WEDNESDAY'S SCRUMMY R&B JUICE ....

Another day gone by without me blogging. Again, this is all down to having a busy schedule ahead of me. I'm finding it extremely difficult to find some Internet time and when I do get some time, I just want to sleep. I was meaning to come on-line last night actually but I was just too tired. So the update that I was going to put up yesterday, I decided to add it to today's post so if this post is mega-gigantic, then that's the reason why.

So lets press on with the "goodies". Ciara graces the front cover of the anniversary May/June edition of Rap-Up magazine:



Apparently, it's been two years since the magazine launched and it features a double cover - Chamillionaire on one side and Ciara on the other. Inside, you will find all-new photos of both artists plus exclusive interviews with fellow R&B artists Amerie, John Legend, Lloyd, Mario and Mya. The issue is on sale now at newsstands nationwide so go pick up a copy!

Beyonce's younger sister Solange attended MTV’s TRL studio's yesterday to do a spot of television presenting:




And she brought her cutie son Daniel a long for the ride. I guess that's a good field to get into for Solange considering that musical success in the Knowles fam fails to repeat itself. And not only that, Solange is such an articulate speaker putting her big sis to shame!

Soul/R&B singer Joss Stone performed at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:




That dress strikes again. Beyonce was rocking the very same dress last week when she arrived in Australia for her latest world tour.

Justin Timberlake performed on stage at the Odyssey Arena on the first date of the UK leg of his 'FutureSex/LoveShow' World Tour in Belfast, Northern Ireland:




Hate to admit it but this white boy was looking good that day. Ever since his split with Pizza face, he's been looking so much more appealing.

Ne-yo had an album release party for his new joint Because of You which was released this week. The event took place at the Marc Echo Showroom in New York City. A host of celebrities flocked up the hot spot with R&B singer Chris Brown being in tow. Also, Kanye West paid rest those rumours about his engagement to Alexis being on hold when they happily showed up together:





Chris Brown looked scrum. Ladies, we are now in the month where Chrissy boo becomes LEGAL.

Mary J Blige performed at the 3rd Annual Plymouth Jazz Festival:



Mary stays doing her thang.

Beyonce's tour continued on this week and this time the next top was in Frankfurt, Germany, and she definetely dazzled:





Love that hair colour!

It was definitely eye-candy galore when cuties Jared Cotter of American Idol and Def Jam newcomer Sterling Simms attended singer Joe's party a couple of days ago. The party was held in honour of Joe's new album Aint Nothin' Like Me:



This is definitely a party I would break my heels to attend. I mean Sterling Simms, gotdamn, he's hot. And yes, physically he's reminding me a lot of an ex who I still speak to on the regular. Fine stuff right there. And you can read my album review for Joe’s new album further down in the post.

Radio One's Springfest 2007 went down in Miami this past week and there were performers from R&B singers Lloyd and Trey Songz:




Also, Shaggy reappeared from the stone ages. It's been a while since I saw a Shaggy appearance. Not that I care much but he had some catchy music back in the day. Remember "It Wasn't Me?" Putting ALL cheating men on blast? It was the most likable Shaggy track in quite a while and it got to no1 in the UK. He’s fallen off since then though.

Letoya Luckett chilled out with R&B singer Brooke Valentine and a pal recently:



What the hell is going on with Brooke's album?

Here are the scans for Beyonce's Vibe feature. I read the interview and it was pretty interesting:





[thanks for the scans Dom!]

Because of all the negative things that bloggers like to write about her, she says she doesn't go on the Internet and wouldn't even use her credit card on-line just in case she gets hacked. And if people speak negative things about her sister (Solange) and nephew (Daniel), she would like to kill somebody (well that's the REAL Beyonce we like to see). And she will curse you out if you make her mad (it's too bad this side of her wasn't displayed when that PETA woman got in her ass at Nobu. Mama Tina had to do the cursing) - she says her mama curses all the time and she would put her father in his place. She didn't talk about her relationship with Jay-Z though because that topic is null and void as far as Bee is concerned. She just won’t go there. But the main discussion was centred around Beyonce and the hardship she's been through since becoming extremely successful.

Here are some more HQ promo images for Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad album:





[thank you PSG]

They are nice pictures I guess. I particularly like the ones where she’s seductively looking over her shoulder. And the one where she’s standing up against the brick wall shows how prominently tall she is. The chick has legs to die for. Rihanna will also be performing at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards which will be airing live on June 3rd. And as we’re on Rih-Rih, here’s the official tracklisting for her new album due out June 5th:

1. Umbrella f/ Jay-Z
2. Push Up
3. Don’t Stop the Music
4. Breakin’ Dishes
5. Shut Up and Drive
6. Hate That I Love You f/ Ne-Yo
7. Say It
8. Sell Me Candy
9. Rehab
10. Question Existence
11. Good Girl Gone Bad
12. Lemme Get That

Interesting tracklist. I wonder what Rehab and Sell Me Candy is all about. I don't see any indication of a more sexier direction but we won't really know until we actually hear the content.

Jennifer Lopez is featured in a Latin magazine - not one that I'm familiar with but the photoshoot that she did for it was absolutely flawless:





She is KILLING it. Totally flawless. And she's coming out with her English album later this summer so I totally look forwards to it.

And here's a new photoshoot of Lil Fizz from former R&B group B2K:




It's about time he cut off that hair but yes, he can definetely get it.

Anyway, more new pictures of R&B singer Mona Lisa as she preps herself up for a musical comeback:



After all this time from being out of the spotlight, she's still really pretty and has kept herself up really well. I cannot wait for her new music.

Amerie also did a performance on UK pop music show Pop World:



Now it's easy to see why she insured those fabulous legs for 2 million dollars.


ALBUM REVIEWS!!!!


[DOWNLOAD SNIPPETS]

Because I Love It - Amerie
As these are only 30-second snippets of the whole album, I cannot give a honest thought-provoking review until I get to hear the whole album in its entirety. Contrary to popular belief, her debut album was in fact an R&B masterpiece and I'd have loved for her to go back into that direction musically instead of opting for a more crunkified tone to her songs. So I was mad worried when I discovered her trademark producer Rich Harrison would not be making any contributions to the album. So far I am liking the sound of Crazy Wonderful, Crush, Paint Me Over, Somebody Up There and When Loving You Was Easy. And judging by the snippets it seems she's tried to experiment with her sound especially with some of those 80's throwbacks. She is still a vocally challenging artist as some of these tracks clearly point out but she's tried to switch it up a little which is a good thing in my honest opinion.

Rating: TBA




Special Occasion - Bobby Valentino
This 16-track album is a complete banger from beginning to end. I will even go as far as to say this album beats his debut which was rather bland where the beats were recycled and each track sounded pretty much the same. Checkin For Me, Rearview (Ridin'), If I Had My Way, How Bout It, Let Him Go ---- okay let me stop because at this rate I'll be typing out the whole entire album track-listing but the album is wonderful penetrative R&B at best. This album (along with Joe's album) practically put the foot into Ne-yo's ass who did everything he could to channel off Michael Jackson and Prince and STILL couldn't get it right. This is another album that will be added to the CD rack. Brilliant stuff!

Rating 5/5



Aint Nothin' Like Me - Joe
After holding back and finally giving myself time to listen to this abum, I found it a complete joy to listen to. If I Were Your Man is one of the singles taken from the album and it hits you with a slinky yet throbbing R&B beat. If I Want Her is a sensual midtempo which is also just as compelling and tracks like Go Hard, Aint Nothing Like Me and Let's Just Do It captures that edgy R&B vibe. And then we have those serenading baby-making slow jams like My Love, It's Me, Feel For You, You Should Know Me and Life of The Party. But the album is filled with emotional R&B and soul and mesmerising uptempo's. Love the album and it's definitely worth buying. Joe is back!!!!

Rating: 5/5

Stay tuned!!!!

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