Music Rumors: Brandy dropped from Epic Records?!

According to sources this rumor is true but ask Brandy and she will tell you that this is a total lie; in fact, according to her twitter she vents "#notagoodlook when so called journalist spread false rumors without the facts:) Don’t believe everything you read or see!"

Black Voices alleges that singer Brandy was recently dropped from Epic Records due to low sales of her comeback album Human.

Earlier this year, rumors started to swirl around the net that Brandy was preparing to sign a deal with Jay-Z's Roc Nation label. Word around the way is that-that deal was flushed due to creative differences, yikes!

"BV Buzz has learned exclusively that the 30-year-old singer was just dropped by her label Epic Records because of the lackluster sales of from her comeback CD, 'Human.'...The former 'Moesha' star had been represented in recent months by Jay-Z's Roc Nation Management. The McComb, Miss.-bred singer's relationship with Roc Nation supposedly dissolved because of "creative differences."

At least they were nice enough to look for a new label home for her, if this is true. Hopefully Brandy can find a label to continue putting out music. If all fails she could always go independent, I hear it's the new black. I wonder what the "creative differences" were? I was really looking forward to that rumored duet with her and Beyonce, oh well.

Music Rumors: Beyonce will sue you

If you decide to sell bootlegs of her music. Beyonce and Papa Knowles have gone ahead and filed a Federal lawsuit against a group of bootleggers who have been selling bootlegs of her albums at her concerts in NYC, and she is ready to fight back.

They have not been able to track down the specific people involved but they are hoping that the judge rules in their favor making it illegal for bootleggers to sell their goods outside in front of the arena, preferably before she makes it to NYC to take to the Madison Square Garden stage this coming Sunday(06.21) and Monday (06.22).

Looks like the Knowles are cracking the whip. What can I say, it's just business.

{Spotted at-Fame Zone}

Music Rumors: Mariah Carey gears up to release diss record

Uh Oh, the gloves are off! Sources say that Mariah Carey, who is currently working on a new album titled Memoirs Of An Inperfect Angel, is rumored to release a diss track as her first single off of the album. Who is the diss track about? Some are saying that it will be a diss record aimed at Eminem.

If you can remember late last month, husband Nick Cannon took to his blog to call Em out for talking ish about his lady in his song "Bagpipes from Baghdad" implying that if he wanted to he could take Mariah back from Nick; you know, the usual blah blah blah's. Well, Mariah is not taking it sitting down and is getting revenge on the mic. The Dream confirms,

“The most anticipated is the Mariah project, and she just released a fire record in the building today. And we have been blasting it out all day. It’s just f**king retarded. I don’t think anybody is going to expect her to come out punching like she is going to come out. But she got a record.”

He continued, hinting at the content, “It’s going to light the blogs up too because you don’t know who she talking about, what she talking about, but she talking about something. And remember The-Dream told you first. So you can start that up right now. Mariah Carey has a record, and somebody’s going to be very upset. I said that.”-via Toya's World.

All I can say is hmmm they make us 20-something-year-old's look like the elderly with their behavior.

Music Rumors: Destiny's Child wars

How long has it been since there was a rumor out about Beyonce, 3 days? Well you know we cant close out the week without reporting on a rumor about our favorite super duper star some of us love to hate.

According to Destiny's Child Rumours, Papa Knowles is at it again. He has reportedly given BET an ultimatum to kick Letoya Luckett to the left and only have Beyonce perform at the 2009 BET Awards. If BET refuses to abide by Matty's demands they can forget about Beyonce stepping foot on stage.

As you know, Letoya was one of the original members of Destiny's Child before the sudden dismantling of the group that turned into The Supreme's drama of the new millennium. Letoya has since released an album, started new ventures like a clothing line, and is preparing to drop her sophomore solo album.

Do I believe this rumor, stranger things have happened. Though Papa Knowles always seems to get himself out of these rumored sticky situations with an explanation or total denial of it, he still always has that air of mystery surrounding him. I don't think the rumor is totally far fetched but when there are a collection of rumors that are equally true and false, it really is a toss in the air; you know what they say, behind every lie there is a kernel of truth.

Got Beef? Is Cassidy calling out Kanye West?

What would Hip-Hop be without the beef? Better yet, what would Hip-Hop be without the occasional song about another dude wifing another guys girl...while she's still with him! OK, let me not get ahead of myself with this one, this could easily be a song about another guys girl that Cassidy decided to do a personal business tell-all on a track literally a week after rumors spilled on the net that he was dating Kanye's girlfriend Amber Rose while she and Kanye were an item.

Anyway, Cassidy got tongue tough on a remix track of Beyonce's "Ego" that was recently remixed by none other than Kanye.



The lyrics had me sucked in. Fighting over significant other's is so lame and passe. Who could he be talking about? Blogs and sites are pointing the finger at Kanye, we will have to wait and see.

{Spotted at-Bossip}

Music Rumor: Omarion signs with Lil Wayne

So....the rumor of the week is that Omarion has signed to Lil Wayne's label Young Money. It seems like Lil Wayne is forming his own musical conglomerate. He has the hot topic of the moment, Drake, signed to his label; plus, he has who I think will be the brand new face in the female spectrum of Hip-Hop, Nicki Minaj. Things are looking up for Lil Wayne.

Honestly, I feel that Omarion's time has passed. Unless he is about to come with some brand new ish that we have never heard or seen before, I think he needs to keep it to himself because all we need is more duplicates of something that worked in the past. I have this weird feeling that he is eyeing the auto-tune plug-in, I shutter at the thought.

• F.Y.I.: Speaking of auto-tunes, Kanye West has decided to let the plug-in go and has promised to make his next album nothing but rap.
  
  

It also leads me to question if cutting off his locks turned out to be a bad idea. Let's be real, the only thing-if not the main thing-Omarion had going for him was his hair, he is not that great of a singer. Don't get me wrong he was pretty good in B2K but as a solo artist he's OK. I guess time will reveal the truth, is there really room for Omarion?

Music Rumors: Ryan Leslie is working on a new album with....

Chris Brown. Rumor has it, Ryan Leslie has just confirmed that he will be heading into the studio with Chris to work on his[Chris'] new album this week. In addition to working with Chris, Ryan also tweeted that he will be working on Alicia Keys and my girl Jazmine Sullivan's new albums as well.

Looks like Ryan's schedule will be booked this year and might get him a load of Grammy nods next year.

Music Rumors: Eminem will be number 1

Rumor has it, Eminem's album Relapse has been doing incredible numbers on the charts; so much so, that it is being predicted that he will find his way to the number 1 spot on the Billboard charts. The interesting thing about this venture to number 1, is the predicted amount of albums that is being said that he will sell. It won't be in the 100,000 or even the 300,000 arena. It is being said that he will sell a shattering 600,000 or more copies of Relapse...in it's first week!

If he goes on to sell this much it will officially put to sleep that daunting blame it game Hip-Hop artists have been using to get out of admitting that their records sold less because their ish sucks dirty pond water..which will in turn have me on the floor grabbing my stomach from all of the excessive laughing I'll be doing ~snicker~. We'll see if the economy really has something to do with the lack of Hip-Hop albums bought, next week! Stay tuned....

Music Rumors: 50 Cent's label hates his album

Turns out 50 just ain't as hot as he thought he was. Rumor has it 50's label, Interscope Records, are not feeling 50 Cent's album and because of this they want him to head back in the studio to record some more material; which means, it might take a little longer for the album to come out. According to sources, his album seems to be missing a certain je ne sais quois. Hmmm... I wonder why?

Could it be his relentless attacks on Rick Ross (whose album actually saw the light of day and did pretty well according to reviews) that could be distracting him? And not to add salt to the wound, but Deeper Than Rap is said to be topping the Billboard 200 charts (the numbers come in tomorrow so stay tuned).

Then again, there are the record labels that sometimes want their artists to dumb down their masterpieces just for marketing purposes.

Either way, it's time to get to work 50....

Music Rumors: Danity Kane set to make new album WITHOUT Diddy?!

Word around the net is that Danity Kane aren't really broken up. In fact, they are said to be working on a new album titled From The Ashes, secretly though. According to reports, the VISA MYPLASH (a sponsor of the group) posted information on their website that stated that the girl-group were in the studio working on the tentatively titled album.

As of right now there is no word on whether this is true or not but once gums start flapping I'll pass info along.

If this is true, I will have immense respect for the group for being the only act to have cojones (figuratively) to survive after dealing with Bad Boy Records because y'all already know. The season finale of Making The Band 4 premiere's tonight on MTV and you don't want to miss it; apparently all of the members of Danity Kane will be appearing on the show. We'll see....

{Spotted at-Ace Show Biz}

Music Rumors: The Beyonce audio is a fake and Matthew is P.O.'ed

In case you missed it, there is audio going around that is supposedly of Beyonce singing horridly that's got everyone buzzing. Problem is, the audio is a fake; here's how it all started. Howard Stern got a hold of some audio that was posted on the worst website to site as a source, TMZ, and decided to share it with his listeners. The audio has now spread all across the Internet like spilled milk on a glass table.



The audio is supposed to be of a performance done by Beyonce on the Today Show last year autumn; you know, the one where she wore that tight little number in the picture above. Howard Stern was not aware of this revelation and went ahead and posted it up in hopes of "exposing" Beyonce. Well, Papa Knowles being the stage dad that he is (which is border line soccer mom), was not too pleased with the website (TMZ) and others with trying to tarnish his baby girl's name and talent and took to his e-mail to give the site a piece of his mind,

"If no one took the time to look at the biggest Inauguration in the history of America then shame on them.

If no one took the time to listen to Beyonce sing 'America the Beautiful' and 'At Last' at the Neighborhood Ball for the first dance of President Obama and the First Lady, and they question Beyonce's vocal ability, they've gotta be an idiot.

At 12 years into her career, the last thing someone should be questioning is her vocal ability.

That would be like questioning if Kobe Bryant could shoot a jump shot. The vocals were obviously altered." -via TMZ.

I just knew her performance for Obama would be used to make a point some day ~que eye roll~.TMZ of course later retracted the claim that the audio was real after Matty's letter and the person behind the skewed audio came forward.

The person that decided to mess with her audio didn't even expect for it to go this far; they just did it for sh*ts and giggles. The audio actually premiered on You Tube last year. I remember watching it on the person's channel as well as on a site that was running at the time that was pretty much based on hating on Beyonce; so imagine how hard I laughed when I realized people thought that the audio was of her actual singing, but I digress.

The thing that made me shake my head was how the media went crazy over the thought that Beyonce had finally fallen from grace. It was like the sun had come out on a very rainy and dreary day. I am actually starting to feel sorry for Beyonce. Looks like her love affair with the media has ended. Oh well, all's well that ends well.

Update: Beyonce responded to the fake audio yesterday (04.22),

"Of course I'm just hearing about this today — and I haven't heard it but
it sounds completely ridiculous," Beyoncé said at the junket for her forthcoming
film "Obsessed." "Every one's heard me sing and it's perfect timing, actually,
because I'll be on the 'Today' show tomorrow singing 'Halo,' or tonight you can
watch me sing live on David Letterman! It's perfect promotion, whoever came up
with that idea."-via MTV.

Yeah we know Bey, you don't know anything about the Internet or social networking sites, you just like to carry your Apple laptop with you everywhere you go because it's shiny.

Music Rumors: Did Solange get dropped from Geffen Records?

According to Black Voices, Solange has been dropped by her label Geffen/Interscope Records. But the story gets a little deeper.

Apparently, the news of Kelly Rowland being dropped from Columbia was done on purpose (so shocked) so that attention could be drawn away from Solange's axed contract with her label. Oh, but it gets even deeper...

A source goes on to say that Matthew Knowles is in talks with Epic Records to sign Solange. Now prior to their meetings, Epic Records had already offered a deal to Kelly to sign with their label. However, seeing that there are talks between Matty and the label, the deal with Kelly might be off.

"Amanda was really into signing Kelly and then Matthew started meeting with her about Solange. I'm told he used his influence in the Sony system with Beyonce to complicate the existing offer to Kelly and then the deal ultimately didn't happen," the source explained." -via Black Voices

Well, according to Solange who took to her Twitter upon getting word of the news of her being dropped or supposedly being dropped, she had this to say

"Ren and Stimpy “you stooppid idioots part 19″ lol. Today, April 7, 09 I am still on Music World/Geffen/ Interscope records..."

Hmmm OK....

It is being said that there is a slight chance that Kelly might be announcing a new record deal in the weeks to come.

Music Rumors: Ciara addresses the "swag jack" rumor

So, this whole swagger jacking ish was that serious huh?! Ehh..OK. In case you missed it or ignored it like moi, Ciara was accused of committing a R&B felony a couple of weeks ago known as swagger jacking.



Apparently, Ciara used a few similar video treatments and outfits used by Beyonce in some of Beyonce's videos such as a runway platform used in "Freakum Dress" and a leopard print look alike outfit Bey wore in her video for her song "Kitty Kat". All of this comes by way of the release of Ciara's video for her song featuring Justin Timberlake "Love And Sex And Magic".

Well now Ciara is setting the record straight. Ciara recently had a little convo with honeymag.com and had this to say about the allegations,

"I don’t think there’s really anything to address. I think it’s very, very funny. And you know what my response is to that? For the ones that have something negative to say? They must have really enjoyed it that much to go and nitpick it, because it’s something they pulled up and was like, “Yo!” There were a couple of things in there that I’ve never seen. I think that it’s important for us as artists to be original and to create something new, so it would be really silly of me to go and create something you’ve already seen. So not one time were any of my references another artist. My references were clearly inspired from shows that I’ve actually seen. It goes to show how creative we can be and how close the worlds are. I did my first video with my metal outfit. I was inspired by Thierry Mugler. Now, from my understanding, Beyonce is using Thierry Mugler for her tour. It just is what it is. It’s very petty to me. When people nitpick something and they say negative things, my response to that is they really must have liked it that much. They just said, “This just can’t be! We gotta find something!” That’s also the definition of a person having too much time on their hands to do nothing. That’s how I look at that."

So there you have it. It comes as only natural that any female artist that comes out and dare try to make a name for themselves will be compared to the great. So she happened to have worn a similar cat suit to Beyonce, chances are Beyonce got that idea from someone else and so on and so forth. Wait, hasn't Beyonce been accused of swagger jacking herself?!

Anyhow, no idea is original. It happens all the time, you think of something that would be hot and then you see someone who you've never met do the same exact thing you thought of.

It would have been cool to see them duke it out in a dance off though...can this still happen?

Music Rumors: New Destiny's Child album coming soon

Confusing but yes this is true. According to sources the group still owe their label-Columbia Records-an album as stated in their contracts. Even though Kelly Rowland has been dropped from the label she will record with her group members to release a final Destiny's Child album.

So that whole "we are retiring" bit was just a publicity stunt. You see, that is why I don't go nuts over people saying that they are going to retire because half of the time they are lying, but I digress.

This will be very interesting. What would be appropriate would be a greatest hits album but the group has already done that with their #1's album so that's an option that is scrapped.

It is said that the group will head in the studio to record their final album when Beyonce finishes up with her I Am international tour.

This will be good for Kelly and Michelle because money for them might be a little tight right now, if you know what I'm saying....

Music Rumors: The truth behind Keri Hilson's diss track!

Some of us have moved past the supposed "diss track" including myself. There have been numerous radio interviews done by Keri Hilson where she denied the "so called diss track" that set the blogs and websites a blaze about the R&B beef that never was...or was it?

Right when I was ready to accept the whole "I didn't make the song for anyone", I get information that points out a little fact that totally went over my head. Do you remember Usher's song "Love In This Club"? How about the remix to the song? Here, let me jump-start that memory of yours...

The Original ft. Young Jeezy

Love In This Club - Usher Ft. Young Jeezy

The remix featuring Beyonce and Lil Wayne

Love In This Club, Part II feat. Beyonce & Lil Wayne - Usher

Well, according to sources, Keri Hilson was supposed to sing Beyonce's part. In fact, she wrote Beyonce's verse for the song. Here's how it all ties together....

Usher wanted Keri Hilson to get on the remix for "Love In This Club". Keri obliged and went to work on the verse; she wrote the lyrics and recorded her vocals. In the course of said action, Beyonce made it known that she was interested in jumping on the remix to the song after she was blown away by the finished product she heard during a little studio visit.

Usher did what any other starving artist would do who was hungry for the spotlight...again, and needed a hit with a credible artist; he dropped the nobody (at the time) for the superstar. How did Usher make it up to Keri? He offered her a spot as his leading lady in the video for "Love In This Club".

Keri didn't even want to release the diss track, but her producer Polow Da Don leaked it anyway. I guess he was determined to get it out and about.

It kind of makes sense now why Keri would suggest to "check the credits ho".

Everyone thought the song was about Ciara because they just could not find a connection between Beyonce and Keri except for her [Keri's] "move it to the left" lyric. Since no one could see why Keri would address Bey in a song, everyone assumed that it was directed at Ciara who has received numerous written songs from Keri.

Could bitterness for being bumped off a song be the inspiration behind Keri's diss track? Things that make you go hmmmm....

Music Rumors: Jay-Z gets ready to sign Brandy?!

So, it seems like everyday I look in my inbox there is an e-mail about Jay-Z signing Brandy or the question of if Jay-Z is going to sign Brandy.

According to sources, Jay-Z is preparing to sign Brandy to his new record label Roc Nation.

Now, there isn't a definite word on if this music rumor is true but if it is that would be a great look for Brandy. If she can dig up that drive she had in her younger days she could come out on top. But then again it would probably be best if she could watch her p's and q's because sometimes you can't trust certain people.

There was a rumor sometime back that she and Beyonce were doing a duet. That would be quite hard to imagine because Brandy and Beyonce have very different voices in pitch, sound, and lets face it Bey's vibrato could cause ripples in water. We'll see how this works out.

Music Rumors: Rihanna and Chris did NOT record a duet

As mentioned yesterday, Chris and Rihanna did not record a duet last month. The media has been swarming around with rumors that Chris and Rihanna had gotten back together and had recorded a duet produced by Polow Da Don, completely false.

The so called duet was recorded in 2008 not in February.

"The reports are inaccurate," Polow's publicist, Laura Wright, told UsMagazine.com on Friday, calling the CNN report misinformed. "The duet was recorded long before the incident."

The song titled "Bad Girl" that was sung by Rihanna with a rap feature by Chris, was leaked on to the Internet last month and was meant as an instructional demo for the eventual singers of the song. The song was scheduled to appear on the soundtrack for the movie Confessions Of A Shopaholic and was eventually recorded by The Pussycat Dolls.

Side Order: Would it be strange to say that just maybe Polow was the one behind this rumor? He did release the Keri Hilson "diss song" that pissed off a lot of Beyonce and Ciara fans, just a thought...

So there goes that music rumor, squashed and will soon be forgotten. It was very random and out of the blue for it to be true anyway.

So does that mean Chris and Rihanna are not together afterall?

Music Rumors: Keri Hilson denies diss track!

Hmmmm...Ok Keri.

In case you missed it, Keri Hilson released a "diss track" earlier this week in which she called out a mysterious diva.



This rumor has been wide spread for a few days with people trying their hardest to decipher who Keri could have been talking about. I personally, concluded she was calling out Ciara, Beyonce, and every other female artists in R&B. Well now Keri is clearing up the music rumor saying that she wasn't calling anyone out.



I don't know about this. She said that it was about adversity but I don't see how you would tell "adversity" to go and have some babies. Needless to say, judging by the tone in Ciara's voice she wasn't buying it either; though she did a great job at being cordial.

Another thing that was a little off, was when the interviewer asked Keri who the song was about and she hesitated before she answered the question. You decide for yourself.

M.Y. Verdict: I think Keri is an amazing songwriter and singer and if she says it wasn't about anybody then ok. However, I don't believe that the song was about adversity at all. The public did not respond in a positive manner after the song was leaked which I think made her think twice about her actions. What was supposed to bring attention and good promotion to her in time for her album release, backfired. For that, she issued an apology.

We still love you Keri.

Keri's album In A Perfect World is due in stores March 24th.

Video: Did Cam'ron really speak to Jim Jones?

I am confused. Cam'ron recently sat down with MTV and told them that he and Jim had finally spoken after a long drawn out feud between the once BFF's, but now Jimmy is saying nay to said conversation.



Obviously someone is lying. Why would Cam say he spoke to Jim if he didn't? Could it have been for much needed promotion to get the media hounds going bonkers over a Dipset reunion?

OR

Is Jim just messing with us? I mean, he didn't sound like he was in the mood to talk on the radio show in the clip above.; or maybe the feud is helping his name stay relevant until his album drops, assist in sales if you may. I guess we will have to wait and see how this goes.

M.Y. Music Rumors: Did Coogi pay Jadakiss for song shoutout?!

Things that make you go hmmmm...

According to wendyista, Coogi payed Jadakiss to make mention of the brand in his song "Letter To B.I.G." that appeared on the Notorious soundtrack and that will appear on his album The Last Kiss that is due for a March 10th release.

The line that they speak of is when he rapped,

"In your memory I keep Coogi in my closet".



Granted, Biggie was a huge fan of Coogi and was the reason why everyone knows about the brand that was originally brought to the attention of the masses thanks to Bill Cosby but damn! This is suppose to be a song where you are paying homage to your slain brother-from-another-mother and you decide to bank on it!

On the other hand, I guess most would say that it is just business and I'm sure Biggie would want for Jada to make a little money off of a song that was dedicated to him, I think. Plus, Hip Hop has been promoting brands forever not to mention for free, and look where it has gotten them. Either, don't name drop in Hip Hop or get compensated when you do.

Cristal has had the audacity to say that they do not want Hip Hop artists promoting their ish after they made sooooo much money off of their free promotion; might as well get payed for promoting, better than showcasing brands free of charge in their videos and songs and getting shoved to the side after they become successful, like they ALWAYS do.