Supermodel-turned talk show queen Tyra Banks took an exclusive behind the scenes look at ‘The Beyonce Experience’. The special, which aired yesterday, was filmed at the Philadelphia stop on the tour. Tyra and the ‘Deja Vu’ singer spoke on everything from pre-show rituals to costumes (including the now infamous ‘Ring The Alarm’ fall outfit). Tyra had me in hysterics with her wacky ways and it was good to see Beyonce show more of her character outside being a ‘superstar’. Tidbit: you can’t knock the Knowles’ hustle factor – Matthew was selling them items hard at the end.

Check out this steamy photoshoot Rihanna and Robin Thicke appear in for GQ magazine. This is kinda random, but I can’t deny that it’s a great shoot. You can read their joint feature, in which they speak about the success they have enjoyed this year, by clicking here.

R&B songstress Alicia Keys has surpassed initial sales expectations for her new album ‘As I Am’. Whereas the LP was forecast to sell in the region of 600,000 copies first week, Billboard has it’s final sales at 742,000 – a career best for Keys. ‘As I Am’ now stands as having 2007’s 2nd highest opening week numbers behind Kanye West’s ‘Graduation’. {Source}

As some of you may have heard, Ne-Yo was dropped suddenly from R. Kelly’s ‘Double Up’ tour a few couple of days ago. Whilst, at the time, ‘contractual reasons’ were cited as the reason, the ‘Do You’ singer has spoken out about the situation on a Washington radio station. Check out the report below via Natasha over at YBF:

…But Ne-Yo now says that he was told to tell people his being dropped was due to financial and contractual issues. But actually it was because he challenged some of the goings on behind the scenes of the tour. And that may or may not (he purposely remained vague on the issue)have led to contractual obligations not being fulfilled. He discussed how simple things like a dressing room were not given to him and his dancers because R. Kelly wanted all 7 of the dressing rooms to himself. He also said that R. Kelly and his people were quite unprofessional and demanded Ne-Yo’s rehearsal times be cut short. Basically he wasn’t feeling the respect level given to him and said “No” to many of the unplanned and slightly disrespectful changes. And apparently, after Keyshia Cole threw a fit and threatened to not perform on opening night because she didn’t like that R. Kelly’s people slated her to go on before Ne-Yo, they didn’t drop her for challenging their decisions. And Keyshia still ended up not performing that night. Ne-Yo says all that wasn’t cool and he’s being treated unfairly.

He says he definitely still respects R. Kelly musically, but not as a man. Sounds like The Kells’ divatude is back in play…reminiscent of the Best of Both Worlds Tour with Jay-Z. And we all know how that ended up. Ne-Yo was asked about whether any lawsuits would come of this and he responded with the typical “We’ll see what happens” response. He also says now that he has all this free time on his hands, he’s trying to put something together on his own for his fans.

Whatever the real reason, it was pretty messed up to drop him from the tour – especially after Keyshia Cole’s rumored behaviour. all of this makes me question R. Kelly’s logic; I mean, with his trial coming up soon, he’s gonna need every bit of good press he can get and this definitely isn’t a good look.

In what comes as, somewhat, of a surprise, it has been announced that Solange Knowles has signed a new recording contract with Geffen Records. The deal, which sees Knowles move to Los Angeles, is a joint-venture between Geffen and Music World Music. Geffen is home to major artists such as Mary J. Blige, Fergie and Keyshia Cole. ‘Solange and The Hadley Street Dreams’, Knowles’ debut for the label, is set to hit stores early next year. {Source}

That’s what I’m talking about! I applaud her for being the first in the Knowles camp to spread her wings and do her own thing. What I’ve heard of her new material has been promising and I’m anticipating the record even more so now. Kelly Rowland, take notes…

R&B star Chris Brown premiered the video for his new single ‘With You’ on his official MySpace page yesterday. It’s ok, I guess. My lack of enthusiasm probably stems from my view that there is much better material on his ‘Exclusive’ CD that should have got the single treatment i.e. ‘Take You Down’, ‘You’ and ‘Damage’. Now on single number three, it’ll be interesting to see how much more they squeeze out of the album.

I know it’s short notice, but I’ll be conducting a phone interview with Chingy tomorrow (November 21st). The DTP star is gearing up for the release of his fourth album ‘Hate It Or Love It’ on December 18th. So, please drop any questions you may have for him in the comments section. Remember, only genuine and appropriate questions will be considered 🙂

According to our friend Sandra Rose, R&B singer Monica has recently renewed her contract with J Records and is in the process of recording a new album. The singer, who is eight months pregnant, is working with hit-makers Bryan Michael Cox, Missy Elliott and Ne-Yo on the CD. What’s more, she has gone on record to confirm that the album will consist of mainly ballads and slower numbers – no more crunk/’ hot for the moment’ tracks this time around.

Though I liked tracks like ‘Everytime The Beat Drops’ etc from her last CD, it’s good to know she’s taking it back to the sound that made her successful to begin with.

As reported, Michael Jackson will be releasing a revamped version of his career defining album Thriller in celebration of the album’s 25th anniversary. Four of Thriller’s original tracks are receiving the remix treatment by Kanye West, Will.i.am and Akon for the re-release. The songs are ‘Billie Jean’, ‘The Girl Is Mine’, ‘Pretty Young Thing’ and ‘Wanna Be Starting Something’. The later was covered by Akon.

Where do I begin? Absolutely dreadful. I nearly spat out my drink when I heard him attempt some of them notes (LMAO at “Billie Jean is always talkin’….”). I’ve got love for Michael, but this mess just is not cutting it. I thought it was a (bad) joke. I’m sure even T-Pain would have come up with something better than this. Here’s hoping Kanye and co deliver the goods. SMH.

With the release of Mary J. Blige’s album ‘Growing Pains’ drawing nearer, new material from the anticipated LP has surfaced. ‘Work That’ sees Blige proclaim a self-appreciation message. Though I’m feeling the song’s overall positivity, it sounds like an album-only track. I’m hoping the album has better material than this. ‘Growing Pains’ hits stores December 18th.