It seems the, somewhat, underwhelming opening sales of Rihanna’s new album ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ hasn’t affected her promotional campaign. The Def Jam star stopped by The View to perform her international smash ‘Umbrella’. Aside from the obvious technical issues, this is performance was disappointing; she didn’t seem all that into it and the vocals were kinda shaky.

What did you think of the performance?

The video for Timbaland’s latest single ‘The Way I Are’ premiered yesterday. Upon listening to the producers’ album ‘Shock Value’ a while back, I felt ‘The Way I Are’ to be one of the few decent cuts on the CD. Yet the video is poor. Similar to the vid for the first single ‘Give It To Me’, it’s cheap and no thought appears to have been put into the concept. What’s more is that it does little to introduce Timbaland protégée, Keri Hilson (who features on the track) to the masses; she just wonders aimlessly across the screen. Disappointing.

What do you think of the video?

LL Cool J – Queens

Following the poor sales of LL Cool J’s last album ‘Todd Smith’, the rapper has been very vocal about his disappointment with Def Jam -his label since 1984. LL, 39, continues the trend on this new track ‘Queens’. The song, which features 50 Cent, Mobb Deep, Tony Yayo, and Kool G Rap, sees LL taking shots at the reknown label; he raps ‘I wish Rick (Rubin) and Russell (Simmons) was back. I miss the old Def Jam ’cause them new monkeys act like they don’t know who I am.’ The track itself is decent, but I’m not feeling LL’s approach on this. Considering that ‘Queens’ is slated to feature on LL’s upcoming final LP under Def Jam -‘Exit 13’, I don’t think it makes sense for him to go at the label that will be releasing the album. Does he really think they’ll properly promote an album bashing them?

Singer T-Pain performed his #1 hit ‘Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin)’ on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week. I’m not really feeling this performance; it’s one of the first times I’ve heard his voice without the vocoder effect and he didn’t sound too good. Nonetheless, the live band added an extra umph to the performance and the crowd were hyped throughout.

What do you think of the performances?

It’s been somewhat of a slow news day and this video just came to my attention. I’m aware some of you may have seen it already, but after watching I just can’t stop laughing. It’s well-known that Mariah isn’t the best dancer, yet I honestly didn’t realise…well just watch lol.

What do you think of Mariah’s moves?

Following the massive success of Mary J. Blige’s last album ‘The Breakthrough’, the R&B star has revealed that she is currently working on her next LP. Speaking to Hamptons Magazine, Blige explained the upside to taking her time to perfect the album:

“It’s like the difference between a rotisserie meal and a microwave dinner. It takes hours to get right, but it’s going to be really good and you won’t forget it. I’m a nice rotisserie — caramel-colored and well-seasoned.”

The video for T.I.’s latest single, ‘You Know What It Is’ premiered last night. As with the song, the video just doesn’t move me. There isn’t anything remotely entertaining about it; it seems to just goes on and on. Wyclef’s presence (along with that fake Caribbean accent) is kinda jarring too. This all makes me wonder if T.I.’s latest effort ‘T.I. vs T.I.P.’ will have been worth the wait. He needs to step up his game, because as of now he isn’t delivering. ‘T.I. vs T.I.P.’ hits stores July 3rd.

What do you think of the video?

I’m still kinda baffled by T-Pain’s staying power; I never would have imagined that he’d be so successful. After all, he is neither the best vocalist or a lady-magnet. Whatever the reason, people are feeling him and this new single/video ‘Bartender’ is set to further cement his place as a viable artist. It’s more of the same from the ‘Buy U A Drank’ singer – nothing groundbreaking or too serious. The song is pretty good and the video serves it’s purpose. T-Pain’s latest album ‘Epiphany’ is currently #1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

What do you think of the video?

R&B star Ciara recently shot the video for ‘Can’t Leave ‘Em Alone’ – the third single from her current album ‘Ciara: The Evolution’. The Darkchild produced track features 50 Cent and the video is expected to premiere in the coming weeks. Check out the pics from the set:

Though ‘Can’t Leave ‘Em Alone’ is a good track, I would have preferred she release the previously-confirmed 3rd single ‘So Hard’ instead. I can see why the label went with ‘Can’t Leave ‘Em Alone’ though; the song has laid-back summer vibe to it and releasing it during this period would be logical.

What do you think of the pics / single choice?