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Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa. Details recorded here should be sourced; unknown information is left blank.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
A lead single (or first single)[1][2] is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
A similar term, "debut single", is the first single released by a new artist.[3]
Artists often choose songs that are more up-tempo, yet representative of the album's sound, as lead singles. Such songs are often catchier and attract the attention of listeners. The subsequent single might then be slower in tempo, in order to demonstrate the range of the album. Female vocalists like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera often maintain a formula of an up-tempo first lead single with a slow ballad follow-up. For example, two singles were released by Miley Cyrus before her album Bangerz – an up-tempo track, "We Can't Stop", was released as the first, and a slow-ballad song, "Wrecking Ball", as the second. However, not all artists decide to choose their lead single with the up-tempo criteria. Artists may release a lead single that has a message they want to convey to listeners instead of a song with more commercial potential, such as Fall Out Boy who chose to release "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" over the radio-friendly "Thnks fr th Mmrs".[4]
Japanese artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro and B'z may release four to eight singles before their albums to achieve record-breaking debut-week sales. The lead singles in Japan are very heavily advertised and promoted, in some cases even more than the album itself. With album sales continuously declining in the United States, record labels often release singles before the album's release date to online music retailers including iTunes, ranging in price from $0.99 to $1.29. This trend has become increasingly popular in many markets.[citation needed]
In the late 2010s, artists began a trend of releasing multiple singles before eventually releasing a studio album. An unnamed A&R representative confirmed to Rolling Stone in 2018 that "an artist has to build a foundation to sustain" and adding that "When artists have one big record and go run with that, it doesn't work because they never had a foundation to begin with." The same article cited examples such as Cardi B, Camila Cabello and Jason Derulo releasing four or more singles before their album releases.[5]
In the 2000s, a common trend developed to release a lead single months in advance of the album release date. It has equally become common for further singles to be released before the release of the album. For example, Usher issued the lead single "Love in This Club" four months before the May 29, 2008, release of Here I Stand. The second single "Love in This Club Part II" was released one month before the album release date. Another example is Justin Timberlake's 2013 album, The 20/20 Experience, which was released on March 19, 2013. The first single off it is "Suit & Tie", released two months before the album hit stores. One month before the release of the album, another single called "Mirrors" was released.[6] Katy Perry released "California Gurls" as a single on May 7, 2010, and "Teenage Dream" on July 23, 2010, leading to the release of the album Teenage Dream on August 24, 2010. Ed Sheeran did something similar, releasing both "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill" as double lead singles from his album ÷, although these songs were both released on the same day, 6 January 2017.[7] The 1995 Oasis single "Some Might Say" would go on to appear on the group's second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, though at the time it was a standalone release, with "Roll with It" acting more as a lead single.
In South Korean music, the term "title track" is sometimes used interchangeably with "lead single". The term is used to describe an album's main promoted song, usually released on the same day as the album and promoted on South Korean music programs.[8][9] This term is used regardless of the song's title or whether or not it was the first single from an album to be released.[8] For example, "Boom Boom Bass" is considered the title track from Riize's 2024 extended play Riizing[10] despite not sharing a title with the EP, nor being the first single released from the album.
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut single", is the first single released by a new artist.
Lalisa is the debut single album by Thai rapper and singer Lisa. It was released on September 10, 2021, through YG Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album, a hip-hop record, was produced by Teddy, 24, and R.Tee, and was recorded at the Black Label, based in Seoul, South Korea. Bekuh Boom and Vince also received writing and arrangement credits on the album's tracks. Upon its release, the album received mixed reviews from music critics. Commercially, Lalisa debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart in South Korea, becoming the best-selling album by a female soloist at the time. Lalisa also set the record for the highest first-week sales among all female acts with 736,221 copies sold, before her bandmate Jisoo broke the record. It was certified double platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) in November 2021 for selling 500,000 copies, and was later certified triple platinum in August 2023 for selling 750,000 copies. "Lalisa" was released as the lead single on the same day the album was released. The song debuted at number two on the Billboard Global 200 and number 84 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The B-side track "Money" was sent to US contemporary hit radio on November 9 following its viral success and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Global 200 and at number 90 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2023, Lalisa earned a Guinness World Record for becoming the first album by a solo K-pop artist to reach one billion streams on Spotify.
In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album (LP). As the name suggests, a single typically contains only a single song, but they can sometimes have two. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standalone tracks or connected to an artist's album, and in the latter case would often have at least one single release before the album itself, called lead singles. The single was defined in the mid-20th century with the 45 (named after its speed in revolutions per minute), a type of 7-inch sized vinyl record containing an A-side and a B-side, i.e. one song on each side. The single format was highly influential in pop music and the early days of rock and roll, and it was the format used for jukeboxes and preferred by younger populations in the 1950s and 1960s. Singles in digital form became very popular in the 2000s. Distinctions for what makes a single have become more tenuous since the biggest digital music distributor, the iTunes Store, only accepts as singles releases with three tracks or fewer that are less than ten minutes each (with longer releases being classified as EPs or albums). However, releases which do not fit these criteria have been promoted as singles by artists and labels elsewhere, such as on Spotify and the Bandcamp storefront. Nowadays physically released music is mainly bought in the form of albums instead of singles. The most common physical formats of singles had been the 7-inch (45) vinyl records and the CD single, but singles have also been released on other formats such as 12-inch vinyl records, 10-inch shellac records, cassette single, and mini CD.
Mamamoo (Korean: 마마무; commonly stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed and managed by RBW. The group is composed of four members: Solar, Moonbyul, Wheein, and Hwasa. Known for their strong live vocals, harmonies, and writing much of their material, they are recognized as one of the premier girl groups in K-pop. They are highly regarded in the industry for their talent and ability to cross multiple genres with their music; from retro, jazz, and R&B concepts in their early years to more contemporary hip-hop, as well as emotional ballads. Since their debut in 2014, they have been noted for challenging conventional beauty standards, breaking gender stereotypes, and conducting themselves in ways that most typical K-pop stars do not. Mamamoo officially debuted on June 18, 2014, with their first extended play (EP) Hello, featuring the lead single "Mr. Ambiguous". Their debut was considered by critics as one of the best K-pop debuts of 2014. Mamamoo rose to domestic fame in 2015 with their single "Um Oh Ah Yeh", which became a sleeper hit and peaked at number three on the Gaon Digital Chart. Combined with their many appearances and victories on the music competition program Immortal Songs, this launched them into mainstream public recognition. Their popularity increased following the release of "You're the Best" from their debut studio album Melting (2016), which was a commercial success. In 2017, they made a splash on the international scene with their fifth EP, Purple. Its lead single "Yes I Am" earned them their first number one on the Billboard World Albums chart. The quartet went on to achieve consecutive hits with the singles "Starry Night" (2018), "Egotistic" (2018), and "Gogobebe" (2019), from their "Four Seasons, Four Colors" project in which every member took turns in becoming the focus for each album. This culminated in their biggest international success to date, "Hip" from their second studio album Reality in Black (2019), becoming a number-one hit on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. Their twelfth EP, Mic On (2022), was supported by the My Con World Tour (2022-2023), their first global concert tour. Following a period of reduced activity, the group returned in 2026 with the single "4 Flowers" and the 4ward World Tour. Mamamoo has received numerous accolades, most notably the Golden Disc Award for Best Group, the Mnet Asian Music Award for Best Vocal Group, multiple honors at the Seoul Music Awards, as well as the Gaon Chart Music Award for New Artist of the Year in their rookie year.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker