As we’ve been reporting for the last few months, Janet Jackson has been on the brink of inking a new deal with A&M Records – the label she began her career on. Well, according to the New York Daily Post, the deal was finalised with the Interscope-housed label last month.

Interestingly, the label – on which Janet saw the release of 2 of the biggest albums of her career ‘Control’ and ‘Rhythm Nation’ – always had plans to release a Janet greatest hits LP – so say our sources, yet have gone all out in the way of promotion and having Janet herself board, since signing her.

According to the newspaper, A&M/Interscope wants ‘Number Ones’ to remind people how great Janet is. There’s the  hoping it’ll wet the public’s appetite for Janet and pave the way for her new music.

Particularly amped for Janet’s new album is A&M/Interscope executive Jimmy Iovine (who janet was snapped out with last month), who has has enlisted hitmaker Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins to oversee the album.

“Jimmy has given the mandate to make this Janet record a success,” reports the paper. “He believes that he has the right team in place to finally take Janet back to the top of the music charts. It’s a top priority for the label”

As at writing, the album as a pencilled-in release window of 2nd-quarter 2010.{Source}

To say the confirmation of the deal has me uber amped would be the biggest of understatements. Very much a rooter for the underdog, I’ve been waiting the longest for the all the pieces of the jigsaw to re-align for Ms. Jackson (if you’re nasty) and they seem to be doing just that. A team and label who are fully behind her, a super-producer overseeing the project, and all that jazz. Could 2010 be the year Janet re-asserts her place at the top? We sure hope so!

Tidbit: Upon hitting ‘post’, Sam goes into intense prayer and fasting in hope of another ‘Feedback’ from this Janet and Darkchild union!

Your thoughts?

Pop Icon Janet Jackson‘s eagerly anticipated ABC special aired in the US a few hours ago. In this revealing interview with Robin Roberts, the youngest of the Jackson dynasty spoke candidly about the passing of her brother Michael Jackson, no longer being with Jermaine Dupri, her career and so much more. A great interview, I must say.

Your thoughts?

Pop icon Janet Jackson is currently doing the promotional rounds for her greatest hits compilation ‘Number Ones’.

Today she phoned in to Charlotte’s Power 98 to talk about a number of things, the most interesting of which was her confirmation that she is indeed single and that she and producer Jermaine Dupri are no longer an item, yet best friends – this after a 7 year  relationship. Jackson, 43, asserted that she ‘adores’ him.

Other highlights from the interview, which you can listen to in its entirety below, include her liking Rihanna’s music (eye-roll) and loving Alicia Keys’, praying for the latter to be successful when she broke into the industry. She also talked spoke on being a vegan, her career and much more. A great listen.

No matter what spin Ms. Jackson (if you’re nasty) puts on it, it’s really unfortunate they called it quits after so long 🙁

Your thoughts?

To celebrate the release of Janet Jackson‘s career-spanning ‘Number Ones’ compilation (due November 17th), Flash Mob America organised a Janet Jackson flash mob to take place today in Los Angeles. For those unaware of what a ‘flash mob’ is, it’s generally when a group of people break into uniform dance in the random-est of places and usually in front of unsuspecting passers by.

The participants in la Jan’s flash mob, who have been practising for weeks, launched into some of the iconic choreography from some of Janet’s biggest hits including ‘If’ and ‘Nasty’ right there in the middle of the street at The Grove. Kudos to all those involved; they killed it.

A bigger kudos, however, goes to Janet’s team, who have been on fire with her promotion as of late. They’re on some Papa Knowles ish (for Bouncy alone, of course!!! LOL). Loving it 🙂

Tidbit: Janet herself was watching this from the rafters. Click here to see

Your thoughts?

Janet Jackson’s new team are seemingly pulling out all the stops to ensure her forthcoming ‘Number Ones’ compilation is a success. It has been announced that an hour-long Janet Jackson primetime special will air on ABC on November 18th – the day after the LP is released in the US.  {Source}

I cannot wait! With Janet now being the last ‘active’ member of the Jackson dynasty, I’m anticipating she gets treated with the respect she so deserves. Her partnership with new label, A&M/Interscope (expect an announcement about their partnership in the coming month or so) seems to be ensuring that she does.

The label (and her management) are going all out with the promotion for the record, as evidenced by the ABC special, a flash mob (click here for details), rumoured performance at the American Music Awards, and on the UK front – headlining the Jingle Ball, X-Factor, and several other scheduled promo spots. It’s a very exciting time to be a Janet Jackson fan.

Tidbit: Janet begins shooting the video for new single ‘Make Me’ today!

Your thoughts?

Wow, it really does seem like Rihanna overload today. Just as a the official tracklist of her ‘Rated R’ LP was unveiled, a new cut from the album, the Young Jeezy assisted ‘Hard’ surfaced. Is it any good though?

Admittedly this is perhaps the best track I’ve heard from the album thus far. Saying that, that’s not particularly a difficult feat to achieve. Sticking to its good points, though, the beat goes hard (no pun intended) and Ms. Fenty’s swagger (however unjustified that is is) rides the production quite effortlessly during the verses – in the process making her irritatingly nasal vocals (on the repetitive and lyrically empty chorus) that much more tolerable this go round.  Why wasn’t this the first single?

Hit or Miss?

Young rapper Soulja Boy Tell’em will ironically feature on both Chris Brown and Rihanna’s upcoming LP’s. Rihanna’s album, ‘Rated R’, hits stores on November 23rd and Brown’s ‘Graffiti’ will be released on December 15th. Here what Soulja Boy had to say about his contributions to both projects:

“With this particular project [it was] like, ‘Whoa!’ because it was like, ‘Yo, I need you to do something for Rihanna’s album. You got 11 hours. Go,” Soulja Boy said about the last-minute call to work on an unspecified track from Rihanna’s upcoming Rated R disc.

“It was like, ‘What?’ ” The challenge, he said, was how to cook up some verses that would help make a #1 hit in such a short time. Luckily, he had plenty of experience with working fast, thanks to the 30 minutes he said it took him to write his breakthrough hit, “Crank That.”

The pressure was not as intense when he got the call to guest on a track from Rihanna’s ex, Brown. “I got nothing but love for Chris, that’s my homeboy,” said Soulja of the singer, whose Graffiti will be his first release since his assault on Rihanna in February. “He called me up and he was like, ‘Yo, I need you on this song for my album. Will you come through?’ ”

The answer, of course, was yes — and the result is a tune titled “She’s Bad.”

“My approach to it was, if me and Chris Brown ever did a song together it got to be the best song ever,” he said. “When people hear it, it gotta be automatic, be in all the kids’ heads, all the girls definitely gotta love it, all the females gotta love it. That was my approach to it. I was just thinking, ‘What is the slickest lines I could say to a female to make them fall in love with this record?”

{Source}

If there is one thing that this boy has is work ethic. He really gets his name out there and stays on his grind. If only he applied this same zeal to developing quality material for himself, he could become one of Hip-Hop’s heavyweights instead of being known as the ‘Ringtone King’. That’s a damn shame.

Thoughts?

Legendary diva and comeback queen Whitney Houston took to the stage on tonight’s X-Factor results show to perform new single ‘Million Dollar Bill (Freemasons Mix)’. As with most things ‘Whitney’ these days, her appearance on the show was almost exclusively the main talking point on everybody’s lips.

As for the actual performance, I really, really enjoyed this. Ms. Houston commanded that stage like the unashamed diva that she is. Work! Her  energy and overall stage presence were so off-the-charts that they compensated for the still-rather-good (for 2009 Whitney) vocals. In what I hope doesn’t become a big deal, Nippy’s ‘wardrobe malfunction’ was in reality a minor and she continued on like the professional she is, poking fun at it at the end.

The interview at the end, upon watching it live, had me (and a whole lot of other folk) giving a collective ‘What in the blue hell?’ For whatever the reason, Ms. Houston wasn’t quite ‘with it’, this evidenced by her not having much of  clue when the album was to be released, the constant looking at the floor, fidgety composure, and the lengthy gap in answering some of the questions. That said, I do not agree with some of whispers-turned-loud accusations that Whitney is back to her troubled times. I strongly doubt it’s that. I guess only she know’s the reading. However, after talking everything there is to talk about with Oprah, it’d be great if her team did a Britney Spears and limit the talking/doing interviews and have her just perform.

What do you think of the performance?

The MOBO Awards 2009 took place in Scotland last night at the SECC Area. Ever on point with our award show coverage, we have been in search of performance videos, yet little of substance has popped up Youtube (something in itself I’d imagine folk will read into). In any case, our girl Kelly Rowland performed her smash duet with David Guetta ‘When Love Takes Over’ at the event, however sound issues plagued the performance, something Kelly herself took to her Twitter after her performance to vent about. See Kelly’s Twitter message, as well as the actual performance below:

But, what I will say is the MoBo’s owe me an apology!!!! I was LIVID after the show! I wanted you guys to be the 1st to hear it from me! rehearsals. were fine. soundcheck. was fine. performance, wad a struggle at 1st. But, I got through it! {Source}

Ms. Kelly seemed heated (peep her face when she realised the issue). Not a bad performance, considering. I’m looking forward to seeing Kelly perform new material now, though.

Your thoughts?

After a somewhat tumultuous few months, a period which saw him sign and severe ties with Timabland and Lil’ Wayne’s labels, Omarion today announced that he has signed a new deal with EMI. Check out the report below via MTV:

The former B2K frontman announced Thursday (September 24) that he signed a new deal with EMI to create his own imprint StarWorld Entertainment. Through the pact, the Los Angeles native will release his next project, Ollusion, due November 24. Just last month, Omarion united forces with Lil Wayne and joined the rapper’s Young Money roster. However, shortly after the news broke, the singer mysteriously parted ways with the camp.

“I have a lot of respect and admiration for the genius of Lil Wayne and the entire Young Money family,” he said in a statement. “I asked to be released from the label to pursue other opportunities that were recently presented to me. Because of our relationship, Lil Wayne had no issue with us ending our business relationship and released me from the label.”

Prior to linking with Lil Wayne, O partnered with Timbaland in 2008, but the union didn’t result in any material being released through the producer’s Mosley Music Group.

Omarion will now ready his third solo album, which will feature collaborations from Tank, Fabolous and Gucci Mane on the first single, “I Get It In,” set to debut October 5.

“My style has evolved so much on this album,” Omarion said in a statement. “I was able to express truly who I am from a creative and artistic standpoint, which allowed me to share a personal side of myself with my fans through my music. This is my masterpiece, and I can’t wait for the world to hear my new album.”

More power to him; it seems ol’ Omari has more lives than Super Mario. Here’s hoping all this label bouncing will result in a worthwhile album. The void Chris Brown has left in the young male R&B/Pop market has been left open for seemingly so long, so this really could be Omarion’s time to shine – providing he ditches the uber nasal singing and the material is half-way decent.

Sunday night, on the red carpet of the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Grammy-winning super-producer Rodney Jerkins spoke fondly of his late friend Michael Jackson and how MJ once beat him at pool. Jerkins also revealed that he and the King of Pop’s baby sis, Janet Jackson, have been collaborating a lot lately. The first record from their sessions, “Make Me,” dropped just a few hours later.

“It’s about dancing,” Jerkins said. “It’s all about her. It’s about [saying], ‘Listen, if you really want to get with me, you gotta make me feel a certain way.’ “

Jerkins, who produced several tracks on Janet’s 2008 album, Discipline, said he and Ms. Jackson have a lot more songs to come.

“I’m working heavily with Janet,” Jerkins said, adding that her new album will have a throwback feel. “We’ve been in the studio for the last month. We’ve been getting it in. We’re going back to basics and fundamental sounds of Janet. We’re trying to target her fans [by making] the records that her fans will embrace. A lot of uptempo stuff makes you feel good. There’s so many different colors of Janet. I’m a fan, I’ve always been a fan of Janet. The Rhythm Nation, the Control, the Janet. record … those make you feel a certain way. It’s been fun. I’m excited about it.”