According to our good friends over at Mariah Daily Journal, Mariah Carey‘s serially delayed remix LP ‘Angel’s Advocate’ has been pushed back yet again. Initially due out in January, then March 9th, the album is set to hit stores on March 23rd. The videos for the singles preceding the record’s release – ‘Angel’s Cry (ft. Ne-Yo)’ and ‘Up Out My face (ft. Nicki Minaj)’ are set to première this Thursday (January 28th).

Oh Mimi! Though pushed back by just a few weeks, news of this nature never tends to bode well for projects, especially projects like this where the original album flopped worse than ‘Glitter’ (fact).

Having actually had the original (‘Memoirs’) keep annoyingly pop up on my iPod when in shuffle mode, it has grown on me significantly (loving ‘More Than Just Friends’). However it seems it’s less the material and more so Mariah that folks just don’t seem to be gravitating to, hence the album’s dismal sales. Whatever the reason (be it the industry’s unfair ageism towards females or the fact many just want Mariah to sing meaningful, yet easy-on-the-ear songs again), one thing is for sure; Mariah would definitely have benefited from pretending ‘Memoirs’ never happened and laying low musically for a while (to recharge her creative batteries and give the public a break).

Instead, we have ol’ MiMi trying to re-flog an album, which no was checking for to begin with. If the foundation wasn’t there at the start, I’m a little baffled as to why she’s trying to build on it. At best, this should have been a ‘for the fans’ type iTunes release; yet giving it the whole album treatment (especially when the label aren’t supporting it) will only cause for more embarrassment IMO. I’d be forced to shut my mouth if the material was actually any good, but the wackness that has been these cheap remixes (no new vocals or lyrics, just phoned-in guest appearances) hasn’t done her any favours. It’s all quite sad really, as she’s kinda ruining the re-establishment of herself as a musical force that she achieved with the ‘Emancipation’ with her album offerings thereafter. SMH…

Tidbit: Trent come and get your girl!

Your thoughts?

Following the epic flop that has been Leona Lewis’ sophomore LP ‘Echo’ in the US, one of the album’s main collaborators, hitmaker Ryan Tedder, has given his 2 cents on why he feels the record has underperformed Stateside – poor promotion and…Lady GaGa. Speaking in an interview with Digital Spy, the producer (the creative force behind Lewis’ ‘Bleeding Love’ and ‘Happy’) said:

“In the US, unless you’re Justin Timberlake or Beyoncé, you cannot put out a song and not be in the country when it comes out.

Leona was gone for six weeks when ‘Happy’ came out because she was promoting the record in other countries – it wasn’t her fault; she couldn’t be two places in once.

I had radio stations telling me that they thought ‘Happy’ was the single biggest ballad they’d come across in ten years, but that if Leona didn’t come over here and promote it, it was going to fall.”

However, Tedder also admitted that the impact of Lady GaGa – who has notched up five US top ten hits in the last 12 months – might have adversely affected the single’s chances.

“On top of that, America’s consumed with Lady GaGa and dance music right now, so it’s not the best time for ballads anyway”, he said. “When everything on the radio is blasting out at 120 bpm, a song like ‘Happy’ almost sounds out-of-place.”

Though I commend Tedder for trying to help Leona save face, let’s be real…’Happy’ and ‘Echo’ were both sleeping pills on a disc. At the end of the day, with the amount of marketing push and budget put up for artists of Leona’s magnitude, if the album ended up tanking it’s usually the material that is at fault. I mean, folks knew it was out, yet didn’t buy it because they didn’t gravitate toward the sub-par single (which is always supposed to act as an advertisement of sorts for the actual album). For all Lady GaGa’s success, her case is still an anomaly, yet is a testament to the fact that ‘good’ music will find a way to get its shine, somehow, some way.

Still, on the one hand, the whole situation is actually quite unfortunate, as Leona has been blessed with a level of talent and skill the music industry has not seen since Whitney and Mariah hit the scene all those decades ago. However, in today’s uber competitive climate, it’s imperative that artists consistently serve up that good-good with the music, as we’re unfortunately at that stage where they are only as hot as their last hit.

Yet on the other hand, it’s slightly annoying; I can actually remember reading and watching interviews about Leona’s sophomore LP (many of which were given by her), talking about how she was experimenting with new sounds and how it’d be markedly different to her debut, only to hear the finished product and -save for a couple of tracks-having to endure ballad after dry ballad.

In any case, I’m sure Leona will be fine in the long run. Her team just need to switch things up. Ballads are understandably her mainstay, with good reason; however delivering half-decent ones would be a good starting point. Sigh…

Your thoughts?

Your thoughts?

After a few weeks rested on the bench, our From The Vault feature is back!

This week’s classic clip is Fantasia‘s soaring rendition of  ‘The Colour Purple’ gem  ‘I’m Here’ on The Oprah Winfrey Show back in 2007. Ms. Barrino performed the song on the show to coincide with the announcement that she’d be taking on the lead role of Celie in ‘The Colour Purple’s Broadway run.

About the actual performance; WOW! Some 3 years later, I still get chills watching this. Raw, emotive, and beautifully sung, Fantasia had me won with this song – which I ironically heard for the first time when watching this performance. Flawless.

Note: Look out for our interview with Fantasia this coming week. A 40 minute (yes, you read right!) in-depth chat, full of honesty and plenty laughs. What’s more, we asked the questions you really want answers to. You won’t want to miss this one!

Your thoughts?

Hip-Hop/R&B icon Lauryn Hill performed her classic song ‘That Thing’ last evening. The lyricist made her appearance at Raggamuffin 2010 Hip-Hop/Reggae festival in New Zealand. Other performers included Sean Kingston and Shaggy.

Although her voice was a bit rough at some points, Hill shut it down! Watching this performance really makes me wonder about the state of women in Hip-Hop or even music in general for that matter. Hill is such a rare talent and it is baffling to believe that a lot of these younger girls even got a record contract in the first place. Rappers like Nicki Minaj and ‘singers’ like Cassie are a complete joke compared to her.

Thoughts?

Despite the dismal sales of his latest effort ‘Ollusion’, Omarion is continuing along the promotional trail (as he should), a few hours ago performing ‘I Get It In’ on the George Lopez Tonight show.

Aside from the fact I find ‘I Get It In’ pretty damn awful, it’s really puzzling to see him performing this instead of new single ‘Speedin’, which is leaps and bounds better than this garbage. In any case, the performance wasn’t bad; however, it’d be a whole lot better watching on mute – if only for the dancing. That auto-tune and Omari’s voice are a no-no of a combo.

What do you think of the performance?

R&B singer Keri Hilson recently performed an acoustic version of her smash ‘Knock You Down‘, exclusively for Billboard.com. “Ms. Keri Baby” nailed it! She’s definitely been practicing on controlling her live vocals and it really shows. Great performance!

What do you think of the performance?

R&B siblings Brandy and Ray J were spotted celebrated Ray J’s 29th birthday at Wonderland nightclub recently. As reported earlier, the duo are currently developing two shows via their new company, R&B Productions. Peep more pic below (courtesy of NecoleBitchie):

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Rihanna and Maxwell took the stage on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ today. As noted earlier, Rihanna performed Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’ and Maxwell performed his new song ‘Fistful of Tears’ from his ‘BLACKsummers’night’ album. Rihanna’s rendition is available right now on iTunes to help benefit the people of Haiti.

After watching Rihanna try to sing ‘Redemption Song’ for the second time actually took away from my first experience with the performance earlier today. Her voice sounded almost frail over the basic composition of the tune. Still, I must give her credit for improving from the renditions she gave in her earlier career. Maxwell, on the other hand, delivered solid vocals throughout, displaying what a real singer is supposed to sound like (especially when singing a high note). Check out his performance below:

Thoughts?

The finale (episode 12) of Monica‘s BET reality show ‘Still Standing’ aired on BET last night. Check it out above. As usual, I’m watching it now…what are you waiting for?! LOL. Enjoy.

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Kelly Rowland has been hard at work preparing for the debut of her new album. In a recent interview with Rap-Up.com, producer Jim Jonsin has provided some details about the yet entitled record which features contributions from Nelly, Rico Love, Jonsin and David Guetta. Here is an excerpt from the interview below:

“I’ve been working on her album with [songwriter] Rico Love,” Jonsin tells Rap-Up.com. “We’ve done four songs.”

Fans of her David Guetta collaboration, ‘When Love Takes Over’ will be in for a treat. “She’s doing a pop-house and R&B sound, like a mixture,” Jonsin reveals. “It’s really cool. Some uptempo stuff, some ballads, all around really nice—more like a Donna Summer sound.”

Although Rowland, who was formerly signed to Columbia Records/Music World Entertainment, hasn’t officially announced a new label deal yet, Jonsin dropped a hint as to where she may end up. “I believe she’s in talks with Universal Motown right now, and a couple others.”

This is certainly some interesting news. It’s great to see Rowland continuing to develop an international sound and target markets beyond the US. However, having not made a major impact on the Billboard Hot 100 since ‘Dilema’, it is crucial that she caters for her US consumers, something that Jonsin and the rest of her team seems to have considered by incorporating such a “mixture” of sounds. My only concern now is her voice. In recent performances, Rowland has been struggling to deliver on the vocal front. Whether it is fair comparison or not, people are always going to compare her to Beyonce in every aspect of her career, thus she has to make sure that she is on point, both in the studio and in her live showings. We all know what she is capable of doing and now it’s time for her to show it.

Sam Update On Kelly’s label situation:

Please note that, contrary to reports, no new label deal has been finalised with Kelly as at writing. She is in the advanced stages of negotiation with a number of labels – one of which is Universal Motown, however nothing has been signed. Kelly was indeed in New York this time last week and did meet with a Universal exec, but has yet to sign on the dotted line. This is the official word from Kelly’s camp. There’ll no doubt be official word out shortly, I’m sure though.

Thoughts?

Alicia Keys was spotted in Madrid, Spain yesterday. The singer has been very bust promoting her new album ‘The Element of Freedom’, this time at the Teatro Real opera house, where she performed several songs from the LP. Keys is set to perform alongside Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera for George Clooney and Wyclef Jean’s Hope for Haiti benefit this Friday. Peep more pics below (courtesy our friends at Rap-Up.com):

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