Taylor's Swift Jump to Number 1

Amid little promotion, Taylor Swift's Fearless album was re-released today with six new songs, all of which have exploded into the top 20 on iTunes the day of its release, including the iTunes number 1 "Jump Then Fall."

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It seems that the country music starlet can do absolutely no wrong, proving over and over again to outsell some of the biggest names in music today. The soft, guitar-driven "Jump Then Fall" is a great country-pop track that at first listen may not scream pop radio number one like "Love Story" or "You Belong with Me." However, with repeated listens, you grow to appreciate the musical genius, lyricist, and instrumentalist that this teenager (yes, teenager) has become. The Fearless: Platinum Edition is reloaded with six new tracks that each contribute in their own unique way to the re-release. Based on how well these songs are currently doing on iTunes, Ms. Swift is poised to tie a record she has already achieved with this album: 7 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the same chart week. Congrats to Taylor.

Chris Brown's "I Can Transform Ya" Video Premiere

Chris Brown premiered the video to his single "I Can Transform Ya" today on MTV.com, featuring Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz.

The video clearly shows that Chris Brown, although still repairing the damage sustained in the recent past, has no intention of disappointing his fanbase. The bravado of the lyrics are completely outshined by bravado of the choreography and special effects of the music video. It pretty much has everything you could ask for from a Chris Brown music video: a thumping R&B beat, immaculate choreography, a Weezy verse, sophisticated CGI, and convenient shots of a bare-chested Breezy. The video is certainly appropriate for the song and the dancing in the video attempts to remind those who are iffy about supporting Chris of his undeniable talent as one of the best dancers in the industry. And if Chris is able to accomplish that, this is a huge step in the effort to restore his charm in the hearts of defected listeners and customers. Overall, a nice video from C. Breezy.

Lady Gaga Radio Interview About "The Fame Monster"

Lady Gaga was interviewed this morning on the Elvis Duran and the Morning Zoo show to promote her upcoming sophomore album, The Fame Monster, scheduled to be released on November 23rd.

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During the interview, she describes the new album, which is now officially considered a second studio-album instead of the re-release of her platinum selling debut album The Fame. She gets personal about her father's lifesaving heart operation that she recently paid for and the song "Speechless," inspired by these events, along with a promise to promote and tour for this album for an equal amount of time as was done for The Fame.

I was a little surprised by the decision to stop promotion for The Fame, considering several songs on the album that I feel had the potential to do very well on the charts ("Starstruck", "Money Honey", "Paper Gangsta") and boost sales of her debut album. Regardless, her new single "Bad Romance" is already racing up the iTunes chart and currently sits at number two. The Gaga camp can rest assured that it will likely debut within the top ten next week on the Billboard Hot 100 and it will be interesting to see how it will chart in the other international markets that it has been released in.

She also talked a little more about the collaboration her and Beyonce did on the song "Telephone" and the soon-to-be-released video for "Video Phone." Sounds like fun!

Rihanna's "Rated R" Album Cover Unveiled

Earlier today, R&B singer Rihanna's new album cover for her fourth studio-album, entitled Rated R, hit the internet today.

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The evocative cover, shot earlier this month by Ellen von Werth, continues the dark nature of the artwork of her single, "Russian Roulette," and the general direction the album is speculated to follow. Furthermore, it channels the artistic direction of the photo-shoot Rihanna did for Vogue Italia a couple of months back.

Although she does look beautiful on the cover, it doesn't strike me as anything too provocative and pales in comparison to the striking cover of "Russian Roulette." Of course, covers have very little to do with album sales but it is interesting that the two divas - Rihanna and Lady Gaga -expected to duel it out for the top spot on the Billboard 200 on November 23rd are both sporting black and white album covers. It is an interesting cover nonetheless.

Whose album cover is better, Rihanna's or Lady Gaga's?