Adele Named “Top Artist of 2011″ by Billboard

Congratulations to Adele for being named the Top Artist of 2011 by Billboard. The 21-year-old British singer had a ground braking impact on music this year.

If there’s a “best-of” list for music this year, it’s a safe bet to put Adele on top.
Billboard has declared her the No. 1 artist of 2011. Rihanna was No. 2, followed by Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne. The list takes into account album sales, charting singles, touring revenue and radio airplay.
Adele’s album, 21, was the best-selling of the year with 4.8 million sold.

She also had the most popular song with Rolling in the Deep. LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock was No. 2. Katy Perry’s Firework was No. 3, her E.T. with Kanye West was No. 4 and Pitbull’s Give Me Everything featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer was No. 5.

IT'S FRIDAY

Good news Friday fans! Looks like what “DeBo” said last month was true….another Friday sequel is in the works and the entire original cast is coming back! TMZ caught up with Ice Cube, the star of the original and a major part of production in anything moving forward, and the rapper/actor has confirmed it’s going down! Continue reading for his statement.

The speculation is over … Ice Cube has finally confirmed he’s resurrecting the ‘Friday’ franchise … telling TMZ the goal is to bring back the entire ORIGINAL cast … including Chris Tucker.
A rep for Cube Vision Productions tells us … “Absolutely yes the studio is in the process of getting the entire original cast to do another ‘Friday.’”
The statement continues, “[Ice Cube] is very excited about this and has every intention to make it happen.”

Just last month, TMZ spoke with the musclebound behemoth who played DeBo … who told us both he and Chris Tucker are down to reunite for the 4th installment of the ‘Friday’ franchise … but they still have to work out their contracts.

French Montana signs to Bad Boy.

They made the big announcement that French is officially signed to Bad Boy. Congrats to French, he’s definitely out here moving!!!!

Rihanna's 'Talk That Talk' To Debut At No. 3 On Billboard W/197,000 Copies Sold. Drake's 'Take Care' Suffers 73% Drop Off, Falls To No. 4 (173,000)

The final numbers are in and Rihanna will land her sixth top ten album in as many tries. Her Talk That Talk album sold 197,000 units it's opening week. Good enough to put her at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart according to Billboard.biz.

Drake's Take Care disc suffers a 73% drop off and falls to the No. 4 slot this week with 173,000 units sold.

Mary J. Blige's latest offering, My Life II: The Journey Continues, Act I, will place the R&B singer at No. 5 with sales of 156,000.

Rounding out the list of notable urban releases from last week is Yelawolf. His Shady Records debut, Radioactive, sold 41,000 copies placing him in the No. 27 slot.

The No. 1 album in the country will be Michael Buble's Christmas, with sales of just over 227,000.

Busta Rhymes Signed With YMCMB & Google Music.

Busta Rhymes is the newest member of the Cash Money team......


Busta spoke with MTV at last night's launch of Google Music to explain why he made the move to his new label home.

"Google/Cash Money/The Conglomerate, it's un unbelievably ground breaking deal. There's never been a deal done like this before where the most powerful search engine in the world combines with the most powerful record company in the world," Busta said. "It's just amazing to see that they understood what Busta Rhymes means to the music, what Busta Rhymes means to the culture, what Busta Rhymes means to the embodiment of authentic hip hop. I'm very proud to be aligned with Google. I'm extremely proud to be aligned with Cash Money."

Steve Jobs 1955 – 2011 R.I.P

Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.
In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.
We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.
CEO Tim Cook issued the below statement internally to the company:
Team,
I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.