Brandy Signs With Epic Following months of speculation, AOL Black Voices have confirmed that R&B star Brandy has indeed signed with Epic Records, with plans to release a new album by the year’s end. The singer, 28, will no doubt be hoping that her new beginning over at Epic will allow for her to leave recent troubles in the past.
It’s been almost four years since the songstress severed ties with longtime label Atlantic, following the release and subsequent poor performance of her highly underrated (IMO) ‘Afrodisiac’ LP. I’m definitely amped to see what she serves up this go round. {Source}

Any thoughts?
US Label Want Estelle to 'Fix' Teeth? According to reports, R&B star Estelle is receiving pressure from her US label to make changes to her appearance:

US label Atlantic Records wants Estelle to have surgery on her teeth to help her break into the American charts, say reports.

Her bosses also want her to ditch the boyish haircut she has in her ‘American Boy’ video and would like to give her image a complete overhaul, according to The Sun.

“The American executives are adamant she makes a lot of significant changes,” said a source. “They want rid of her tomboy hair and want her to get her teeth fixed.

“Estelle is not happy. She feels her teeth and the rest of her look are a big part of her character.”

The R&B star has spent the last three weeks at number one on the UK singles chart.

{Source}

The truth of the matter is anyone’s guess, however it does raise a few interesting questions. Do you feel Estelle should comply with what the label want of her or refuse? Is this another (unfortunate) case of image over talent?

Your thoughts?

Tyra Banks Show Celebrates 500th EpisodeSupermodel turned talk show host Tyra Banks celebrated the 500th episode of ‘The Tyra Banks Show’ by taping live in the street (audience in tow) on Union Square in New York this past Sunday. 500 already? Kudos to her, the show has come a long way.
Tyra Banks Show Celebrates 500th Episode Tyra Banks Show Celebrates 500th Episode

Your thoughts?
Cassie - 'Official Girl' As Cassie continues to ready her sophomore effort for a September release, the currently untitled LP’s first single ‘Official Girl’ surfaced today. While I’m surprisingly liking the Danja produced song, my expectations were a little higher – considering Diddy’s recent hyping of it, as well as the brilliance that was her only claim to fame ‘Me & U’. Good, but not quite good enough. {Thanks Yan!}

Hit or Miss?

{Link Removed As Requested}

Da Brat Sports New LookRapper Da Brat attended the 25th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards last night in Los Angeles, California rocking this new ‘do. It’s been a minute seen we’ve heard anything from her, which is a shame as she’s one of my favorite female MC’s. These days, instead of releasing actual albums – she seems content in following Mariah Carey anywhere and everywhere….(…) lol. Anyway…

What do you think of the pic?
Ciara Preps 'Fantasy Ride' R&B star Ciara invited MTV to Hotlanta’s Silent Studio to preview her third studio LP, which has a working title of ‘Fantasy Ride’. The album will be presented by lead single ‘High Price’ – featuring rapper Ludaris. Word has it that the song has a Crunk vibe.
While I’m looking forward to Ciara’s new record, I’m kinda hopeful she keeps the Crunk to a minimum. Yes, I know it’s the sound she’s recognised for, but I think she may be better off channeling her efforts into something else. While her last album spawned stellar slow jams such as ‘Promise’ and ‘So Hard’, it’s Crunk offering were terrible IMO – i.e the tuneless, hook-less ‘That’s Right’. Anyway, Ciara has gone on record to confirm that a summer release has been penciled in for the record; so, I’m assuming we should be hearing something very soon.

Any thoughts?

Mariah Carey was one of the many acts who performed at the Idol Gives Back 2008, which aired yesterday. Check out her rendition of her inspirational song ‘Fly Like A Bird (from the ‘Emancipation):

She nailed it! Great performance. ‘Fly Like A Bird’ stands as one of my personal favorite Mimi songs of all time, so it’s always good to see her do the track justice live. I’m on the fence as to whether there was some ‘studio wizardry’ used during the last part, but oh well, it sounded on-point and seemed live for the majority.

What do you think of the performance?

Usher Steps Out With Son For The First TimeR&B star Usher was spotted out shopping with wife Tameka and, for the first time, their son Usher Raymond V. Word has it, the couple were in negotiations with a number of magazines for exclusive rights to the first pics of the baby, but things fell through; I’m still not a fan of that practice. Anyway, you can check out the vid via TMZ by clicking here

Your thoughts?
Teedra Moses Speaks On Label BankruptcyFollowing the news of TVT Records bankruptcy back in February, many have been wondering about the status of R&B singer Teedra Moses – who was signed to the label. The critically acclaimed songstress has addressed her current situation in a recent interview with All Hip Hop Alternatives:

Then I’d have a situation where I’m not well promoted, and they really couldn’t facilitate that at the time. So it was a blessing. Part of me was like “Yeah!’’ and the other part was like “Dang!” But it is what it is.

AHHA: Before they went into bankruptcy, I’m sure you had a lot of meetings with them about the album and the release date. What reasons were they giving you about why the album had to keep getting pushed back?

Teedra: Our communication was just horrible. The person I was dealing with [from TVT] was Brian Leech. He was the A&R that came to the studio and listened to what you were doing. Through him I was able to communicate with the label.

I’m not the type of person that can easily sit in the midst of all the technical stuff. I try to stay away from all that so I can be creative and do what I do without the restraints of thinking about what [A&Rs] have to do. That’s why I have people around for those jobs.

So once Brian left, there was really no way to communicate with them as an artist. There was no music person there. There were a couple other A&Rs, but they used to be assistants. There was no music person to really communicate with that could understand the vision I had.

You have to have that person to translate the vision to the label. It was a hard situation because everything was in disarray, and after Brian left, everything just started to fall apart. There were a lot of people underneath Brian that left too, and it kinda fell apart, unfortunately.

AHHA: So are you a complete free agent at this point?

Teedra: Not exactly; I’m not off TVT yet, but it’s something I’m moving towards. It’s very, very near.

It’s great to see that Teedra is moving forward. Like many, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of her sophomore effort ‘The Young Lioness’. Here’s hoping we’re able to hear it soon.

Any thoughts?

Janet Jackson Resurfaces Pop superstar Janet Jackson was snapped arriving in Japan early this morning. The singer is over there for 3 days to promote her current album ‘Discipline’, which debuted at # 1 in the US upon its release back in February. It’s one of the few times Janet has been seen since recovering from a serious bout of the Flu, which halted the US promotion of the record. Upon the completion of this stop, it’s expected that full blown promotion for her anticipated tour will commence.
Janet Jackson Resurfaces

Your thoughts?

{Image Removed As Requested}


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?
**