When everybody extra!!
It was a busy weekend for the entertainment world. Frank Ocean found himself in a bit of a conundrum after last weekend’s surprise releases. Rihanna accepted the Vanguard Award at MTV's VMAs and reminded us that we need to work work work work work harder. The notorious bed of wax figures from Kanye’s “Famous” video are now available for a very up close and personal look, and Facebook continues its quest for internet domination. Here’s what you missed over the weekend.
Boys May Cry After All
It's only been one week since Frank Ocean released both his Apple exclusive visual album Endless, and Blonde—the long-awaited, 17-track junior album featuring the hit single, "Nikes." However, the releases come at a time of transition and restriction. Endless was released as a means of settling any remaining contractual obligations between Ocean and Def Jam, so that he could independently release Blonde from his own label, Boys Don’t Cry. However, the rush to make the work available to the masses may have cost Ocean a few well-deserved accolades and certainly a lot of money.
Unlike Beyonce's Lemonade, which had both a Tidal exclusive stream and an accompanying physical album release, Endless does not offer any form of purchasable option. There is no means of quantifying the 45-minute virtual album’s success compared to monetary sales figures, unfortunately making the glorious work of art ineligible for both the Music Video Sales Chart and Billboard 200. As a result of Ocean's departure from the recording company, Universal Music Group has decided that it will no longer offer streaming exclusives. Further complicating the situation, Blonde, which is also currently an Apple exclusive release, is receiving similar fan treatment to Kanye West's TLOP, having been illegally downloaded more than 750,000 times in only 6 days! That number is only representative of entire album downloads, not even taking into account individual singles. West still reigns supreme at 500,000 in 24 hours.
Queen Rihanna Gets Her Crown
Every year at the MTV Video Music Awards, one artist or music video director is nominated to receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. Also known as the Lifetime Achievement Award, the recipient is chosen based on their personal contributions to the music industry and pop culture. Previous recipients of the award include The Beatles, David Bowie, the Beastie Boys, and director Hype Williams. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year is none other than the captain of her “Navy,” Rihanna herself. Congratulations, Bad Gal RiRi!
The 2016 Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award recipient, @rihanna https://t.co/vD4t73xgnG
— MTV (@MTV) August 29, 2016
Since bursting on to the scene back in 2005, The Barbadian beauty has released eight major studio albums and has had 14 singles reach number one on the Billboard 100 chart, which subsequently earned her eight Grammy Awards, nine American Music Awards (including the Icon Award), twelve Billboard Music Awards, four iHeart Music Awards, and two BRIT Awards. Between albums and touring, she’s appeared in nine movies and is currently filming her tenth. She’s sold over 200 million records worldwide, 10 million of which are stateside alone. Did we mention that she’s only 28-years-old? As always, Rihanna continues to effortlessly proves that she is a force to be reckoned with.
Kanye's secret "Famous" Art Exhibit
Originally a secret made known to only the most exclusive of invitees and the Kardashian clan, Los Angeles' Blum & Poe dedicated their gallery space to housing those 12 eerily realistic wax figures from Kanye West's "Famous" video. Remember them? Those sculptures look so real in fact that at the time of the video's premiere, it was hard to distinguish between who was playing themselves in the infamous visual piece, and what was actually just a really good mannequin.
Kim Kardashian and little sister Kendall Jenner arrived this past Friday night for a private viewing of the work of art—gigantic bed included. The famous sisters took photos and Snapchats of the bedded friends and foes, ranging from Kardashian and West, to Amber Rose and even Anna Wintour. Someone's upcoming Met Gala invite was most definitely lost in the mail this year. West himself wasn't in attendance, but instead chose to telecommute via video chat, even taking a few moments to flirt with his wife over the airwaves.
Facebook Domination
Back in June, Facebook went public with its plans to delve further into online gaming and join forces with gaming pioneers, Blizzard Entertainment, and the partnership went live this weekend. For those who don’t know, Blizzard is home to legendary titles like World of Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, and Overwatch. Facebook—last they counted—is home to more than 1.6 billion users. That’s a quarter of Earth’s population! The purpose of the high-profile union? To create a video game live stream on the world’s most accessible social media platform, capable of competing with the likes of Amazon’s well-known steaming channel, Twitch. Streaming is a lucrative business, as Twitch alone brings in an average of 1.7 million users who stream, and roughly 100 million people who watch the broadcasts.
The concept—still in it’s infancy stages—is meant to be simple: video game enthusiasts just need to log into their personal Facebook account, select a title for the current course of adventure, choose the ideal settings, and then presto! Users are showing off those newly acquired skills via-Facebook Live! If it happens to be a day of rest for the thumbs, one can opt to view other streams instead. Of course, there are still a few technical kinks to work out, but the duo seems up to the task of making accessibility and gameplay more efficient. At the moment, the only countries where the live stream is supported are Southeast Asia, North and South America, New Zealand, and Australia. Because Twitch is the biggest and most widely accessed location for live action streams, many well-known professional players are locked into contracts with the platform; however, some companies are flexible and allow their clients to roam over to other sites. With Facebook's 650 million users who already play games on the site, they should have no problems swaying at least a few people to make the leap into the new realm.
