Showing Out

Some more Michael Jackson news for you this fine day. After news broke that a new MJ documentary was on the way, another piece of knowledge dropped care of “Thriller” music video director John Landis, who says he’s got some plans to re-release the video in 3-D. In an interview with CHUD, Landis stated that the hourlong doc “The Making of Thriller,” in addition to the remastered video, would soon be released. But the news that caught our attention was that the Jackson estate has intentions to re-release “Thriller” in 3-D, with no announced plans on whether or not it would be released on the big screen or on 3-D TV. If this actually goes through, then the world can finally see this video in the format in which it always should have been seen. Gotta love technology.

Making his fourth debut at number one throughout his lengthy career, Ludacris tops the chart this week with his new gender-themed album Battle of the Sexes. The Def Jam artist sold an impressive 136,010 units, which was enough to edge out Gorillaz to number two, where they debuted with Plastic Beach, selling a healthy 110,798 copies in their first week. Meanwhile, the Jimi Hendrix Experience bowed at number four with 87,074 copies sold, while country star Gary Allan landed at number five with 66,401 copies sold of Get Off on the Pain. Sade dropped from two to six with Soldier of Love, moving an additional 55,005 copies, with Lady Gaga still going strong at number seven with another 48,379 copies sold of her debut The Fame. Black Eyed Peas dropped a spot from eight to nine with The E.N.D., shipping 42,852 units, and Weezy F. Baby moved up from 13 to 12 with 28,374 copies sold of his Rebirth album. That’s about as exciting as it gets this week, which says a lot about the state of contemporary music right about now.

Haven’t heard much on the Michael Jackson tip in a minute, but based on a report from the Wall Street Journal, you’re going to be hearing a lot more of him in the near future. According to the paper, MJ’s estate and Sony Music have struck the most lucrative record deal in the history of the music industry, with the label ponying up roughly $250 million, with 10 albums planned to be released over a period of seven years. For those that think think Sony must be on that wack juice for throwing over this kind of money, the label has reportedly sold more than 31 million copies of MJ’s albums since his death last June and have made more than $250 million from album sales alone, figures that are bound to remain rather steady over the next few years. And not only that, but the Jackson estate will most likely be able to pay off the $250 million debt by the end of the year, so everyone’s winning in this sitch. Just don’t be surprised if, when you walk into Best Buy next year, MJ mania will have taken over - for like, a fifth time.

If you were one of the many unfortunate souls who didn’t happen to score a ticket to Black Eyed Peas’ current “The E.N.D. World” Tour (though there’s still a good chance you can - it runs until the end of August), then dry those eyes. According to THR, a film of the concert will screen in 500 movie theaters nationwide beginning on March 30th, giving you a chance to see Fergie in her hi-def glory. The event is being brought to your local cinema care of Fathom Events, who taped the show at Los Angeles’ Staples Center in addition to nabbing 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews to tack onto the film. Though you probably won’t get to see any footage of opening acts LMFAO and Ludacris, you know it’ll be worth it just to see the gleam of will.i.am’s diamond-studded jacket on a giant screen.

If these commercials are any indication, Dr. Dre might actually be working on Detox, even if it’ll never see the light of day. But that doesn’t mean that Dre can’t get those endorsement deals, with his latest venture seeing him team up with HP to design HP Beats Audio, which makes for quite the smooth listen on Beats by Dre headphones. According to the company, “[t]his campaign shows the breadth and depth of this portfolio by shining a light on amazing customer experiences empowered by, and in collaboration with, HP.” So in case you haven’t been bit by the Apple bug yet, keep this one in mind when you’re looking for a computer with speakers that don’t suck.

For those of you that thought the 2004 biopic Ray wasn’t enough of an expose about Ray Charles’ life, you’ll be pleased to know that more of his life is being brought to Broadway. According to Variety, Ray producer Stuart Benjamin is bringing the Ray Charles musical Unchain My Heart to Broadway in the fall, with Pulitzer Prize-winning scribe Suzan-Lori Parks incorporating Charles’ tunes into the bio about his life. This one has apparently been bubbling since the film was released nearly six years ago, with 20 actors and a band of 10 people expected to participate in the production. Look out for this one when it graces the stage on October 8th ahead of its official November 7th opening.

A nice week for new releases we’ve got here. In the top-10 alone, six of the spots are occupied by freshly released albums, with Lady Antebellum edging out Sade’s Soldier of Love for the number one spot. Need You Now pulled in approximately 124,429 units, while Sade came in number two with an additional 76,462 copies moved. Newcomers Blake Shelton, Danny Gokey, the Almost Alice soundtrack and Lifehouse came in at spots three through six, respectively, with Hillbilly Bone coming in at three with 71,681 copies sold, My Best Days at four with 67,278 copies sold, the soundtrack at number five with 60,250 units moved and Smoke and Mirrors bowing at six with 54,508 copies sold. Lady Gaga dropped from five to seven with The Fame (49,430 copies sold), while Black Eyed Peas dropped from four to eight with E.N.D. (46,852 copies moved). Jason Derulo is the highest urban debut this week with his self-titled effort bowing at nine, selling a respectable 44,230 copies, while Raheem DeVaughn dropped at 11 with The Love & War MasterPeace (42,486 copies). Lil Wayne moved an additional 30,929 units of Rebirth, while DJ Khaled had an impressive entry at 13 with Victory, selling 29,484 copies. Check back next week to see if Ludacris tops the chart with his new joint Battle of the Sexes.

It’s been 13 fateful years since the world lost one of the, if not the greatest, emcees of all-time. Christopher Wallace, who rose to prominence in the ’90s as Notorious B.I.G., has left enormous shoes that still haven’t been filled. With only one album released during his lifetime (Ready to Die - Life After Death was actually a posthumous release), Biggie’s music sent shockwaves through the music community and beyond, bringing lyrically adept tales of Brooklyn hustling and faux mafioso associations to the outside world. B.I.G.’s legacy lives on today (check the Twitter trending topics and you’ll know what we mean), and the world still looks to him as one of the culture’s premiere emcees. Showing Out assembled some of our favorite cuts by Biggie after the jump. RIP to Big Poppa.

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Another week, another batch of new releases. Following last week’s big release day (DJ Khaled, Jason Derulo and Raheem DeVaughn all dropped new joints), this week sees another trio of big releases hitting shelves. On the major label tip, Ludacris releases his new album Battle of the Sexes featuring guest appearances from Nicki Minaj, Shawnna, Trey Songz, Ne-Yo and a handful of others. Indie-wise, rap duo Kidz in the Hall drop off their third album Land of Make Believe and on the alternative side, Gorillaz release their new one Plastic Beach. Hit the jump to see more info on this week’s new releases.

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Another week, another victory for Sade. According to Hits Daily Double, Sade nabbed the number one spot for the third consecutive week, with her sixth studio album Soldier of Love moving an additional 127,099 copies and upping its overall sales to 820K. Johnny Cash’s new one American VI: Ain’t No Grave debuted at number three with 51,014 copies sold, putting it behind Lady Antebellum who moved an additional 116,635 copies of the new album Need You Now. Black Eyed Peas continued to dominate with E.N.D., selling 49,162 copies and putting it at number four, while label mate Lady Gaga came in behind them with another 48,534 units moved of her debut The Fame. Notables this week include Lil Wayne at number six with Rebirth (37,201 copies), Ke$ha at seven with Animal (32,323 copies), Rihanna at 13 with Rated R (24,039 copies) and Jaheim at 15 with Another Round (24,039 copies). That’s about it as far as numbers go, but check back next week to see how newcomers Jason Derulo, DJ Khaled and Raheem DeVaughn do on the chart.