Reviews have been tepid for Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV, but in its first week, it sold 964,000 digital and physical albums combined. Those numbers are just shy of opening week sales for Tha Carter III, and the 300,000 digital units sold in the first four days was a record for iTunes. That record was [...]
Tag Archives: Kanye West
Essence Announces Its Night-by-Night Schedule
May 3, 2011 – 11:46 am
This year’s Essence Music Fest starts on Friday, July 1 with Ladies Night. Jennifer Hudson headlines a night that includes Fantasia, Macy Gray, Mavis Staples and Irma Thomas, along with Boyz II Men, Dwele, Alexander O’Neal and Cherelle, the Soul Rebels and Tank. The festival’s night-by-night talent roster for the main stage and superlounges was [...]
More YouTube: A-Trak and Kid Sister
April 21, 2011 – 12:12 pm
Tonight, A-Trak brings his “Magic 8 Ball Tour” to the House of Blues. Here’s footage of the DJ talking about Kanye West and the mechanics of creating music. You can download his most recent mixtape, the excellent Dirty South Dance 2 (featuring Lil Wayne and Ludacris among many others) here. Opening are the Gaslight Killer [...]
Mary J. Blige, Kanye West Headline Essence Festival
February 16, 2011 – 9:45 am
Mary J. Blige may be the Queen of the Essence Festival, returning as a headliner to the 2011 Essence Music Festival, which takes place in the Louisiana Superdome July 1-3. Kanye West caps a year of critical success for his My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album with an appearance at Essence Fest as well, along [...]
YouTube Du Jour: Cyhi Da Prince
January 12, 2011 – 12:54 pm
Tonight, Kanye West disciple Cyhi Da Prince, a rapper on West’s G.O.O.D. Music record label, plays the Howlin Wolf at 10 p.m. Here’s “Living Wonderful” from the Atlanta native Prince’s fall mixtape, Royal Flush.
Free Truth Universal Mixtape: Resistance, Vol. 1
August 30, 2010 – 10:15 am
Truth Universal has released a new 10-minute mixtape, Resistance Vol. 1, with DJ Waht on the turntables and production by Symbolyc One (S-1), who produced Kanye West’s single, “Power.” To download a free mp3 of Resistance Vol. 1, click here.
Paul Sanchez on Shamarr Allen
August 1, 2010 – 12:52 am
I met Shamarr at an in-store in Louisiana Music Factory Jazz Fest 2006. I was still with the Mouth and he was still with Rebirth. They were playing after the Mouth set, and during our set I sang Randy Newman’s “Louisiana, 1927,” and Shamarr got up and joined me on that song. I said into [...]
We Win!
March 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
This year’s Grammys were good to Louisiana. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gave out its awards February 8 and handed four trophies to Lil Wayne. His album Tha Carter III led to Grammys for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song (“Lollipop”), Best Rap Solo Performance (“A Milli”) and Best Rap Performance by [...]
The Joys of Kanye
June 17, 2008 – 8:55 am
An OffBeat staffer who went to Bonnaroo asked, “Does Essence know what it’s getting itself into?” Yahoo reports that Kanye West didn’t go on until until 4:30 a.m. for a host of reasons: West was originally set to kick things off at 8:15 p.m., but because he wanted to make the most of his Glow-in-the-Dark [...]
New Tools for Zydeco
April 1, 2008 – 12:01 am
What does zydeco musician Travis Matte have in common with Kanye West, Usher, The Beastie Boys, Bruce Springsteen and John Mayer? A hint: West, Usher and the rest haven’t taken up the accordion. But Matte has followed their footsteps in the studio. Ken Lewis of ProTools Mixing in Iselin, New Jersey and Scott Hull Mastering [...]
