New Brian McKnight set is for all 'Gemini's
Singer/balladeer extrodinaire Brian McKnight latest release 'Gemini' will finally hit record store shelves next month (on February 8th to be precise). The set was originally slated for release last summer, but was delayed when then president head of Motown Records Kedar Massenberg stepped down to start his own label and was replaced by Sylvia Rhone the former head of Elektra Records
The new set by Mr. McKnight ventures back into his roots as he explained in a recent interview "I really wanted to get back to the music. I wanted to get back to a time when it wasn't about pressing play on a drum machine. Most of this record is live. I kinda went there on U-Turn, but I really went there musically on this album and I didn't care. I was like, 'If they love it, they love it, if they hate, they hate,' but I'm going to put everything I got musically into this one."
Gemini features guest appearances by Musiq, Talib Kweli, Juvenile, Skip and Akon. The latest single from the album is "Everytime You Go Away." Look for the album in your shops next month.
source: spotlighton R&B.com
__________________________________________________________________Janet's beau named president of her label
So So Def record head Jermaine Dupri (who is currently dating the sexy Janet Jackson) has been appointed President of Virgin Records Urban Music, a new division at the label, it was announced by Virgin Records Chairman and CEO Matt Serletic. As part of the arrangement, Dupri will bring the So So Def label into the Virgin family, and will oversee Virgin's entire urban music operation.
In addition, he will record as a solo act and produce artists on the Virgin roster, as well as provide his production services to the entire EMI family of labels. Dupri commented, "I am happy to join the Virgin Records family, and look forward to working with Matt, Larry, Lionel and the whole Virgin Records team. As the new President of Urban Music for Virgin Records, I'm up for the challenge. My strengths as a producer and hit-maker were magnified this year with the success of my work with Usher. By joining So So Def and Virgin, I plan to do for Virgin what Russell Simmons did 10 years ago, when he moved Def Jam to Island Records. I will catapult Virgin into a young, hip label with chart-topping success in both R&B and rap music. I also hope to change the whole look of the company so when up-and-coming R&B and hip hop artists are looking for a home, Virgin will be the first stop.".
- Source: urbaninsite.com
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Jamie Foxx gets the 'double Actor' oscar nods
This has been some year for Jamie Foxx. The comedian and singer turned actor was recently rewarded with the Golden Globe award for his portrayal of the late Ray Charles life story in the movie 'Ray' and is also nominated for NAACP Image Award for Best Actor in the same role.
Now the talented actor is recognized by the Academy (aka Mr. Oscar) not once but twice in the Best Actor and Supporting Actor categories his surperb performance in Ray and his excellent supporting role in Collateral as an L.A. cabbie forced to treck hitman Tom Cruise around town.Jamie led a record five nominations for four coloured actors in this years Oscars, the most of any year in the Academy's history. Don Cheatle and Sophie Okonedo (both of Hotel Rwanda) and Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby) are the other actors to be recognized for their work. Fox also became only the third actor (after Barry Fitzgerald and the great Al Pacino) to win best and supporting nominations the same year. Here's hoping that they all win and really create history (and open doors in the process for the upcoming patch of talented coloured actors)
- Source: entertainment.news.com
James Brown's new memoirs hits book shelves__________________________________________________________________
The Godfather of soul, the hardest working man in show business are just some of the tags or mottos pinned on James Brown. The legendary singer/songwriter/producer has now penned a new autobiographical book called "I Feel Good - A Memoir of a Life of Soul".
This is the second book thats been written on his life the first (called the Godfather of Soul) was released in 1986. This journey takes on a more retrospective role on the entertainers life as he delves into the hardship of the industry and the life that he would never give up. He talks about his life of poverty in the Deep South to the chitlin' circuit to stardom. From being arrested (several times) and serving time to being released and being able to be a performer again, its all been tackled in this latest adaptation on his life. The books introduction alone is 37 pages long written by Marc Eliot who tells on the who-what and wheres of Brown's 71 years.
Those who has worked with Brown know he's nobody's easy fix but he can call them friends and he ellaborates on certain personal who has fitted that mold. "Remember the 'Segregation before, segregation now, segregation forever!' speech he made?" he writes about George Wallace, then the governor of Alabama. "He, too, became another of my best friends." (The other "best friend" was Lester Maddox, a segregationist and former governor of Georgia.) As with his music, Brown's literary métier is not exposition but transcendence and gall. He built his stage show and persona from three roots, he writes: comic books, the bandleader Louis Jordan and the professional wrestler Gorgeous George, who gave him the idea to wear a cape.
The book reflects on a struggle all to familiar to those who are looking to get into the industry and makes for good reading for those who are in the industry and want to learn by not making the same mistakes as the superstar did. "I Feel Good - A Memoir of a Life of Soul" is available now at fine book stores everywhere.
- Source: iht.com