“Really thankful for the time and fun bro, the whole gang, love them n****s like they my brothers,” Offset said, according to Cenat. “Thank you bro I haven’t had fun like this in life in a long time bro I […]
Carmelo Anthony and LaLa’s son Kiyan Anthony has locked in his first-ever NIL deal as a high school athlete.
PSD Underwear announced the NIL deal with the high school junior on Thursday. Unsurprisingly, the 16-year-old inked an agreement before going to college; he is ranked No. 41 for the 2025 class, according to ESPN. Last year, the shooting guard was No. 62 nationally and has quickly improved on the court.
Fleetwood Mac’s from-the-vaults release Rumours: Live debuts at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Sept. 23). It’s the highest debut on the list for the band in more than 20 years, since the act’s last full-length studio album, Say You Will, opened at No. 2 in May 2003.
Comprised almost entirely of previously unreleased recordings, Rumours: Live captures the band’s Aug. 29, 1977, concert at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., during the act’s Rumours Tour. The trek was in support of its then-most-recent studio release Rumours, which had bowed earlier in 1977. That album would spend 31 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart – still the most weeks at No. 1 for an album by a group. The set launched four top 10-charting hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the group’s lone chart-topper, “Dreams.”
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, new releases from Olivia Rodrigo, V, Tyler Childers and BOYNEXTDOOR all arrive, while Lauren Daigle’s self-titled album re-enters the chart straight into the top 10 after a deluxe reissue.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Rumours: Live sold a little over 10,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 14, according to Luminate. Among the songs featured on the album are such Hot 100 hits as “Dreams,” “Oh Well,” “Landslide,” “Over My Head,” “Rhiannon,” “You Make Loving Fun” and “Go Your Own Way.” Rumours: Live was available to purchase as a digital download album or in three physical iterations (a 180-gram double vinyl set, a crystal-clear colored double vinyl set sold via Walmart, and a two-CD package). Vinyl accounted for 44.5% of the album’s first-week sales.
At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts debuts with 150,000 copies sold. Of that sum, physical sales comprise 138,000 (94,000 on vinyl, 43,000 on CD and 1,000 on cassette) and digital download sales comprise 12,000. Guts’ vinyl sales mark the seventh-largest week for a vinyl album since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991.
Guts’ first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across 13 different vinyl variants. Among the variants: a signed edition and exclusive color vinyl and picture-disc editions sold through Amazon, independent record stores, Spotify, Target, Urban Outfitters, Walmart and Rodrigo’s webstore. Guts’ sales also got a boost from four CD editions (including a signed version), a cassette tape and four deluxe boxed sets sold through Rodrigo’s webstore (each containing a CD or vinyl LP along with branded merchandise).
BTS’ V sees his debut solo studio effort Layover enter at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 88,000 copies sold. Of its first-week sales, physical sales comprise 79,000 (all on CD) and digital download sales comprise a little over 9,000. Layover’s debut was enhanced by its availability in collectible CD offerings – 13 in total.
The set was released in three standard iterations (dubbed Layover 1, Layover 2 and Layover 3, each containing branded paper goods and merchandise specific to the iteration like photobooks, lyric books, posters, postcards and photocards, as well as randomized stickers). Each iteration was also available in variants sold exclusively through Barnes & Noble, Walmart and the Weverse store (a total of nine; and each retailer had its own exclusive photocard enclosed in the three variants). Lastly, Target carried its own exclusive version of the album (with a Target-exclusive photocard), where one of the three iterations of the album (Layover 1, 2 or 3) were sold to the customer (with online buyers randomly shipped one of the three iterations).
Tyler Childers’ Rustin’ in the Rain bows at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with 25,000 copies sold. Of that sum, physical sales comprise 17,500 (with 15,000 on vinyl and 2,500 on CD) and digital album sales comprise 7,500. The album was sold in four different vinyl variants, as well as three deluxe boxed sets exclusive to his webstore (each containing a vinyl LP and branded merch).
Taylor Swift’s chart-topping Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is a non-mover at No. 5 on Top Album Sales with a little over 9,000 sold (down 3%), NewJeans’ former leader 2nd EP ‘Get Up’ falls 4-8 with nearly 9,000 (down 19%), Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Sour shoots 50-7 with a little over 8,000 (up 288%), and Swift’s former No. 1 Midnights dips 7-8 with nearly 8,000 (up 1%).
Lauren Daigle’s self-titled album re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 9 (nearly 8,000 sold; up 1,255%), prompted by its deluxe reissue on Sept. 8 with additional tracks. The set initially debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the May 27-dated chart. The deluxe edition of the album was released in four vinyl variants (including exclusives for Barnes & Noble and the artist’s webstore), four CD variants (including a Target-exclusive cover variant, a zine/CD package, a signed CD and a lenticular cover version), and was available in two Fan Pack offerings (where a piece of branded merchandise was sold alongside a physical copy of the album).
Rounding out the top 10 of Top Album Sales is BOYNEXTDOOR’s debut album Why.., which starts at No. 10 with nearly 8,000 sold. The K-pop effort was available in eight collectible CD editions (including exclusive iterations sold through Barnes & Noble, Target and the Weverse store), each with a standard set of branded paper goods and merchandise items (photobooks, film photos, posters, stickers, and the like) and randomized items (including photocards and post cards).
The album was initially released to purchase as a digital download album on Sept. 4, followed by its CD release on Sept. 8. In the week ending Sept. 14, CD sales comprised 99.8% of the album’s sales, with digital downloads comprising the remaining 0.2%.
In the week ending Sept. 14, there were 1.766 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 8.3% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.437 million (up 11.6%) and digital albums comprised 328,000 (down 4.1%).
There were 649,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Sept. 14 (up 19.4% week-over-week) and 779,000 vinyl albums sold (up 6.1%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 24.475 million (up 1.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 32.66 million (up 20.1%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 70.597 million (up 6.7% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 57.512 million (up 11.3%) and digital album sales total 13.085 million (down 9.9%).
College athletes have been able to sign brand deals and receive compensation since a 2021 NCAA policy allowed name, image and likeness deals. Since then, rising figures in sports, such as Bronny James and Shedeur Sanders, have been able to grow their brands through million-dollar deals.
The two-time Super Bowl champ first introduced the public to his ranking system during a birthday shout-out to his oldest son, Deion Sanders Jr., in December 2022. He posted a photo of them together with the caption, “Happy Birthday to […]
Three Black students who helped develop the first COVID-19 vaccine reunited for the first time since the early pandemic days.
According to CNN, Olubukola Abiona, Geoffrey Hutchinson and Cynthia Ziwawo were among the dozens of scientists who helped develop the vaccines at the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Working in Dr. Barney Graham’s lab at the research center, the students became a major part of the global effort to control the pandemic.
“We knew we were doing things that were important, but then it was like ‘Oh, wow, this is really big,’” Ziwawo told CNN.
Orlando Brown, who underwent a mental health evaluation earlier this year, appears to be turning his life around for the better.
Brown’s mother, Tiffney Anderson, shared an encouraging update on TikTok when she posted a video of her son appearing at her door with flowers.
“I am on CLOUDS RIGHT NOOOOW!! My son and his beautiful family surprised me yesterday AHHHHHHHHH!!!,” she wrote, as Boyz II Men’s “A Song for Mama” soundtracked the emotional video. “WHAT JOY I FEEL right now. Orlando, it felt like old times. The laughter, memories and stories lol lol!!! Thank you for thinking of me. What joy joy joy.. Lord I thank you and love you SO much!!!”
On Tuesday, the “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home)” singer posted the seven-second clip to his account, doing the viral TikTok trend as the group held up an “L” with their hands while dancing to the song “Wassup Gway” by FamousSally and […]
In under 11 seconds, Florence Griffith Joyner, aka “Flo-Jo,” changed the world of sports forever.
With a record-breaking time of 10.49 seconds, Joyner solidified her place in the track and field hall of fame, setting the still-standing record for the fastest women’s 100-meter race, effectively becoming the fastest woman ever.
On the 25th anniversary of her passing, we remember the speed, strength and power Joyner displayed, which ushered in a new vanguard of Black athletic excellence, which can be seen in the cynic-defying victories of present-day track stars à la Sha’Carri Richardson.
Tony Duffy via Getty Images
But the Los Angeles native’s trailblazing influence extends beyond the tracks she transformed or the records she broke, as her iconic sense of personal style has become almost as renowned as her athletic feats. Now, two and a half decades later, her influence in the beauty and culture space can still be seen in the beauty trends of today, most notably, of course, her iconic claws.
Almost as famous as the athletic prowess that made her a household name, Flo-Jo’s nails are widely regarded as the genesis for the acrylic stylings worn by Black women today, a trend that has sparked endless dialogues regarding what constitutes culture vulturism, respectability politics and appropriation. But whether it be the colorful, curved extensions worn by rap darlings like Cardi B, Saweetie and Flo Milli, or the long frosted tips associated with the now nostalgic aesthetic of the ’90s, Flo Jo’s influence is evident.
Beyoncé paid homage to the athlete’s signature sets in 2018, dressing as the decorated athlete for Halloween, and multiple museums have acknowledged the intricate tastemaking of Joyner’s unique sets. In 1995, New York City’s Guggenheim Museum featured her nails as wearable art, and the Studio Museum in Harlem featured photos of her nails from the 1988 Summer Olympics in 2015 for their “Salon Style” exhibit.
And while many of her manicured predecessors lean on the help of acrylics and other means of extensions, Joyner shared in interviews that she was often sporting her own nails, a feat almost as remarkable as her run times.
But beyond the aesthetic barriers broken by these designs, Flo-Jo’s nails represent something much larger: the duality of Black beauty. Her trendsetting tips are equal parts relic and a reminder that greatness is not reliant upon compliance with the status quo. In a world that has persevered the trends and expressions of Black people from the state of our hair to the length of our nails, Flo-Jo’s successes while expressing herself in all of her long nail glory is proof that we do not have to shrink ourselves to succeed.
Rising jazz artist Laufey scores her first entry on the Billboard 200 albums chart with her sophomore release Bewitched, debuting at No. 23 on the Sept. 23-dated list. Further, the set launches atop both the Traditional Jazz Albums and overall Jazz Albums […]
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