Brandy - 'First N' Luv' (Snippet) With Brandy’s ‘comeback’ single ‘Right Here (Departed)’ heating up the airwaves, a snippet of, what is said to be, the 2nd single from her forthcoming ‘Human’ LP has surfaced. Produced by Hit Boy, ‘First N’ Luv’ isn’t really sounding like the follow-up I’d been expecting.
Though I never tire of Brandy’s trademark airy delivery/vocal arrangements, the busy/all over the place production makes for a pretty hard listen. Potentially a grower, though; so I will reserve full judgement until hearing the track in its entirety.

Hit or Miss?

 

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Whitney Houston’s 1999 smash ‘It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay’ serves as this week’s classic From The Vault video. Both the track and its accompanying clip are as ‘current’ today as they ever were. Good stuff:

I was discussing with a friend recently; as Whitney’s appeal has never been centered around sex or provocativeness – ala the Janet’s and Madonna’s (who are great in their own rights), she has proven that by simply dropping great tracks such as this, she need not compromise her trademark style to appeal to the masses – they had no choice but to listen. A good position to be in with her ‘comeback’ album on the horizon.

Your thoughts?

The video for Cassie’s new single ‘Official Girl (ft. Lil’ Wayne)’ premiered on FN’MTV yesterday. Directed by Chris Robinson, the clip is a pretty engaging watch; Bad Boy evidently pumped quite a lot money into this move-esque effort. That said, I’m still not sold on the Danja produced song…just doesn’t move me.

What do you think of the video?

Da Brat Sentenced To 3 Years In JailRapper Da Brat has been sentenced to three years in prison for striking a waitress with a rum bottle at Jermaine Dupri’s nightclub last year. Check out the report via Contact Music:

A Superior Court Judge ruled on Friday (22Aug08) the hip-hop hitmaker – real name Shawntae Harris – will also serve seven years probation and 200 hours of community service for the incident in addition to her jail time.

Harris, 34, was involved in the altercation at a Halloween party at Studio 72 nightclub in Atlanta, Georgia, on 31 October 2007.

The pair were reported by police to have gotten into an altercation prior to the assault – resulting in the victim’s hospitalisation and permanent facial scarring.
Harris entered a guilty plea to aggravated assault in the case.

According to reports, the rapper pleaded to her weeping family as she was led out of the courtroom, saying: “I love y’all.”

Harris was previously convicted in 2000 for misdemeanor reckless conduct.

Pardon my bluntness, but good for her. No one is above the law; and as someone in the limelight you’d expect her to steer clear of such nonsense. SMH…

Your thoughts?

The video for John Legend’s brand new single, the Andre 3000 assisted ‘Green Light’, premiered on Yahoo Music today. With the song having been in heavy rotation on UK radio as of of late, this one has really grown on me. The accompanying clip, though pretty unspectacular, does the song justice and serves as one of John’s best visual offerings.

Legend’s third studio album ‘Evolver’ is set to hit stores on October 28th.

What do you think of the video?

R&B star Ne-Yo debuted the video for ‘Miss Independent’ – the 2nd single to be lifed from his upcoming LP ‘Year of The Gentleman’-a few hours ago on the FN’MTV finale. The clip, which features cameos from Gabrielle Union, Keri Hilson, Lauren London and Trey Songz, really brings to life the album’s concept; something, if I’m to be honest, I was finding a little hard to grasp. Great song, even better video. Good stuff.

What do you think of the video?

Review up in a lil bit…

In the meanwhile…

What do you think of the song / video?

Various Artists - 'Just Stand Up'As previously reported, female music heavy-weights, including Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna and Mariah Carey, came together to record ‘Just Stand Up’, in aid of the ‘Stand Up To Cancer’ campaign. The track itself, which I must say is pretty good, made its debut today on various US radio stations. You can listen to it below, as well as peep the full list of featured artists:

List of featured artists: Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Keyshia Cole, Fergie, Miley Cirus, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Ciara, Carrie Underwood, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Leona Lewis and Leann Rimes.

Hit or Miss?

Jennifer Hudson was one of the many guests that stopped by BET’s anchor show 106 & Park to celebrate its 2000th episode, which aired today. Hudson performed current single ‘Spotlight’, which you can check out below {apologies for the so-so quality}:

I really enjoyed this one. Great vocals from Jennifer, as usual, and the crowd participation made for a real good overall performance.

What do you think of the performance?

Jermaine Dupri Done With Def Jam Our friends over at SOHH are reporting that Jermaine Dupri’s tenure as Head Of Def Jam Urban Division may be over already. Peep their report below:

After several failed projects, which includes Janet Jackson’s Discipline, Mariah Carey’s E=MC2 and Johnta Austin’s permanently shelved project it looks like the powers that be have had enough and JD’s time as head of Island Records’ urban division has come to an end.

I am being told that JD’s termination papers were being drafted this afternoon.

Ouch.

Your thoughts?

Rihanna To Perform At VMA's‘It Chick’ of the moment Rihanna has been confirmed as the latest performer at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. The Bajan star will take to the stage at the September 7th show to perform current smash ‘Disturbia’. {Source}

I’m really looking forward to Ms. Fenty working the stage as we know she can. LOL LOL LOL. Exciting stuff.

Are you looking forward to Rihanna’s VMA performance?

Lil' Wayne Covers XXLLil’ Wayne features on the cover of the latest issue of XXL magazine. Interesting lol…

What do you think of the cover?
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