Def Jam’s Rihanna features in the latest issue of Vibe Vixen magazine. As well as the double-cover above, the ‘Umbrella’ singer did a full photoshoot and was interiewed too:

“I wouldn’t have wanted to date white guys before but they are killing it right now. Justin Timberlake, Orlando Bloom, Paul Weller. Every hot guy I see is white”

Interesting…

{Click to enlarge pic}

Further to reports earlier this week that Usher is attempting to shut down his top fansite for its negative stance on his relationship with Tameka Foster, the owner has vowed to fight it out in court. Erika Jackson, the webmaster of UsherForever.com, isn’t backing down to legal threats from Usher and his label LaFace -who want her to hand the site over to them. Jackson claims she wants to ‘make a point’ by going toe-to-toe with her favourite artist. Click here to read the full story via TMZ.

The more I hear about this, the more I lose what little respect I have for Usher. It’s unlikely that he’ll win; I’m sure his team didn’t even think this would get as much press as it has. Either way, Usher’s reputation is in a mess right now.

Any thoughts?

Rihanna is churning out singles and albums so fast these days; didn’t her 2nd single ‘Shut Up & Drive’ just come out? Nonetheless, the Bajan star premiered her latest single ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ on BET’s 106 & Park yesterday. The track is undeniably a dance song and the video (which Rihanna co-directed) really reflects that. I’m not a fan of the song, but its a grower. Def Jam are really covering all ground with this project – each single has appealed to a different market. ‘Hate That I Love You’ (ft. Neyo) has also been confirmed as the 4th single from her ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ CD.

What do you think of the video?

Whilst Danity Kane languish in the pits, Diddy continues to roll out the videos from his barely Gold album ‘Press Play’. This new video for ‘Through The Pain’ sees the Bad Boy label head team up with Mario Winans once again (their last effort being Winans 2003 hit ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’). I’m liking the song and the video – though not all that great – serves its purpose.

Word has it that Diddy has also shot a video for ‘Diddy Rock’ which features Timbaland, Twista and Shawnna – totalling five singles. I just don’t get how Diddy is supposed to be all about the business, yet he chooses to promote himself over a group that are selling more than he is. Too much ego…

What do you think of the video?

Comeback

Work/Ghetto

Like This (ft. Eve)

{CREDIT: Ciara-Harris.net}

As some of you may already know, Ciara has been named as the new face of Rocawear’s female line. It seems the urban clothing label are going all out with this campaign – using both print and television advertisements. I found the interview to be pretty interesting, hearing some of the hurdles the ‘Promise’ singer had to overcome to be where she is now.

Click here to see Ciara’s promo pics for the campaign

What do you think of the interview/pics?

Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams performed at the Bombay Sapphire drinking party in Chicago this past Tuesday (July 17th). Williams sang Al Green’s classic ‘Let’s Stay Together’ – which she also covered for a GAP campaign in 2005. Aside from a few vocal snags, I enjoyed the performance. Michelle evidently has very little natural rhythm, but I like her voice – it’s different. This kind of music definitely suits her voice more than some of the Destiny’s Child material.

What do you think of the performance?

Singer R. Kelly is set to shoot a further 10 episodes of his ‘Trapped In The Closet’ saga after signing a new deal with US cable network IFC. With its storyline twists and turns, the ‘hip-hopera’ became a major success in 2006 – spurned a 12-episode DVD. As part of the deal Kelly inked with IFC, additional episodes will be shot as well as re-airings of the original 12 episodes.

I remember being hooked on the series a couple of summers back; marvelling at how great the concept was. Yet towards the end, it just got ridiculous – remember the midget, anyone? Still, I’m all for innovation (I don’t see anyone else doing anything remotely similar), so I’ll be checking it out when it debuts.

Will you be checking for the new episodes?