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    The Truth About Shady Music Facts

    Enjoy the tea, ladies.

    1. Kim Kardashian's sex tape has more views than Kanye West's last nine music videos.

    Kim Kardashian's sex tape has more views than Kanye West's last 9 music videos.

    Is this Shady Music Fact or Shady Music Fiction? This delightfully specific claim feels true. Kim Kardashian's sex tape has more views than roughly a third of her husband's videography. That seems right, but is it actually?

    Let's start with the "last nine videos" part of the "fact." Assuming the folks behind Shady Music Facts mean official music videos they're talking about the following clips:

    1. "Only One" (2015) — 24,087,381 views

    2. "Bound 2 (Explicit)" (2013) — 53,657,245 views*

    3. "BLKKK SKKKN HEAD (Explicit)" (2013) — 15,003,770 views

    4. "Mercy (Explicit)" (2012) — 77,631,702 views

    5. "No Church In The Wild" (2012) — 35,327,753 views

    6. "Lost In The World (ft. Bon Iver) [Explicit]" (2012) — 7,394,849 views

    7. "Ni**as In Paris (Explicit)" (2012) — 100,071,353 views

    8. "Otis (ft. Otis Redding)" (2011) — 79,073,846 views

    9. "All Of The Lights (ft. Rihanna and Kid Cudi)" (2011) — 123,891,190 views

    * Combined total for both the clean and explicit version of the video.

    The interesting thing about this list is that “All Of The Lights” isn’t just the most-watched of Kanye’s last nine videos, it’s the second most-watched video of his entire career. The only video with more views is "Stronger." Which means that if Shady Music Facts is right and Kim's sex tape has more views than "All Of The Lights," the porno is more popular than Kanye's last 14 releases and Shady Music Facts is actually guilty of not being shady enough.

    Last year, Vivid Entertainment told TMZ that Kim Kardashian Superstar is the "best-selling sex tape of all time" and has grossed over $50 million since the company first released it in 2007. Notably absent from that victory lab? A view count! Shady Music Facts implies that the tape has been viewed somewhere between 123 million and 154 million times. The truth, however, is more complicated.

    "The difference is people have to pay to watch Kim's movie," Vivid founder Steve Hirsch told BuzzFeed Music in an email. "[But] the five-minute free clip has been viewed over 300 million times. Pornhub alone over 150 million times. And still going!"

    So, a more accurate version of this tweet would read: "The trailer for Kim Kardashian's sex tape has more views than Kanye West's most-viewed music video." Which, honestly, is way shadier.

    2. Susan Boyle's debut album, I Dreamed A Dream, has sold more copies than Katy Perry's best-selling album.

    Susan Boyle's debut album has sold more copies than Katy Perry's best selling album.

    Is this Shady Music Fact or Shady Music Fiction? This is true! While Katy Perry’s best-selling album, Teenage Dream, has moved a respectable 5.7 million units, Susan Boyle’s debut, I Dreamed A Dream, has sold almost twice that. Boyle’s blockbuster has sold more than 9 million copies since its release in 2009.

    3. Jennifer Lawrence's Hunger Games soundtrack single, "The Hanging Tree," out-peaked all of Beyoncé's solo singles since 2010.

    'The Hanging Tree' by Jennifer Lawrence has outpeaked all of Beyoncé's solo singles this decade.

    Is this Shady Music Fact or Shady Music Fiction? Technically, this is true — "The Hanging Tree" did peak higher on Billboard's singles chart than any of Beyoncé's solo singles since 2009 — but it's also misleading. "The Hanging Tree" is not a Jennifer Lawrence song. It's a James Newton Howard song. Lawrence is just a featured vocalist. Her star-power definitely helped the song reach No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, but the same could be said about Beyoncé's presence on Lady Gaga's 2010 hit "Telephone," which peaked at No. 3. So, it’s a little weird to insist the only comparable Beyoncé singles are ones she released alone. Especially when "Drunk In Love," which only features a verse from husband Jay Z, reached No. 2 in 2014.

    4. As a DJ, Paris Hilton makes more money per night than Tiesto, Deadmau5, and Calvin Harris combined.

    DJ Paris Hilton makes more money per night than Tiesto, Deadmau5 and Calvin Harris combined.

    Is this Shady Music Fact or Shady Music Fiction? Who knows! The math appears to have been lifted from this tweet:

    PER SHOW: Paris Hilton: $1 million Deadmau5: $425,000 Tiesto: $250,000 Calvin Harris: $300,000 deadmau5+Calvin Harris+Tiesto = $975, 000

    In 2014, Paris Hilton told the New York Post that she was making $1 million a night as a DJ, but whether or not that's actually true or a regular occurrence is anyone's guess. As for Tiesto, Deadmau5, and Calvin Harris? Their fees aren't public either. In 2013, Forbes estimated Harris was making $300,000 a night, but more recent reports suggests the number is probably higher and makes it seem unlikely that Paris actually makes more than all three of the world's biggest DJs combined.

    5. It took more writers to put together Katy Perry's Prism than Taylor Swift's entire discography.

    Katy Perry had more writers on her album 'PRISM' than Taylor Swift has had on all five of her albums combined.

    Is this Shady Music Fact or Shady Music Fiction? Fact. Over the course of five albums, Taylor Swift has only worked with 17 other writers. There are 20 writers, including Katy Perry, credited on the standard edition of Prism.

    6. Miley Cyrus once sang "FU" while holding a cardboard cutout of rival Selena Gomez.

    Miley Cyrus once picked up an audience members Selena Gomez cutout and sang her song 'FU' whilst holding it.

    Is this Shady Music Fact or Shady Music Fiction? It's a fact, just not necessarily a shady one. Miley Cyrus did pick up a cutout of Selena Gomez during a live performance of “FU” in Italy. That happened. But video from that night reveals a fan threw the cutout on stage and Miley only had it in her hand for a few seconds before throwing it back. Was it shade or just a shady accident? Watch and decide for yourself.

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