In a recent interview with The Guardian over here in the UK, R&B/Pop star Rihanna spoke about her ‘edgy’ image, asserting that it was her own decision to deviate from the industry norm of ‘long blonde’ hair who she identified Beyonce, Ciara, Christina Millian and Mariah as rocking:

“I felt like the whole world had long, curly, flowy blonde hair. Ciara, Beyonce, Mariah, Christina Milian. Everybody wanted to be like everybody else. So I cut my hair and they made me put my long hair back in as extensions. The second time, I didn’t have any discussions, nothing. I just cut it, I dyed it black, I went into the studio making music my way. I found myself all at once. I like things strong, edgy, a little to the left. I don’t like things that are expected – nothing cliched. When I first started, I didn’t know anything. I didn’t really have a say. The second album, I got a little more freedom”

Granted today Rihanna’s image seems pretty legit, I find her comments real hard to swallow. IMO the whole ‘I’m was good girl, now I’m bad…look at my black hair and dominatrix outfits’ was overly contrived and screamed ‘record label construct’.

Your thoughts?

“My mother made a decision not to come to my wedding because she didn’t really agree with my decision,” he explains, declining to specify whether she disagreed with his choice of wife or his decision to fire her. ”I don’t know why,” he offers simply. ”She’s never told me and I’ve never asked her….It hurt me very much not to see her there ’cause I would’ve liked for her to be there, not to mention that I paid so much money for her to be accommodated and her behind didn’t show up. [Laughs] But just as she’s made stands, so have I.”

On Usher V

On Nov. 26, Usher and Tameka welcomed their son, Usher Raymond V. The new addition to his family served as an olive branch, helping heal the strained relationship with Usher’s mom. ”I have a beautiful baby boy that she’s in love with,” he says. ”She’s very happy, and he makes us all a better family, period.”

On Meaning Behind ‘Here I Stand’:

“It’s not me lashing out at anyone; it was the hottest name for the project, and a testimony to how certain I was about certain issues.”

Click here to read the entire interview

The rift between Usher and his mother had escaped my mind in the midst of all his current success. It’s good to see him finally addressing the matter, all the same though. It seems all differences have been put aside, which can only be seen as a good thing.

Your thoughts?

According to Billboard, Bow Wow is turning his focus away from music to acting, and has a string of acting gigs in the pipeline. Check out the report:

Actor-rapper Shad Moss, aka Bow Wow, is focusing on acting full time. Moss has joined the upcoming fifth season of HBO’s “Entourage” in a recurring role, playing Charlie, a new stand-up comic client of E (Kevin Connolly).

Additionally, he has landed a role opposite Forest Whitaker, rapper Lil Wayne and Isaiah Washington in the Weinstein Co.’s sports drama “Patriots,” about a high school basketball team in post-Katrina Louisiana.

“After 16 years in the music industry and six successful albums, I’ve decided to shift my energy to something else I’m passionate about, acting,” Moss said. “I’m going to try to be the next Will Smith.”

Like Moss, Smith started off as a rapper before segueing into acting.

I’m pretty sure the news will be greeted with joy by many. For someone who’s music and sales leave a lot to be desired, he really does come across overly cocky.

The quote did make for an interesting read, though. Six successful albums, huh? I would beg to differ. After serving up one of the biggest flops of last year with his joint ‘Face Off’ Lp with Omarion, he may just be ‘shifting his energies’ elsewhere before inevitably ending up like his (collabo) partner O – dropped from his label.

Your thoughts?

R&B singer Amerie was snapped at the Maxim Hot 100 party earlier this week rocking a new look. Though her natural beauty is hard to deny, something looks kinda off with her latest look – I can’t put my finger on what it is though.

What do you think of the pics?

After a year long spell in the slammer and having parted ways with longtime label Atlantic, Lil’ Kim has returned to the music scene with new single ‘Respirator’. I’m kinda on the fence about this one, the first release from her still untitled independent debut. For the most part I’m feeling it – the production is point etc-however her sliding in and out of the vocoder effect on the verses make for an awkward listening experience at times. Having really enjoyed her last LP, 2005’s ‘The Naked Truth’, I’m definitely keeping an open ear to see what she’ll be serving up with the next record.

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Terrible. Whoever gave him the ‘ok’ to do this obviously doesn’t care for him that much, as that was painful – just as expected. Ray J’s voice is distinctly average at best, so performing such a weighty song made no sense at all. Pitchy, strained and an overall mess. SMH…

What do you think of the performance?

The boys of Pretty Ricky are back, following the departure of lead member Pleasure last year. Having added singer 4Play to their line-up, the group are set to release their third studio album ’80’s Babies’ in early August; ‘Cuddle Up’ is the first single to be lifted from the LP. Granted the group’s fixation on the same subject matter (sex) is becoming rather tiresome, the song is a pretty good effort – particularly on the production front as well as the hook. Good stuff.

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As Hip-Hop veteran LL Cool J preps his new album ‘Exit 13’ – his final LP for longtime label Def Jam – for its July 8th release, a cut from the set has surfaced. ‘Cry’, featuring R&B songstress Lil Mo, sees the rapper re-embrace the sound that made him such a prominent feature of the 90s music scene. Liking this one, I must say.

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The video for Usher’s 2nd single ‘Moving Mountains’ premiered just a few hours ago. A continuation from the crooner’s ‘Love In This Club’ clip, the video is real impressive. Usher’s much anticipated LP ‘Here I Stand’ drops May 27th.

What do you think of the video?