January 3, 2013 – First! The Red dawn continues as Taylor Swift tops the Billboard 200 list for a seventh nonconsecutive week since its October 22 debut. Her fourth album did gangbusters (241,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan) in the days following the pre-Christmas shopping boom, losing only 12 percent in sales while the week overall saw a 23 percent dip. She had the highest selling LP released in 2012 with 3.11 million units moved in about three months' time, and was bested only by Adele's indomitable 2011 set 21 (4.41 million sold this past year), which will no doubt soon be issued to babies as they exit the womb, on account of everyone currently alive on this earth already owning it. No worries though, because Tay and Addie are currently tied for career No.

January 3, 2013 – Update: Frank Ocean has commented via Twitter. See below.Frank Ocean was pulled over for speeding in Mono County, California, on New Year's Eve and wound up with a ticket for marijuana possession. According to TMZ, the fella behind SPIN's Album of the Year was doing "roughly 90 in a 65." When cops approached his black BMW, they caught a whiff of weed and so searched Ocean, revealing "a small bag of pot on his person."He was also cited for driving on a suspended license, which was confiscated, and for having tinted windows. While he was momentarily detained in the back of a police car (Ocean posted the photo to Instagram), he was eventually released with the caveat that his unidentified passenger take the wheel. Mono County is located between the Yosemite National Park and the Nevada border. It's quite nice to visit this time of year.That's the entire story. All of it.

January 3, 2013 – The xx's "Sunset" can make the entire case for Coexist's subtle majesty all by its lonesome. As SPIN's Puja Patel writes, producer Jamie xx "has all but mastered this aesthetic, couching melancholy vocals in gripping basslines and faded, knocking drums, along with enough melodic riffs to create a perfectly balanced and soulful tension." Beneath all that lies a dance song held down by the song's tautness, but Jamie lets it loose in the above remix. That four previously so gently hitting the floor becomes a genuine thumping, the bass heats up, and cool compressed atmosphere flows in. Mr.

January 3, 2013 – Wooden Wand, a.k.a. James Jackson Toth, is a hard dude to pin down. Depending on the day of the week, a listener might discover outlaw alt-folk (2010's Death Seat), rowdy rock'n'roll (2011's Briarwood), or something else entirely. His brand new album, Blood Oaths of the New Blues, flouts expectation again by delivering a gorgeous set of sprawling songs with a comfortably minimalist and hi-fi feel.

January 3, 2013 – Arguably, a large part of Kendrick Lamar's undeniable charm is the fact that he isn't a shoo-in for presiding judge over, say, a wet T-shirt contest or a twerking competition. On his excellent good kid, m.A.A.d.

January 2, 2013 – So that's Lil Wayne's new face tattoo — the one that says "BAKED" — consider yourself enlightened, thanks to LilWayneHQ. Despite our initial theories, the, ahem, loaded word is not a reference to Weezy's unusual courtroom performance last September. Rather, it's a clever (?) play on the logo of Baker Skateboards, arguably one of the rapper's competitors since he's entered the streetwear apparel game with his own Trukfit brand. As Wayne explained to HipHopDX in August, "I picked up the skateboard and I thought it would be a hobby, but it’s a lifestyle. You have to be fully committed. In order to be fully committed, you have to live that lifestyle. What these young kids say right now, you have to be about that life. I guess I’m about that life.

January 2, 2013 – It's a big week for a Big Boi. Not only has the Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors mastermind dropped the video for his ratchet-ass Atlanta-repping single "In the A," he's announced that he'll be recording vocals for a new version of Frank Ocean's "Pink Matter." The original recording of the song — found on SPIN's Album of the Year, channel ORANGE — features General Patton's former OutKast compatriot André 3000.

January 2, 2013 – Last month, famous Miami nightclub Mansion booted DJ Shadow from the hip-hop trailblazer's own show a mere 20 minutes into his set. Promoters have since apologized for the gaffe — apparently originally inspired by dude's disinterest in playing the hits — and promised "changes within our organization," which we can only hope means firing anyone who'd dare whisper into the legendary turntablist's ear while he's doing his thing.Shadow made a promise following the incident as well: that he'd upload the set to SoundCloud so that "every1 can enjoy," and now w3 all can thanks to the stream and download below. The origin of the "All Basses Covered" mix, which deeply explores the gamut of contemporary bass music, lies with the DJ's summer sets at the San Francisco iteration of Los Angeles' highly respected Low End Theory club.

January 2, 2013 – Toro Y Moi's third album arrives on January 22 and it's shaping up to be yet another evolution of the chillwave originator's bewitching sound. The first taste of Anything in Return came in October with "So Many Details," a hazy mashup of intimate R&B and woozy synth work. New single "Say That" laces a jazz-sourced sample with bells and whistles borrowed from house music, and Chazwick Bundick's detached declaration that, "She's alright, I'm alright / They're alright, we can't go back."As with the video for "Details," this latest clip plays with juxtaposition. Then, it was Bundick's visible discontent despite being surrounded by extreme comfort and wealth. Now, we see our hero singing, dancing, and otherwise hanging out (pun intended) all by his lonesome in nature.

January 2, 2013 – Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby doesn't hit theaters until May 10, but it's already one of the most anticipated films of the new year, and the source of much speculation. Last month we picked apart the two official trailers for hints on which songs the soundtrack would contain. Now it turns out the inclusion of Watch the Throne's "No Church in the Wild" was a portent as Jay-Z is producing the film's score.According to Jeymes Samuel a.k.a. the Bullitts and, um Seal's brother, he and Jigga are hard at work on the music for Gatsby. Though Samuel's work is better known in the U.K., he made some international waves in 2010 when he released the first Bullitts single, "Close Your Eyes," featuring rapper Jay Electronica (signed to Hova's Roc Nation imprint) and narration from actress Lucy Liu.