The boys of Pretty Ricky are back, following the departure of lead member Pleasure last year. Having added singer 4Play to their line-up, the group are set to release their third studio album ’80’s Babies’ in early August; ‘Cuddle Up’ is the first single to be lifted from the LP. Granted the group’s fixation on the same subject matter (sex) is becoming rather tiresome, the song is a pretty good effort – particularly on the production front as well as the hook. Good stuff.

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As Hip-Hop veteran LL Cool J preps his new album ‘Exit 13’ – his final LP for longtime label Def Jam – for its July 8th release, a cut from the set has surfaced. ‘Cry’, featuring R&B songstress Lil Mo, sees the rapper re-embrace the sound that made him such a prominent feature of the 90s music scene. Liking this one, I must say.

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The video for Usher’s 2nd single ‘Moving Mountains’ premiered just a few hours ago. A continuation from the crooner’s ‘Love In This Club’ clip, the video is real impressive. Usher’s much anticipated LP ‘Here I Stand’ drops May 27th.

What do you think of the video?

As some of you may already know, the child molestation trial of R&B crooner R. Kelly began this week; it didn’t take long for what will inevitably be a courthouse and media circus to commence. Check out the report via TMZ:

Could a skin doc end up saving R. Kelly’s hide? Looks like it, since his lawyers are basing pretty much his entire defense on one mole – the dark, irregularly-bordered kind.

The pisstastic singer’s trial finally began yesterday, and openings were just as lurid as the tape at its center. The defense claims that the guy in the video doesn’t have a mole, but Kelly does. Maybe the most shocking moment came when the defense claimed that the woman in the tape was a prostitute: “[The alleged victim is sweet and nice,” said Kelly’s lawyer. “The woman in this tape is a prostitute.”

Among other interesting sexual curiosities, the girl calls the man in the vid “daddy” and he apparently pays her at the end.

The full version of Solange’s ‘Sandcastle Disco’ from her forthcoming album ‘Sol-Angel & The Hadley Street Dreams’ has surfaced. Having really liked the snippet that was floating around not too long ago, I’m feeling the cut even more so after hearing in it’s entirety. Solange’s record really is shaping up to be something. ‘Sol-Angel & The Hadley Street Dreams’ drops August 26th via Geffen/Music World.

Hit or Miss?

Not the best performance, but pretty good all the same.

What do you think of the performance?

According to Billboard, the title of Nas’s controversial ‘N*gger’ LP has been scrapped in favour of an unconfirmed name. Now slated to drop on July 1st, the rapper confirmed that he was pressurised into changing the album’s title in view of the media hysteria:

“It’s important to me that this album gets to the fans,” the rapper says. “It’s been a long time coming. I want my fans to know that creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same content and the same messages. It’s that important. The streets have been waiting for this for a long time. The people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it.”

I was always kinda on the fence about the album’s title; no doubt, the record, irrespective of it’s new title, will have garnered much attention already.

Your thoughts?

The Pussycat Dolls performed their brand new single ‘When I Grow Up’ on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show yesterday. While I enjoyed their showing, I was kinda disappointed to see Nicole singing everything again. Having listened to the track, I was under the impression, lead vocals had been shared out a bit more evenly this time, yet I’m assuming that was some ‘studio wizardry’ as Nicole evident sings the whole song (backing vocals included). Is there a point for the others to even have a mic? SMH…

What do you think of the performance?