[NEWS] Mathew Knowles Admits Split With Beyonce Was 9 Months In The Making

Beyonce's father and ex-manager, Mathew Knowles, says his departure as Beyonce's manager wasn't an overnight decision.

Of course we all knew that it would be un-character like for the Knowles-clan to wake up one morning and decide they no longer were interested in working with one another over grits and juice.

Those few months in 2010 where there were rumors floating around about Beyonce and her dad parting ways in business, turned out to hold more weight than people wanted to admit.

[NEWS] 'Def Jam Rapstar' Brings Karaoke To Hip Hop

There's a new game in town and this one caters to Hip Hop! It's called "Def Jam Rapstar" and it is the very first true interactive Hip Hop music game experience; Hip Hop karaoke if you may.

[NEWS] Lauryn Hill Debuts On Charts For The First Time In 10 Years

Seems like everyone is having Lauryn Hill fever because your girl is back on the charts!

According to Billboard.com, Lauryn Hill's single "Repercussions" has officially made its debut on the Hot Hip Hop/R&B charts making this Lauryn's first charted single in 10 years.

The last single from Lauryn that charted was "Turn Your Lights Down Low" - a single released in 1999 via the soundtrack for my third favorite movie The Best Man Soundtrack. The single featured Bob Marley and peaked at #49.

"Repercussions" is currently sitting at #94 and surely when she makes her highly anticipated appearance at this year's Rock The Bells (scheduled to touch down in NYC August 28, 2010) the single will climb.

Whats that you say? I'm kind of stanning?! Whatever, it's Lauryn dammit...

Listen to Lauryn's "Repercussions" here.

NEWS // Christina Aguilera Postpones Tour Till 2011 -- Because Of Album Leak?

Sad news for Christina Aguilera stans...ahem I mean fans. Christina has reportedly postponed her upcoming tour that was scheduled to kick off June 8th. A statement from tour producer Live Nation stated that Christina would have to put the tour on hold to attend to her responsibilities surrounding Burlesque - a new film Christina is set to star in.

NEWS // Lil Kim Inks New Deal With Jay-Z's Roc Nation?

Various online sources are confirming that Lil Kim has signed a new deal with Jay-Z's label Roc Nation.

This might just be the defibrillator to chest reviving she needed...

Rumors of this partnership has been floating around with many brushing it off as untrue. Some fans actually were foolish enough to believe that Lil Kim would be unable to make a comeback and clearly she was holding her tongue for good reason.

Jay-Z will reportedly executive produce Kim's new album that she is currently working on.

They said that Nicki Minaj was gearing up to take her place, but how can that be possible when Kim is still here?

It's about time we get more than one female rapper in the commercial arena.

Stay tuned...

NEWS// Kanye West Previews 4 Tracks Off Of New Album In NYC Club....

My new name for Kanye West these past few months has been the "Hip-Hop Groundhog", simply because he is hardly ever sighted and when he is, only a few people can vouch for it.

It seems that Kanye's new album, reportedly titled Good Ass Job, is really set for a September release because he reportedly saw his shadow at New York's Lower East Side's CV, previewing 4 new songs this past Saturday.

Kanye supposedly came with his own entourage and posted up in a booth in the corner as the DJ played his new tracks.

How I wish I could have been a fly in a margarita glass that night....

Photo/Source

Video Premiere: Chris Brown (feat.Tyga & Kevin McCall) 'Deuces'

Here is the new video from Chris Brown for his song "Deuces" that features Tyga and Kevin McCall.

The video is pretty simple and I am loving the beat.

Speaking of the beat...doesn't it kind of sound like a slow downed version of Rihanna's "Te Amo"?

Interesting...

NEWS // Have You Met The New Pussycat Dolls?

Group founder Robin Antin, tweeted a pic of the new Pussycat Doll line-up. The group was gearing up to perform together for the first time at a private event in Los Angeles this past Friday.

The line-up still includes front woman Nicole Scherzinger. Robin clearly has no problem with sending out the message that people can be replaced...rarrr *insert cat claws here*.

Nicole has been cutting up a rug on Dancing with The Stars minus the emotional breakdown every episode. She really needs to get a grip, she's doing a great job. Hopefully they won't play her when it comes time for her to win. We all saw what happened last year with Mya.

Anyway, the new Pussycat Doll line-up includes Nicole of course along with Kherrington Payne, Vanessa Curry, James Lee Ruiz, and Rino Nakasone-Razalan.

Do they look like the other booted dolls or is is just me?

Source

NEWS // Diddy Defends Justin Bieber's BET Nomination

The BET nominees were announced earlier this week leaving much to be desired. Most fans have been left perplexed as to how the nominees were selected. Would it be too imaginative to see them using the method of closing their eyes and dipping their hands in a bag full of names to select nominees?

There were a few people that were noticeably missing and some that had no actual business being on the list of contenders...then again it's BET and co-founder Sheila Johnson's disgust with her own creation pretty much speaks for itself.

Ashanti's Getting A Reality Show

Are they just handing out reality TV shows somewhere?

Ashanti is a new addition to the reality show bandwagon with her new reality show with a twist. Instead of Ashanti having a camera following her around capturing all of her akward moments with her family, she will have an American Idol style reality show.

The press release said:

R&B star Ashanti has teamed up with the producers of Ugly Betty and The Office to create a new reality TV contest.The singer/actress has just signed a deal with the brains behind Reveille Productions to produce and host her own version of American Idol.Details of the show are being kept tightly under wraps, but Ashanti’s manager/mother Tina Douglas tells WENN, “It’s an unscripted television show that is definitely music related. We’ll be revealing more in the coming weeks. “She has her own record label, called Written Entertainment, and the show is going to revolve around her label… It’s going to be really big.”

I'm not too sure about this. Ashanti isn't really a top vocalist and her career hasn't been that great. Then again, Randy Jackson can't really bust a move but he has the top rated dance show on MTV.

Speaking of work and Ashanti, she has reportedly enlisted hip-hop producer Dr. Dre to produce her upcoming album. There is no word when the album will hit store shelves.

Sade's Recent Sales Prove That People Will Buy Good Music

I just love it when points are proven by numbers. Sade has set the bar for the rest of 2010 by moving 502,000 units of the band's latest release Soldier of Love.

According to Nielson Soundscan, Sade stormed the Billboard 200 charts and claimed the number one spot with their album, making it the best selling album thus far in 2010.

These numbers just prove that people are still purchasing albums that they feel are worth purchasing. And what makes the situation even more golden, is that they did not have to resort to tacky marketing tactics to get the public's attention.

No nudity. No Auto-Tune. No fabricated leaked gossip.

Just good music and old fashion marketing.

Behind The Scenes: Stills From Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' Video

 

Lady Gaga is gearing up to premiere her highly anticipated video for her song "Telephone"that features Beyonce . I really like the song because it has an interesting concept and the lyrics match the theme of the song to a t. 

As you can see, we are going to be in for a treat as this woman is too creative for words. Take this still for instance, she turned a telephone into a hat, who else do you know can do that or would even think of that. I wonder what the designer was thinking when she approached them with the idea....

There is no word on when the video will premiere, but according to sources it may be premiering in the next two weeks, we'll see.

Rihanna Added To Grammy Performance Line-Up

Rihanna has been added to the Grammy Award roster as a performer.

There is no word on what song she will perform live but "Hard" wouldn't be a far cry.

Rihanna will join a star-studded list of performers which includes Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Lady Gaga.

SideBar: Yes, Lady Gaga is going to perform live...I can't wait to see what she does next. It wouldn't come as a surprise if she performs with an elephant wearing a pink tutu sipping on a caramel macchiato.

Rihanna is gearing up for her live performance for the 'Hope For Haiti' telethon that is scheduled to air tonight at 8PM on a list of networks including MTV.

What I love about the telethon is that it will be raising money for Haiti and entertaining viewers, they have a real star-studded list of performers.

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards are scheduled to air live from Los Angeles on January 31st.

I might even live blog!

Oh and by the way, the 2010 Grammy Nominees album that houses hit singles from Grammy nominated artists like Beyonce, Pink, Adele, Kelly Clarkson and more is now available for purchase in stores and online.

Lady Gaga To Appear On 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' Today

Lady Gaga will be making her first ever appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show later on today. She is also scheduled to grace the stage to perform some of her songs.

This will be interesting as Oprah is quite conservative and caters to an even more conservative audience....and, well, Gaga is so not.

I wonder if Lady Gaga will play footsie with her piano, wouldn't that be something?

Lady Gaga is also scheduled to hold a "Hands Up For Equality" benefit event in Atlantic City, NJ tomorrow.

Check out the Lady Gaga 2010 Grammy tribute commercial after the jump.

B2K's Raz B Signs To Tila Tequila Records

So...apparently B2K's Raz B, you know the guy who said that he was sexually molested by his ex-manager and cousin Chris Stokes, has signed a record deal with Tila Tequila Records and yes you read that right .

Reality show star, Tila Tequila, has been working on this label for most of 2009 and is very excited with the new opportunity signing Raz B will bring. She is promising to lace Raz's pockets with lots of money and to up his worth in R&B/Pop making him the most sought after act.

What I am most interested in is how she will go about this. Tila laid out plans to help with Raz's success by laying out her plans to fly him first class to Japan and putting him up in 5 star hotels but enough about that, I ask again, how will she go about this?

At any rate, this was great for a giggle this morning .

Keri Hilson Is Working On A Mixtape

Keri Hilson announced via her Twitter account that she is currently working on a new mixtape. She expressed her excitement about the project, promising that she will deliver when it comes to shelling out some hits.

Recording a mixtape is a great way for Keri to keep her name sparkling while she is hopefully working on new LP.

I'm going to need Keri and Ne-Yo to get it together and give me an album soon, thanks .

Lady Gaga Will Perform At The Grammy's

Lady Gaga is confirmed as one of the performers that are scheduled to hit the stage Grammy night.

Christina Aguilera announces new album plans

Christina Aguilera has announced plans for her new album which is scheduled to drop in March of this year.

We haven't seen Christina since Back To Basics with a brief check-in with her greatest hits album Keeps Gettin Better: A Decade of Hits, so of course fans are excited to see what the petite lady has cooked up.

Because she tends to change styles every album, I for one am very interested in what she will give us. I'm thinking electro-pop; for some reason I think that will be the new sound for 2010.

Jay-Z Set To Premiere 'On To The Next One' Video On New Years Eve

As everyone scrambles to put together a new year's resolution list that they know they won't keep and will forget about come Valentine's Day, Jay-Z is planning to have his music video for his song "On To The Next One" be the first video to premiere in the new year/decade.

Chris Brown is set to make his comeback in the Fall

Despite his horrible interview with Larry King, Chris Brown is ready to dust himself off and try again by making his comeback sooner than later. Some thought that Chris would be in hiding waiting for the humiliation to die down from his less than perfect appearance on the CNN program but Chris is showing a brand new strength.

Chris announced that he has completed work on his third studio effort Graffiti and that it is set for release by the time autumn rolls around. He also revealed that his single "Transformer" that features Lil Wayne will be released in a couple of weeks and will be the official first single.

At this point, I just want an album out of the boy. We have been sucked in to the drama that is he and Rihanna and I want some damn music. It seems like every artist is too busy with their personal dramas (ahem, Nas and Usher)and seem to have lost directions to the recording studio ~sigh~. Get to work please, I'm running out of CD's to play.

Plus, Keri Hilson said that all an artist needs is a hit song to get back into the good graces of their fans. She might be right, R.Kelly was welcomed with open arms when he dropped "I'm a Flirt" even after his illicit cabin fever ~shrugs~.