Special Contributor: All Bizness

ARTIST THIS WEEK TOTAL SALES TO DATE

#1 Mariah Carey 181,889 646,101
#2 Leona Lewis 95,623 395,855
#3 Flight of the Conchords 51,133 52,370
#4 Ashlee Simpson 47,387 47,497
#5 Atmosphere 36,378 36,526
#6 Now That’s What I Call Music 32,224 584,161
#7 Juno 30,738 673,535
#8 George Strait 28,969 292,749
#9 Taylor Swift 26,830 2,842,503
#10 Phil Vassar 26,692 26,834

Hmmmmmmm… Were people really doing these Behind The Scenes of the video and going hard with it before we started doing that? Anyway… here is the Behind The Scenes Footage from Usher’s latest video -

 The playoffs are getting uglier by the minute…and I LOVE IT!!!By Marcel Mutoni/Slam 

MIAMI (AP) - On the night of his last game as an NBA head coach, Pat Riley heard the final buzzer, looked straight ahead and briskly walked away.

Deep down, he knew it was over.”I didn’t have to look back,” Riley said. “I know that’s behind me.”

And now, after spending several days plotting the Miami Heat’s next course, Riley’s past becomes Erik Spoelstra’s future.

The Hall of Fame coach resigned Monday, although he’ll remain team president. His first act as Miami’s former coach was to choose its new one, and hired Spoelstra, a 37-year-old who started in the Heat video room in 1995 and now becomes the NBA’s youngest coach.

Riley sees himself in Spoelstra.

Riley was 36 when he first became a head coach, and didn’t have any experience either. His first off-the-court job in the NBA was traveling secretary for the Los Angeles Lakers, handling boarding passes. Spoelstra also was at the bottom of the Heat totem pole when starting out, making videos for the team Christmas party, but Riley is convinced he’s ready for the top job.

By SEKOU SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Joe Johnson’s big night helps Atlanta even series

How’s that for a menacing gesture?

The Hawks barely made the playoff field, sporting the fewest wins of any team in the 16-team field.

And now they don’t want to go away quietly.

Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson won’t allow it.

He and Josh Smith willed the Hawks to a stunning 97-92 Game 4 win over top-seeded Boston in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series before a rowdy sellout crowd of 20,016 Monday night at Philips Arena. The two combined to score all 32 points in the fourth quarter as the Hawks pulled even in the series at 2-2 with Game 5 Wednesday in Boston.

Johnson scored 20 of his career playoff-high 35 points in the fourth quarter as the Hawks overcame a 10-point deficit to win for the second straight night before a home crowd that went without playoff basketball for nine years.

The Hawks also guaranteed there will be at least one more playoff game here this season by winning Monday. Game 6 will be here Friday night.

From the upcoming Paper Trail album. Shit is FIRE!

No Matter What

Ludacris is a man of many talents. He has been in the mix as of late with things outside of music. His latest venture is a new restaraunt: Straits, which opened last week in Atlanta. There were two interesting articles written about Luda… check them out:

From The Atlanta Peach

Whenever I dedicate myself to something, I never say, ‘Oh, I am a celebrity, I am sure its going to be successful,’ ” says Chris “Ludacris” Bridges. Of course, the 30-year-old entertainment mogul says this while sitting poolside at his palatial southwest Atlanta estate. So far, he has been a success. However, it’s the eve of the opening of his new venture, Straits—the fourth restaurant in a chain made popular in California by chef Chris Yeo—and although this Georgia State University graduate has a healthy track record of achievement, the restaurant industry is entirely new territory for him. The Grammy-winning rapper and star of Oscar-winning films Crash and Hustle & Flow is admittedly anxious, but confident nonetheless. His assurance lies in preparation and partnership. “I always do my homework. But, [being] nervous makes you work harder. I want to share my experiences with the world, but only [working] with the best people in the business.”

We covered the making of the video a few weeks back… now the video is ready. Check it out:

On The Set - Dream Feat. Young Jeezy - “I Love Your Girl”

A woman stabbed while talking during ANTM! WTF indeed….

A woman was brutally stabbed last Wednesday because she wouldn’t stop talking during an episode of  “America’s Next Top Model.” The 42-year-old was watching the program with a group of friends at a Columbia City apartment near Seattle, WA.

Another woman told the victim to stop talking, but got a refusal according to SeattlePI.com. She then opened the apartment door and demanded that the talker leave - a move that escalated the situation into a physical altercation. At some point during the fight the woman retrieved a paring knife from a nearby table and began stabbing the talker in the chest. Others in the group then pulled the knife away and the assailant ran off, according to police reports.

Medics were called and the victim was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where donor blood was needed because the stab wounds were so severe, said police spokesman Jeff Kappel.

Police found a clump of hair that was snatched out during the fight in a garbage can, but did not find a weapon. The suspect is still at large.

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - A “Soul Train” movie is on track to arrive in movie theaters next year, the creator of the venerable urban dance television show said.

Don Cornelius told Reuters that he has teamed up with Warner Bros. Pictures to develop a buddy comedy that he hopes will spawn multiple sequels.

The project, currently called “Soul Train: The Movie,” revolves around two male dancers on the show who get into “a lot of good stuff and some bad stuff as well,” said Cornelius, who will serve as a producer.

It features “lots of music, lots of comedy,” he added, as well as “a little bit of violence.” He also promised it would be “more than slightly sensual.”

“‘Soul Train’ has always been about sexuality,” Cornelius said. “It’s almost never been about guys, and almost always about girls. It’s what has kept us afloat for these three decades or so.”

A first draft is being written by rookie scribe J. Gil Williams, and is due to be turned in next month. No director or cast are attached yet. Cornelius declined to disclose a budget. Although he hosted “Soul Train” for its first 22 years, the former Chicago radio DJ will not appear in front of the camera.