Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Calvin Johnson Wins Madden '13 Cover Vote


The Madden curse is for mortals. Or guys who never belonged on the Madden cover to begin with, like Peyton Hillis.
Calvin Johnson isn't mortal, so Detroit Lions fans shouldn't be worried about the Madden curse after learning the wide receiver indeed will grace the cover of "Madden NFL '13" It was announced Wednesday in Times Square that Johnson won a 52 percent-to-48 percent vote over Cam Newton for the honor when the game is released Aug. 28. (We guessNewton's campaign video didn't work.)
Actually, the Madden Curse is for those of us with nothing better to talk about during the offseason. Johnson is one of the most electrifying players to watch in the NFL, and being on the cover of Madden won't change that. He's one of the only players who makes other NFL athletes look like "just guys" by comparison. (Newton also is in that category.)
If Johnson takes a step back this year, it's because injuries happen in professional football. It's because defenses decided to quadruple team Johnson. Curses are for sportswriters who are trying to sell books.

Car Crashes Through DMV

Kid Ink Announces Release Date & Official Artwork For “Up & Away” Album




















2012 XXL Freshman Kid Ink reached out exclusively to HotNewHipHop.com to announce the Official Release date and Artwork for his highly anticipated debut Album “Up & Away.”

Lil Wayne Covers May 2012 Issue Of XXL Magazine


Lil Wayne Covers May 2012 Issue Of XXL Magazine
Lil Wayne graces the front cover of XXL magazine’s May 2012 issue, which you can all view above. For the cover story, Weezy sat down with XXL to talk about touring, some of his favorite moments from his shows, personal rituals before hitting the stage and what tips he gives to his artists on Young Money. The issue will be available on newsstands on April 24th.

Lil Wayne, Drake, and Nicki combine for 13 Nominations 2012 Music Awards


Billboard have just announced the nominees for their 2012 Music Awards, which will air live May 20th from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas on ABC. Lil Wayne is a lead finalist at the event by receiving nominations in 10 different categories. His Young Money artists Drake and Nicki Minaj also received a total of 13 nominations together. Confirmed performers at the show are Justin Bieber, The Wanted and LMFAO. More performers will be announced in the next few weeks, so it is possible that YMCMB could be in attendance. Hit the jump to see which categories WeezyDrizzy and Nicki have been placed in.

Top Artist:
Adele
Lady Gaga
Lil Wayne
Katy Perry
Rihanna

Top Male Artist:
Justin Bieber
Chris Brown
Drake
Lil Wayne
Bruno Mars

Top Female Artist:
Adele
Lady Gaga
Nicki Minaj
Katy Perry
Rihanna

Top Billboard 200 Artist:
Adele
Justin Bieber
Michael Buble
Lady Gaga
Lil Wayne

Top Radio Songs Artist:
Adele
Katy Perry
Bruno Mars
Nicki Minaj
Rihanna

Top Streaming Artist:
Lil Wayne
LMFAO
Nicki Minaj
Bruno Mars
Rihanna

Top Digital Media Artist:
Adele
Justin Bieber
Lady Gaga
Lil Wayne
Rihanna

Top Rap Artist:
Drake
Lil Wayne
LMFAO
Nicki Minaj
Wiz Khalifa

Top Billboard 200 Album:
Adele “21″
Michael Buble “Christmas”
Drake “Take Care”
Lady Gaga “Born This Way”
Lil Wayne “Tha Carter IV”

Top Rap Album:
Bad Meets Evil “Hell: The Sequel”
Drake “Take Care”
Jay Z & Kanye West “Watch The Throne”
Lil Wayne “Tha Carter IV”
LMFAO “Sorry For Party Rocking”

Top Streaming Song (Audio):
Adele “Rolling in the Deep”
David Guetta Feat. Usher “Without You”
Lil Wayne “How To Love”
LMFAO Feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem”
Nicki Minaj “Super Bass”

Top Streaming Song (Video):
Adele “Someone Like You”
LMFAO Feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem”
LMFAO “Sexy And I Know It”
Bruno Mars “The Lazy Song”
Nicki Minaj “Super Bass”

Top R&B Song:
Chris Brown “She Ain’t You”
Cee Lo Green “Fk You (Forget You)
Jeremih Feat. 50 Cent “Down On Me”
Miguel “Sure Thing”
Kelly Rowland Feat. Lil Wayne “Motivation”

Top Rap Song:
Flo Rida “Good Feeling”
LMFAO Feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem”
LMFAO “Sexy And I Know It”
Nicki Minaj “Super Bass”
Pitbull Feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer “Give Me Everything”
 
The awards will reflect Billboard’s chart rankings based on key fan interactions with music, including album sales and downloads, track downloads, radio airplay and touring as well as streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, Vevo, Youtube, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound. The awards will be based on the reporting period of March 1, 2011 through February 29, 2012. Top artists will be recognized in a variety of genres, including R&B, Rap, Pop, Country, Rock, Latin and Alternative.

Drake Compares “Take Care” To Third Album, Talks About His Tour Free



Drizzy shares some insight into his third album and how it will differ from “Take Care,” he also speaks on his upcoming tour.
In a recent conference call, Drake spoke to Billboard about his last album Take Care and his next one.
He says that his mood was “down” for Take Care, and it won’t be the same for his third album.
“I think my mood will be reflected in the tempos I choose for the music. A lot of ‘Take Care,’ it’s down… and I think a lot of it had to do with being back in Toronto, getting reacquainted with the life I had before (fame) and difficulties with that, and at the same time trying to express excitement, express joy… “
The Toronto native continued, “Now I’m in a very, very, very, very different place than I’ve ever been, really focused on myself, really focused on my health, my body, my mind, really wanting to be the best I can possibly be…I’m in a different mindset now that I’m very proud of… It’s going to be a very interesting album — probably, to be honest with you, conceptually one of the most exciting projects I’ve worked on, just ’cause there’s so many new things going on in my life.”
Drake also said he made the move from Toronto to L.A., “I still live in Toronto and love the city,” he said, “but there’s just so much going on for me in the U.S. I recently made the move to L.A. There’s a new atmosphere. I’m getting to know new people…Anybody knows that when it’s new, that’s when I thrive. When there’s new things to talk about that’s really when I get off.”
On the artists he plans to tour with, Drake divulges that if he did not already have a song with every one of them, he does now, “I know a lot of these guys very well; not only am I a fan of their music, but I have very strong alliances with these guys,” Drizzy said. “I guess it’s safe to say now that anybody I didn’t have a song with before I have a song with now. I made sure of that. I want to go out on the tour with the most exciting artists right now and I want to make sure I have songs all of them.”
He spoke on what fans can expect during the show, “fans are going to get some exciting new musical material that will probably end up dropping a few days before the tour, so we can play them on the tour, which was really my concept.”
He added, “If we start getting really into and start vibing, maybe the last few nights it’s a collaboration show. Maybe we do all our songs on the stage together, making exciting moments for people that are not just about seeing all of us individually.”

Wiz Khalifa Speaks On Collaboration With The Weeknd & “O.N.I.F.C.” Free



Wiz Khalifa talks on working with the Weeknd and the difference between “Taylor Allderdice” and “O.N.I.F.C.”
We got word of a Wiz Khalifa and the Weeknd collaboration recently, although not many details.
Now Wiz shares some information on how he hooked up with the Weeknd toHipHopWired.
“It’s good you know, because he’s a trippy dude.” He continued, “Actually, he reaches out to me and he calls me and he is really excited about it. He sent it to me and we got it done, and he follows up on it.”
“It’s really away from the character people know him for, so with me and him and Juicy too, wework really well together. And we’ve got a lot of stuff that people are going to hear from.”
Wiz also spoke briefly on the difference between his mixtape, Taylor Allderdice, and his upcoming albumO.N.I.F.C., “I think people will definitely hear the difference,” Wiz said. “Taylor Allderdice was a lot of fun, andO.N.I.F.C. is a lot more fun. The stuff that people wanted to pay for and was worth of them going into their pockets. And I feel like these songs on O.N.I.F.C. are more than worthy of that, so I’m happy.”