Alicia,
The Isley Bros take home the most Soul Train plaques
Alicia
Keys is on a roll as she picks up some more silverware for her
mantelpiece. The young lady won 2 more trophies at the 16th Annual Soul
Train Music Awards last
week to add to her 5 wins she took home at the Grammys
last month and with a few more award shows on tap for the next few months,
she could be on course a record setting year for trophies. Also winning
big on the night was the Isley Bros who also took 2 home. Newcomer Keys,
who was nominated for four awards, won Best
R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist
for "Fallin',"
while her debut album "Songs
in A Minor" took the Best
R&B/Soul Female Album
honors.
The
Isley Brothers featuring
Ron Isley
(aka Mr. BIGGS)
won for Best R&B/Soul
single for the track "Contagious"
and Best Album by a Group,
Band or Duo for "Eternal.".
Keys was also handed the Sammy
Davis Jr. Entertainer of the Year
award, female, while Rap maestro and producer Dr.
Dre received the male
version of the award. In addition, legendary R&B/soulsters The
O'Jays were honored with
the 2002 Quincy Jones Award
for Outstanding Career Achievements.
Speaking of the O'Jays, R&B group LSG,
(Gerald Levert,
Keith Sweat,
and Johnny Gill),
with Sean Levert
and Erick Sermon
performed a special tribute to them,
The late Aaliyah Naughton (aka Aaliyah), who died last August in a plane
crash in the Bahamas, won the Best
R&B/Soul single, Female
award for "Rock the
Boat." taken from her
2001 self-titled release, The Soul Train awards, which honors R&B,
soul, hip-hop, rap and gospel performances, will be broadcasted in
syndication March 30 through April 7. Performers included Alicia
Keys, Ja
Rule featuring
Ashanti and Yolanda
Adams.
__________________________________________________________________
Lauryn
Hill 'Unplugged' album to finally hit stores next month
It
looks like we will be getting some new material from Grammy winning Lauryn
Hill within the next few months. According to reports, Ms. Hill who's last
release 'The
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'
was noted as a 'critically acclaimed success in modern music' has not put
out anything else since her 1998 debut solo release.
Last
year she was supposed to release an album from the MTV 'Unplugged' series.
but for reasons unknown to most it never materialized until now. It is
confirmed that the 'Unplugged' album will be released in the next few
months. The 13 song set is an acoustic version with no band, just her, the
chair and a acoustic guitar which she taught herself to play while with The
Fugees.
Track listing
is as follows:
"Mr.
Intentional"
"Adam Lives in Theory"
"Oh Jerusalem"
"War in the Mind"
"I Find It Hard to Say (Rebel)"
"Water"
"I Just Want You Around"
"Peace of Mind"
"The Mystery of Iniquity"
"I Get Out"
"I Remember"
"So Much Things to Say"
"The Conquering Lion"
_________________________________________________________________
R-Kelly
& Jay-Z collaboration hits record shelves tomorrow
The
much hyped and talked about collaboration between R&B's R-Kelly
and rap's Jay-Z
finally hit record shelves everywhere tomorrow. The album appropriately
called 'Best of both Worlds'
is it seems the first of it's kind as the idea was specifically to create
an album that will cater to both the R&B and rap world.
With both artists
handling writing and producing credits, the album has a lot to offer if
you're a fan of theirs but lacks somewhat on originality and flair. There
are stand outs like the lead off single 'Take
You Home With Me (A.K.A.
Body)' but no boundaries were tested nor crossed (pretty much the same formula as in previous
works). I'm not a big fan when it comes to rap in general and it takes
something special to move me but not a lot did but rap fans alike will
love it as it does stick to the formula that works right now, pity cos'
Jay-Z has a unique flow about him and I would love to have seem more
exploration or experimenting.
