British punk-dance duo the Ting Tings conceded top spot on the U.K. singles chart yesterday with "That's Not My Name" (Columbia) to Rihanna's "Take a Bow" (Def Jam/Universal), but had the major consolation of debuting atop the album chart with "We Started Nothing."
The duo of Jules De Martino and Katie White are now at No. 2 with the current single and also debuted at No. 33 with its predecessor, "Great DJ." The two songs were first released together as a double A-side by the group's former indie label Switchflicker last May. "Shut Up and Let Me Go," yet another track from the new album, entered the singles chart on download sales at No. 49.
The group's debut album replaced Columbia labelmate Neil Diamond's "Home Before Dark" at No. 1, as the veteran singer/songwriter fell to No. 2. "Pretty Amazing Grace," the lead track from Diamond's album, slipped 49-50 after last week becoming his first U.K. singles chart entry for 16 years.
As a fresh wave of recognition for Diamond accompanied his promotional U.K. visit ahead of a tour beginning June 5, MCA/Universal's re-promoted "The Best of Neil Diamond" entered at No.8 to give him...
Actor-rapper Shad Moss, aka Bow Wow, is focusing on acting full time. Moss has joined the upcoming fifth season of HBO's "Entourage" in a recurring role, playing Charlie, a new stand-up comic client of E (Kevin Connolly).
Additionally, he has landed a role opposite Forest Whitaker, rapper Lil Wayne and Isaiah Washington in the Weinstein Co.'s sports drama "Patriots," about a high school basketball team in post-Katrina Louisiana.
"After 16 years in the music industry and six successful albums, I've decided to shift my energy to something else I'm passionate about, acting," Moss said. "I'm going to try to be the next Will Smith."
Like Moss, Smith started off as a rapper before segueing into acting.
Moss released a collaborative album last year with fellow recording star Omarion titled "Face Off." Later this year, he is set to return to the studio to work on his seventh album, titled "H.I.M. (History in Making)."
On the acting side, he recently wrapped the indie "Driving Lessons" and has appeared in the features "Roll Bounce," "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," "Johnson Family Vacation" and "All About...
Rappers Kanye West, Method Man, Redman, Common and their record companies were sued yesterday (May 22) by late U.S. jazz musician Joe Farrell's daughter, who accused them of using her father's music without approval.
The lawsuit, filed by Kathleen Firrantello in the U.S. District Court in New York, names the rappers along with various labels owned by Universal Music Group.
None of the record companies or representatives for the rappers were immediately available for comment.
The lawsuit said all the rappers used portions of Farrell's 1974 musical composition "Upon This Rock" in three separate songs -- West in "Gone," Common in "Chi-City" and Method Man and Redman in their song "Run 4 Cover."
Firrantello is seeking punitive damages of at least $1 million and asked that no further copies of the songs be made, sold or performed, according to the lawsuit.
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A judge in Upper Marlboro, Md., has vacated a $1.5 million judgment awarded to a woman who filed a defamation suit against rapper DMX after he alleged that she raped him.
Prince George's County Circuit Judge Thomas Smith ruled last week that DMX (real name: Earl Simmons) was not properly served with court papers in the case filed against him by Monique Wayne.
Wayne became pregnant after an August 2003 encounter with Simmons in a Washington hotel room. She gave birth to a boy in April 2004 and DNA tests showed it was Simmons' son.
But in a 2006 magazine interview, Simmons, without referring to Wayne by name, said she "raped" him while he slept. Wayne denied the claim, and said in a court hearing this year that she awoke to find Simmons on top of her, which led to consensual sex. She said she filed the lawsuit because "he lied to the whole world on me" about what happened.
Wayne was awarded the $1.5 million at a January hearing after Simmons failed to appear. But his lawyers challenged that claim, saying Wayne did not properly serve him with lawsuit papers and was unaware of the case against him.
After a three-week break, Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" featuring Static Major returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. It's the longest chart-topping hiatus since Usher's "U Got It Bad" went four weeks between No. 1 stints in January 2002.
Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" is No. 2 for a second week, while last week's chart-topper, Rihanna's "Take a Bow," slips 3-1 despite being the fastest-growing track at radio. Usher's "Love in This Club" featuring Young Jeezy rises 5-4, trading places with Jordin Sparks' "No Air" featuring Chris Brown.
Ray J & Yung Berg's "Sexy Can I" holds at No. 6, and Madonna's "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake remains No. 7. Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" rises 9-8, trading places with Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body." Danity Kane's "Damaged" holds at No. 10 to round out the top tier.
Another new Usher song, "Love in This Club, Part II," soars 63-18 in its fourth week, thanks to digital sales of 44,000.
The Hot 100's greatest digital gainer is Duffy's "Mercy," which sold 59,000 downloads en route to a 66-27 climb. The U.K. artist's debut Mercury album, "Rockferry," debuted...
T-Pain is eyeing a Sept. 30 release for his third album, "Thr33 Ringz," which will be released by Konvict Muzik/Zomba. The first single, "Snap You Fingers" featuring Lil' Wayne, is expected to hit radio next month.
According to a Zomba spokesperson, a video for "Snap Yo Fingers" is in the works and T-Pain is currently hard at work producing the new album with Akon.
This week's Hot 100 chart boasts three songs featuring T-Pain, including Flo Rida's breakout single "Low," which sits at No. 16 after 27 weeks.
The R&B singer garnered five BET Awards nominations last week, including nods for best collaboration for his work with Chris Brown ("Kiss Kiss"), Kanye West ("Good Life") and Flo Rida ("Low").
"Epiphany," T-Pain's 2007 album, has sold 819,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Rapper LL Cool J is gearing up to release his next album, "Exit 13," July 18 via Def Jam. The veteran artist released the first single, "I Cry" featuring R&B singer Lil' Mo, yesterday (May 21) on the Web.
"Exit 13" will be LL Cool J's last release on Def Jam because his contract has come to an end, the rapper told New York radio station Hot 97. The MC signed to the label as a teen and has released 12 albums on Def Jam.
Last year, LL Cool J publicly expressed his distaste with how Jay-Z was running Def Jam, and lately told Hot 97 he's optimistic about the label's fortunes now that Jay-Z has departed.
LL Cool J's last album, 2006's "Todd Smith," has sold 335,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Prosecutors trying to prove that a woman appeared in a sex tape with R. Kelly when she was underage -- over her protestations that she didn't -- have turned to one of her childhood friends, the friend's father and two relatives.
Kelly is accused in the child pornography trial of videotaping himself having sex with a girl who may have been as young as 13. His attorneys have said Kelly is not on the tape and the alleged victim, now 23, denies she's the person in the video.
To try to make their case, prosecutors put Simha Jamison, 24, on the stand yesterday (May 21) in Chicago. She said she and the alleged victim were best friends for about 10 years, until their junior year in high school, and that she recognizes her friend as the one in the tape.
When prosecutors asked Jamison if she recognized the man in the tape, she leaned forward in the witness stand, peeked around the corner of the judge's bench and identified Kelly.
She testified that she and her friend visited Kelly at his recording studio and at a Chicago basketball court dozens of times, starting when they were around the age of 12.
Haitian-born hip-hop star Wyclef Jean launched a new initiative to help his impoverished homeland yesterday (May 20) following last month's deadly food riots.
The initiative is aimed at raising $48 million over the next six months to fund expanded food distribution, job creation and assistance for farmers in the poorest country in the Americas.
Dubbed "Together For Haiti" it is backed by the World Food Program, the Pan American Development Foundation and Yele Haiti, Jean's charitable foundation for Haiti.
"We have come together to launch this new initiative because I believe we can do more and better for Haiti when we act together," Jean told a Manhattan news conference.
"We are not only interested in feeding people in response to the current crisis, but we want to offer them an alternative that can help them in a sustainable way," he said.
"Together For Haiti" plans to employ 1,800 people a day in poor areas, distribute food to 1.5 million people and provide fertilizers to 55,000 farmers. Grants will also be given to 9,000 families to support the development of micro-enterprises.
Rihanna's "Take a Bow" makes a near-record-breaking jump on the Hot 100 this week to overtake Leona Lewis' four-week No. 1, "Bleeding Love." "Take a Bow" soars 53-1 thanks to digital sales of 267,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"Bleeding Love" slips to No. 2 this week, with Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" featuring Static Major down 2-3. The next six songs on the chart are all down one position from last week: Jordin Sparks' "No Air" featuring Chris Brown (3-4), Usher's "Love in this Club" featuring Young Jeezy (4-5), Ray J & Yung Berg's "Sexy Can I" (5-6), Madonna's "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake (6-7), Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" (7-8) and Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocket Full of Sunshine" (8-9).
Danity Kane's "Damaged" inches up 11-10 to round out the top tier, its first top 10 hit since 2006. The week's top debut belongs to Coldplay's "Viva La Vida," which is available as an immediate download with pre-orders of the band's forthcoming Capitol album, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends."
"Viva La Vida" debuts at No. 15 after selling 101,000 downloads. Another Coldplay track, "Violet Hill," starts at No. 40, with...
