• Big Sean Princeton Petition

    Apparently a few Princeton students are not happy that Detroit rapper, Big Sean, has been tabbed by their school to perform at their spring concert, called Lawnparties, later this month. Two students, Duncan Hosie and Rebecca Basaldua, have started a petition to try and get their Undergraduate Student Government to revoke its offer to the "Blessings" rapper. The pair has put up signs throughout campus quoting a line from Big Sean's collab with Nicki Minaj "Dance (A$$)," "If she look good she pay me in sex" and continuing further down, "Want to take this down? Take down Big Sean."
  • 'Empire' Edges Madonna for Billboard 200 Top Spot, but Did New Metrics Steal a Landmark Accomplishment from Pop Star?

    This week's Billboard 200 was topped by the Empire Soundtrack: Season 1, but it touches off an interesting battle between it and Madonna's Rebel Heart, which finished no. 2. The current Billboard metrics place Empire at no. 1 with 130,000 "equivalent" albums sold—a count that includes total single downloads and album streams as well. Madge's album only sold 121,000 "equivalent" albums but unofficial tracking of pure album sales—or what the Billboard 200 used to be based on—suggest that Rebel Heart actually sold more albums than Empire did as a whole.
  • Spotify Suggests Austin Not as Weird as It Claims, Music Wise; Texas Capital Does Promote Local Music However

    Austin, TX is one of the hottest cities in music thanks to hosting the South by Southwest and Austin City Limits music festivals, among hosting a lively live scene all year round. Spotify's Insights blog was interested in the city's unofficial slogan, "Keep Austin Weird," and whether that rang true. Does the capital of Texas divert much from the national norm in terms of the music it listens to?
  • Big Sean Talks Ariana Grande, Kanye West and Giving Out His Number

    Big Sean's 'Dark Sky Paradise,' executively produced by the 'So Help Me God' rapper, Kanye West, is a chart-topping success. Recently, the Detroit rapper interviewed with Rolling Stone to discuss his album, giving out his number, Ariana Grande and his relationship with West, his mentor.
  • Kelly Clarkson Gets Cushion for 'Piece By Piece' on Albums Chart, Brandi Carlile Cracks Top 5 with 'Firewatcher's Daughter'

    Kelly Clarkson found a bit more breathing room on the Official Albums Chart this week, as her new album 'Piece By Piece' gets a nicer cushion over the 'Fifty Shades of Grey Soundtrack' on the Billboard 200. Thanks to the removal of individual streams and downloads for Beyoncé and Ellie Goulding's singles from the latter, Clarkson won the pure albums race with 80,500 copies sold, compared to 57,000 copies of 'Fifty Shades.'
  • Kelly Clarkson Barely Beats 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Soundtrack with 'Piece by Piece,' Tops Billboard 200

    Kelly Clarkson was the big winner on the Billboard 200 this week with the debut of her album Piece by Piece, which sold 97,000 equivalent copies and held off the competition. The effort helped the pop star get even with Carrie Underwood for the title of most no. 1 albums by an American Idol alumni...the country star and Clarkson both have three to their names. This was an especially nice peak for the latter as it was her first no. 1 since 2009, with two other releases in between.
  • Big Sean Joins Ariana Grande on Honeymoon Tour in Detroit

    The Detroit stop for Ariana Grande's Honeymoon Tour wouldn't be right without an appearance from her Dark Sky Paradise boyfriend, Big Sean. Saturday night (March 7) the rapper joined Grande on stage as she performed in his hometown.
  • Big Sean Announces '15 Tour Supporting 'Dark Sky Paradise'

    Big Sean released his third artist album 'Dark Sky Paradise' Feb. 24, and now he has announced a spring tour to support the LP. The "Blessings" rapper took to Instagram to announce the tour that will kick off in Cancun before heading across North America and Japan over March, April and May.
  • Is Big Sean On Kendrick Lamar's New Album? 'Dark Sky Paradise' Rapper Tells DJ Whoo Kid [WATCH]

    Fresh off the release of his third studio album Dark Sky Paradise, Big Sean stopped by The Whoolywood Shuffle and chatted it up with DJ Whoo Kid on a variety of topics including the Illuminati, the process of making the new album, his #IDFWU hashtag becoming a trend, the influence his grandmother had on him, and whether we can expect to hear him on Kendrick Lamar's upcoming new album.
  • 5 Celebrity Couples Releasing Albums in Same Year: Ariana Grande vs. Big Sean, Jay Z vs. Beyonce and More

    This week marks a high point for the "power couple" status of Big Sean and Ariana Grande: The former's new album Dark Sky Paradise topped the Billboard 200, selling nearly 140,000 copies in the process. That gives him his first no. 1 album, which matches him with his girlfriend, who topped albums charts with My Everything last year. Grande may have outsold her beau but that doesn't necessarily mean she "wears the pants" in the relationship (it's tough to imagine her ever wearing pants, based on her typical stage apparel). Music Times looked back over the last few years and found couples who had both released new albums within a year of each other, researched who sold more and which album was ultimately better, in deciding who ran the house that year.
  • Streaming Numbers Give Big Sean's 'Dark Sky Paradise' over Kid Rock's 'First Kiss' on Billboard 200

    New releases from Big Sean and Kid Rock demonstrated how big of a role the new metrics for the Billboard 200 could play in determining the placement of an album. Big Sean and Dark Sky Paradise took the crown this week, moving 173,000 equivalent units while Rock and First Kiss came in at no. 2 with 146,000 equivalent units. That 27,000 album difference doesn't seem like a close fight, but actual album sales indicate that physical copies and downloads of the full records had the pair within 1,000 of each other. The other 26,000 can all be attributed to more single downloads and streams for Sean. It's a brave new music sales world...you may have heard.
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