A Third the Way Through: How's 2011 Been?

At the end of 2010, Katy Perry was atop the singles charts in America and several other national charts, while Susan Boyle capitalized on what worked with her debut album as she secured her reign atop the album charts around the world for a second holiday season. But exactly how the first few months of 2011 would shape out would surely be an interesting ride.

The big story thus far this year has been Adele's enormous success. Having the strongest first week sales of any album this year and being the first album of 2011 to cross the platinum barrier, Adele's 21 has officially confirmed that her transatlantic journey proved to be successful. Add to that the growing momentum of her lead single "Rolling in the Deep," she may be the first British female with a number one album and single since Leona Lewis accomplished that feat in 2008.

Another major story was Britney Spears's return to music. Her lead single "Hold It Against Me" would preform quite well on the charts, debuting at number one on the Hot 100 with over 400,000 copies sold in its first seven days on digital music media. Unfortunately, the song strong entrance on the charts would be short-lived as the song rapidly fell off the charts (largely because of the absence of any promotion). March would prove to be far better as the album debuted at number one, her sixth chart-topper and the youngest artist to do so.

Katy Perry's 5th Week at Number One; "Judas" & "Girls" Tumble

Katy Perry' "E.T." spends a fifth week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after selling another 300,000 copies this week. This is the fourth week the song has pushed 300k or more and its seventh week atop the Hot Digital Songs chart. Equally impressive is the song has spent a second week atop the Radio Songs chart, making it even less likely that the song will be overtaken atop these charts anytime soon.

Although Perry's reign atop the charts is impressive, a charging late-bloomer is rapidly catapulting up the charts in the form of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Although the song was released in late November, the song has steadily risen up the charts. This week the song, who undersold "E.T." by just a few hundred copies, rises to number two on the charts.

Interestingly enough, some of the most highly anticipated songs have not performed as many might have expected. Lady Gaga's controversial "Judas" falls out of the top ten Digital Songs chart from 9-16 (81,000), while Beyonce's lead single from her upcoming fourth album falls 23-39 with 47,000 sold. Their exact spots on the Billboard Hot 100 will be released tomorrow.

Check out the rest of the top five on the Hot 100 below.

REVIEW: "Love?" by Jennifer Lopez

For Jennifer Lopez, musical innovation and artistic originality have largely taken a backseat in her career to make room for mainstream profitability. J.Lo's debut album On The 6 was a latin-pop infused R&B/crossover album that had a few gems amid a monotonous sea of average ballads, while the follow-up albums followed suit with the same recycled formula of money-making collaborations. While Love? is not much of a stark contrast from what has defined Jennifer's aristry hitherto, there is a greater cohesion with her seventh studio album that makes this go around that much more refreshing.

One of the first things evident with this album is the prominence of eurodance beats, something well executed by Lopez with "Waiting for Tonight." Although the former single was a riskier choice back in 2000 when dance music entered a period of dormancy in pop radio, it is a particularly strong direction for Lopez who has always been revered for her stage-strutting abilities as opposed to her vocal acrobatics. Opening with the international smash "On The Floor," the album seems more fitting for a title such as that song as opposed to the interrogative title with which its currently branded. Song after song, the album best unravels when heavy synths and bouncy chord progressions dominate the melody.

REVIEW: "Run The World (Girls)" by Beyonce

With songs like "Diva" and "Upgrade U," Beyonce has the vocal power and swagger strut to translate lyrics on the page into forceful anthems. While it has proven to be a successful recipe for her on number of occasions, "Run The World (Girls)" is not exactly one of them.


The song, which samples the instrumental of Major Lazer's "Pon De Floor," does get some positive points for the beat. With a thumping, marching band style percussion, the energy of the song is largely influenced by the heavy drum rolls and thunderous chants. Add to that an opening chorus of resounding "Girls, we run this mother," Beyonce effectively introduces the songs as equal parts anthem and club banger.

NEW MUSIC: "Girls (Who Run The World)" by Beyonce

Beyonce's lead single off her upcoming fourth studio album has leaked in full on the internet and here it is. I will give my opinion in a few. Check below the cut for the song.

SINGLE REVIEW - "Judas" by Lady Gaga

In biblical terms, Judas is the Benedict Arnold of the New Testament and one of the most vile perpetrators of betrayal history has ever known. But in the pop world, Judas takes on a more positive, upbeat, dancetastic meaning in the form of another guaranteed hit from Gaga's upcoming LP. Accidently leaked onto the internet this morning (a week before Good Friday coincidentally?), Interscope Records made a split-second decision to release the song to iTunes and now eager monsters sit with there fingers pressed on the refresh button to see in realtime its rapid ascent up the charts.

Katy Perry Covers Gaga "Born This Way"

Katy Perry is one of those performers whose voice works best against stripped acoustic instrumentals. This is no more evident than with her recent performance of Lady Gaga's number one hit, "Born This Way."