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Music

6th Mar

R&B star Usher will no doubt have cause to celebrate this week. The singer’s new single, the Polow Da Don produced ‘Love In The Club’ has jumped a whopping 50 places claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week. ‘Love In The Club’ is the first single to be lifted from Usher’s 5th studio album which is tentatively titled ‘Here I Stand’.

With the news of the song performing extremely well upon its digital release just last week, a high charting on the Hot 100 was expected – #1, however, wasn’t foreseen. Relying solely on radio play and digital sales (rumored to be in excess of 175, 000), the single’s great performance will, no doubt, allow for Usher and his label to be real confident going into this project. No word yet on whether a video for the single will be shot.

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Music

6th Mar

Cast Of ‘Notorious’ Announced

{Spotted at Concreteloop}

Following a nationwide search in the US, that spanned several months, the cast for the upcoming biopic of slain rapper Christopher ‘Notorious B.I.G’ Wallace has been announced. Jamal ‘Gravy’ Woolard beat out competition from the likes of Sean Kingston to land the role of B.I.G – who was gunned down in 1997.

Award winning actress Angela Bassett will play the role of Biggie’s mother Voletta Wallace. The George Tillman Jr directed film will also see actor Anthony Mackie tackle the role of Tupac Shakur and Derek Luke take on the role of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. ‘Notorious’ will be begin shooting on March 24th in New York.

I’m actually pretty hyped to see this. Check out more cast pics below:

Voletta Wallace // Angela Bassett

Diddy // Derek Luke

Tupac //Anthony Mackie

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Music

5th Mar

Janet Jackson – ‘Rock With U’ Video

Janet Jackson premiered the video for her latest single ‘Rock With U’ on BET’s Access Granted just a few hours ago. Directed by Saam (who also was at the directorial helm of the ‘Feedback’ clip), the video is awesome. The simple concept, mixed with innovative choreography makes for the vid to stand as one of Janet’s best in a long while. Whilst I’m still awaiting a vid for ‘LUV’, I can see this doing well over here in Europe.

In other Janet news, ‘Feedback’ has rocketed from #54-#19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart – making it it Janet’s first top 20 hit on the chart since ‘Someone To Call My Lover’. Having – a great comeback single.

What do you think of the video?

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Music

5th Mar

Kelly Rowland Admits To Having Boob Job

After much speculation, R&B star Kelly Rowland has confirmed that she, indeed, had breast enlargement surgery. The ‘Like This’ singer will tell her story in the upcoming issue of PEOPLE magazine. She looks as good as ever these days, so more power to her.

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Music

5th Mar

Billboard: Janet’s ‘Discipline’ Is #1

After a seven year absence from the top spot, Pop superstar Janet Jackson has hit number 1 with her latest effort ‘Discipline’, according to Billboard. The set, which sold through 181,00 copies in its first week, is the first of the singer’s albums to reach the the coveted position on the Billboard 200 since 2001’s ‘All For You’. Janet’s nearest competition was in the form of Erykah Badu’s ‘New Amerykah’ which bowed at number 2, shifting 124, 000 copies. ‘Discipline’ is Jackson’s 6th number one LP. {Source}

I’m sure much ado will be made about Janet’s numbers, but the fact that ‘Discipline’, give or take, is number 1 will be a PR dream come true. In all fairness to her, much of the promo (including MTV) all started when the album was released, so I guess the numbers reflect that. Word has it ‘longevity’ is the plan with this record, so I’m guessing Island Def Jam are looking to stretch the album ‘Fergie-style’.

I’ve finally gotten my review copy from Island Def Jam UK (of course, I haven’t heard the album already…lol), so expect a review of ‘Discipline’ before the week’s out.

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Music

5th Mar

Cheri Dennis & Day26 Perform At BET Rip The Runway

Bad Boy artists Cheri Dennis and Day26 performed at yesterday’s BET Rip The Runway event during the Sean John showcase. Dennis, whose album ‘In & Out of Love’ is out now, performed ‘Portrait of Love’, whilst Day26 performed their debut single ‘Got Me Going’. While both performances were ‘ok’, they left a salty taste in my mouth. They are both going to have to step up their live performing game if they hope to make an impact. Random tidbit: Did anyone else spot Cassie getting it during her walk. She should really give up pretending to sing and take up modelling again.

What do you think of the performances?

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Music

5th Mar

Toccara Covers KING Magazine

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Former America’s Next Model contestant Toccara features on the cover of the latest issue of KING magazine. Granted she looks GOOD, there’s no denying Photoshop was put to heavy use. Still, more power to her; she’s constantly been on her grind since the culmination of her stint on the popular show and is now a regular on BET.

What do you think of the cover?

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Music

5th Mar

Janet Appears On Jimmy Kimmel Show

With her latest assault on the charts ‘Discipline’ now sitting comfortably at #1, Janet Jackson continues along the promo trail in support of the project, this time stopping by Jimmy Kimmel Live. The interview, which aired yesterday, saw Janet speak about the new album, her family and career, as well as chipping in on the running gag about Jimmy (the host) and Ben Affleck.

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Music

4th Mar

New ‘Ms. Kelly: ‘Diva Deluxe’ Snippets

It has been confirmed that Kelly Rowland’s digital-only (US) re-release of her sophomore effort, now dubbed ‘Ms. Kelly: Diva Deluxe’, will hit online outlets on March 25th. ‘Love Again’ is one of five new tracks set to feature on the revamped LP. Despite this only being a snippet, the track sounds very promising. Having really enjoyed the original ‘Ms. Kelly’, one of my only complaints was that it sounded as if she were holding back vocally on some tracks; judging by the new material heard thus far, she’s exerting herself more, vocally, and the results are great.

Update: You can now also listen to a snippet of another new track titled ‘Unity (Stay With Me)’

Hit or Miss?

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Music

4th Mar

DJ Premier Lifts Lid On New Aguilera LP

In a recent interview with our friends over at SOHH, producer DJ Premier revealed details on Christina Aguilera’s new LP:

Currently working on projects for his label, Year Round Records, DJ Premier shared plans to head back into the studio with Christina Aguilera soon.

“I’m definitely working with her on the next album,” Premier said. “She’s doing an all pop album again, but she wants me to keep the tone like what we did before. She’s ready to start next month…She’s so cool, she’s like my little sister now.”

I’m assuming by ‘all pop’, he means something in the vein of what Christina did with the ‘Stripped’ record. A smart move IMO, as her last album, the throwback/concept LP ‘Back II Basics’, was the pits.

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Music

4th Mar

BET UK: Your Thoughts?

Some of our readers in the UK will have noticed the launch of popular US channel BET on Sky Digital last week (channel 209). Having seen a lot of the channel during my stays in the US over the years, I’m definitely feeling what the UK version has on offer; I see it as the superior alternative to MTV Base. The repetitive ads (an understatement), I’m assuming, are due to the channel still being kind of in a testing period.

For those who have tuned in…

What are you thinking of the channel so far?

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Music

4th Mar

LeToya Performs ‘Torn’ At Rumors Show

R&B star LeToya is currently starring in the play Rumors, which is touring across the US at present. During the plays stop in Atlanta last week, the singer performed her hit single ‘Torn’ as part of her performance. Check it out:

She nailed it; her vocals are in the best shape I’ve ever heard them in. This actually has me geared up for her sophomore effort, as her improved vocal ability should obviously reflect on the new CD. Good stuff.

What do you think of the performance?

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