Month: June 2021

J. Cole began the rollout of his highly-anticipated sixth studio album The Off-Season way back in July of 2020 with its lead single “The Climb Back.” He followed up with “Interlude” this month a week before debuting the project. Proving to be another instant success for Cole, the project became his sixth consecutive number-one album in the country.

Additionally, he earned the largest streaming week of 2021, accumulating over 325.5 million streams while selling 282,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. With such a colossal opening week, it’s no surprise the North Carolina native earned nearly $2 million from song revenue after just one week. 

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According to newly published chart revenue via Hip Hop Numbers, Cole collectively earned $1,727,000 from all of the song’s on The Off-Season in its first week. “My Life,” “Amari,” “Pride is the Devil” and “95 South” lead the pack with revenues of $214k, $193k, $185k, and $180k respectively. 

“Applying Pressure,” “100 Mil’,” “Interlude,” “Let Go My Hand,” “Punchin’ the Clock,” and “The Climb Back” each earned the Grammy winner over $100k each, while “Hunger on Hillside” and “Close” each raked in over $90k for Cole. 

While these figures are nearly unheard of with most new musical releases, the chart success of each song on the album paints a clear image of how he was able to accomplish it. While four songs from the album debuted in the top ten region of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, each song on the album charted within the top forty. 

To put it simply, J. Cole is unstoppable. 

Jake Paul has become the boxing world’s unanticipated influencer-turned-heavyweight champion. As well documented, the Youtuber’s older brother Logan Paul is set to face off with Floyd Mayweather this Sunday (June 6). UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley, however, has been eager to get in the ring with Paul, dubbing him a “culture vulture” and demanding the former Disney Channel star face-off with him. 

“He keeps calling out everybody but me. I’m the one with the real smoke with you,” Woodley previously told TMZ. “I’m in, and I can actually find him. People that keep talking about fighting him, they’re not even in position to fight him. I can actually fight him. I can fight him tomorrow if I want to.” Sharing a flyer for the upcoming event, Paul and Woodley confirmed to ESPN today that the two are slated to battle later this summer. 

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The match is scheduled to take place on August 28th and as of right now, no host city has been selected as the location for the pay-per-view event. Distributed by Showtime, fans are expected to be in attendance during the live battle. This marks the second time Paul faces a former UFC fighter in a boxing match. He previously knocked out Woodley’s longtime friend a teammate Ben Askren back in April in just two minutes. 

“I have a list of people I plan on shutting up with my fists,” Paul said in a statement provided to ESPN. “And as I enter my fourth pro fight, I am excited to knock the first one off the list by challenging myself against a five-time UFC champion known for his knockout power. Tyron’s a seasoned striker who has fought the best in the world. I certainly respect his career, but I will be sending Tyron into a permanent siesta on August 28.”

He continued, “Maybe this time [UFC president] Dana White will actually be a man and put his money on his former champion instead of trying to undermine my success like a jealous ex. Influencer vs MMA: let’s get it on. It’s showtime.”

“Easiest fight of my career and biggest purse of my career all in one night,” Woodley said regarding the battle. “Basically, they brought me in to take out the trash. I can’t wait to shut this b—- up. This is getting done for the culture, the whole MMA community and boxing community, to rid this guy of combat sports.”

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Paul and Woodley are expected to face off for the first time this Thursday in Miami to build anticipation for the event. Let us know if you’re looking forward to watching these two duke it out down below. 

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Verzuzhas been the hottest event on the Internet since the pandemic began but as things open up, it looks like Swizz and Timbaland are getting ready to transition their online show into a full-blown concert. On the weekend, Swizz and Timbo held their re-match at Club LIV in Miami but it was Timbaland’s performance of “Ayo Technology” that seemingly rubbed Swizzy the wrong way. Swizz called out JT, claiming that the pop star should be supporting Verzuz with his own participation.

“Until Justin let the world know that he —,” Swizz said before Timbaland cut him off. “Justin gotta come out, he’s coming out,” Timbo added. 

“He gotta admit that he love the Black culture and he gotta be on this stage,” Swizz continued. “You took from the Black culture, you give to the Black culture. Come to Verzuz and be a part of the Black culture.”

The call-out sounded a bit more aggressive during the show but Swizz Beatz said that he has no issues with the pop singer. During a IG Live recap with Timbaland, Swizz Beatz explained that he was just “having fun.”

“Look, man, I had to go hard. Did you hear how them songs were sounding on that stage? You and JT, it was like JT was in the building. I was like, man,” he said. “I don’t got no problem with JT.”

Peep the clip below.