YOUR LATEST MUSIC NEWS & RANT

It goes to show that some people don't read my blog entries and only come to my site hoping to get new music as I am still recieving album requests through my email. Yesterday I posted a link which has all the latest leaked shit. Cassie, Cherish, Christina Aguilera, Outkast, Danity Kane and Kelis, all of their stuff are on that site, including their FULL albums. Again, I've stopped doing the email thing because folks can't be trusted. And secondly, I'm taking a break from the uploading. But I hope everybody found what they wanted through that site. Well, now that I've got this off my chest, let's press on with the R&B update.

I am really looking forwards to Fergie's new album. I love her new song London Bridge (Oh Shit) and her album will have a very mixed sound, not just R&B but a mix of jazz, soul, Hip Hop and Reggae. She also acknowledges that her latest single doesn't show her off to be the singer that she is (I've been saying this all along). I am glad she mentioned this because I expect to hear songs on her album that displays her vocal abilities. I'm not a fan of the Black Eyed Peas but I loved everything that Will.i.am has done for other artists like Kelis and the Pussy Cat Dolls. He has also co-produced for Fergie's new album The Duchess as well as Justin Timberlake for his new album FutureSex/LoveSounds. Chilli from TLC is in the latest issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine and here is a new picture taken from the shoot (below) where she is relaxing by the poolside of her Atlanta-based home. As the publication is a fitness magazine she talks about her diet and work out secrets. Musically, she is recording her first debut solo album in Atlanta and she has also recorded some songs with Missy Elliott in New Jersy. Speaking of Missy, Monica has put together a compilation of songs that Missy has produced for other artists (thanks Monica). Here is the tracklisting and the download for it is below:

1. Babydoll - Mariah Carey, 2. Can We - SWV, 3. Confessions - Destiny's Child, 4. Crank Me Up - Adina Howard, 5. Dirty Dirty - TLC, 6. Free Yourself - Fantasia, 7. I Can't Go For That - Tamia, 8. I Care 4 U - Aaliyah, 9. I Want You Back - Melanie Brown, 10. My Love Is Like Wo - Mya, 11. Oops - Tweet 12. Oh Yes - Whitney, 13. Selfish - Fantasia, 14. Signs - Beyonce, 15. So Gone - Monica, 16. ThingsYou Say - Whitney Houston, 17. Wannabe - Tamia, 18. Where My Girls At - 702 [download]

Puffy has brushed off the latest controversy surrounding his Bad Boy artist Cassie. Here is his statement: "She had her first television performance, and she had an all right performance," he said. "You could hear the nervousness in her voice. And to be honest, I kind of smiled at it, because it made me really appreciate what I really love about her: She's a regular person. And we, as artists, we sometimes get nervous. I told her it's like riding a bike: You're gonna fall down, you got to keep on getting on it. I'm with her through her development, and I have no questioning on her ability, on her singing ability. It just made me appreciate that she got nervous, and it was kind of cute to me, to be honest"

Ah Puffy, stop bullshitting! If an artist isn't bringing in a profit or recouping back album costs they get dropped just like a hot potatoe. It's prodecure that if an artist doesn't consistently sell, they get dropped. His comments may just come back to haunt him. Performances DO determine album sales and I am sure he's not going to keep an artist on his Bad Boy label if they're not serving any purpose. Cassie needs to get her act together otherwise it's curtains for her career. Ciara is not a great singer either but at least she can dance her ass off and wow an audience. Same for Mya, Britney Spears, Janet and J.Lo. Maybe it was nerves, but again, I have never heard anyone sound as bad as that. We know she's not a singer but that BET performance was suicide. She really needs to improve, go hire a vocal coach, get more dancing lessons and a choreographer, continue to lip sync her performances so that she can put on a better show and once she's had vocal lessons, dust herself off and try again (sorry I couldn't resist). That would be my advice and it is pretty damn good advice too. In other Cassie news, I reported yesterday that she didn't make the 100K mark. Well, I was wrong. In her first week, she had sales of 100,318 and went in at no4.

In other album chart news, Christina Aguilera's new album Back II Basics is set to sell over 320k+ in her first week. This information is based on one-day sales from the network of retailers around the country. It is reported that she will DEFINETELY get the no1 spot next week. I am happy for her because Back II Basics is a pretty damn good album. However, those sales are pretty under-whelming especially for a 2-disc CD. Britney Spears last studio album In The Zone sold 620K in the first week. Other albums that were released this week were Cherish's Unappreciated and Lyfe Jenning's The Phoenix. Lyfe is expected to get the no2 album with sales of 130-140k, whilst Cherish are also expected to pull 75-80k but it's not certain whether those sales will guarantee them a top 10 debut. The week after that, the big release will be OutKast's LaFace/Zomba Idlewild soundtrack, with the movie slated to hit theatres Aug. 25. Janet's video Call On Me video has made the no1 countdown on 106 so good for her! Speaking of Christina, Scott Storch has responded back to her diss record F.U.S.S. He says: "I worked on half of her last CD and sold her millions of copies. Obviously, she cares more than I do that I didn't do this album. But I can"t blame her, with an album full of fillers, oversinging and lame Vegas-like cabaret music." Hahahaha. Ouch.

Here is the gorgeous Alesha Dixon (from former R&B group Misteeq) at the 2006 MOBO Nominations party which took place at London's Camden. I can't tell you the last time I watched the MOBO'S. Maybe it was the one where Blu Cantrell and Lil Kim hosted. But the MOBO'S suck! The big names never seem to show up so they have to make do with these D-List performers that not much people are familiar with. I don't think I'll be watching this year unless someone really huge will be making an appearance. For those that didn't catch Beyonce and Justin Timberlake's All Eyes this week on MTV you can now download them, all thanks to Stars Are Blind:

All Eyes On Beyonce [download]

All Eyes On Justin [download]

Rihanna was spotted with her boyfriend from back home.

Here's more promo pictures from Janet. I say absolutely flawless! She is definetely killing Beyonce with the promo pictures!

Here are some new pictures of Mya at Macy's. She looks nice.

[click on all pictures for larger view]

In other Mya news, Mya has pushed back the release date of her album Liberation. It will no longer be released on 24th Oct but has now been pushed back to the 14th November. That is toooo long!

Welp! There goes the update. Let's play a game. Which album would ya'll like to see leak next? It's likely that Beyonce will be next. Her album is set to drop in just under 3 weeks but I'm interested in that Justin Timberlake album. The guy is a fucking prick but you have to admit, his music is pretty hot.