As promised by the Whitney Houston estate, 2023 will be filled with celebrations and headline-grabbing events to commemorate what would’ve been the diva’s 60th year of life.

In addition to perfume and cosmetics lines, television ventures, and a biographical Broadway play in the works (as we reported here), the Pop icon’s dedicated fans – affectionately called #Nippians – can expect to hear unvaulted tunes spread across multiple “new” albums.

The first in that stead comes courtesy of ‘I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston.’

“Her love for gospel music permeates through every song with love, compassion and conviction. To love Whitney is to love what she represents to all that love the gospel. I salute this project knowing that Whitney always stood on a solid rock for her love of gospel music,” said Pat Houston, the executor Whitney’s estate, in an official statement.

A 12-track collection lined with fan favorites like ‘Jesus Loves Me’ (from 1992’s ‘The Bodyguard’ soundtrack) as well as ‘I Go to the Rock,’ ‘I Love the Lord,’ and ‘Joy to the World’ (from 1996’s ‘Preacher’s Wife’ soundtrack), ‘Rock’ also includes six unreleased song including a live ‘VH1 Honors’ version of Simon & Garfunkel‘s classic ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ (with CeCe Winans), ‘I Found a Wonderful Way,’ ‘He Can Use Me,’ and more.

Stream it inside courtesy of Apple Music and Spotify.

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From ‘Sweet Thing’ to ‘I Feel For You,’ ‘Through the Fire,’ ‘Tell Me Something Good,’ and many more, Queen of Funk Chaka Khan has blessed R&B with some of its most memorable numbers over the last five decades.

Yet, despite her hits and soaring vocal displays earning copious critical acclaim and inspiring generations of singers after her, it’s criminal (but factual) to say the 10-time GRAMMY winner’s prized catalog hasn’t seen that fanfare reflected commercially.

However, a recent announcement from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is proving to be an overdue step in the right direction.

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Beyonce and Adidas are going their separate ways, according to a new report.

Full story below…

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Chloe Bailey may be no stranger to garnering critical acclaim for her soaring vocals, but recently the GRAMMY nominee doubled down on her desire to literally take to the sky by breathing new life into the highly coveted role of X-Men’s Storm.

Details inside. (more…)

FLO bring the flames in the video for their brand new single ‘Fly Girl.’

Arriving as the rising R&B trio’s first release of 2023 as lead artists, the track sees the group team with the iconic Missy Elliott. 

The collaboration is all sorts of apt as the ladies sample Missy’s iconic 2002 jam ‘Work It.’

Easily the slickest visual from the ladies yet, the clip sees Stella, Renee, and Jorja serve up sass aplenty.

Produced by MNEK, ‘Fly Girl’ lands on the heels of FLO winning the BRIT Rising Star honor as well as BBC Sound Of 2023. It also comes as the group gear up to hit the global festival circuit – with major slots at Glastonbury, Wireless, and Pharell’s Something in the Water in Virginia and Summersonic in Japan.

Watch the Tajana Tokyo-directed video below…

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Mo’Nique is back in business – with Netflix!

The Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA winner is placing past dramas in rearview and has joined forces with the streamer for an array of new projects including her brand new stand-up comedy special.

Aptly titled ‘My Name is Mo’Nique,’ the set – which is executive produced by Mo’Nique and husband-manager Sidney Hicks – is “filled with laugh till you cry stories as well as soul bearing emotion.”

Premiering April 4, the L. Frazier-directed special struts onto screens ahead of the star’s new Netflix film ‘The Deliverance’ – which sees her reunite with Lee Daniels.

Watch the full-length trailer for ‘My Name is Mo’Nique’ after the jump…

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It appears as though Miley Cyrus has another hit on her hands, because radio is loving her song ‘River.’ 

More details below…

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Miguel has a hit on his hands.

For, his song ‘Sure Thing’ has just entered a coveted territory on radio.

More details below…

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Nearly 15 years after first teaming with ‘The Biggest Bawse’ Rick Ross on the remix to her 2009 single, ‘Why R U?,’ R&B superstar Amerie reconnects with the GRAMMY-nominated emcee as assistants on Consequence‘s new single, ‘Blood Stain 2.’

Marking her long-awaited return after a lengthy absence from the music scene, ‘Blood’ was first teased on social media by the diva herself last November.

Finally making its way to digital shelves, the tune acts as the conceptual sequel to Consequence’s well-received 2022 track (produced by music and fashion mogul Kanye West) and is expected to land on the rapper’s  forthcoming LP ‘Nice Doing Business With You.’

Hear ‘Blood Stain 2’ inside.

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When not turning heads as “Hilary Banks” on ‘Bel-Air,’ the popular Peacock reboot of the classic, Will Smith-led sitcom ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,’ award-winning songstress Coco Jones is apparently turning heads by making music lovers do a double-take over her likeness to EGOT-winning talk show host Jennifer Hudson.

“Do we look alike to y’all?” Hudson asked an agreeable audience about Coco on Wednesday’s episode of ‘The Jennifer Hudson Show’ (March 22).

The resemblance is so uncanny, Jen suggested the 25-year-old could even portray her in a biographical film.

“Stop playing with me. I’m ready at this point,” Jones replied to the suggestion. “I take it as such a compliment, because you know you have been so impactful in my life. Just watching you, another beautiful dark-skinned woman, killing it. That’s my motivation.”

After the heartwarming interview, Coco took to the stage to pour out the live television premiere performance of her critically acclaimed single ‘ICU.’

Did you miss any of the action when it first aired? No worries; we’ve got you covered.

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Just weeks after the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced Missy Elliott, George Michael, Cyndi Lauper, and Willie Nelson were among its high-profile nominees poised for induction this year (as we reported here), the National R&B Hall of Fame has unveiled its official list of 2023 hopeful inductees.

Despite boasting a whopping tally of 60 names on the ballot for fan voting, only six to eight will be inducted into the museum’s hallowed hall.

Among those already garnering buzz for their prospective entry are groundbreaking divas Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson, Anita Baker, Xscape, Aaliyah, and SWV.

See the full count inside:

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Brandy has stepped back into the sparkling glass slipper of Cinderella.

The Vocal Bible of course is synonymous with the role after top-billing the groundbreaking 1997 edition of ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella’ alongside Whitney Houston and Paolo Montalban (who played Prince Christopher).

This time, the multi-talented chanteuse reprises the role in the Disney+ Original film ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red.’

She’s not alone, because Montalban returns alongside her (playing King Charming).

Ahead of the movie’s arrival, check out the first look of the pair on set after the jump…

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