Pop Shots
Major Doings
By: Adam Bernard
Last updated June 29th , 2011

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Justin Bieber's attempt to be on every girl in the world, to a famous jacket doing very well on the auction market, to Katy Perry doing something that will put her on a list with Michael Jackson, and since it's Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Who wants to smell like a Bieber? The young singer is hoping the answer to that question is "everybody" as he just released his second fragrance, Someday. Someday is just for the ladies and we can only assume it's named after the misguided notion notion many of his female fans have that they'll one day marry him. The fragrance is a follow up to the unisex My World and his, I kid you not, branded line of nail polish. Unfortunately for his fans, barring a rock star-like trip down the road of sexual deviancy, this is the closest most of them will ever get to having Justin Bieber all over their body.

* Here's a pretty simple notion; if you're one of the biggest reggae singers of all-time, don't look for secondary employment in the illegal drug world. Sadly, Buju Banton did just that and last week was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for a conviction on a cocaine conspiracy charge. Ten years was actually the minimum he could have received, the maximum being 151 months. It will be interesting to see how the fiercely homophobic singer does in lock up. One thing's for sure, we're probably not going to see an episode of Glee based on his music anytime soon.

* Early predications for a music memorabilia auction had Michael Jackson's iconic red leather jacket from his "Thriller" video going for between 200k and 400k. They weren't even close. It went for $1.8 million. According to CNN.com, part of the proceeds from the sale will go toward the Shambala Preserve where Jackson's two Bengal tigers, Thriller and Sabu, have been living for the past five years. In a related story, I found a jacket at thrift store for WAY less than that.

* Remember all that East Coast - West Coast beef in hip-hop in the late 90s, much of which was fabricated by only a handful of people? In the clearest indication that the two original warring parties are now cool, this past Friday Dr. Dre presented P. Diddy with the ASCAP Founders award at the 24th ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards. For those who aren't familiar with the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards, they're a little bit like the BET Awards, except they hand them to talented individuals instead of people who beat up their girlfriend or murder animals.

* When you're in a group called Sexual Harassment lawsuits probably aren't foreign territory to you. This turned out to be the case for old school rappers Orrin Lynn Tolliver Jr. and James McCants, who, as Sexual Harassment, recorded a song called "I Need A Freak" back in 1983. McCants registered the song with BMI, credited Tolliver as the songwriter, and agreed to pay him 75% of royalties. A funny thing happened when a little song called "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas became a huge hit, though, Tolliver heard the sample, but wasn't pleased as he'd issued McCants a cease and desist letter back in 2000. He also, apparently, wasn't getting paid. Tolliver sued McCants for copyright infringement, and because McCants couldn't keep his story straight Tolliver walked away with nearly $817k in profits he was owed and nearly 370k in damages for infringement. Something tells me next time McCants will find a less expensive option when he's craving some lovely lady lumps.

* Katy Perry is about to do something that will place her in an elite category of artists. "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" is rocketing up the charts and if it hits number one, which it more than likely will, it will be the fifth single off of Teenage Dream to reach the top spot. The last artist to have five number one singles from the same album was Michael Jackson back in 1987 and 1988 when he did so with Bad. If Perry really wants to continue to match MJ's career heights her next goal will have to be finding a way to get Weird Al into a fat suit.


And with that, my time is up for the week, and my time is up on 101Distribution's website as the editorial section will be on hiatus for a while. If you're a loyal Pop Shots reader, however, I have good news for you – I'll be back next week, on my own site, www.adamsworldblog.com, with more shots on all things pop.

[Tags] POP

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