time for the album. Unfortunately, it seems like it could be true, considering he previously revealed the title was 35 Minutes to Takeoff and he said, himself, that the album would be 35 minutes long and 11 tracks deep. So one would assume he either cut a song or altered the tracklist to make it just 31 minutes.

In general, are you okay with a short length album, as long as every track is a piece of quality work? I like a solid piece of work, but circa 9 tracks or so, a little over 3 minutes each, seems very short. We shall see, Mr. Posner.