Guns N’ Roses recently announced plans for expanded editions of their landmark debut album, Appetite for Destruction. But even the $999 Locked N’ Loaded version — which includes skull rings and temporary tattoo replicas of the band members’ ink — will be missing something. Along with unreleased demos and other rarities, every song from the 1988 G N’ R Lies EP is included, except the controversial “One in a Million,” which featured flagrantly racist, homophobic and anti-immigrant lyrics (graphic epithets and all) that now make it sound like a National Anthem for a certain emboldened segment of Trump’s America. Though obviously having second thoughts now, Axl Rose never completely backed off of his defense of the track.
WARM: Don’t Forget About Drai
Super-rich Hip Hop legend Dr. Dre finally suffered a loss recently, after his lawyers’ attempt to block Dr. Draion Burch’s efforts to trademark “Dr. Drai” and “Doctor Drai OBGYN and Media Personality” were dismissed. The trademark office apparently didn’t buy the argument that the flashy gynecologist’s use of the terms might confuse consumers so much that they’d buy Dr. Drai’s books like 20 Things You May Not Know About the Vagina and 20 Things You May Not Know About the Penis, thinking they were a part of Dre’s latest career move. Going from Hip Hop innovator to headphones tycoon was unexpected, but pivoting to “superstar OBGYN pundit” seems more like something Kanye would do.
COLD: Streaming Value
As music sales decline and streaming booms, charting and sales trackers have had to adjust to stay relevant. Billboard began weighing streaming numbers into the charting equation in 2014, and this summer marks the first major adjustment to the formula. Beginning June 29, songs and albums streamed by paid subscribers to services like Apple Music and Spotify will count more than those streamed for free. Previously, 1,500 streams would count as one album sale on the Billboard 200; once the changes kick in, 1,250 paid streams will equal one sale unit, but it will take 3,750 free-tiered streams to equal the same.
