HRS News

The past two weeks have seen an incredible influx of new stuff, some of it’s been great, a lot has been good, and some of it has been tired as all get out.

Of course, everybody’s buzzing about the latest from Miss Jackson (soon to be Mrs. Dupri). The fluffy 20 Y.O. has been getting pretty solid reviews and received a big boost from Ms. Thang’s Oprah appearance. Folks are saying the set will outperform Beyonce’s B’Day and they might just be right. Look out for her at No. 1 on next week’s charts.

Also new today is Ludacris‘ 5th album Release Therapy featuring the so-so “Money Maker” featuring the so-so Pharrell. We love Luda but the jury’s still out on this one.

Last week saw the debut of Da Hiphop Raskalz, a group of Harlem grade school kids, ages 5-10, who rap about math, dinosaurs and other kid friendly subjects. The kids are actually part of a music class led by musician Dave Soldier and should be the answer to the hundreds of parents emailing us looking for rap for the kiddies.

Lupe Fiasco‘s Food and Liquor has been leaked so much last week’s release is basically a non-event. Which is a shame because it really is a decent album. What’s more unfortunate is the unrelated senseless violence disrupting his UK flow. Other decent rap/hip-hop releases come from Fergie (that’s right I said it’s only decent), Nicolay, Pete Rock (actually this one’s brilliant) and Pigeon John. Decent R&B/soul sets include stuff from Lionel Ritchie, Vikter Duplaix, Mojoe while excellence come from the always amazing Aaron Neville who pours his New Orleans heart out on Bring It On Home: The Soul Classics.

As for the tired stuff… well there isn’t that much, but you might want to watch out for the new CD from Chingy (yawn) and our reviewer, Michelle Cavanaugh, didn’t have many nice words for Flow Season from Main Flow and 7L.

Complete September R&B/Soul release list

Complete September Rap/Hip-hop release list

Always full of shit surprises, DMX claims he was raped by the D.C. woman who is now pregnant with his child. Meanwhile, his wife defends him.
The Knack, best known for the rock classic “My Sherona” are just now suing hip-hop icons Run DMC for alledgedly sampling the song without permission for their 20 year-old classic “It’s Tricky.”

While Eminem sets the record straight regarding his upcoming mixtape, he and on-again-off-again “wife” Kim are now going into mediation for the amicable resolution of their 82-day second marriage.

Mariah Carey and the Black Eyed Peas dominated the American Music Awards nominations.

Right on the heels of the announcement that You Tube got in bed with Warner Brothers, the video sharing site gained some stiff competition from Microsoft.
Ladies get your towels, John Legend is on tour and scheduled to appear on Oprah tomorrow.

R&B legends, Ashford and Simpson will be taking their talents to Broadway for a musical about the “downlow” phenomena based on writings by E. Lynn Harris.
Not many people are looking forward to Flavor Flav’s upcoming solo album, least of all band mate Chuck D who called for a rebellion against “anti-lectualism and dumbassification.”

Here here.

Check out “Be Somebody” from Miami native Dre and his upcoming album The Trunk. The track features an always-on-fire Keyshia Cole.

Dre, one half the production duo Cool and Dre (50 Cent’s “Hate it or Love It,” Ja Rule’s “New York,” etc), apparently had a lot of encouragement to do the solo thing.

“I been working on the project for a little bit,” he said. “A lot of my peers influenced me to do the album. They all pushed me to do this album. They said ‘you’ve been given the talent to sing, you can rap and write and make beats. You need to take advantage of that God given talent. My mom told me to never limit myself. So I was like ‘cool.’”

Keyshia sounds hot on this track, but the question is, would it work without her?

AUDIO:

Windows|Real 

Ok ladies, girlies, and some of you boys, here’s the latest single from Marques Houston.

“Favorite Girl” is a laid back, smooth love song and the first single from his upcoming album Veteran due to caress you all in November 14.

Is it me or does it sound like he just woke up on this? Or maybe he’s about to go to “sleep” with, who else, his “favorite girl.”
AUDIO:

“Favorite Girl” Windows|Real|Quicktime

www.marques-houston.com
www.myspace.com/marqueshouston

Fresh from dissin’ Diddy, Fiddy Cent is said to be accepting Sir Elton John’s collaboration offer. Of course that would have to be after he gets out the clink where NYPD dropped him after being arrested for speeding today. According to Radar, 50′s response to being stopped by the cops, while driving a 466,000 Lamborghini Murcielago, was predictable. This is what one of the officers allegedly said:

“He was being an asshole, speeding or some shit. They stopped him and he wouldn’t give up his license. He kept saying, ‘You know who I am. I know you know who I am,’ so they had to lock him up.” The officer then turned to a colleague and said, “You believe this mook?”

And in other hearsay, Karrine Steffans, best known as Superhead, has hinted that she and Bobby Brown may be romantically involved. From AOL:

“Bobby and I are working together on some things,” said the former video vixen. “There’s a wife and children involved. I don’t want to wreck any marriages. But if a marriage is already wrecked, that’s not my fault.”

As the referred to “wife,” Whitney Houston, would say, “Hell to the naw!”

Is Eminem really coming out of retirement? As reported before, he’s done a guest appearance on Akon’s new joint, but is it true his future plans include rapping with Jennifer Aniston?

Sources: Radar, AOL

For all you Diddy freakazoids out there, here’s a first look at the official logo for his upcoming album.

Genius, isn’t it? Wonder how long it took to design… As previously posted, Diddy will be singing on this one, so obviously we have a lot to look forward to with this release. Says Diddy:

“I represent all of the shower singers out there. I’m not the greatest singer, but I have a lot of emotion in my voice.”
Check below for some more Diddy swag.

VIDEO:

Diddy – “Come To Me” Windows|Real|Quicktime

Diddy’s Video Blog (YouTube)

MySpace

Bad Boy website

Official Diddy Site

Matthew Knowles, father and manager to Beyonce recently came out in defense of his daughter and the rampant rumors regarding lackluster response to her new album, B’Day, alleged beef with Barbadian upandcomer Rihanna and an online petition.

“It is apparent that there is a consistent plan by some to create chaos around Beyonce’s B’Day album release on Sept 5 in the US,” pappa bear growled in a widely released statement. “First, it was a petition against the single, “Deja Vu”, then a rumor regarding conflict between Beyonce and Rihanna, seizures caused by the “Ring the Alarm” video, putting out a single to compete with LeToya’s album and now to add to all the ridiculous rumors, is my plan to postpone the release of her B’Day album. What will be next? Beyonce’s cut off all her hair? Dyed it green? Maybe she’s singing the songs in reverse with some hidden subliminal message!

Knowles then attacked the Internet as a haven of unfounded rumors, gossip and straight out lies. Duh. Some people think this is a strange waste of energy seeing as Beyonce is an international megaster. Can’t she be a woman and speak for herself? We think there’s much more to this… that these rumors have touched a nerve and unfortunately Beyonce can’t take the heat so her daddy had to step in. Here’s the rest of this bizarro statement.

“Unfortunately what it shows is that anyone can go on the internet and create rumors and the media in some cases will pick up these stories and run with them which influence the consumer’s perception.

And just for the record, Beyonce’s success or failure for me is not based on the number of records she sells. For me it’s based on how proud I am that she is a genuine good person (Ask anyone who’s worked with her). That she always has a kind word for others. That she is respectful and honest. That she gives back to her community and that she has so much love for her family. That she has grown to be such a leader. And lastly, she has the confidence not to be bothered by these planned distractions.”

Thanks to Langston over at Think Tank for the heads up.

Diddy recently talked to MTV about his upcoming album and bragged about how he’s got one up on Justin Timberlake. Supposedly since JT uses “sexy” in the title of his song, P. Diddy sees this as some sort of territorial encroachment.

“But I am the king of the sexy, Justin. Let’s not get it twisted.”

He then went on to proclaim, “I represent all of the shower singers out there. I’m not the greatest singer, but I have a lot of emotion in my voice.”

Meanwhile, JT, busy talking smack about Kanye West, also dissed American Idol Taylor Hicks, questioning his sexual orientation and saying he “can’t carry a tune in a bucket.”

Perhaps JT is still on drugs.

Hicks, who has more soul in his left pinky toe than JT has in his whole career, has so far made no comment.

Finally, rap whore producer Scott Storch has hooked up with self-proclaimed singer Paris Hilton for her second album. Although the trust fund baby’s currently promoting her first set, she’s already back in the studio working on her “passion.”

“This is my passion and what I love to do,” she told MTV. “I’ve wanted to do this forever, and now I’ve finally had it finished perfectly how I like it.”

Quote sources: MTV.com 

As mentioned earlier, Bobby Valentino has a new single out called “Turn The Page,” produced by Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins.

Haven’t heard it yet? Take a listen now.

And stay tuned for the release of the album, Special Occasion, in September which will feature the crooner revealing his alter ego… BV the rapper.

But, in the meantime, hopefully he’ll fire his stylist because the checkered pajama look just is not working.

“Turn The Page” Windows|Real

Photo courtesy DTP/Def Jam Recordings

Hmmm… is this image what you were expecting when you thought of the title for Justin Timberlake’s upcoming CD, FutureSex/LoveSounds??

Perhaps this is what he meant when he said he did too many drugs… he’s gone OffThe/DeepEnd.

Regardless of the whack cover, “Sexyback” is still slammin’, but dude might think about coming a little more correct with cover art.

For all of you who can’t get enough of Timberlake, Bosh reports he’ll be stomping through the doors of a few US clubs this month on what is being called the “SexyBack ClubTour.” First show’s August 10 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA, and will wrap August 26 in Boston.

Photo courtesy Jive