Facebook Takeover !

Last week was a major week for the social network Facebook. Not only did the social network celebrate it’s 6th year birthday, but also officially announced there are more than 400 million users.

That means in just over two months, the company has gained more than 50 million users. It took more than 4 years to get 100 million users, and since then Facebook’s population has been increasing and the speed that it’s growing is increasing as well.
interesting graph showing on average what Facebook did a day from the moment they hit 300 million users until last week’s 400 millionth user mark. On average, 700,000 new Facebook user accounts were created every day. That’s roughly 486 new accounts a minute or a little more than 8 accounts a second. Over all that equals 21 million users a month.

We already know that if Facebook were a nation, it would be the third most populous in the world. But to put the 21 million users into perspective, that’s more than New Zealand’s, Costa Rica’s, Ireland’s, Puerto Rico’s and the state of Iowa’s populations combined. That’s pretty significant.


Royal Pingdom’s chart also estimates that there will be about 630 million users by years end. Some experts predict even higher numbers, but those are all estimates for now. However, once the company hits 500 million users, that’s will be a major milestone. That’s half a billion users. As of right now with the 400 million users, that’s about a third of both China’s & India’s populations respectively.

Facebook also rolled out a new layout design last week, which now focuses on the search aspect of the social network along with creating an access column on the left side of the page which will take you virtually anywhere you want to go within Facebook.

Drake Success !

Drake, born Aubrey Graham to a white mother and a black father, was initially an actor. The 22-year-old spent seven seasons playing Jimmy, a basketball-star-turned-wheelchair-bound teen after a shooting, on the Canadian show, "Degrassi: The Next Generation." While tween soap operas aren't classically hip-hop, Drake had a salary to fund his first two mix tapes, 2006's "Room For Improvement," and 2007's "Comeback Season" along with his first video for "Replacement Girl." Meanwhile Jazz Prince, son of Rap-A-Lot Records' CEO J. Prince, coerced Lil Wayne's manager Cortez Bryant to sit in his car for five minutes and listen to this kid named Drake.

"He locked me in my car, and played me "Comeback Season," recalls Bryant. "I thought, 'Drake's tight, let's fly him to Atlanta for a meeting' and once I saw him, I knew he was the total package."

Soon after, Drake met with Lil Wayne, joined Young Money, a label/crew that Lil Wayne began in 2005, and garnered this advice, "You got to think about what you want to say beforehand," Drake told RollingStone.com. "The more important thing is, 'What's your message, What's your point?' That should be the bare essentials of a line or a verse."

Taking that advice, and hiring Wayne's manager, Bryant and Kanye's manager, Gee Roberson, Drake created January 2009's tipping point in the mix tape, "So Far Gone." To some, the street album's popularity unfortunately impacted after rap mag XXL photographed their coveted "Freshman 10" MC list, and Drake wasn't included.

However, I think this was a good thing. Without mainstream attention, this Canadian guy blew past everyone, from Wale, Jay-Z's protegé, to Kid Cudi, Kanye West's next up, virtually on his own. Of course, many say that Drake is benefiting from Lil Wayne's helping hand, except the New Orleans native has a full Young Money Records rooster, who has been waiting in the wings for years. So what's the difference?

Drake is successfully repeating Lil Wayne's pattern of incessant touring, recording, and rhyming. Not to mention, visually, he's perfect for Rihanna's latest crush and most importantly, the fledgling MC doesn't take his opportunity for granted. He has capitalized on the popularity of "So Far Gone" by touring colleges, guesting on numerous songs with artists like Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z, and finally the mainstream media came calling, proven by the madhouse during his first New York City show at S.O.B.'s in May.

Funny thing is, last week I read somewhere that this new rapper J.Cole, Jay-Z's new protege from his Live Nation label, RocNation (read: watch out Wale) could be the new Drake. Really? Being Hip-Hop's poster child isn't what it used to be.

In My Zone Episode 1