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Actress Stacey Dash lets it all hang out on the latest cover of KING magazine. The 42 year old (yes, 42!) former Clueless star looks literally half her age. Saying that, it’s been a long while since she’s been seen actually…working. So here’s hoping she isn’t just hitting the cover for no reason. A new project perhaps?


What do you think of the cover?
Diddy: 'New Cassie Album Will Surprise' Though Cassie’s sophomore effort is still without an affirmative title or release date (an unconfirmed date in September), her label head Diddy spoke with Billboard about the project recently:

“That’s going to really, really catch people off guard,” he says. “There’s a huge [cry] out there for a younger Britney Spears, a younger Janet Jackson. Those two great artists have paved the way. She has a single out called ‘Official Girl’ and Danja produced it, and it is a smash.

Cassie released her self-titled debut in 2006, which went on to sell 321,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan. Single “Me & U” peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 3 on the Hot 100. It has also sold more than 1 million digital downloads.

Diddy says Cassie has grown significantly since the debut; at one point during the promo cycle for the album, the pair used viral video to apologize for her poor performance on a radio show.

“I just don’t think she was ready,” Diddy says. “I think that we threw her into the spotlight without the artist development — that goes on with a lot of new artists. We pulled out, we took our time, we developed her for like, a year-and-a-half. People are just going to see her there and be like, ‘Wow, she’s really cocooned into a butterfly.'”

Although the track list isn’t finalized, Cassie told Billboard earlier this year she’d worked with mentor Ryan Leslie, Seven, Mario Winans, Bryan Michael Cox, Eric Hudson, Sean C and LV on the project.

It’s pretty easy (and justified) to rubbish Diddy’s delusions of Cassie being the next Janet or Britney; after all, unlike her, both Janet and Britney compensate for their lack of vocal prowess by being all-round entertainers. However, I’ll reserve my judgement until more is heard from the album. I must say that the production credits are pretty impressive.


Any thoughts?
Usher - 'Love In The Club' (Remix) (ft. Young Jeezy & T.I.)Following the success of Usher’s comeback smash ‘Love In The Club’, this new remix of the t#1 song has surfaced. Though, for the most part, the track remains the same – Atlanta rapper T.I. drops a verse on the remix. It’s pretty good.
Hit or Miss?

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Renown songwriter Sean Garrett (Destiny’s Child, Usher, Ciara etc) is set to release his debut album ‘Turbo 919’ this summer. The video for the LP’s first single ‘Grippin’ On This Bed’, featuring Ludacris, made its debut yesterday. While the song’s infectious hook has made me like it all the more, the video is kinda ‘blah’ IMO. It’ll be interesting to see if Sean’s record garners more attention than the producer/songwriters -turned artists before him.

What do you think of the song / video?

Lil' Wayne - 'Tha Carter III' CoverWord has it the shot above is the official album cover for Lil’ Waynes much-hyped ‘Tha Carter III’ LP (due May 13th). Interesting, to say the least…

What do you think of the cover?
The Game Covers XXL Rapper The Game features on the cover of the June issue of XXL. The former G-Unit star is currently prepping the release of his third studio album ‘LAX’ for a June release.
What do you think of the cover?
Idol Gives Back 2008Popular talent show American Idol taped its annual ‘Idol Gives Back’ show this past Sunday. The star-studded event was held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Mariah Carey, John Legend, Fergie (pictured above), Maroon 5 and Snoop Dogg were among the nights performers. The show airs tomorrow at 7.30 p.m EST/PST in the US on FOX.

In the meanwhile, check out a brief clip of Mariah Carey’s performance of ‘Fly Like A Bird’ from the show:

Any thoughts?

The video for Nelly’s new single ‘Party People’ (ft. Fergie) premiered little over an hour ago. I must say I’m really feeling both the song and it’s accompanying clip. The vid, though pretty simplistic, does the track justice. It’s great to see Nelly coming with the heat this time around; ‘Wadsyaname’ – his first attempt at at launching his forthcoming album ‘Brass Knuckles (due June 24th) – was solid, but very ‘Nelly circa 2002-2004’. Good stuff.

What do you think of the video?

Rowland Confirms She's Working On 3rd LP In an interview with UK newspaper The Daily Record, R&B star Kelly Rowland confirmed that she has indeed begun work on her third solo album. That Grape Juice first reported on Kelly’s plans to head back to the studio last month. Here’s what the ‘Like This’ singer had to say of the new project:

Q: WHAT ELSE ARE YOU UP TO AT THE MOMENT?

A: I’m going back into the studio as I’ve just started the third album.

Q: WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO COLLABORATE WITH?

A: I want to work with will.i.am. That’s the only person I have in my head right now.

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It’s great to know Kelly is moving on to the next album. I’m hopeful that lessons have been learnt, both on her part and on the part of the label with the sadly underrated ‘Ms. Kelly’ project.

While I know what my own personal hopes and expectations are for her next record, I’m pretty interested to hear yours. Fans, non-fans etc, what are your ‘wants’ for Kelly’s next album? Producers to work with? Musical direction? etc..

Your thoughts?

Leona Lewis - 'Spirit' Following the record-breaking success Leona Lewis has enjoyed here in the UK, the singing sensation releases the US version of her debut LP ‘Spirit’ Stateside today.
US folks, will you be picking up the album? My European visitors, what do you think of the record? Is Leona’s current US success deserved? Drop your views in the comments section…

Your thoughts?
Chris Brown - 'Forever' R&B star Chris Brown is set to re-release his successful sophomore effort ‘Exclusive’ in June, and has lined up ‘Forever’ as the lead single. Produced by Polow Da Don, the track sees the teen singer venture into a, somewhat, different musical direction than we’re used to hearing from him; with the song sounding more Hip-Hop/Euro-Pop than his commercial R&B mainstay. Put simply, I’m not really feeling this one. While I expected more from ‘Exclusive’, the album does boast cuts that are better than this, so I’m kinda puzzled at the logic behind repackaging it.

Hit or Miss?

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The much-anticipated video for Kelly Rowland’s ‘Comeback’ exclusively premiered literally just now on popular Destiny’s Child fansite DC3 Forever – courtesy of Music World. Whoa! Hands-down, this has to be the best Kelly video released thus far. Channelling her inner-diva, Kelly’s attitude and sex appeal were at an all-time high (she was working that choreography). Though simplistic concept-wise, the vid more than captured the song’s essence.

Granted ‘Comeback’ isn’t my favourite Kelly track, watching the video definitely has me scratching my head as to why it wasn’t made a single

What do you think of the video?

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