Month: May 2022

Pusha T Earns 1st Top Album On Billboard 200 Chart With “It’s Almost Dry”

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Pusha T has earned his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with his new project, It’s Almost Dry. The album sold an estimated 55,000 total album-equivalent units since releasing on on April 22. 

Push celebrated the accomplishment on Twitter, Sunday: “We all can’t be number 1 at the same time, this week it’s mine. Thank you to all.”

While landing on top of the charts, the It’s Almost Dry failed to outpace Push’s 2018 record, DAYTONA, which sold 77,000 total album-equivalent units after its debut.

Pusha T, It's Almost DryVivien Killilea / Getty Images

Push has now had three albums debut inside the top five on the Billboard 200, including 2013’s My Name Is My Name.

Speaking with Complex recently, Push discussed his growth in popularity: “This is all about making sure that the subgenre of street rap is seen at the highest levels, and can compete with everything that’s popular.”

Production on the 12-track project is split between Pharrell Williams and Kanye West, who also appear as featured guests in addition to Kid Cudi, JAY-Z, Lil Uzi Vert, Don Toliver, Malice and Labrinth.

Earlier this week, fans tried to read into Push’s lyrics on the new album and theorize whether he was taking shots at Eminem. Push shot down those rumors during an interview with The Morning Hustle.

“Em is somebody that I respect,” he said. “He’s one of them people that I really like what he does because, after all of his success, I can still find Lyricist Lounge Eminem [Eminem appeared on Lyricist Lounge in 1998]. That’s a goal for me, personally.”

Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album and Lil Durk’s 7220 rounded out the top three spots for this week’s chart.

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Megan Thee Stallion Was Given The Key To Houston And Her Own Day In The City

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Megan Thee Stallion 2022 Beale Street Music Fest
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Megan Thee Stallion has always made sure to show appreciation for her hometown of Houston. Her love for the city appears throughout her projects like Fever, Good News, and even her most recent quickstrike effort, Something For Thee Hotties. Outside of that, she’s made sure to conduct philanthropic efforts in her hometown like her 2021 Hotties Helping Houston fundraiser which was launched after Texas was hit with a massive winter storm that resulted in power outages, boil water advisories, and no hot water for many. Keeping all of this in mind, the city of Houston decided it was time to honor Megan.

On Sunday, Houston honored Megan with the key to the city. She was graced with the honor during a ceremony with city leaders which included Mayor Sylvester Turner. In addition to receiving the key, Mayor Turner also declared that May 2 would be known as Megan Thee Stallion day in Houston. Megan was graced with the key and flowers during the ceremony, and she later took to Instagram to share her reaction to the honor.

“Came home real quick to get THEE KEY TO THEE CITY,” Megan wrote in a post. “And in honor of my mother and grandmother’s birthday MAY 2ND is officially MEGAN THEE STALLION DAY IN HOUSTON TX.” She continued, “Thank you Mayor @sylvesterturner for honoring me today and I will continue to give back to the city that made me who I am today.”

You can watch clips from the ceremony in the video above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Pusha T Finally Earns His First No. 1 Album With ‘It’s Almost Dry’

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Pusha T’s resume is filled with notable accomplishments. He’s delivered excellent projects as a solo artist and as a part of his Clipse duo with his brother Malice. The latter produced classics like Lord Willin’ and Hell Hath No Fury. As a solo act, Pusha T was often in the conversation for best rap album of the year with projects like 2013’s My Name Is My Name and he earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album in 2018 with Daytona. With that being said, there’s no doubt that Pusha is a very accomplished rapper and his list of impressive feats continues to grow thanks to his new album, It’s Almost Dry.

At long last, Pusha earned his first No. 1 album with It’s Almost Dry after it topped the Billboard 200 chart dated May 7, 2022. Pusha’s fourth solo album debuted at No. 1 with 55,000 album units sold in its first week. That number is comprised of 45,500 streaming equivalent album units and 9,000 pure album sales. With It’s Almost Dry and its 12 tracks going No. 1, it becomes the second-shortest album by track length, falling behind Stray Kids’ Oddinary and its 7 songs, to top the Billboard 200 in 2022. Additionally, it’s the first rap album with 12 or fewer tracks to go No. 1 since J. Cole’s The Off Season did so last spring.

Billboard also notes that It’s Almost Dry had the smallest week for a rap album’s debut at No. 1 since NF topped the chart in 2017 with Perception. That album sold about 100 units less than It’s Almost Dry.

DJ Khaled Voices Frustration With McDonald’s After He Can’t Find A Happy Meal

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DJ Khaled says he went to five different McDonald’s locations and was unable to find a Happy Meal for his son, Asahd. Khaled voiced his frustration with the fast-food chain in a series of videos on his Instagram page, over the weekend.

“We went to every McDonalds, they have no Happy Meals nowhere,” he said in one post. “I don’t know why McDonalds don’t have Happy Meals.”

DJ Khaled, McDonald's
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He continued in the caption to another post: “Mcdonalds please we need more happy meals, the kids want happy meals. Bless up and love @mcdonalds just want y’all to know [there’s] no happy meals no where but the great people at this @mcdonalds got one for my son @asahdkhaled thank u.”

In one video taken of a group of McDonald’s employees, Khaled says his famous adlib, “another one.”

While the Happy Meal still exists, McDonald’s began phasing it out of their Dollar Menu back in 2018. They’ve also discontinued the plastic toys that used to be included in any purchase of the meal.

“Making our toys out of renewable, recycled, or certified materials will result in about a 90% reduction of fossil fuel-based plastic in Happy Meal toys [compared with 2018],” the company said at the time, with a goal of creating a more sustainable Happy Meal by 2025.

Check out Khaled’s latest Instagram posts below.

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Eminem Finishes In 2nd Place For Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Fan Vote

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Voting on The 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot officially closed on Friday with upwards of 5 million fan votes. Legendary rapper Eminem finished in second place with approximately 684,000 votes.

Merely finishing in second place won’t guarantee Eminem a spot in the Hall of Fame, but the fan vote will factor into the final verdict.

“The top five artists, as selected by the public, will comprise a ‘fans’ ballot’ that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2022 inductees,” the organization explained on their website.

Eminem, Hall of Fame
Christopher Polk / Getty Images

Back in February. Eminem was leading the charge: “We’ve officially hit one freaking million fan votes,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shared in a tweet at the time. “@eminem, @duranduran, @benatargiraldo, @dollyparton and @eurythmicsmusic round out the current top five- with @lionelrichie in a close 6th. But there’s lots of time left, so continue to vote daily from the Fan Vote in bio.”

The top three were rounded by Duran Duran in first place with 934,000 votes and Pat Benatar in third place with 634,000 votes.

Other artists to receive votes included Dolly Parton, Judas Priest, Lionel Richie, Kate Bush, Rage Against The Machine, A Tribe Called Quest, Fela Kuti, and more.

The official Class of 2022 will be announced in May and an induction ceremony will be held this fall.

Check out the nominees announcement below.

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Rod Wave Announces His Fourth Album ‘Beautiful Mind’ And Shares Its Release Date

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Rod Wave 2021 ATL show
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Since his breakout single, “Heart On Ice,” in 2019, Florida native Rod Wave has made sure to give his growing fan base a new project to indulge in for each year that followed. It includes 2019’s Ghetto Gospel and 2020’s Pray 4 Love with the latter peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The following year, Rod’s career reached new heights when he dropped his third album Soulfly. That body of work topped the albums chart making it clear that Rod was much closer to stardom than some may have believed.

A little over a year after Rod earned his first No. 1 album, he returns with an announcement about his upcoming fourth album. According to HipHopNMore, in a freestyle he recorded over Future’s “Wait For U” with Drake and Tems, Rod Wave revealed that his next project is titled Beautiful Mind. He also confirmed that it is set to arrive on June 3. Rod Wave also went as far as to say that the album was turned in last Monday, making it clear that the project is truly complete.

Rod Wave’s announcement comes after he dropped his “Cold December” single, which will presumably appear on Beautiful Mind. He also caused a bit of controversy with his late 2021 song “Nirvana” as many took the track to be a suicide letter, which Rod Wave emphatically denied.

You can listen to Rod Wave’s freestyle over Future’s “Wait For U” in the post above.

Beautiful Mind is out 6/3 via Alamo Records.