The youngest of the Knowles clan, Solange, recently put her own spin on Indie band Dirty Projectors single ‘Stillness Is The Move’. Interestingly, she works into the mix Erykah Badu’s ‘Bag Lady’.

WOW! She knocked this one out of the park – literally. Vocals, arrangements, it’s soulfulness… everything! Love, love, love it! At a certain point a time, I was a little cynical about Solange’s foray into the ‘alternate’ / niche market, however having spent little of a year in the listening company of her sophomore LP ‘Sol-Angel & The Hadley Street Dreams’ and seen her live, I doubt no more. A true talent!

Hit or Miss?

Peep this behind the scenes look at the shooting of Rihanna‘s album packaging for ‘Rated R’. While Ms. Fenty’s artistic credibility is justifiably picked out more than not, she sure knows how to take a picture. I can’t say it enough, but she really would be better off a model.

Your thoughts?

Chris Brown continues his comeback campaign, yesterday sitting down with BET‘s Rocsi for a warts-and-all interview on 106 & Park. Largely centered on the Rihanna incident as well as her 20/20 interview, I definitely see this as one of Chris’ better damage-control interviews, though I am somewhat sceptical about the number of interviews he’s doing about the situation. Though she takes a lot stick, one has to give it up for Rocsi as her questions were particularly on-point.

‘Graffiti‘ hits stores December 8th.

Your thoughts?

Another cut has surfaced from Diddy and Dirty Money‘s ‘Last Train To Paris’ LP in the form of the Drake-assisted ‘Hurt’. The slinky piano-driven track is making it oh-so-hard to knock  this ‘movement’ now, as bar ‘Angels’, which I just wasn’t feeling like that, they have been consistently serving up the hotness. Pains me as it may (especially since the least interesting component of the whole project is Diddy himself – which kinda makes the whole thing a sham), I am anticipating ‘Train’ that much more now.

Hit or Miss?

R&B star Chris Brown premiered a new song from his forthcoming ‘Graffiti’ LP called ‘Shine Like Me’ on his blog Mechanical Dummy. While little is known about the track in the way of who produced it and whatnot, what can be ascertained is that this the business! A laid-back, breezy mid-tempo which with a killer hook. Great track.

‘Graffiti’ hits stores December 8th.

Hit or Miss?

Fashion favourite Rihanna has been hard at work promoting her forthcoming album, ‘Rated R’. Emerging from that project is ‘Cold Case Love’, which was written and produced by Justin Timberlake’s The Y’s. ‘Rated R’ hits stores on November 23rd.

The production on this track is no joke. The beat compliments the drifting melodies quite well and the inclusion of the instrumentals was genius. Those elements combined with the revealing lyrics, provide an interesting cocktail for what could become a major success. In contrast, as per usual, Rihanna’s vocal performance was far from impressive. Although she managed to portray the pain behind the lyrics, she also injected pain into my ears. Where have all the real singers gone?

Hit or Miss?

Peep the official album cover for Alicia Keys‘ forthcoming LP ‘The Element of Freedom‘ (due December 15th). Not sure I’m feeling the ‘Mother Earth’ vibe of this cover. Still, I’m loving her new single ‘Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart’ and I’m quite amped for the album itself.

What do you think of the cover?

‘Telephone’, the second of Lady GaGa and Beyonce‘s two collaborations (and GaGa’s follow-up to ‘Bad Romance’), surfaced shortly after the first a few minutes ago (I doubt it was a coincidence). In keeping things short and sweet, this is audio-fire! Everything from the production (courtesy of Darkchild), to each of their swaggers (especially Bey, who enlisted her ‘Diva’ flow). Bouncy and Crazy really are running things right now. The video for this really couldn’t come any sooner!

Hit or Miss?

‘Video Phone (Extended Mix)’, ‘the hotly anticipated duet between the hottest chicks in the game Beyonce and Lady GaGa, premiered literally moments ago.

Initially a little disappointed in that it sounded exactly the same as the original, by the time  GaGa’s verse kicked in I was sold LOL. GaGa channelled the same swagger and rode the beat with ease (although her part did sound kinda ‘phoned-in’ – no pun intended). Hearing this has me salivating for the video even more (it will apparently premiere November 23rd); after all, Bouncy and Crazy really do seem to make a great combo.

Tidbit: You can so tell there will be a serious dance-break!

Hit or Miss?

With his album release date on unsteady terms, another song has surfaced from the studio sessions of R&B singer Usher. The track, entitled ‘She Don’t Know’, which was produced by Hip-Hop hit makers Bangladesh, is reportedly going to be featured on the crooner’s forthcoming LP, tentatively entitled ‘Raymond vs. Raymond’. The first ‘buzz’ single from the album, ‘Papers’, has failed to enter the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100after stalling at #31, despite the controversial nature of the track.

This is a nice song but no where near the level of material that an artist of Usher’s status should be generating. In an era where there is a lot of fresh talent emerging on the charts, more seasoned acts need to improve their craft or be pushed aside. Hopefully this song is not the best that Mr. Raymond has to offer because I doubt he can handle being outsold by his younger peers (Chris Brown especially) two years in a row.

Hit or Miss?

R&B star Chris Brown swung by sneaker store Foot Action in Manhattan last night. While the majority were ecstatic at seeing the 20 year old singer, two young ladies were very vocal about their negative feelings toward him, shouting “f*cking beater” and “I hope someone beats the f*cking crap out of you!!!”

Damn. Though Chris didn’t flinch, there’s no doubt he heard their abuse (which without condoning his actions, I feel only made them look like the aggressive ones). Can’t we all just move on now…?

Your thoughts?

You can now preview all of the tracks from Rihanna‘s forthcoming ‘Rated R’ LP (due November 23rd).

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Judging from the clips…

Hit or Miss?