HRS News

New Orleans-born, Bermuda-raised Colin Harper is also known as Collie Buddz  and is about to bless us with his blend of hip-hop and Caribbean music on his upcoming self-titled debut due July 3.

The singer/songwriter offers a sweet falsetto voice which pays homage to his reggae roots.

“Nowadays when I go to put on a CD, its old tune: Alton Ellis, The Meditations, The Heptones, Skatalites, Jacob Miller, Eric Monty Morris; love the rockers music. From that I start to teach myself some of the history of this music, that’s where I started to come a little more versatile with the singin’…the foundation just straight reality, yunno. I like dancehall, but de foundation and conscious tune really what me love.”

VIDEO: Collie Buddz – “Mamacita”

Collie Buddz – “Come Around”

http://www.colliebuddz.com

http://www.myspace.com/colliebuddz

VH1′s “Flavor Of Love: Girls Charm School” will get a little class with the upcoming appearance of Emily King’s current single “Walk In My Shoes” during the June 17th airing.

If you haven’t heard this new artist yet, check it out below.  The set of the same title will drop June 12.

Emily King interview 

Emily King – “Walk In My Shoes” Real|Windows

Visit Emily’s myspace: http://www.myspace.com/emilykingmusic

Legendary hip-hop producer Marley Marl is recuperating in a New York hospital after suffering a heart attack Tuesday.

Marl, a pioneer in the industry, currently has an album out with fellow hip-hop legend, KRS-One, called Hip-hop Lives. The two were involved in one of hip-hop’s oldest creative beefs.

The 44 year-old Marl made a name for himself in the 80s and 90s working with artists such Eric B. & Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap, TLC, and many more.

T.I. and Ciara will be the headliners for the 6th Annual Scream Tour starting in late July.

The tour, usually headed by boy toy types like Omarion, Bow Wow, etc, will hit 24 U.S. cities, including Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.

Supporting acts and a final itinerary are yet to be announced.

Last year’s Scream fest was headed by Omarion and Ne-Yo, and was billed as the “Ruff & Ready, Young & Sexy” tour. Pretty Ricky, One Chance, Mario, Jibbs, Young Joc, and Sammie were the supporting acts.

Hip-hop producer DJ Sharkey has teamed up with Indie rapper C-Rayz Walz for a concept album called Monster Maker. Sharkey, whose debut album, Sharkey’s Machine was named one of the Top 10 albums of the year by the Washington
Post and featured underground heavies like Grand Puba, Jean Grae, Cannibal Ox, The Pharcyde and Cherrywine (of Digable Planets), says his newest speaks to the breaking point in ordinary people.

“I feel like the world is the monster maker and I feel like everyone, no matter how good of a family you’ve been raised by, or how good of a person you are, is
capable of being that person that is sitting in the middle of bumper to
bumper traffic for an hour one day and on the verge of going out and
blasting people.  Everyone has that seed in them where they’re capable of doing something monster-ish.”

Walz, whose 1975: Return Of The Beast, dropped last year, broke it down frankly.

“Sharkey beats are everything,” Walz explains, “they’re rock, they’re synth, they’re techno, they’re Hip-Hop, boom-bap, they’re everything.  So he killed all those f*ckin’ producers, he made a monster and now he’s here to bite everybody’s f*ckin’ head off man.”

Babygrande Records will release Monster Maker in August 2007.

www.monstermakermusic.com
www.crackspace.com/monstermaker

June gets off to a “bad” start for fans of Rihanna. The Barbados native’s sophomore set, Good Girl Gone Bad, drops today and features Jay-Z on her hit track “Umbrella” as well as Ne-Yo on “Hate That I Love You.”

Rihanna has taken the title of the album seriously in her current video, which sees her come off like a young Madonna – slutty but strangely playful. In a recent interview with Giant magazine she said:

“I got all painted in silver, almost butt naked (she whispers). That was one of the scenes in the video. I felt liberated. I felt free and I felt like I was a “good girl gone bad.” It was a pretty cool thing to do. I never thought that in a million years I would paint myself up to my nostrils in silver and do a video. It was fantastic. It was one of my favorite scenes in the entire video.”
Album review

A Giant Magazine excerpt here.

Listen to the album, and see video on Clear Channel here.

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/rihanna
Official Site: http://www.thisisrihanna.com

Discovered by Method Man and Ol’ Dirty Bastard in 1997, Cilvaringz is the next big thing in the vast Wu Tang Dynasty.

After being invited on stage to freestyle during the Wu-Tang
Forever world tour in Amsterdam, he went on to sign with Wu-Tang Productions and make rap history as being the artist with the most international performances in hiphop – 38 countries in 5 continents.

Cilvaringz’ debut album “I” is set for release on June 12th and features production exclusively by The Wu-Elements (RZA, 4th Disciple, True Master, Mathematics & Bronze Nazareth).

The set also includes an hour-long DVD that relives his (and the whole Wu Tang Clan’s) performances during the 1997 Wu-Tang Clan world tour, interviews with the Clan, RZA & Ringz’ trip to Egypt, recording sessions and more.

www.ringzmusic.com

www.crackspace.com/cilvaringz

Kanye West’s Graduation, originally scheduled for a September release, will drop in late August. The set’s preceded by West’s 25-track Internet mixtape called Can’t Tell Me Nothing, available now.

Rap collective Boyz N Da Hood is gearing up to release its second album, Back Up N Da Chevy, Aug. 7 without former member Young Jeezy.

Back Up N Da Chevy Tracklist:

“Block Boys”
“Everybody Know Me”
“We Ridin”
“Bite Down”
“Say What’s on Your Mind”
“Choppas” featuring Ice Cube
“We Thuggin”
“Paper” featuring Rick Ross
“Table Dance” featuring Rick Ross
“Hood Laws”
“Back Up N Da Chevy”
“Jump”
“We Ready” featuring Yung Joc
“Nothing Is Promised” featuring Yung Joc