Odd Future, Wiz Khalifa and Mariah Carey Stir Social Buzz

Odd Future makes its Billboard Social 50 debut at No. 30 this week as the act has been especially active on social networks lately.

The 12 members of Los Angeles-based hip-hop collective OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All) are well known for churning out massive amounts of audio and video content, which they promote themselves through the use of Tumblr, YouTube and Twitter.

The Social 50 chart ranks the most popular artists on YouTube, Vevo, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and iLike, using a formula that blends weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with weekly artist page views and weekly song plays.

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Rapper Hodgy Beats' new single "Rella" has garnered over 8 million views on Youtube after dropping Feb. 20, and online chatter about the band has been continuing to build around the release of "OF Tape Vol. 2," expected to be released March 20. For the tracking week ending March XX, the gang experienced a 447% increase in YouTube viewership and 6,800 new Facebook fans, a 37% increase over last week.

Impending nuptial news allowed Wiz Khalifa to make an impact on the social sphere this week after announcing his engagement to actress/model Amber Rose. Khalifa broke the news with an Instagram photo of the ring along with the caption "She Said Yes!!!"

The tweeted picture of the ring lit up blogs and news sites, helping the hip-hop artist earn a 25% increase in Twitter fans, pushing him up seven slots to No. 21 on the Social 50.

Meanwhile, Mariah Carey re-enters the chart at No. 45, following a 29% surge in page views across Myspace, YouTube and Wikipedia. Mariah received a great amou! nt of at tention during the charting week because after her first concert performance (March 4) since giving birth to twins Moroccan and Monroe on April 30, 2011. The show, which was part of a promotion by Caesars Entertainment's "Escape to Total Rewards" launch event, took place at New York's Gotham Hall and was streamed on the web along with other live performances from Lil Wayne, Maroon 5 and Sara Bareilles.

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Other notable movement at the top of the Social 50 included Lady Gaga, Shakira and Selena Gomez all re-entering the top 10. Gaga climbs 12-4, Shakira zips 11-9 and Gomez moves 16-10. Meanwhile, Chris Brown falls 5-7 and Nicki Minaj descends 4-8 after buzz from their respective Grammy performances continued to die down. Elsewhere, Katy Perry rises 9-5, Justin Bieber falls back 2-3, Rihanna's up 3-2 and Michael Jackson is stead at No. 6. Also a non-mover this week: Adele, who reigns at No. 1 for a ninth straight week.


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