Chart Juice: Jennifer Lopez's Greatest Hits Debuts in Top 10

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 18: Kohl's Senior Executive Vice President Don Brennan, singer/actress Jennifer Lopez, and singer Marc Anthony pose at the Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony announcemnt to Launch Two Exclusive Lifestyle Brands at Kohl's Department Stores at The London Hotel on November 18, 2010 in West Hollywood, California. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Cover of The Reel Me (CD & DVD)

Cover of Ja Rule

Cover of Usher

Cover of Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez debuts her first greatest hits package, "Dance Again…The Hits," at No. 6 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 20 on the Billboard 200 with 14,000 sold according to Nielsen SoundScan. On the former list, it's the highest new entry this week, where Nas' "Life Is Good" holds at No. 1 for a second week, selling 45,000 (down 70%).

Though Lopez has focused more on dance/pop and Latin music in recent years, nine of "Dance Again's" 13 tracks were hits on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, including "If You Had My Love" (No. 6), "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny" (both No. 2, and both featuring Ja Rule). "Dance Again" also doubles as a contract-fulfilment record, as Lopez owed her former label, Epic, a hits album after she salsa-danced over to Island Records in 2010.

"Dance Again" gives Lopez her seventh straight top 10 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. She previously hit No. 1 with 2001's "J.Lo" and the 2002 remix set "J to tha L-O!" Over on the Billboard 200, the No. 20 entry is the diva's lowest-charting regular release. All of her previous albums -- except for a EP/DVD package titled "The Reel Me" (No. 69) -- have reached the top 12.

As for the rest of the top 10 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Frank Ocean's "Channel Orange" is steady at No. 2 (33,000; down 40%) while the "Maybach Music Group Presents: Self Made 2" compilation rises 5-3 after Amazon MP3 discounted it for 99-cents one day last week (18,000; up 3%). Chris Brown's "Fortune" falls one slot to No. 4 (18,000; down 32%) and Usher's "Looking 4 Myself" dips one to No. 5 (16,000; down 31%).

 

MIGUEL'S 'ADORN' ASCENDS:  Miguel's "Adorn" gets the Greatest Gainer/Airplay award on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as the single surges uptown 31-19 due to a 35% increase in audience impressions according to Nielsen BDS.

It's the first single from his upcoming second album, "Kaleidoscope Dream," due Oct. 2 on RCA. "Adorn" was released digitally on Aug. 1 on a three-song EP ("Kaleidoscope Dream: Water Preview") while another three-song preview set will follow before the full album drops in October.

Among the radio stations helping push "Adorn's" gain this week are WJMH Greensboro, N.C. (up 3.1 million), WEDR Miami (up 3.2 million) and WVAZ Chicago (up 2.8 million).

At the top of R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, "Mercy" (by Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz) holds for a fifth nonconsecutive week at No. 1. Meanwhile, 2 Chainz's own "No Lie" rises 3-2 and Usher's "Lemme See" slips 2-3.

Another Usher track, the former No. 1 "Climax," holds steady at No. 4, as does "Bag of Money" by Wale (featuring Rick Ross, Meek Mill & T-Pain) at No. 5.

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Ne-Yo Blasts Critcs For Saying He Went Pop

Since releasing hits like”Closer” and “Beautiful Monster”, Ne-Yo has constantly been criticized for abandoning R&B for that pop life. Ne-Yo has had enough of the drama and is finally speaking out. The “Lazy Love” crooner went on the Angie Martinez radio show and let some critics have it.

When asked how he felt about critics calling him a pop artist and asking how he could proclaim how alive R&B is when he is no longer making R&B music anymore, Ne-Yo responded by saying, “I normally don’t do this. I’ve officially declared myself above the B.S. in regard to bloggers and people that say silly stuff on blogs. I need to get at some people directly.”

The singer-songwriter went on to express that his sound has evolved over the years, but he still knows where home is and that would be R&B music. “Somebody said something along the lines of, ‘How can you say that R&B is still alive when you’ve crossed over into this pop world?’” Ne-Yo began. “And that kind of upset me because what ya’ll don’t understand is that it was R&B that gave me the platform to even be able to do a song like ‘Let Me Love You,’ to do a song like ‘Closer,’ a song like ‘Beautiful Monster.’”

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Drake: 'Surface R&B doesn’t work any more'

Kanye West isn’t the only rapper who can boast about graduation.

In a new interview with Canadian magazine Now, Drake revealed what his summer calendar will look like once he’s done throwing his hometown of Toronto a new music festival, OVO Fest.

“I’m actually spending my summer graduating high school,” he said, hopefully while one-strapping his Jansport backpack and frantically rustling through his Trapper Keeper. (Music Mix sat alone at the cafeteria.)

“I only have one credit left,” Drake added. “I’m really excited about that.”

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And we are too! After all, we all basically went to high school with him for so many years.

But Drizzy isn’t waiting until he gets his diploma to apply his critical skills. The “HYFR” star also offered his opinions on the current state of his genre. “Surface R&B doesn’t work any more,” he told Now. “The whole heartthrob thing, songs about unrealistic love and tearing your shirt off every show — that’s not really where it’s at any more. It’s becoming harder for those guys to sell records, and harder for them to succeed.”

Continued Drake, “The more you can tap into people’s minds — ‘I think that stuff and I’ve just never been able to say it, and this guy just said it for me’ — that’s the brand of music that’s winning right now, and that’s a great thing. It just makes for better music to listen to.”

He didn’t name names in the piece, but the popularity of artists like Frank Ocean and the Weeknd are certainly proof-positive of Drake’s theories (as are the declining sales of, say, Usher.)

Readers, do you agree with Drake? Or do you think he needs to get re-educated?

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Whitney Houston exhibit to open in Los Angeles

 

FILE – In this undated file image provided by Sony Pictures Entertainment, singer-actresses Jordin Sparks, left, and Whitney Houston are shown in a scene from the upcoming film “Sparkle.” The song, “Celebrate,” a duet with Jordin Sparks from Houston’s last movie debuted Monday on Ryan Seacrest’s website and will be available on iTunes June 5. The film opens in theaters on August 17. — AP Photo

  LOS ANGELES: An exhibit in honor of late pop icon Whitney Houston will open in Los Angeles next month, half a year after her lifeless body was discovered in a hotel bathtub.

The exhibit, titled “Whitney!” and organized in conjunction with the singer’s family, will open at the GrammyMuseum on August 15.

“Whitney! will provide an in-depth look at all aspects of Houston’s creative life,” the museum, located in downtown Los Angeles, said in a statement.

Items to be displayed include rare photos and footage of the Grammy-winning star, stage costumes, albums and career scrapbooks from her early career, as well as concert posters, tour books and fan memorabilia.

The museum has also asked artists and musicians who worked with Houston or were influenced by her to share their thoughts on the pop diva. These will be shown in the form of short films.

Houston was found dead on February 11 in a luxury Beverly Hills hotel bathtub on the eve of the music industry’s annual Grammy Awards show. Coroners concluded she died by accidental drowning, with cocaine use and heart disease as contributing factors. She was 48.

Houston sold more than 170 million records during a near three-decade career, but in later years fought a long and public battle against substance abuse while trying to keep her performing talent alive.

In 1992, she starred alongside Kevin Costner in the movie “The Bodyguard”for which she sang “I will always love you.”The exhibit is due to run through February 2013.

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