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14th Mar

Seemingly out of nowhere, the latest single from Rihanna ‘Take A Bow’ premiered this morning on Ryan Seacrest’s ‘On Air’ radio show on 102.7 KIIS FM Los Angeles. The mid-tempo R&B/Pop cut, from the re-release of ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ (due May 27th), is pretty much standard ‘Rihanna’ fare, so nothing groundbreaking here. Having said that, the 20 year old’s ‘studio’ vocals seem to have matured and she holds her own vocally on the track more so on this than I’ve heard before. It’ll be interesting to see if she can pull this off live….

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LISTEN: Take A Bow

Now, my rant. How in the hell is she releasing another album already?! Before the stans chew me out; yes, it’s almost a year since ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ was released, but considering she’ll likely be dropping the album soon after her ongoing tour (in support of her current record), it’ll still IMO be a case of ‘Rihanna dropping an album every 5 minutes’. Not even the arguably ‘over-exposed’ Beyonce drops albums so frequently. I doubt a new Rihanna record, at this stage, will offer any real artistic growth…just more microwavable nonsense. SMH… All of this still applies…

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14th Mar

Eddie: "I Was Tricked Into Getting Mel Pregnant"

According to The Daily Mail, actor Eddie Murphy has claimed the reason he refuses to be a part of his daughter Angel’s life is because he was ‘tricked’ into conceiving her with Spice Girl Mel B:

Although Eddie accepts that Angel is his daughter, he has said that he won’t see the little girl, because he doesn’t want to set eyes on Mel.
A source said: “He says he will have to wait until Angel is older before he can get to know her without any interference from her mother.”
Secrets behind the couple’s doomed three-month fling have been revealed in legal papers in which Eddie, 46, states that Mel allegedly asked him for a $9 million (£4.5million) house, plus living expenses for 18 years in exchange for her silence while she was pregnant.
But Eddie baulked at the demands and it is claimed he has since refused to see the baby and the Spice Girl.

What little respect I had for Eddie disappeared by the time I finished reading that. What an idiot.

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14th Mar

New Song: Day26 – ‘Don’t Fight This Feeling’

As the current season of Making The Band draws nearer to its end and the release of the groups’ albums ever-closer, more material from the guys of Day26’s has surfaced. Bryan Michael Cox, who seems to have several cuts on the group’s album, produced this new track called ‘Don’t Fight This Feeling’. With its throwback 90’s vibe, this slow jam is straight-up R&B in the vein of the 112’s and Jagged Edge’s before them (Day26). Saying that, parts of the track echo Ciara’s ‘Promise’ as well. Definitely a solid album track, that has me anxious to see what the rest of their debut will be serving up.

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14th Mar

Jennifer Hudson Performs ‘Stand Up’ In Her Bathroom

Check out this video of Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson singing ‘Stand Up’, a track that may be featured on her much-anticipated debut album, in her bathroom lol:

Wow! That was my first time hearing the track and I’m literally blown away. A-mazing…she really nailed it. With the ‘Dreamgirls’ hype having subsided, this really reminded me of why the anticipation is so high for Jennifer’s album. I’m hoping the song gets a placement on the final tracklisting. Random note: the guy in the video with her is her boyfriend James Payton – who she has been dating since 1999.

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14th Mar

Tina Knowles Collapses On Set Of Beyonce Movie

Beyonce’s mother and stylist, Tina Knowles, required the attention of paramedics this week after she collapsed on the set of the star’s latest movie ‘Cadillac Records’ in new Jersey. See an extract of TMZ’s report below:

TMZ spoke exclusively to Beyonce’s father, Matthew Knowles, who said medics were called because Tina has the flu and began to experience shortness of breath. Paging Janet Jackson!
Matthew tells us Tina’s blood pressure was a little high and she was checked out by medics — but she was not transported.

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14th Mar

Alicia Keys Covers German Cosmopolitan

R&B songstress Alicia Keys features on the cover of the April issue of the German Cosmopolitan magazine. She looks great. The ‘No One’ singer is currently in Germany on the European leg of her world tour.

What do you think of the cover?

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14th Mar

Lil’ Mama – ‘VYP: Voice of The Young People’ Cover

The pic above is the official album cover for Lil’ Mama’s debut effort ‘VYP: Voice of the Young People’, which is due in stores on April 29th. I’m kinda liking this; it’s very much in-line with the style the 18 year old has been rocking since coming out.

What do you think of the cover?

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14th Mar

Snoop Dogg Performs On ‘Letterman Show

Rapper Snoop Dogg made an appearance on the The Late Show with David Letterman show this week to promote his new album ‘Ego Trippin’ – which was released this week. As well as performing his current smash ‘Sensual Seduction’, Snoop spoke about his youth football league.

What do you think of the performance?

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13th Mar

Jackson Saves Neverland

As some of you may know, Michael Jackson’s famed California residence, the Neverland Ranch faced going to public auction on March 19th after non-payments on loans tied up with the property. However, in a turn of events, the King of Pop refinanced the ranch in time to save it from going under the hammer:

Jackson attorney L. Londell McMillan told The Associated Press on Thursday that the pop star has worked out a “confidential” agreement with Fortress Investment Group, LLC. The deal allows him to retain ownership of the famed property in Los Olivos, Calif.
“Neverland and MJ are fine,” McMillan said.
An auction date had been set for March 19 because of $24.5 million the singer owed on the 2,500-acre spread northwest of Santa Barbara.
A source close to the singer who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter said it’s not clear whether Jackson will keep Neverland. Jackson has not lived there since his acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005. {Source}

I personally think it’s best he let it go – too much bad history (no pun intended), however I understand why he didn’t under these circumstances. In any case, Mike really needs to hurry with whatever he’s cooking up – be it an album, concerts or whatever – so as to remind everyone why he is ‘Michael Jackson’ in the first place.

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13th Mar

Mariah Replaces Janet On SNL

Due to being struck down with the Flu, Janet Jackson has been forced to cancel her scheduled performance on Saturday Night Live this week (March 15th). In her place will be Def Jam label-mate Mariah Carey, who will give the first televised live performance of ‘Touch My Body’, as well as ‘Migrate’ from her forthcoming ‘E=MC²’ album.

{Source 1} {Source 2}

Though word has it Janet will now be hosting the show and performing in May, I can’t help but be left with a bit of salty taste in my mouth. Not so much because Mariah is performing so early (after all ‘Touch My Body is #16 on the Hot 100 this week), but – put simply – Janet needs all the exposure she can get. Yes, ‘Discipline’ is holding steady at #3 on the Billboard 200, but it’s evident that her sales need to be consistent for the album not to suffer the same fate as the two that preceded it (flops, basically). So ‘replacing’ her with Mariah – who people will easily compare her to – is a strange move on the part of whoever made the call. Anyway, enough of my ranting; on the plus side, come Saturday we’ll have new Mimi performances. In the meanwhile, check out this remix of Janet’s ‘LUV’ with Mariah’s ‘Touch My Body’. It actually blends well:

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13th Mar

Kanye West & Alexis Tie The Knot?

According to MTV UK, rapper Kanye West and fiance Alexis Phifer may have exchanged vows during a recent trip to Europe:

Rumours suggest that rapper/producer Kanye has fulfilled his mother’s final wishes by marrying his longterm girlfriend Alexis Phifer at a secret ceremony in Europe.
The rap star proposed to Phifer in 2006 while they were on a romantic holiday in Italy and new reports say that the two have now tied the knot while on vacation in Europe just last month.
The rumours could well be true as the Through The Wire singer was keen to get married away from the spotlight of the media as he said in GQ magazine last year, “I’m just going to go and get married, I’m not going to make a big deal out of it.” {Source}

If true, congratulations to them. It’s about time Kanye had something to be happy about.

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13th Mar

Britney Spears – ‘Break The Ice’ Video

In spite of Britney Spears’ personal issues, the former Pop teen queen has managed to crank out three singles from her ‘Blackout’ LP; the video for the most recent – ‘Break The Ice’ – made it’s debut today. The clip’s animated concept seems pretty good at first; yet not long after, it descends into un-engaging ‘nothingness’ that has little to do with the song. Considering the album only performed moderately well (in light of the circumstances), I’m kinda baffled as to why her label are still pushing singles from it.

What do you think of the video?

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