Welcome to the 6th edition of Alex’s Weekly Music Mash-Up! Every week the number keeps going up and I can’t believe it’s been 10% of a year! I’m quite sad that we are never getting any comments! Tell us whether you liked it or not. Heck if you think I should be shot for some kind of treason (which you obviously don’t, as I’m doing no harm) then tell us that too!
The first chart this week has returned to normal (as well as all the other charts, for that matter) which if you are
a new reader, is the Billboard Hot 100:
1.) Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson
2.) Set Fire To The Rain – Adele
3.) We Are Young – fun. ft. Janelle Monae
4.) Part Of Me – Katy Perry
5.) Glad You Came – The Wanted
6.) We Found Love – Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris
7.) Good Feeling – Flo Rida
8.) Turn Me On – David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj
9.) Young, Wild & Free – Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa ft. Bruno Mars
10.) Starships – Nicki Minaj
B.o.B had a debut at #11 ‘So Good‘ for the highest rise of the week. Carrie Underwood returned with ‘Good Girl’
another debut at #24. The cast of Glee also had 4 debuts, one of these the cover of the #1 song. However, it
was renamed to ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’.
Whitney Houston dropped 27 with ‘I Will Always Love You‘, which had risen to #3 last week after her abrupt
death in February. Coldplay ft. Rihanna dropped 24 places for the 2nd largest.
Adele’s ‘Rolling In The Deep‘ is still in the chart, if dropping 18 places, on a 60th week. In the past, lasting a
long time was incredibly difficult, with opinions changing all the time. Now, reaching half a year isn’t even a
challenge!
The 2nd chart will be the Billboard Top 200 Albums:
1.) 21 – Adele
2.) Whitney: The Greatest Hits – Whitney Houston
3.) Some Nights – fun.
4.) Careless World: Rise Of The Last King – Tyga
5.) NOW 41 – Various Artists
6.) The Bodyguard – Whitney Houston
7.) 21 – Adele
8.) Breakfast – Chiddy Bang
9.) Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston
10.) 2012 Grammy Nominees – Various Artists
Before starting the further statistics, we congratulate Whitney Houston on having THREE albums in the top 10!
Not even Adele can beat that!
‘Dark Side Of The Moon‘ by Pink Floyd re-entered this, increasing its massive span of now 798 weeks! Guns N’
Roses is still behind this at 228 with ‘Greatest Hits’.
An odd album to even be in the chart fell the most – ‘Sinatra: Best Of The Best‘ fell 132 to #192, unsurprisingly
by Frank Sinatra. Maybe the strangeness of the album was the cause of this drop. There were many other big
drops, one also for ‘Whitney’ by Whitney Houston. ‘Some Nights‘ by fun. debuted at #3, the highest this week.
#4 and #8 also debuted, with ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson re-entering at #88.
The third chart this time is the Official UK Top 100:
1.) Somebody I Used To Know – Gotye ft. Kimbra
2.) Rockstar – Dappy ft. Brian May
3.) Next To Me – Emeli Sande
4.) Wild Ones – Flo Rida ft. Sia
5.) Starships – Nicki Minaj
6.) Hot Right Now – DJ Fresh ft. Rita Ora
7.) Titanium – David Guetta ft. Sia
8.) Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson
9.) Drunk – Ed Sheeran
10.) Domino – Jessie J
The chart is looking a lot different, much more so that usual, to the Billboard Hot 100. Usually, the same music
is popular in both countries, but as Billboard scans a wider audience, this may be the key. Do the critics in the
US prefer different music to the public? Or are radio DJs plotting to take over the charts? We’ll never know ^^.
A rise of 60 places came to The Muppets song ‘Man Or Muppet‘ by Jason Segel & Walter. Whitney Houston
had the biggest fall by far with ‘I Will Always Love You‘ which fell 48 to #92. ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony‘ climbed up
a few places in their 142nd (nearly 2 years and 10 months!) week, a job well done for Verve!
Lastly, we will look at the ARIA Australian Singles Chart:
1.) Ass Back Home – Gym Class Heroes ft. Neon Hitch
2.) Wild Ones – Flo Rida ft. Sia
3.) Throw Your Hands Up – Qwote ft. Pitbull
4.) Boys Like You – 360 ft. Gossling
5.) Fight For You – Jason Derulo
6.) We Are Young – fun. ft. Janelle Monae
7.) Turn Up The Music – Chris Brown
8.) Part Of Me – Katy Perry
9.) One Thing – One Direction
10.) Starships – Nicki Minaj
LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock have reached a full year with ‘Party Rock Anthem’ – 52 weeks.
Congrats ^^! #6rose 17 places from last week, very positive for fun. ft. Janelle Monae, both not particularly
famous artists. However, Adele’s ‘Rolling In The Deep‘ fell 12 to #44, an odd accolade for such a respected
vocalist.
Before we finish this week’s Mash-Up, as always (except for last week, which was a thorough experiment into
the psychological effect of mini-biographies on news readers… Or just not appropriate…) is the Special Artist
Feature! This week, rather than focus on my favourite artists, or ones who have died, I will look at someone I
completely hate (no offense intended, just emphasising my point): Eminem. Here at Habbox we are not self-
centered, so hopefully this will be good for Eminem fans who have had to read on and on about artists they
don’t even know!
Born on October 17th 1972, Marshall Bruce Mathers III (who later chose the name Eminem, contrary to popular
belief), had a rough childhood. His father abandoned his family soon after he was born and Marshall and his
mother moved to nearly every city in Missouri, before settling in Detroit. By age 12, he was addicted to
listening to rap and hip-hop, performing songs as “M&M” and joining an amateur music group “Bassmint
Productions“. In his early career, he developed his alter ego “Slim Shady” who is frequently mentioned in
songs. However, the later it got, it seemed the the more profanities appeared in his lyrics, and once in 2003 he
was accused of planning to kill the President! The lyrics that suggested this aren’t particularly subtle
“**** money
I don’t rap for dead presidents
I’d rather see the president dead
It’s never been said“.
Was he hinting an assassination or just making some rhymes? But regardless of his intent, the song was still added
on a bonus CD…
It is known that he has previously abused prescription drugs such as Methadone and Valien, sometimes
admitting himself to rehab to solve his problems. Now he says those events are behind him, and he is “high
on rap again”. A much more positive look on the matter!
For 3 years, 2005-8, he took a gap from music, but did say he had material planned, which was released in late
2008, Relapse. Dr Dre, a close friend, produced nearly the entire album, and occasionally appears on
Eminem’s singles, and vice versa. Since 2010, his career has reached many new heights, performing a hit #1
single (also the best selling of that entire year in the US!) with Rihanna. Recover, thought of as the new
Relapse 2, was the best selling album internationally in 2010, following his 2002 feat with The Eminem Show.
Within a week of eachother, The Eminem Show and The Marshall Mathers LP were certified as diamond by the
RIAA, making Eminem the only rapper outright to have two diamond albums. Also, in March 2011, he was
found to be the most liked person on Facebook, with 50 million likes.
It is undeniable that Eminem, although I don’t like him, is insanely popular around the world. With hits in
dozens of countries, and 210 different music awards being won out of 300 nominations, he was rightly
awarded the “Best Rapper of the Last Decade” award by many websites, newspapers and talk shows.
But what do you think? Did your favourite get #1? Or were they a little less fortunate like Adele (who did happen to be fortunate other times), Whitney Houston or Frank Sinatra? Did you like the Special Artist Feature? Or is Eminem not your cup of tea? Leave your thoughts below!