Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
Ed Sheeran is closing out 2021 with a major achievement under his belt. On Wednesday (Dec. 22), the singer posted a video to his Instagram announcing that his 2017 hit “Shape of You” has become the first song in Spotify’s history to reach 3 billion streams.
“I’ve just heard ‘Shape of You’ has reached 3 billion streams on Spotify, which is absolutely insane. I remember this song hitting a billion and thinking that that was weird,” Sheeran said. “The first song to hit 3 billion streams and I’m really, really chuffed with it. Thank you, Spotify, for your support over the years. We’ve had a great 10 years together and hopefully, we have a great 10 years more.”
The 30-year-old also took a brief moment to share some backstory on how the track became a single in the first place, revealing that he went back and forth with Ben Cook — former president of Atlantic Records UK who signed Sheeran — about making “Shape of You” the first single from his 2017 album, ÷ (Divide).
“The song wasn’t meant to make the album … the album wasn’t done, and when I finished the song, Ben Cook from my record label was basically saying, ‘You have to put this on the album, it has to be a single.’ I said to him, ‘I want ‘Castle on the Hill’ to be the first single, that’s going to be bigger,'” Sheeran explained. “We agreed to disagree and put both songs out at once, and I have to say that Ben, I was wrong and you were very much right.”
“Shape of You” would go on to spend a total of 59 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; the tracked stayed at the No. 1 spot for 12 weeks. (“Castle on the Hill,” in comparison, peaked at No. 6 on the chart and enjoyed 33 weeks on the Hot 100.) The success of “Shape of You” — alongside “Castle on the Hill” and “Perfect” — helped ÷ become Sheeran’s second longest charting album to date, spending a total of 250 weeks on the Billboard 200.
Watch Sheeran celebrate his Spotify milestone below.
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Emani Ellis’ $24 million lawsuit against Bronx rapper Cardi B didn’t go the way she had hoped. After about a week of trial, it took the 12-person jury less than an hour to dismiss the case entirely, rejecting her claims across the board.
Fast forward to Friday, October 31, Ellis is now trying for a second chance, according to MyNewsLA. Her attorney has submitted new paperwork to Judge Ian Fusselman, requesting a fresh hearing set for December 5. The main argument centers on claims that the jury didn’t have sufficient evidence to quickly clear Cardi B of any liability.
For now, that request hasn’t been approved.
The dispute traces back to an incident on February 24, 2018, at a Wilshire Boulevard OB-GYN clinic. At the time, Ellis was working as a security guard at the building when she encountered Cardi B, who was in the early stages of pregnancy — something that wasn’t yet known publicly.
Ellis accused the rapper of physically and verbally assaulting her, alleging that Cardi used racial insults during the encounter. She claimed to have suffered lasting emotional trauma, including PTSD, anxiety, and insomnia. Her lawsuit included allegations of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and false imprisonment.
Cardi B has always maintained that the situation never became physical. However, she acknowledged that she did call Ellis a “b*tch.” “It was a verbal altercation. She didn’t hit me. I didn’t hit her. There was no touch. So, to me it wasn’t no incident,” Cardi explained.
After winning the case, the rapper warned that she would no longer tolerate what she sees as baseless lawsuits. “This time around, I’m going to be nice. The next person to try to do a frivolous lawsuit against me, I’m going to countersue, and I’m going to make you pay because this is not okay,” she said.
Reports from September suggested that Ellis intended to appeal the verdict, and her latest filing shows that effort is still underway.
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