News Round-Up: Chingy, R.Kelly & Ne-Yo

MTV News is reporting that rapper Chingy has squashed his beef with Ludacris and reunited with the Disturbing Tha Peace (DTP) family. The move comes as a surprise considering the reason the St Louis rapper left the group in late 2004 –alleged money/deception issues. Although it’s unknown whether Chingy will re-join DTP at Def Jam (he’s been signed with Capitol since his departure), he is definitely back in the fold.

I know R. Kelly has stated that his upcoming album ‘Double Up’ is 60% R&B and 40% Hip-Hop, but this cover is a joke. The man is 40 years old and looks like a fake thug. I’m getting the vibe that this is the direction the album is going in; I’ve heard the 2nd single ‘Blow It Up’ and it’s a mess. I know his music has always had some Hip-Hop influence, but this is coming across like a big gimmick. ‘Double-Up’ hits stores May 29th.

Ne-Yo: “Mariah’s Comeback Should Inspire Whitney”

R&B singer/songwriter Ne-Yo has described new songs by Whitney Houston that he has heard as ‘impressive’. However, Ne-Yo, who is currently writing songs for Houston’s album, wants to avoid creating songs that scream ‘I am Whitney Houston and this is my triumphant comeback. Instead, he suggests that Whitney takes inspiration from Mariah Carey’s comeback; not singing about her drama, but just everyday situations.

I think he kinda has a point; most of the albums that are too message-driven often fall flat e.g. Whitney’s last album ‘Just Whitney’. Let’s just hope his tracks for the album are good.