Kelly Rowland Dropped By Columbia Records
Reports are pouring in on the information highway that Kelly Rowland has been dropped by Columbia Records, her recording home since the start of her career. Check out the report below:
Former Destiny’S Child star Kelly Rowland has reportedly been dropped by her record label, just two months after firing her manager, former bandmate Beyonce Knowles’ dad.
Despite the fact her first two solo albums sold more than four million copies, British tabloid News of The World reports the Dilemma singer has been dumped by bosses at Columbia (applies to the US and all other countries), because they fear she is “no longer commercially viable”. 
Rowland shot to fame in Destiny’s Child in 1997 and released her first solo album, Simply Deep, in 2002. The album sold over three million copies worldwide.
The 28 year old started 2009 by splitting from longtime manager Mathew Knowles. {Source}
Wow! I guess this really does mean all ties are severed with her and the Music World / Columbia labels. Say what you will but I see this being a good thing for Ms. Kelly; a fresh start elsewhere and a definite break-away from the camp she’s been a part of for pretty much the whole of her career. I’m more than sure many a label will be knocking at her door (that’s if she’s not signed elsewhere already), looking to turn her into the next big thing. How this all plays out in the months ahead will be very interesting. For the time being, official word is that Kelly is currently recording her new Project Runway-type TV show for Bravo in the States.
Your thoughts?

What do you think Kelly’s next move should be?


Where should Kelly sign?

As Kelly Rowland continues work on her 3rd solo album, her collaboration with renown French DJ David Guetta has surfaced. The track, ‘Love Takes Over’, is very much a Dance cut, which is a departure from the sound we’re used to hearing Kelly feature on. That said, while the song (and the genre generally) is a bit too ‘busy’ IMO, Kelly’s vocals sound great and she’s ‘singing singing’ like we know she can. Here’s hoping we hear more of this kind of delivery with her next LP.
Hit or Miss?
LeToya's 'Lady Love' Pushed Back; New Single Lined Up
After being serially delayed due to internal label re-structuring, LeToya Luckett’s sophomore LP  ‘Lady Love’ had been finally set for a May 19th release date. However, it has been confirmed that the album has been pushed back once again and will now arrive in stores on June 16th, avoiding a chart battle with Eminem (who is releasing ‘Relapse’ on May 19th) and giving way for the release of another single. 
Luckett, 28, has gone on record to confirm that the Tank produced ‘Regret’ will be the follow-up to ‘Not Anymore’ (which isn’t exactly setting the charts alight). Word has it the song is the business. I guess we’ll know in time…
Your thoughts?
Britney, Justin To Join Jackson At Comeback Shows?
According to reports, Michael Jackson may be joined by some familiar faces at his comeback shows at London’s 02:

Michael Jackson has reportedly asked Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake to join him on stage for some of the dates at his sell-out O2 concerts.

The star is said to be concerned that the performances could lose their “wow factor” due to the length of his 50-date residency, thelondonpaper reports.

An insider said: “Michael knows that stretching out all those shows and keeping it fresh is going to be hard, and one way to do this is to collaborate with some other big stars that he admires.

“The idea would be for them to do five dates each with him. As well as Britney and Justin, he’s in talks with producer Timbaland about doing some of the dates too.” {Source}

This is by no means far fetched, as Michael has taken to the stage with both in the past. That said, Beyonce and Kanye West, both of who will be in the country around the time, are much more exciting prospects IMO.

Any thoughts?

As the Pussycat Dolls ready the re-release of their ‘Doll Domination (2.0)’ LP (due April 14th), after the original tanked, a new cut from the set has surfaced called ‘Painted Windows’. Though produced by the often-stellar Darkchild (‘Feedback’,’When I Grow Up’ etc), this Euro-Pop cut is, to put it bluntly, crap. That said, the the girls do get brownie points with this as Melody can actually be heard singing something other than ‘oohh’ and ‘aahh’, it’s just a shame the song couldn’t be better.
Hit or Miss?

Hot on the promo trail for her ‘In A Perfect World…’ LP, Keri Hilson performed smash ‘Turnin’ Me On’ with Lil’ Wayne on Jimmy Kimmel last night.  She also performed ‘Energy’, which you can view below. Pretty good performances, though I’m eager to see her perform more cuts from her awesome album.
What do you think of the performance?
Megastar Beyonce kicked off her much anticipated ‘I Am…Tour’ last night in Rexall Place in Edmonton, Canada. Interestingly enough, there was a no-media rule enforced, meaning there will not be any professional pics from the show. Some reviewers are saying the fact such a small, remote town was used as the opening city was for no other reason than to do a ‘paid dress rehearsal’ of the show which is set to roll into big cities such as London, Paris and US territories later this Spring / Summer.  Anyway, enough of my rambling LOL, reviews thus far have given the show great feedback. Peep vids from the show below (quality isn’t great, but best as of now) {Links updated!}:






Cracking stuff. You already know That Grape Juice will be in the house when Bouncy rolls into London come May.

Your thoughts?
Madonna To Adopt Another African Baby
According to reports, pop superstar and recent divorcee Madonna is set to adopt another child from African country Malawi:
Madonna has reportedly filed adoption papers for a second child ahead of a new visit to Malawi.
An official at the welfare department has confirmed that the pop superstar has formally applied to adopt another child from the country, The AP reports.
A second anonymous source claimed that Madonna would travel to Malawi this weekend and have an adoption case heard by a court as soon as Monday.
Madonna adopted David Banda from Malawi in 2006 and has long been rumoured to want another child from the country to be his brother or sister. {Source}
This, I’m sure, will have her critics sounding off again…
Your thoughts?
Timberlake NOT Working On New Album
Though reports that Justin Timberlake has been hard at work on his third studio album, the follow-up to 2006’s ‘FutureSexLoveSounds’, the singer has gone on record recently to confirm that he is in fact has no concrete plans for a new album anytime soon:

Justin Timberlake fans, don’t hold your breath waiting for a new album. Timberlake, whose last disc, FutureSex/LoveSounds, came out in 2006, tells EW that he’s “not working” on new music right now. The singer — who’s executive producing a new MTV reality competition series called The Phone (premiering April 21) — has been hitting the studio lately, but only to produce tracks for other artists, like T.I. (“Dead and Gone”) and Ciara (“Love Sex Magic”). “Right now, I like the idea that things can just kind of pop up and if they feel right I can do them,” says Timberlake. “Committing to my own sort of project, that’s like, ‘Okay, let me block out two years of my life and do it.’ I was heavily fulfilled with the last one and I always have this thing with myself that if I can’t sleep because I need to do it, then I’m gonna do it. But if I’m not losing sleep over it then…” {Source}

While I’m sure Justin’s fans won’t be too pleased, I can’t say I’m particularly fussed. I seem to have been among the few that wasn’t big on Justin’s last effort. It’s hard to deny his ‘hit-making’ ability on the collabo front…just ask Madonna, T.I and Ciara.
Your thoughts?

Our friend Nigel D over at Real Talk NY caught up with Keri Hilson yesterday in New York. In this really interesting interview, the singer sounds off at the haters who turned up to her album release party, the shadiness of the music industry as well as ‘that’ remix to ‘Turnin’ Me On (Off)’.
Say what you want about her, but she was making a lot of sense IMO. More power to her.
Tidbit: Keri’s album ‘In A Perfect World…’ is looking set to debut at #3 with sales between 80,000- 90,000 sold first week. Not bad at all…all things considered.
Your thoughts?
Wedding Bells For Ashanti & Nelly?
After for more than 4 years of dating, reports are suggesting Ashanti and Nelly are finally set to tie the knot this year:
R&B star ASHANTI has hinted she will marry her rapper lover NELLY in 2009.
Just four months after the couple went public with its four year romance, the singer has confessed she is planning to walk down the aisle with Nelly.
When asked if wedding bells were on the horizon for her, the Happy hitmaker tells Us Weekly, “Absolutely. It’s in the cards for me. I believe that I have a couple more things I need to do before that happens.”
But Ashanti urges fans not to believe all the gossip that’s written about her and Nelly – despite the media correctly predicting their relationship, years before they admitted it to the world.
She adds, “I should have had six or seven kids, been married three times and secretly engaged now. But none of it’s true.” {Source}

A big congratulations to them, if true. It goes to show, there actually are some relationships that can last the distance in the crazy world that is the entertainment industry.

Your thoughts?
Beyonce's 'I Am...' Tour Outfits
As Beyonce gets ready to kick off her much anticipated ‘I Am…Tour’ in Canada tonight (coverage of which you’ll be able to find at TGJ), pics of the outfits she’ll be wearing have surfaced. The Thierry Mugler designs are certainly ‘out there’. It’ll be interesting to see Bouncy in them later tonight.
Beyonce's 'I Am...' Tour Outfits Beyonce's 'I Am...' Tour Outfits
What do you think of Beyonce’s tour outfits?
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