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.

Having watched Rihanna’s video for ‘Umbrella’, I can say that I’m liking it. The video didn’t ‘WOW’ me but it’s still good- her best video so far. From the images of vid I saw a while back, I was expecting more – but it still turned out ok. The ballerina scenes were pretty cool, as were the body paint scenes too. Rihanna’s album ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ hits stores on June 5th.

Hit or Miss?

I’m liking the ‘different’ vibe Fantasia went for in this video. It’s generally unlike her past videos. The ‘couples’ theme was a nice touch as well. For some reason, some of the neighbourhood scenes remind me of TV show ‘Everybody Hates Chris’. ‘When I See U’ is one of my favourite tracks from Fantasia’s excellent self-titled album and I hope it does well.

What do you think?

So, Mya’s back with her much anticipated new video ‘Lock U Down’ and I’m liking it alot. The best aspect of the vid has to be choreography… it’s ON-POINT. It’s a simple concept video and it works. As I’ve said before, I think the song is great and it’s good to see that the video does the track justice. Mya’s new album ‘Liberation’ will hit stores June 26th.

What do you think?

I really didn’t understand all the hype about the original version of Diddy’s ‘Last Night’ – I felt that it was just O.K. It seems I’m in the minority as most people are feeling the track, one his best performing singles from the album. This official remix features Lil Kim, Busta Rhymes and of course Keyshia Cole. I’m really liking it. Some of these remixes end up turning better than the originals, like this and Busta’s ‘Touch It’. Check it out…

{Link Removed As Requested}

Former Destiny’s Child member, Michelle Williams covers of the current issue of Time Out Chicago magazine. Her appearance in the magazine was to promote her stint as Shrug Avery in the Chicago theatre version of ‘The Colour Purple’ (not the New York version of the show that Fantasia is starring in).

{Click to images to enlarge}

The interview is a real interesting read. It’s good to see Michelle is keeping her name out there and that she isn’t sitting at home collecting those Destiny’s Child royalty cheques. I’ve always felt she was an underrated performer and I never understood people’s problem with her. Having said that, her 106th & Park ‘Fall’ is a classic; I had it on constant replay. For real though, I like Michelle and hope she does well.

Click here to read the interview

Mya Album News

R&B singer Mya is finally set to release her new album ‘Liberation’. The CD, which drops on the same day as Kelly Rowland’s ‘Ms Kelly’ album (June 26th) – features production from Bryan-Michael Cox, JR Rotem, Kwame and Scott Storch. Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg both make guest-appearances. ‘Liberation’ has been delayed several times; Mya tells Billboard that the ‘transitioning’ from label to label was one of the main reasons for the wait (word has it that Interscope dropped her after her last album, ‘Moodring’ flopped). She is now signed to Motown.

I’m really liking Mya’s first single from the album, the Scott Storch produced ‘Lock U Down’. However, I heard that track months ago and there is still no video. I hear the vid will debut next week, but isn’t it kinda late? The scheduled second single ‘Walka Not A Talka’ sounds like it’s gonna be interesting – it’s a futuristic club track. I’m not holding my breath with this album though, seeing as there is a high chance it will get delayed again or be mediocre (with only a few good tracks) like her last two albums.

New Sisqo Video – Who’s Ur Daddy

Why? That’s the first thing I thought when I watched this. This has to be the cheapest video I’ve seen in a long while. For real though, how much did they spend on this, cus’ it looks like I could have done this one myself. The song is wack as well; I heard it ages ago but forgot about it…I now know why. He’s still singing about ‘unleashing the dragon’ etc. I don’t doubt that the guy is talented, great songs like ‘Incomplete’ and his work with Dru Hill prove that, but this is a mess.