Image via Complex Original
What seemed like an impossible feat in music in 2014 became another huge victory for Taylor Swift, who sold over one million copies of her fifth studio album 1989 in its first week of release. Not only is this Swift's third straight album to sell over a million copies upon its first week of release, but it's also the largest tally in week one since Eminem's 2002 album The Eminem Show sold over 1.3 millon copies. Moreover, The sales mark makes Swift's 1989 the highest-selling album of 2014, eleven months into the year. So yeah, this is a pretty big deal.
Plus, Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean, and Bobby Shmurda drop new videos, Freddie Gibbs is shot at after a concert in New York, and Jay Z buys a luxury champagne brand he holds dear to his heart. Check out all that and more in What the Hell Just Happened in Music This Week?
Chris Brown sent shots at Adrienne Bailon and Tamar Braxton after they criticized his relationship with Karrueche.
Date: November 3
Chris Brown is not happy with former 3LW singer Adrienne Bailon and Tamar Braxton for comments they made about him and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Karrueche. On their talk show “The Real,” the panel criticized Karrueche for continuing to date Brown, while calling him out for his past mistakes and referring to him as a bad guy.
Breezy has since responded to the show, posting a long message on Instagram calling out both Bailon and Tamar for the slander, while not holding back, asking if Adrienne has life goals rather than relationship goals. The entire post was rather messy and got very personal towards both Adrienne and Tamar. —Zach Frydenlund
Freddie Gibbs was shot at following a concert in New York.
Date: November 4
Following his show in Brooklyn, Freddie Gibbs and two members of his entourage were shot at multiple times by a lone gunmen. Gibbs was able to avoid injury in the attack, which took place at Rough Trade where the performance was, though his DJ and the other member of his crew both suffered minor injuries in the incident. Both men were taken to Bellevue Hospital in New York City where they are listed in stable condition.
No arrests have been made in the case, but Gibbs did make a statement to the NY Post following the shooting, saying, “They tried to kill Tupac. They tried to kill me, I’m still alive.” Gibbs later went on to confirm the incident on his Instagram and assured his fans that he was alright. —Zach Frydenlund
Related: Freddie Gibbs Was Shot At Following His Show In Brooklyn Last Night
Kendrick Lamar dropped the video for “i” and talked about his relationship with Drake.
Date: November 4
While Kendrick Lamar continues to work on his new album, which is currently without a release date, he decides to unveil the official video for his latest single, “i.” Kendrick planned out the release of the video rather well, as it comes on the heels of his performance of the song before LeBron James' first game back in Cleveland, and a recent radio tour where he talked about the making of the track.
During the uplifting video clip, Kendrick kicks things off by showing his impressive dance moves in the club, before taking the show out to the streets of Compton where a crowd quickly begins to follow him as he dances through the street while the inspiring record serves as the perfect soundtrack for the entire experience. Not to be outdone by his own dancing, Dot takes the video to another level when he hops into a car (driven by Ronald Isley of course) that is cruising down the highway while he hangs outside of the passenger side window rapping along with the fun tune.
Kendrick Lamar continued his mini media run following the release of the "i" video. During an interview with The Breakfast Club, Kendrick talked about his new single, “i,” rehashing the purpose of the song and who he originally made it for. He also talked about expectations with this new album, saying that he wants to make sure everything is perfect with the project before he unleashes it to the masses, because at that point, it's not even really his album anymore, but the world's.
Kendrick also spoke on his rumored beef with Drake, saying people need to let that go and it wasn't any real situation from the start. “People need to leave that and let that go, man,” he says. “It wasn’t no issue from the jump. I think people talk about beef… it’s just a whole ‘nother dynamic. I can’t see myself going bar for bar with Drake. We’re two different types of artists.” As of right now, Kendrick has yet to announce a release date for his next album.—Zach Frydenlund
Related: Kendrick Lamar on His Rumored Beef With Drake: “It Wasn't No Issue From the Jump”
Taylor Swift topped the album charts, selling over one million copies of 1989.
Date: November 5
Who said big first week album sales are a thing of the past? Well, they're right, but Taylor Swift has basically defied logic and sold an incredible 1.2 million copies of her new album, 1989, in the first week of sales, according to Billboard. This was easily good enough for the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and marks Swift's fourth No. 1 album in her still very young career.
This was the highest selling first week for an album since 2002 when Eminem moved 1.322 million units in the first week for his The Eminem Show album. So yeah, like we said, Taylor has basically defied logic. This is also already the best selling album in 2014 and the only one to sell a million copies in total, passing Sam Smith's In the Lonely Hour, which currently sits at 746,000 copies sold. Taylor now joins some elite company, becoming the 19th album to sell a million copies in the first week of sales since SoundScan started tracking the numbers back in 1991. —Zach Frydenlund
Related: Taylor Swift's “1989” Album Moved 1.2 Million Copies In Its First Week
Jaden Smith celebrated Kendall Jenner's birthday by releasing a special 3-song EP.
Date: November 5
Admittedly, we've become fans of Jaden Smith during his recent crusade of new music releases over the past month. Say what you will about him, but the music and his rapping has been pretty damn good. That's not debatable. Now, that doesn't mean that Jaden isn't out there, because frankly, he is, and that's okay.
His talents have never been more evident than on his three new tracks, which he has packaged together as a birthday gift to his good friend Kendall Jenner, who just happened to appear in one of his recent videos. All three of the tracks are produced by Jaden's frequent collaborator, Téo, and show just how far Jaden has come as an artist in a pretty short period of time.
For instance, take the first drop, “Preach,” where Jaden starts off the track rather calm, easily piecing together lines like, “Cus I'm as flawless as a diamond, all day shining while you catching my timing.” He quickly elevates to a level that most people probably thought he couldn't reach, transforming into an aggressive MC and leaving behind the beat to spit a portion of the verse a cappella. This continues for the next two releases, as it has for every track he has dropped during this ongoing resurgence. —Zach Frydenlund
Related: Jaden Smith Released a 3-Song Album to Celebrate Kendall Jenner's Birthday
Jay Z flexed his wallet and bought Ace of Spades, his preferred champagne for the last decade.
Date: November 5
You've likely heard Jay Z name drop Ace of Spades with impunity over the last decade, and with good reason. The Brooklyn rapper has been a significant brand ambassador of sorts for the premium champagne label ever since 2006, when he introduced Ace of Spades to millions in his music video for “Show Me What You Got.” Now, Hov owns it.
In a press statement released by Sovereign Brands, the company revealed Jay Z has purchased Armand de Brignac—better known as Ace of Spades—for an undisclosed amount. “We are proud to announce that Sovereign Brands, a New York-based wine and spirits company owned by the Berish family, has sold its interest in the Armand de Brignac ('Ace of Spades') Champagne brand to a new company led by the globally-renowned Shawn 'Jay Z' Carter.” —Edwin Ortiz
Related: Jay Z Purchases Luxury Champagne Label “Ace of Spades”
Lil Durk got locked up for a weapons violation.
Date: November 5
Chicago rapper Lil Durk has been arrested in Chicago for weapons violations. According to The Chicago Tribune, Durk vowed to never appear in front of a judge again just a few months back.
A woman let officers into the residence where Durk was staying, where they saw him standing near a kitchen island with the weapons in plain sight, and arrested him upon prior knowledge that he was a felon. According to the police report, Durk was quoted as saying “I got those pipes (guns) 'cause (expletive) always be tryin' to take my bands (money),” as a reason why he had the weapons. Police seized two handguns, but the Tribune reports that it isn't clear if they were loaded even though there was ammunition visible.
Durk's lawyer Sam Adam Jr. remains confident that he wasn't in possession of the weapons. Lil Durk is currently on probation from a prior weapons violation charge in August, where the judge urged him to be “part of the cure,” by using his celebrity status to bring attention to anti-gang activity. —Justin Davis
Related: Lil Durk Has Reportedly Been Arrested for Weapons Violations
Azealia Banks dropped her debut album Broke With Expensive Taste out of nowhere.
Date: November 6
Harlem rapper Azealia Banks released her debut album, Broke With Expensive Taste, on Spotify. The artwork and the tracklisting leaked to the music streaming service right before the actual music came out.
Broke With Expensive Taste features 16 songs, including Banks' 2012 breakthrough hit “212,” her recent release “Heavy Metal and Reflective,” and a few songs off of her 2012 mixtape, Fantasea. There are only two guest appearances on the album: Theophilus London on “JFK” and Lazy Jay on “212.” —Brian Padilla
Related: Azealia Banks' “Broke With Expensive Taste” Album May Be Coming Sooner Than You Think
Big Sean shared the cinematic visuals for “IDFWU,” which featured cameos from Kanye West, Teyana Taylor, and DJ Mustard.
Date: November 6
A few months back, Big Sean announced that he was making the move to Roc Nation and promptly followed the news with the release of four brand new songs. Of those tracks, it certainly seems that the DJ Mustard and Kanye West-produced anthem, “IDFWU,” featuring E-40 has taken off the most, becoming a fan favorite and even seeing some chart success. Now, Sean has gotten creative with the release of the video for the song, making it available to view via his brand new app, which can be downloaded on iOS and Android devices.
In the Lawrence Lamont-directed video, Sean takes his talents to the football field for some intense action while 'Ye serves the role as his coach and Mustard and 40 join in on the game while Sean raps along to the fiery track and attempts to lead his team to victory. With two of the four songs already getting visuals—“Paradise” being the other—it seems that Sean is surely inching closer to the release of his next album, which he has been working on for most of the year. —Zach Frydenlund
Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Theophilus London's partied to Young Thug's “Danny Glover.”
Date: November 7
It isn't the first time Kanye West has been spotted turning up to Atlanta rookie Young Thug's “Danny Glover/2 Bitches,” and at Theophilus London's release party for his album Vibes he can be seen again dancing to the infectious single. The difference this time is that Kanye's wife Kim Kardashian is with him and she looks either afraid, annoyed or in deep thought about what Young Thug is saying. Could she be pondering why he left $10,000 in a cab, or maybe what he's saying during the chorus? —Justin Davis
Related: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian Love Turning Up to Young Thug
Bobby Shmurda showed off his dances moves in his latest music video “Bobby B***h.”
Date: November 7
Ahead of the release of his new EP, Shmurda She Wrote, Bobby Shmurda unleashes his new video for “Bobby Bitch,” which is one of the five songs on the project. In the video, Bobby shows off his unique dance moves that go along with the energetic song, all while a separate storyline plays out where a group of female gangsters are trying to shoot Bobby as he dodges the bullets with said “Bobby Bitch" dance moves. —Zach Frydenlund
