It is being reported that Ashanti’s long-awaited return to the charts has been delayed – by a week. The R&B star’s forthcoming album ‘The Declaration’ was originally slated to hit stores on December 4th, however has now been pushed to December 11th. Many are attributing the date-change to the fact that Mariah Carey’s eagerly anticipated album is also dropping on December 4th.

In other Ashanti news, the video for her new single ‘Hey Baby (After The Club) will be shot this weekend in Los Angeles. Famed director Hype Williams is set to direct the vid.

Whatever the true reason for the delay, it makes alot of sense from a business stand-point. Though on different labels, both Ashanti (Motown) and Mariah (Def Jam) come under the Universal Music umbrella, hence going head-to-head wouldn’t be smart. Universal will, no doubt, be looking to maximise the success of both projects. Anyway, ‘Hey Baby’ has really grown on me and I’m thinking Ashanti may be onto a hit with this one. I’m definitely anticipating the vid.

If you didn’t think Ray J could sink any lower, he can and is. The ‘singer’ is prepping the release of a Superhead-type book, detailing his sexual encounters. Check out the story below via Black Voices:

The BV Newswire has exclusively learned that Ray-J is in the final stages of completing his memoir, tentatively titled ‘Sex Machine.’

The book, due out next spring via Karen Hunter Publishing/Pocket Books, will detail the hip-hop soul crooner’s rise to fame (as a chart-topping recording artist) and infamy (as the co-star of a no-holds-barred, hard-core adult video with alleged Hollywood socialite Kim Kardashian).

Tales of having sex with more than 1,100 women will definitely raise eyebrows for the 26-year-old heart-throb who has been romantically linked to Whitney Houston, Lil’ Kim and fellow author Karrine Steffans (a.k.a. Superhead).

Former pop superstar Brandy’s little brother will continue to prove he isn’t little anymore with his foray into the literary world.

Family affairs – including his sister’s fatal car crash – will also be documented, along with a full exploration of his sexual prowess dating all the way back to his first experience at age 10.

Ray J is really beyond a joke now. A mess.

After a lengthy silence and much speculation, Solange has finally spoken out on her marriage, amongst other things, in an interview with Essence magazine. Check out extracts from the interview below:

ESSENCE.com: As you know there’s a lot of mystery surrounding your relationship with your husband, Daniel Smith, so let’s just go ahead and get that out of the way. Are you still married?

Solange Knowles: Well, I am no longer married, but I think it’s very important not to dish details. We are friends and we coparent our son. When he gets older I don’t want him to read anything about me saying anything about his father or vice versa. When there’s a child involved I think the less information given is best.

ESSENCE.com: Let’s address some of the rumors out there. Apparently, folks believe you left your husband for Lil Wayne. Is that true?

S.K.: (Laughs) That’s absolutely not true. Yes, we know each other but I absolutely did not leave my husband for him.

ESSENCE.com: There’s also been some buzz that you had cosmetic surgery—a nose job.

S.K.: (Laughs) Not true. I’ve heard that one, too. That one actually cracked me up. I mean if I got some surgery, I would wait until I’m older and pop out a couple more kids.

ESSENCE.com: So even if you had had cosmetic surgery, you wouldn’t be ashamed to admit it?

S.K.: No.

ESSENCE.com: What’s the craziest rumor you’ve heard about yourself?

S.K.: I think the craziest rumor was that my dad paid my son’s father $1 million to marry me. That was everywhere at one time, and that was really funny. I always joke that I wish we had it like that: “Here, take a million dollars, marry her…”

To read the rest of the interview click here

The interview was a good read; it’s about time she set the record straight on her marriage situation. In recent times, Solange seems to have emerged as one of the more outspoken members of the extra-private Knowles clan. Anyway, Solange’s forthcoming album ‘Solange & The Hadley Street Dreams’ is set for release early next year.

Superstar diva Mariah Carey features on the cover for the November issue of Glamour Magazine. It goes to show that Mariah can b classy and still look good. A tidbit: LMAO at the ‘She’s Smarter and Saner – Britney, take notes’ caption.

Continuing what has become a trend this year, Eve is the latest in a string of artists to push back her upcoming album. ‘Here I Am’ was originally scheduled to drop on August 7th..then September 18th and most recently October 16th. The album now has a tentative release date of ‘2008’. No word yet on the reason for the delay. {Source}

Is there even a point anymore? Not one of the albums that have been serially pushed back this year ended up shifting (m)any units. Like with the Kelly Rowland’s and Mya’s before her, public interest will start to wane (if it hasn’t already), hence making the album’s chances of success slim to none. These artists, labels or whoever really need to fix up.

Both LeToya and Solange attended Lil’ Wayne’s 25th birthday bash at Club HUSH in Houston on Sunday 23rd September. As usual, LeToya looked great…Solange, on the other hand, has had better days lol. Still, it’s good to see that all hostility between LeToya and the Knowles’ camp all in the past.

R&B songstress Alicia Keys features on the cover for the November issue of Complex Magazine. Though sometimes hit and miss, Alicia has really stepped up image wise. She’s looking on-point. ‘As I Am’, Alicia’s highly anticipated third album, will hit stores November 13th.

As a result of protests by Malaysia’s Muslim groups, Beyonce’s upcoming concert in the country’s Kuala Lumpur region – her first ever there – has been cancelled. The ‘Deja Vu’ singer reportedly refused to conform to the Malaysian Muslim dress code – which doesn’t allow for female performers to reveal any skin from the chest down – or tone down her racy routines. Interestingly, Gwen Stefani, who toured the same region recently, agreed to make changes to her show so that it may be acceptable. {Source}

I doubt her refusal was down to any diva antics. The whole idea of her touring over there seemed to be ill-advised in the first place. A large part of Beyonce’s appeal is her ‘sexiness’ and having seen the show myself, I doubt it would have been possible to alter the show to the expected standards.