The hottest chick in the game Beyonce features on the cover of the February issue of Allure Magazine (courtesy of Just Jared). Decked in a Roberto Cavalli dress and Cesar Paciotti  sequinned boots, the 28 year old superstar is certified stunner!

Peep excerpts from her interview below:

On her plans for a family with husband Jay-Z:

“I definitely want to have a child, but I know from my nephew [Juelz] it’s a lot. I hope that those things will just happen naturally. I still haven’t had time to relax.”

On her addiction-playing spades online:

‘I play with everybody, and they curse me out when I make mistakes, and kick me out of the room. I love it, it’s really fun because no one knows it’s me.”

On her alter-ego Sasha Fierce:

“The thing that’s interesting is I don’t need Sasha Fierce anymore, because I’ve grown, and I’m now able to merge the two. I want people to see me. I want people to see who I am.”

Your thoughts?

Some of you will remember Kiley Williams as one third of 3LW, and later The Cheetah Girls. With both groups now a figment of the past, Williams is looking to establish herself as a solo artist.

Though there has been a few cuts floating around the net, new track ‘Spectacular’ is reportedly set to the lead single from Kiley’s debut album. The song was produced by Mike City and written by Kiley herself.

I kid you not when I say this is hands-down one of the worse songs I have ever heard. From the cheap production, to the horrid vocals, to the sleazy lyrics, to Kileys inability to deliver her parts on que with the beat, this is an unmitigated audio disaster. It really is that bad.

It’s quite clear to see that after being bracketed as a ‘kids artist’ for so long, Kiley is attempting to re-brand herself as a sex kitten. However, it’s obvious she needs to work on much more before even thinking about what image she’s looking to adorn – the most necessary being her artistry. Listening to this really drives home exactly why she rarely ever sang on 3LW’s material and was relegated to the smaller parts. Put simply, her voice is weak; wafer-thin and lacking any character or ‘depth’. Usually artists in this predicament counter such shortcomings by excelling in other areas (see: Janet, Ciara), yet it’s difficult to see what of substance Kiley has to offer. If anything she’s really putting herself at a disadvantage with this border-line pornographic trash. For the uber sexual slant is one that works for female rappers, yet not so much for female singers.

In a nutshell, Ms. Williams would benefit from scrapping this nonsense and going back to the drawing board – especially if she hopes to attract any major label attention (she’s reportedly seeking a major deal and is currently signed to her own imprint Nine Lives Entertainment). Sigh…

Hit or Miss?

R&B star Monica took to the stage in Baltimore this past weekend to perform a special concert. During her set, the veteran journeyed back to her past hits as well as giving live renditions of her newer material. Above you can see how she faired with new single ‘Everything To Me’, as well as buzz single (and the theme to her BET reality series) ‘Still Standing’. As ever, Ms. Arnold knocked it out of the park. Can’t wait for the album.

Tidbit: According to the video description, Mo was actually sick over the weekend, however you’d never be able to tell judging by how great she sounded here.

Your thoughts?

Jordin Sparks and Steph Jones in Beverly Hills, California recently. The duo attended L’OREAL Paris party at the Four Seasons Hotel. Peep more images below:

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Following the cancellation of a date this week on her ‘Monster Ball’ tour due to ‘exhaustion’, Lady GaGa has pulled out of more gigs citing the same reason. Check out the report via our good friends over at GaGa Daily:

Due to exhaustion and dehydration, Lady Gaga collapsed and passed out before her show last night in West Lafayette, IN. Her physician has advised her to take a few days off to rest. As a result – the following shows are cancelled:

January 16 – Borgata Casino, Atlantic City
January 17 – Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford CT

The January 18 performance at Mohegan Sun Arena is postponed. A new rescheduled date is to be announced. Tickets for the January 18 Mohegan Sun date will be honored at the rescheduled date. Refunds can be made at point of purchase.

Ticket holders for the cancelled shows will have first access to tickets for the new date(s) to be scheduled. Those dates will be announced in the near future.

As awesome as it feels to watch and see the development of one of music’s future greats, the intensity of GaGa’s schedule is worryingly scary. For real, in between the video shoots, album recording, promotional spots and now touring the world, it literally seems like she’s been going full-on for the last year and a half – which makes eventual burn-out much more likely. Here’s wishing her a speedy recovery, though.

Your thoughts?

Pop Icon Janet Jackson features on the cover of the latest issue of Gotham magazine. Though the shoot are outtakes from promotion portraits for her 2008 LP ‘Discipline’, the interview feature is new. Jackson, 43, talks the passing of her brother Michael, her upcoming album, new years resolutions and more. {Spotted over at our good friends over at Concrete Loop}

On what she’s taken from Michael’s death:

“When you hear people say life goes on, it’s really the truth. You can’t stop living. It becomes a part of you. I feel a bit selfish because there are times I feel I shouldn’t be doing this, but I enjoy my work and I have to keep doing it. I have to keep my life going. There are days that are harder than others.”

On her New Year’s resolutions:

“I want to learn a language. I haven’t decided which, but it’s between French, Spanish and Italian. I also want to get closer to God.”

On her new album:

“It’s going to be a little different. The writing is about life experiences. There’s a part of me that’s craving escapism, which is a sense of wanting to keep on moving with my work but also of coming to terms with reality. So I think it will be upbeat and light.”

On her new book:

“I hope it’s inspiring for all ages. I’m talking about weight loss, confidence, self-esteem—especially in your youth. It’s not an autobiography, but there are little anecdotes that I give here and there from my childhood all the way to the present that I thought would be interesting and helpful to share.”

On what she loves about New York:

“Everything. I love the energy–the creative energy. I’ve been here for 12 years and I will be here for the rest of my life.”

I really commend Janet for pressing on through everything. In being 100% honest with you though, and you know that’s how we like to keep it around here, I can’t say I was feeling the ‘it will be upbeat and light’ part. I mean, she said it’s going to be a little different, yet in it being ‘upbeat and light’, it’s sounding like it’ll be in the vein of much of her post-‘Velvet Rope’ releases.

Though I really enjoyed some of her less serious albums – ‘Damita Jo’ and ‘Discipline’ particularly, the public know all that she’s been through over the last few years (split from Jermaine, MJ’s death etc). Hence it’s hard to believe folk will readily swallow the idea of an ‘escapist’, not-addressing-the-drama LP from Ms. Jackson. That said, if the music is good, which I’m sure it will be, who knows, folk may just look past all that. Personally, though, I’d like to see a healthy balance of tackling the issues in ‘her world’ (especially as she’s writing again) and moving on (the escapism, living life aspect).

In any case, Ms. Jackson’s new LP – said to be released by Interscope – is pencilled in for a June release.

Your thoughts?

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming….

{So sad, I’ve always wanted to say that LOL}

Upon seeing the photos from the BET Honours 2010, I couldn’t help but feel really happy for a certain Whitney Houston. Unlike certain artists, who the media orchestrated comebacks for – despite them not being anywhere near capable (“oh baby, baby…”), Whitney continues to improve which each live showing. I mean, she really is earning all the success that her comeback campaign is experiencing; the undeniable force that is ‘The Voice’ is defying the critics with a return to top form – as evidenced in awesome performances such as the one above. Here’s hoping she continues her reascension.

Tidbit: if this seems like a shameless Whitney plug…it is LOL.

Your thoughts?

Pussycat Dolls lead singer Nicole Scherzinger is pushing ahead with her solo career. The songstress, who recently split from longtime boyfriend Lewis Hamilton, is reportedly focusing all of her energy from their breakup into her new music. Scherzinger is currently in the studio with Ne-Yo who had the following to say about their work together:

Nicole is in a state of liberation right now so the tracks are very free. She is in a place where she is happy to be alive and the tracks are definitely expressing that.

The whole album is going to be a pressure release – a great big exhale – and I’m happy about that. She has a lot of emotions after splitting up with Lewis. But it’s like taking an eagle and giving it back its wings. {Source}

It’s great to see that Nicole has found a way to express herself in her music. However, where does this leave the  rest of the Pussycat Dolls? It seems that everyone else in the group gets put on pause whenever she attempts to develop a solo venture. This really says something about the system that the group has in place where everything revolves around one singer. Furthermore, unlike Destiny’s Child, where Beyonce was undoubtedly the group’s front woman, the rest of the band generally lacks the support to have their own side projects and careers while Nicole is away. I would really like to hear what she has to say about these issues as, thus far, she has remained very quiet about them.

Thoughts?

UK media darling Cheryl Cole is looking further extend the success of her solo project ‘3 Words’ with the release of ‘Parachute’. Confirmed today as the latest single to be lifted from the Platinum selling LP, the song was jointly produced by Syience (Beyonce & Jay-Z’s ‘Hollywood’) and will.i.am.

Though Ms. Cole certainly leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to the quality of her voice, music etc, this definitely stands as one of her better solo offerings thus far. Unashamedly Pop, with Urban sprinklings, I can see this one being a mainstay on the radio here.

Tidbit: It will be really interesting to see how Ms. Cole’s solo career holds up once the X-Factor hype dies down. Speaking of the popular show, there are reports that Simon Cowell is lining her up to join the panel of the US show. Hmm.

Hit or Miss?

Mention of the name Shontelle will likely bring about sound bites such as ‘who?’ / ‘what?’ Indeed the Universal Motown artist is known for little more than her moderate hit ‘T-Shirt’ from last summer. After the  inevitable tanking of her debut LP ‘Shontelligence’ (serious side-eye at the label exec who okayed that monstrosity of a title), the 24 year old is back with new single ‘Licky (Under The Covers)’, the video of which premiered a few minutes ago.

Where does one begin?! I mean the Ray Kay directed clip boasts the sheen and polish of the modern era’s better videos, yet pretty much everything else is an unmitigated atrocity. I can honestly say I have not heard a song as terrible as this in, what must be, YEARS! Really, this is borderline criminal. As for the video, I vote ‘no’ on the contrived styling and wannabe bad girl image (a clear swagger-jacking of fellow Bajan, Ms. Fenty). Even more cringe-worthy to watch was Shontelle’s dead-on-arrival sex-appeal; it just looked forced and awkward. No, no, and no.

Upon first watch, I laughed hysterically. Yet, watching again, I felt so embarrassed for her. If she’s to be anything other than a one-hit wonder, she’ll have to come much harder. Awful.

What do you think of the song / video?

Toni Braxton appeared on ‘Walmart Soundcheck’ recently. The contralto singer performed her new song ‘Yesterday’, the first single from her upcoming album ‘Pulse’, which hits stores on March 2nd. To date, the song has peaked at #12 on the Hip-Hop/R&B chart and has yet to appear on the Billboard Hot 100.

Something about that performance didn’t seem quite right. I sense that she was wither lip-syncing or using a very loud backtrack because they only time she appeared to be doing any real work was at the end. However, Braxton is without a doubt one of the best singers to ever pick up a microphone and given her medical condition, I fully understand why she might need a bit of assistance to get through the song. I eagerly await the 2nd single from the album though, as ‘Yesterday’ does absolutely nothing for me. Check out her interview below:

Thoughts?

A few days ago, we provided you with images of Kelis in London. Well, it seems that the singer has come under fire from PETA for wearing fur while she braced against the UK cold. Kelis has taken the time to respond to her critics in a very extensive yet hilarious blog post provided by Bossip.com:

Kelis’ Letter to PETA

There is no humane way to kill anything, let me start there. It’s unfortunate but it’s part of life. With that being said, I would eat pterodactyl if you found some and you told me it was meaty and delicious. And after doing a very minimal amount of research……. I found out that the founder Ingrid Newkirk is completely batty. I had a feeling but she far exceeded my expectations. I mean certifiably insane! Lol this chicks will is nuts, google it – it’s a riot! Beyond the fact that I think she’s a diabetic, which means she needs insulin, which is taken from lab pigs (I know this because my sister happens to be in veterinary school), which would be completely hypocritical. It’s like don’t abuse animals unless it can help me.

I feel very strongly about a lot of things such as the sweatshops that spin cotton and the blood on their hands. Btw it’s not just the look of fur. It’s warm as hell and feels glorious, ever rubbed faux fur on your body? Nothing luxurious about that. Then the letter proceeded to name artist and designers who don’t wear real fur. Great! More for me! I don’t judge them, don’t judge me.

If I started wearing endangered animals like polar bear or orangutan then talk to me. (Which btw for the record I would not – I do believe in the preservation of endangered species) But the minks and chinchilla that quite honestly are rodents and if weren’t in the form of a coat I would demand they be put to death anyway are not an issue to me.The death of high fashion. Ugh.

I eat meat, and in fact my mouth salivates as I type the word meat! And the paint throwing that’s just ridiculous! What if I was hurling Loubitons and Pierre Hardy’s at every sad poorly dressed person on the street? As right as I may be it’s just fanatical and crazy. And people have the right to feel as they please. What about art? Survival of the fittest. Natural selection? No let’s just let all the rodents run free and over take our cities. Oh wait they have, NY and LA in particular are infested! Why don’t u save them all from scavenging on the streets and ruining my evening strolls, take them home. Make them pets! Get off my back! Pun intended!

Underpaid minorities picking your vegetables, now that’s fine for you right? Please, fight for their rights. How about the poverty in the communities of brown people around the world. She had the nerve to say (and I quote) “get over it” talking of the issue of black people and slavery in this country verses cows being slaughtered. Is she kidding me? Lol yes she must be. Actually, she’s lucky most black people have real issues to worry about in the U.S and don’t give a crap what her delusional privileged opinions are. But she should try saying that again just for kicks n giggles on the corner of Adam Clayton Powell Blvd in Harlem n see how well people “get over it” lol. If u want to preach do it about something worthwhile don’t waste my time trying to save the dang chipmunk.

Find a worthwhile cause like the women being maimed in these Middle Eastern countries. Or female circumcision. Or women’s rights here in America, we still get paid less for doing the same jobs as men. Quite honestly if you hate the world so much go live in the forest where no one else has to hear you complain about the perfectly good food chain the good Lord created. Everyone has the right to an opinion, and that’s mine on that! xoxo

Thoughts?