Alicia Keys appeared on Saturday Night Live a few hours ago, helping the legendary show launch their latest season. As well as taking part in a hilarious skit, which you can watch above, the Grammy Award winner also performed current single ‘Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart’, as well as fan favourite ‘Empire State of Mind (Part 2)’ – both of which you can watch below:

Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart

Empire State of Mind (Part 2)

She nailed it, as usual!

Alicia’s new LP ‘The Element of Freedom’ is available on iTunes and in stores now!

Your thoughts?

When giving her iTunes Celebrity Playlist Podcast, Lady GaGa included her collaboration with Beyonce ‘Telephone’, providing insight into the song’s hotly anticipated video:

“I’m in the middle of writing the treatment for the video (‘Telephone’) so I have the song on my mind and I have been speaking with everyone that I’m working on the video with and pitching to everybody the treatment that I’ve come up with and it’s very, very exciting. So to all my little monsters who are listening I can’t wait for you to see it.” {Source}

After ever-so-slightly disappointing clip for ‘Video Phone’, here’s hoping the industry’s two biggest stars knock this one out of the park. Can’t wait!

Your thoughts?

While Heidi, Amelle, and Jade, otherwise known as the Sugababes, continue to tweak their serially delayed ‘Sweet 7’ LP, their rendition of Christmas hit ‘Santa Baby’ has surfaced in full. The song is set for an iTunes release on December 21st.

Despite my reservations about the group, it’s hard to deny that the nailed it on this one. Great vocals (especially Jade), tight harmonies and an all-round refreshing take on an old classic. Good stuff.

Hit or Miss?

With Jennifer Lopez‘s comeback single ‘Louboutins’ currently struggling to chart, reliable sources have informed That Grape Juice that 40 year old’s label have scrapped the single in its entirety – no video, no iTunes release, no nothing. Instead, her team are deeming ‘Louboutins’ a ‘buzz single’ (sound familar?) and are gearing up for the release of  an entirely new ‘first official single’ – set to be rolled out early 2010. Lopez’s new LP ‘Love?‘ is still scheduled for a March 2010 release.

While I most definitely had a little chuckle at yet another artist pulling the ‘buzz single’ card, I can’t help but feel a little sorry for Jennifer. Despite giving her all with the live performances of ‘Louboutins’, the song is – blunt as this may sound – a bonafide flop; which, truth be told, may have always been its final destination, as it was always pretty rubbish. That said, it’s not a wrap for Jenny just yet. Provided there aren’t any push-backs and she comes with fire for her next ‘first’ single (lol), I don’t see why she can’t make an impact on the charts once again.

Your thoughts?

Rising diva Leona Lewis scored the lead single off the soundtrack to James Cameron’s adventure film ‘Avatar’. The track, entitled ‘I See You’, will be available with the rest of the songs on the project on iTunes on December 15th. ‘Avatar’ hits the big screen on December 18th.

For the first time time ever, Leona actually ‘saaang’ on a track! With powerful and unbridled vocals, the UK singer soars over the epic instrumental, seemingly leaving her inhibitions in the wind. Leona is definitely one of the most technically skilled vocalists to emerge in the industry for a very long time. However, a prime complaint from critics is that her voice is devoid of any emotion. Well, it’s safe to say that this time she shut. it. down.

Sidebar: Do you think that ‘I See You’ is Academy Award material or does Mary J Blige’s ‘I Can See In Color’ have it in the bag?

Hit or Miss?

R&B singer Amerie recently spoke to our good friends over at Rap-Up.com about the poor performance of her latest LP ‘In Love & War’. The 31 year old stunner isn’t ‘sweating’ sales, because she apparently sees ‘the bigger picture’. This despite, the album (her Def Jam debut) selling just 12,500 in its first week and only managing a lowly #46 peak on the Billboard 200:

On The Album’s Sales

“It’s a very weird time. I didn’t worry about it ’cause I felt like it’s not about the first week. I knew when the album came out, it wasn’t coming out with a big hit ’cause we just went to radio with the ‘Pretty Brown’ record two weeks before the album came out, so we already knew it was going to be one of those over time things vs. a first week thing, which is cool.”

On not setting expectations of herself due to unpredictability of industry

“There’s no way to tell right now. I was actually curious ’cause I kept saying, ‘This is interesting, going to radio with a song and two weeks later your album is coming out.’ I’ve never really done it like that before.”

On the iTunes error which saw the album not available on the leading music outlet

“That was weird. I don’t know what happened with that. The people at iTunes are really cool. I just thought that was so odd. They tried to fix it as fast as they could.”

Though I feel both the album and Amerie herself are criminally underrated, I’m sure hoping she was putting on her media/political ‘face’ on when giving this answer. For, if not, her ramblings would be denial personified. Having interviewed her for this very project, she came across very intelligent to me, so I’d lean more towards the notion of her knowing internally that her label screwed all the way up and that she’s putting on a brave face.

The whole situation is such a shame, as had Def Jam paid even a fraction of the attention they paid to Rihanna (yes, I went there), I’m sure Amerie would be performing a lot better than she is. Not to be confused as me taking a pop at Ms. Fenty (which I’m legitimately not, it’s in no way her fault), it’s oh-so-annoying seeing a label pump money into a less talented entity, when they have a performer of Amerie’s calibre on their roster. If we’re talking aesthetics too, Amerie is equally if not more stunning – but that’s just my opinion. In any case, it seems like this album is done. SMH…

Your thoughts?

Despite a high-profile appearance on the X-Factor last week, Mariah Carey’s 12th studio album ‘Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel’ has flopped in the UK, entering the official album chart at a disappointing #23. Meanwhile,  ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’, the record’s lead single in UK after ‘Obsessed’ release was cancelled, barely scrapped the top 20 on the singles chart – debuting at a lowly #19. Ouch.

All pantomime banter aside, I actually feel a little sorry for ol’ Mimi. While nowhere near her best offering, ‘Memoirs’ – at the very least – deserved to perform better than some of her other poorly charting material (see: ‘Glitter’ and ‘Charmbracelet’). Instead, it stands as the lowest selling album of her career.

As reported, it wouldn’t surprise us in the slightest if Mariah’s next LP – whenever it drops – isn’t released under the Def Jam umbrella. I mean, at this point, it’s even doubtful this ‘Memoirs’ remix album will ever see the light of day either. For,  from a business standpoint, pumping money/promotion into an already dead and buried project makes no sense at all. At best, I envision an iTunes-only/for-the-fans type release for any kind of remix LP. I wouldn’t hold my breath though. Oh Mimi…

Your thoughts?

In a move that was no doubt actioned to ensure a #1 debut, Rihanna‘s new LP ‘Rated R’ is now selling for a paltry $3.99 on Amazon MP3. Yet, despite Ms. Fenty’s team pulling all the stops for a #1 charting on the Billboard 200 next week, Interscope’s Lady GaGa‘s sophomore effort ‘The Fame Monster’ is currently sitting comfortably at #1 on iTunes – which serves as one of the biggest music retailers overall. {Source 1} {Source 2}

Oh RiRi! After all the publicity, big budget videos and all that jazz, stunts like this still need to be pulled to garner decent sales. From a business standpoint, I can’t hate on her label’s game. Yet, from an artistic standpoint – which is where the bulk of my critique of Ms. Fenty stems from – it really says a lot about her label’s belief in how many folks will part with their cash to buy her album. I mean, correct me if wrong, but you don’t see the Alicia’s, Beyonce’s, Whitney’s and co selling their album a fraction of the cost to save face. I mean how embarrassing would it be after all the hype, 20/20 interview etc for her not to pull in some seriously decent/great numbers first week?

Randomness: While my review of the AMA’s will be up later today; if Rihanna’s performance wasn’t the night’s worst, I really don’t know what was. A mess.

Your thoughts?

The video for The Saturday‘s latest single ‘Ego’ premiered minutes ago on their official Youtube page. In keeping it short and sweet, this is easily the ladies best video yet…no question about it. They all look stunning, the storyline was engaging, and £££ was clearly spent on this one (cheap videos are a pet peeve of mine…unless creative of course -see ‘Single Ladies’).

‘Ego’ is lifted from the ladies sophomore LP ‘Wordshaker’, which is in stores and on iTunes now.

What do you think of the video?

Singer (and you use that term loosely) Rihanna was recently featured on MTV’s ‘On With Alex Chung’. Ms. Fenty discussed her ’20/20′ interview with Dianne Sawyer,  her new album ‘Rated R’, and her fashion choices among other things. Rihanna’s new single ‘Russian Roulette’ currently sits at #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #49 on the Hip-Hop/R&B charts – and is struggling on iTunes. ‘Rated R’ hits stores on November 20th. Peep part 1 above and part 2 below:

This was the typical light-hearted interview that exemplifies most album promotional ventures. One thing that I did notice, however, is the dynamic nature of Rihanna’s accent. Anyone else notice how her Bajan accent almost completely disappeared during the interview? As a Caribbean native myself (Trinidad and Tobago!), this is something that we observe to be quite the norm with West Indians. People from the region go to the States and abandon every aspect of their culture, with their accent being the first thing to go. It seems that Rihanna only remembers where she comes from when it suits her marketing strategy. That’s a damn shame.

Thoughts?

Peep Amerie’s sizzling new photoshoot which features in the latest issue of Complex Magazine. Work!

Amerie’s new LP ‘In Love & War’ is in stores and on iTunes now…

What do you think of the pics?

R&B singer Amerie finally made her first televised performance of new single  ‘Heard Em All’ on The Wendy Williams Show earlier today. Hell, correct me if wrong, it’s her first televised anything for her ‘In Love & War’ LP. SMH…

While the performance wasn’t bad at all, it kinda reminded me what my main gripe was with the video. With the song being such a banger, I was expecting some insane choreography, yet instead got a visually appealing clip, yet nothing in the way of ‘fierce’ moves. Still, pretty decent, I guess. Best of luck to Amerie with the album.

Tidbit: There has apparently been some shipping issues with her LP, so if you’ve yet to see it in stores, hit up Itunes or Amazon to purchase.

What do you think of the performance?