Stacks Vinyl News

Mariah Carey's great year just got its topper. Along with the flood of awards, chart records and accolades she's gotten for The Emancipation of Mimi, Carey took the lead over 50 Cent in a close race for the year's best-selling album. With just a few reporting days left, Mimi slipped ahead of 50's The Massacre by 32,000 copies. In the latest numbers from Nielsen SoundScan, Carey has sold 4.866 million copies to 50's 4.834 million.
Mimi, which spawned a nomination for Album of the Year along with seven other Grammy nods (see "Mariah Carey, Kanye West, John Legend Lead Grammy Nominees "), was released in April. Given the recent travails in Carey's career — including the flop film/soundtrack "Glitter" and a $30 million buy-out of her previous record contract — the singer's latest LP was not tipped to be one of the year's top sellers. Assuming she holds the lead through the end of the year, Carey would become the first female solo artist to top the year-end sales figures since Alanis Morissette did it in 1996 with Jagged Little Pill. Former "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson was on pace to finish in third place for 2005 with Breakaway, which sold 3.4 million copies.

In addition to the hit "We Belong Together," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for 14 weeks, The Emancipation of Mimi also spawned Carey's 17th #1 single, "Don't Forget About Us," which helped push the singer into second place behind the Beatles' all-time record of 20 #1 hits.

While Carey and 50 were living large, though, the rest of the music business took a sales dip. Overall sales of CDs and digital album downloads were down about 7 percent, according to a Reuters report. Album sales from January through the week ending December 25 were 602.2 million, down from 650.8 million during the same period last year.

SoundScan did have some good news for the music industry, reporting that digital singles sales exploded to more than 332 million, a nearly 150 percent jump over the same period last year.

Two Atlanta, Georgia rap cliques riding the top of the charts have become entangled in a dispute, after accusations of dance copycatting and stage sabotage surfaced in numerous media interviews.
Rap group D4L (Down 4 Life) recently issued a statement addressing "negative comments" allegedly made by Dem Franchise Boyz in various interviews.

The four-man groups are currently enjoying massive chart success, as D4L's song "Laffy Taffy" is #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart, while Dem Franchise Boyz song "I Think They Like Me," featuring Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat and Bow Wow is #4 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

D4L's manager Johnny Cabbell said Dem Franchise Boyz have publicly blamed D4L members for sabotaging a show featuring both groups, as well as stealing a two-step dance.

"We have no beef with Dem Franchize Boyz or with any other group," Cabball said. "We understand, however, that sometimes when acts have nothing positive to talk about in their careers they resort to criticizing other acts that they feel are more successful. I think that's the case here."

Cabball’s statement comes on the heels of accusations by Dem Franchise Boyz that D4L copied their unique style in various interviews.

"They [D4L] try to follow in our footsteps,” group member Jizzal Man told AllHipHop.com in November. “We're trendsetters…we dropped ‘White Teez,’ then people came out with ‘Black Teez, Red Teez’. All for [some of our] success."

Both groups have been credited with ushering in a new Atlanta sound called "Snap" music, which incorporates snapping and light instrumentation.

Cabbell said he was willing to work out any differences between the groups "in a professional manner, so that all parties can move forward in a positive direction."

Lil’ Flip will be featured in an upcoming episode of NBC’s television show “Las Vegas.”
The episode features Delinda (Molly Simms) starring as a model in Lil’ Flip’s poolside video shoot at the fictitious Montecito Casino.

The production is cut short when Lil’ Flip discovers the real diamonds used as props have been stolen and replaced by fake ones.

According to NBC’s summary of the episode, Danny (Josh Duhamel) and Ed (James Caan) must rely on “amateur sex video footage to track down the thief.”

On NBC’s website, the original version of the show was supposed to feature Terror Squad leader Fat Joe.

“Las Vegas” centers on an elite surveillance team that must maintain the security of the city’s largest casinos and resorts.

The show is written by Gary Scott Thompson, writer of “The Fast and the Furious.”

The episode, titled “Bait and Switch,” airs Monday Jan. 2 at 9pm EST.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Working On Jazz/B-Ball/Hip-Hop Doc-courtesy of allhiphop.com