Real Music People

Twenty-two-year-old Trey Songz is an underrated young R&B talent with lackluster first-album sales, despite an armful of quality singles. The launch single from his sophomore self-titled effort, “Can’t Help but Wait,” exposes his maturity and hunger to achieve the notoriety he deserves. With magnificent production from the European duo with soul, StarGate, and co-writing sorcery from Johnta Austin, Songz pours out his emotions for a woman that he is trying to convince to leave an abusive relationship—and if you pay close attention, there also are a couple of clues on how to give a lady the respect she deserves.

This time around, there should be no reason why Songz need “Wait” to find the level of fame he deserves. Oh yes till his fame shoots up and he becomes a household name you can at least support this rising star by purchasing or listening to his singles, come on let support the talent in this country.

Here’s the new single called “Just Fine”, which is the lead single from the upcoming album of Mary J. Blige entitled “Growing Pains” due out on November 27th.
Check this song out!!!

They would have to pay ME to buy that garbage. I’ve never spent one cent on Britney and I never will. She represents everything that is wrong with the music industry. Crappy music created by a corporation trying to make money off of teeny boppers. It worked for a while, but those days are over. This album is going to bomb horribly. She needs a year off. Leave the spotlight, spend time doing something that has nothing to do with the career. She can make her comeback after a year-long retirement. Leave LA, spend time with friends and family, and no more ‘handlers. ‘When she comes back, everyone will have missed her, she’ll enter a new phase of her career, and she’ll stop having to try so hard. Mariah Carey went nuts because she was overworked, being a popstar and paying dozens of people to keep the train rolling. Britney is doing the same thing, with her panties off, at the expense of her kids.

Mariah Carey has just pushed back the release of her new album until February which has her rabid and impatient fans quite upset. Everyone thought that her new record was coming out this November.

A fan wrote to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton and was pretty vocal about being upset about the release being pushed back. She says that maybe, instead of whoring it up all over LA clubs, she should work on new material.

Mariah has been ‘whoring it up’ with basket ball player Rick Fox. A basket ball player and not a music producer who can actually do something to help Mariah with her career.

Pop star Madonna is close to leaving her long-time Warner Bros. Records label for a wide-ranging $US120 million deal with concert promotion firm Live Nation. Madonna would receive a mix of cash and stock in exchange for allowing Live Nation to distribute three studio albums, promote concert tours, sell merchandise and license her name. Like 120 million dollars is I think way too much that the company is dishing out for a 49 year old singer who doesn’t tour much. I think Live Nation shall find hard and very tough to recover their investment and though she is a world reowned artist and her name is very popular but still given the positives of the brand name ‘Madonna’ it will be tough going. She is over the years becoming very predictable with her music and only some nice videos that come out help her sell the album.

Record sales of hip hop artists seem to be on the decline within the last year. Except maybe if the artist’s name happens to be Kanye West. Record sales of country artists is another story though.

Last week, Reba McEntire pushed Kanye off the top spot when her ‘Duets’ album came out at #1. This week, country trio Rascal Flatts is at #1 when their new album ‘Still Feels Good’ sold 547,000 units which easilty put them on top of the Billboard 200 mountain. Their latest release makes it the third straight #1 album for the band.

Country is about to take over!

How many times has Michael Jackson made a comeback? Maybe Britney should take notes. But then again, maybe not.

The king of pop is on the cover of the October 2007 issue of L’UOMO Vogue magazine. His photo shoot was headed by photographer Bruce Weber.

The magazine shoot is reportedly part of a deal Michael struck with designer Roberto Cavalli. Details of the deal says that Michael would do the photo shoot for Cavalli and in return, the famous designer would make clothing for Michael for his new look to support the release of his new album.

How picky of him.

A music video that is. Emmy Rossum has just released her video for ‘Slow Me Down’, her first single off of her upcoming ambient pop album which is due out on October 23. If you want to know what that means, well, if you like Imogen Heap, Frou Frou and Sia, you are definitely going to love Emmy.

Emmy talked a little about her video at the Teen Choice Awards last month. She went on the record about how the video was shot and it’s connection to the song saying “We were shooting at different speeds because the song’s about the pace of life and to create the blur of the world and how overwhelming that can be.”

If he’s a man of his word, 50 Cent would be announcing his retirement any day now. The votes are in when it comes to the UK because their new album chart says that Kanye West’s new album ‘Graduation’ is the #1 album on the other side of the Atlantic. 50 Cent’s album ‘Curtis’ came in at the runner up position.

50 is also expected to lose to Kanye in the US as Kanye’s album is predicted to outsell 50’s by 200,000 units. But 50 might find a way out of retirement by making up some blatant lie.

But then again, 50 might have also felt the heat from Kanye’s victory as he has cancelled his European tour which was supposed to kick off this weekend. Wow!

Fall is upon us and so are the divas. It seems that all the divas that we know and love are coming out with new records this fall season.

Much like Kanye West and 50 Cent, some divas are going head to head with their releases. Celine Dion and Britney Spears will battle it out first when both of their upcoming albums drop on November 13. We would then see another diva showdown a week later in the form of Mary J. Blige with her upcoming album ‘Growing Pains’ to be released on the same day, November 20, as Mariah Carey’s new record.

It seems that the only diva missing from that list is Madonna. When is her album coming out?

Jennifer Lopez has released some promo shots for her upcoming album ‘Brave’ which is due out on October 9.

When asked to comment about the sound of her new album, Jennifer said that “This album is more of what people and my fans are used to. You know, just kind of dance, funk, R&B, hip-hop, all that stuff, all mixed up together to make some great pop music.” It sounds more like she’s trying to be the female Justin Timberlake if you ask me.

Later on in the month, Jennifer and her husband Marc Anthony will co-headline a worldwide tour which will kick off in New Jersey on September 29.

I dislike all this feuding when there is so much more to think about. We have a war going on and president who has no clue of what he is doing. With the money you all have should invest in putting music back in schools. You are role models for not just the young but everyone. Step back and stop thinking about self. In the dope game it is said, “There is a lot of money for all of us.” Greed is the problem. Can’t we all get along anymore? The war is not against one another it is those who did the 911 attacks. Get your mind in the swing of things. We all have little people looking at our behavior, what message are you sending them? It is time to grow and take a stand as adults. Ridiculous, but this was going to happen, all long Kanye and Curtis have been saying that who will be outselling whom. And now the game has just begun.

Jennifer Lopez spices things up in her new video. Famed director and photographer David LaChapelle directed the Latin diva in the video for her new single ‘Do It Well’ and boy did he do it well.

When asked to comment about the video, Jennifer says, “It’s basically me, coming into this situation where people are oppressed in a way, and kind of being a liberator, like setting everybody free but beating everybody up.”

Leather, chains and dancing. Just imagine Jennifer Lopez as the sexy dominatrix and cross it with her ‘Waiting for Tonight’ video and you’ve got a mighty hot combination.

It is reported that My Chemical Romance front man Gerard Way has married his girlfriend, ‘Lyn Z,’ bassist in the band Mindless Self Indulgence.

The low-budget ceremony is purported to have taken place backstage on Monday (September 3), after the band supported Linkin Park at the Projekt Revolution concert in Denver, Colorado.

The ceremony was apparently overseen by an official from concert promoters Live Nation, who also happened to be an ordained minister.

The reported marriage makes Way the second member of My Chemical Romance to get married in 2007. Earlier this year, Way’s brother and band mate, Mikey, also tied the knot.

Most Popular albums of My Chemical Romance are Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge,I ‘m Not Okay(I Promise),I Brought You My Bullets,You Brought Me Your Love.

Finally! I was wondering when something… anything… would come along and deflate Kanye West’s huge, bloated, retarded ego. And I think this competition just may be it! In the hip-hop world, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is facing off against Kanye West to see who the King of Hip-Hop is. The two are currently gracing the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in an obvious face-off. The two artists have new albums dropping on September 11, 2007. But let’s accept the fact though the whole release date thing has been blown out of proportion, the two singers have been the real ones trying to be in the news all the time for their respective release. If these things don’t prove he’s a complete tool, then I’m not sure what to tell you!) Kanye has said of the competition, “This is real. It’s a moment.” Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson said, “From a hip-hop perspective, it’s the biggest event possible.” It’s nice to have to wacky person fight it out in the media as this is what gives us blokes the material to make fun on their speaks. Go on you guys, you driving us too.

Is a must buy for real hip hop fans. Album drops July 31
Common ft. Lily Allen - Drivin’ Me Wild
The track is the second single off his new album “Findin Forever” in stores now and the video premiered today via MT

Scottish rocker KT Tunstall longs for a split with her boyfriend - because it will give her inspiration for songs. The singer briefly split with long-term boyfriend Luke Bullen - and it inspired her to write song Someday Soon which features on new album Drastic Fantastic. And she now plans to have more arguments in a bid for musical success. Nonsense that you need to have split with your boyfriend to find inspiration to write love and emotional songs, that way to write rock and rap songs one would have to spend a few nights with a prostitute or a gay to write these woeful songs. I thing she’s completely looking at the wrong way to find inspiration to write songs, rather than a break up she could well sit on the pot and find better inspiration. We are looking for love songs that make us happy not sad and remorseful about our past relationships gone wrong. KT don’t spoil a relation for just trying to find inspiration dear, go have some coke and cheer up.

Newton Faulkner’s debut album includes the single Dream Catch Me
Singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner has hit the top spot in the UK album chart, confirming him as one of this year’s hottest new artists.
Hand Built By Robots was released last month and now sits above Elvis Presley and Amy Winehouse in the rundown.

Faulkner rose to prominence supporting James Morrison and Paolo Nutini.

In the singles chart, Kanye West’s Stronger has held onto number one for a second week, holding off a challenge from Sean Kingston’s Beautiful Girls.

Soft rocker, acoustic alien, folk fantasist and blues boy are just a few of the nicknames you may fancy labelling Newton Faulkner. And if his personality is as laidback as his sound, the Surrey-bred Brit probably couldn’t care less what you tag him. As long as it’s not cheesy.

Kanye West says he isn’t political and has no interest in “who’s running with who” in the 2008 election. But the 30-year-old hip-hop mogul filmed a public service announcement Friday for an advocacy group trying to make education the top priority for the next president.

“Politics is a business,” the six-time Grammy winner told The Associated Press Friday. “I’m more social. I just care about people.”

During the filming of the television commercial, sponsored by Strong American Schools and his own Kanye West Foundation, West read from a script at the front of a mock classroom filled with real Chicago students.

“Yo. Becoming a music superstar took hard work but it also took a solid education,” West said dryly into the camera, his hands half inside his pockets.

“Say it with a little more meaning, Kanye,” a director prodded.

West took his hands out of his pockets and started gesturing with his hands as he talked, taking several more stabs at the script.

Strong American Schools is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. The group, which says it is nonpartisan and doesn’t endorse candidates, is promoting three goals for education: higher standards, effective teachers and more support for learning, according to Executive Director Marc Lampkin, who worked on President Bush’s 2000 campaign.

Other celebrities making public-service announcements for the organization’s $60 million “Ed in ‘08″ campaign include actors Ron Livingston from “Sex and the City” and Maura Tierney from “ER.”

West, who grew up in Chicago, quit classes at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and later left Chicago State University for the music business. His 2004 Grammy-award winning album was titled “The College Dropout.”

His new album, “Graduation,” comes out Sept. 11, the same day as the release of “Curtis,” the new album from 50 Cent, who promised to retire if West’s new album outsells his.

West denied any feud between the two and said he talks to 50 Cent, “all the time.”

Here’s the first single from the debut album of American Idol winner Jordin Sparks to be released in November. The song is titled “Tatoo”

Australian pop duo The Veronicas and their new song “hook me up”

Rapper Common has shot straight to the top of the U.S. albums chart with his new disc Finding Forever, holding off competition from rockers Korn’s Untitled. I cannot understand the logic that the youngsters in America follow, the rap music can easily be labeled as pure crap but instead of being at the bottom of the rung it is ruling the roost. What has happened to the lovers of rock and soulful music that warmed the hearts not many years ago. Now the lyrics have the n-word and the f-word in the song in every other line and then you see all these boys and girls swinging and dancing to these horrible songs. They dance as if they have pains in their hip joints and are using this dance form as a therapy just to get relief. Hopefully they don’t get used to the rap songs to much or in the church as well they will be praying in rap songs.

More than 70 Eminem songs are available for download on iTunes. Rap star Eminem is suing computer firm Apple for allegedly selling his music in its iTunes store without permission.
A lawsuit claiming infringement of copyright has been filed on behalf of the singer by his music publishing company Eight Mile Style.

Apple pays Eminem’s record label for each download - but Eight Mile Style argues it has not approved the deal.

“This is a significant issue in the music industry,” said Norman Ankers, a lawyer for the company.

“This occurs with many artists and many record labels.”

A spokesperson for Apple had no comment on the legal case, which was filed in the US District Court in Detroit.

Eight Mile Style said between 70 and 80 songs were affected by the dispute, including tracks from the Grammy award-winning The Eminem Show.

The company holds the copyright, or partial copyright, in all of the tracks.

It is seeking more than $75,000 (£36,900) for copyright infringement, unfair competition and a violation of the Michigan consumer protection act.

It also asks for damages of up to $150,000 (£73,800) per infringement - or each time a song is downloaded.

Apple charges $0.99 (£0.49) for most song downloads in the US. Recording companies get about $0.70 (£0.34) and pass on $0.09 (£0.04) of that fee to publishers.

But many publishers would prefer to receive their share of the money directly from retailers.

“Generally, artists want their music sold,” said Joel Martin, a spokesperson for Eight Mile Style. “We want it downloaded. We request that any provider that’s offering downloads license it through the publisher.”

“Apple is not accounting to us. They are accounting to Universal (Music),” he said.

Martin added that Apple had repeatedly asked Eight Mile Style for permission to use its songs, but the requests had been turned down.

Eminem has locked horns with Apple before. In 2004 he sued the company for copyright infringement, alleging that it had used his song Lose Yourself in a TV commercial without permission.

The case was settled out of court.

Progressive metal band Queensryche has begun working on the follow-up to last year’s “Operation: Mindcrime II” in Seattle.

Frontman Geoff Tate tells Billboard.com he hopes the as-yet-untitled set will arrive next summer or fall.

“We’re just into the first couple months of writing for it, and it’s a theme record. It’s based on modern American life, sort of a social commentary,” Tate says. “Musically it’s very adventurous for us. It’s something we haven’t done before. It’s going to take a lot of people by surprise, and at the same time I think they’re going to be very intrigued by the concept of it.”

The band, which hits the road in September with Heaven And Hell and Alice Cooper, will release “Sign of the Times,” its second greatest-hits collection on EMI, prior to the tour. Among hits like “Walk in the Shadows” and “Silent Lucidity,” the two-disc set contains rarities like songs from Myth, the band Tate sang in before joining Queensryche, that later became demos for early QR tunes like “No Sanctuary.”

“Sign of the Times” also includes a recent interview with Tate and former Queensryche guitarist Chris DeGarmo. In it Tate says he and DeGarmo hang out often and write together, but the musical work they’ve done is on a “casual” basis.

Meanwhile, Queensryche is enjoying the success of its double-CD/DVD package “Mindcrime at the Moore.” The live set captures the band playing both “Mindcrime” albums in their entirety on tour last year. Released July 3, the title debuted at a career-best No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Music DVD chart.

John Mayer took the time to post a blog that was made to greet his sound engineer Chad. In the entry, John shows some of his humor as he wrote what could be assumed to be a song for Chad and ratted out some trivia about the guy.

The lyrics were quite interesting as John writes:

“Happy Birthday, Chad.
You are my sound engineer (hence the sound board birthday cake)
and together we share a house.
You keep me warm on those cold nights
by making sure the thermostat is functioning properly.
And if it’s not, then we lovingly embrace
the fact that it will be cold
and pile on extra blankets
in our respective beds
that are located next to one another
at our local Serta mattress dealer.
I long to feel your caring touch
on the production of the next CD
And look forward to showering again with you soon.
Your sister looks lovely with that pregnant glow, and I hope the gift will go to good use.”

R&B star Amerie has appealed to fans to appreciate her for her talent and not just her stunning looks. The 1 Thing hit maker, famed for performing in mini skirts or tiny shorts, is keen to win fans over with her records alone because she insists it is her music which differentiates her from her peers. Looks can be deceptive cos they are usually done by the make man or the grooming team, so people just get fantasized by those pics appearing on the cover pages of magazines and elsewhere. Voice and singing talents are something others cannot make and create for you, you either have it or you don’t. Some chaps in the music industry fool people by releasing their albums with another person’s voice and their picture on the label. Once on stage they can be seen lip singing the song. Ooooh! “Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful…” Party less work harder and once you master your talents, people will start admiring you for the music part as well.

Kiss lead singer and guitarist Paul Stanley had to bow out of a Southern California concert because of heart problems before the show, according to his Web site.

Band-mates Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer played the Friday night gig at Soboba Casino, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, as Stanley was taken to the hospital.

“During sound check yesterday, my heart spontaneously jumped to 190 plus beats per minute where it stayed for over an hour necessitating paramedics to start an IV and give me a shot to momentarily stop my heart and get it into a normal pattern,” Stanley said in the Saturday Web site posting.

“Not knowing if this episode was life threatening made it even more exhausting,” the statement continued.

Phone and e-mail messages for Kiss manager Doc McGhee seeking comment about Stanley’s condition were not immediately returned Saturday night.

It was Kiss’ first ever appearance as a trio, according to the band’s Web site.

As famous for their makeup, stage mayhem and wagging tongues as their music, Kiss recorded the 1970s hits “Rock and Roll All Nite” and “Detroit Rock City.”

The 55-year-old Stanley, born Stanley Eisen, released a solo album, “Live to Win,” in 2006.

Rapper Fabolous performed his new single “Make Me Better” with r&b singer Ne-Yo

Pearl Jam will play a private show for fan club members in Chicago on August 2, three days before its headlining stint at the city’s Lollapalooza festival, the rock group said on Tuesday.

Tickets for the show at the Vic Theatre will go on sale on Thursday, priced at $150 per pair (plus applicable fees). The Vic’s capacity is about 1,400 people, according to the venue’s web site.

Lollapalooza is Pearl Jam’s only U.S. appearance planned for 2007. Apart from a three-week European tour last month, the group has been laying low this year. The Seattle quintet spent much of 2006 on the road in support of a new self-titled album, its first studio release in almost four years.

Joni Mitchell is following the lead of Paul McCartney in joining with the coffee giant Starbucks to release her comeback album.

Hear Music, a record label formed in partnership with Starbucks Corp. and the Concord Music Group, said Wednesday that Mitchell is its second signing. “Shine,” her first album of new compositions since 1998, will be released on Sept. 25.

McCartney’s album “Memory Almost Full” came out last month and was played relentlessly at Starbucks franchises, where listeners could purchase it with their coffee. The disc has sold 447,000 copies, 45 percent of them in Starbucks stores, the company said.

The new venture has attracted interest from veteran artists both because the music business is collapsing around them, and their fans are much more likely to be spending time in Starbucks these days than in music stores.

Mitchell worked with Hear Music two years ago as it released a disc of favorite Mitchell songs selected by various artists. She had essentially retired from making music and said this project was one of the things that rekindled her interest, said Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment.

Mitchell wrote nine of the 10 songs on “Shine,” the exception being an adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling poem “If.”

She described it as “as serious a work as I’ve ever done” with some dark lyrics.

Earlier this year, Mitchell was co-director of “The Fiddle and the Drum,” a ballet based on her music that debuted in Canada. She’s also planning an exhibit of her paintings in New York this fall.