Taylor Swift Breaks Records | Nicki Minaj Wins Big 👀

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POP MUSIC
TAYLOR SWIFT BREAKS RECORDS WITH 1989 (Taylor’s Version)

Taylor Swift has done it again. The pop superstar has delivered another smash hit with her re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor’s Version), which was released on October 27, 2023. The album, which features 19 tracks, including five bonus songs from the vault and a new version of “Bad Blood” featuring Kendrick Lamar, has topped the Billboard 200 chart with a staggering 1.3 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending November 2, 2023, according to Luminate.

This is not only Swift’s ninth number one album, but also the biggest sales week for any album in 10 years, since Adele’s 25 in 2015, which sold 3.38 million copies in its first week. Swift also broke the record for the biggest vinyl sales week of the 21st century, with 270,000 copies sold of 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The previous record holder was Jack White’s Lazaretto, which sold 40,000 copies in its debut week in 2014.

Swift’s fans, also known as Swifties, have shown their support and loyalty by buying multiple copies of the album, which was available in 15 collectible physical formats, including CDs, cassettes, and vinyls, each with different artwork and liner notes. The album also benefited from the buzz generated by the release of the 10-minute version of “All Too Well”, which was accompanied by a short film directed by Swift and starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. The song, which is widely believed to be about Swift’s ex-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal, has sparked a lot of reactions and memes on social media.

1989 (Taylor’s Version) is the fourth re-recorded album that Swift has released as part of her ongoing effort to regain control of her master recordings, which were sold by her former label Big Machine to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in 2019, and then to Shamrock Holdings in 2020. Swift has previously released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in April 2021, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) in July 2021, and Red (Taylor’s Version) in August 2021. She plans to re-record her remaining albums, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, and Evermore, in the future.

1989 (Taylor’s Version) has surpassed the performance of the original 1989, which was released in 2014 and sold 1.29 million copies in its first week. The original album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2016, making Swift the first woman to win the award twice. The original album also spawned seven top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Shake It Off”, “Blank Space”, “Style”, “Bad Blood”, “Wildest Dreams”, “Out of the Woods”, and “New Romantics”.

Swift has proven once again that she is one of the most influential and successful artists of all time, with a loyal fan base and a creative vision that transcends genres and generations. She has also shown that she is a fierce advocate for artists’ rights and a role model for women in the music industry. We can’t wait to see what she does next.

CULTURE
NiCKI MINAJ WINS BIG

The award show -- which was slated to take place on Nov. 5 in Paris, France -- was canceled amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The winners of the 2023 MTV Europe Music Awards have been announced and artists like Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, and Jung Kook top the list of the celebrated award recipients.

On Sunday, organizers behind the event -- which was canceled amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war -- shared the full list of winners on the day that the awards show was slated to take place.

Swift, coming off of one of the hottest years in her career thanks to her rerecorded albums and her record-breaking Eras Tour, picked up three wins in total for Best Video, Best Artist, and Best Live. She also received two nominations for Best Song for "Anti-Hero" and Best Pop Artist.

Minaj -- nominated for three total awards -- won two, including Best Hip Hop Artist and Best U.S. Act. She was also nominated for Best Artist.

COUPLE
CAMILA CABELLO AND MALUMA SHARED PHOTO

Are they smashing or nah?