Sunday February 2nd, 2003
New CD's this past week:
- Ray, Goodman & Brown - Intimate moments
Short news stories this week:
Raphael Saadiq Joined Onstage By Angie Stone And Musiq
Raphael Saadiq was joined onstage Wednesday
night (January 29) by two of
his biggest fans, Angie Stone and Musiq, during his performance at the
House Of Blues in West Hollywood, California.
Stone and Musiq traded vocals with Saadiq for "Excuse Me," from his
2002
solo album Instant Vintage. The album helped him garner several of his
five Grammy nominations, including best R&B song and best
urban/alternative performance for the track "Be Here," along with a
best
R&B album nod.
The former member of the Northern California bay area band Tony Toni
Tone and all-star soul group Lucy Pearl also played the Tonys' numbers
"Anniversary" and "It Never Rains in Southern California,"
as well as
"Just Me And You" from the Boyz In The Hood soundtrack.
Another guest was brought out towards the end of the set as Saadiq
introduced Leslie Wilson of New Birth, who added vocals to "Uptown,"
another Instant Vintage track.
Saadiq's own father appeared on stage prior to his son's performance and
sang an a capella renditions of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come,"
to
wild applause from the packed house.
Nelly And Kelly Announced As Grammy Performers
This year's Grammy Awards may have a
"Dilemma," but don't worry, it's a
good thing.
Grammy organizers revealed on Monday that Nelly and Destiny's Child's
Kelly Rowland will hit the stage together as performers at the 45th
annual Grammy Awards. Grammy reps would not say which song or songs the
two will perform, but the pair's duet, "Dilemma," which is nominated
for
Record of the Year, seems to be a good bet.
Nelly and Kelly are the first performers confirmed by the Recording
Academy for this year's ceremony, which will be held at New York's
Madison Square Garden on February 23. (Click for photos of this year's
Grammy nominees and performers.)
Nelly and seven other artists are heading into the show at the front of
the Grammy pack, tied with five nominations apiece (see "Eminem, Avril
Lavigne, Nelly, Norah Jones Nab Most Grammy Noms"). Nelly will vie for
Album of the Year, Best Male Rap Solo Performance, Best Rap Album and
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to Record of the Year. (Click
here for the list of nominees.)
This year's Grammy Awards will be broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Before the show, catch MTV's pre-show telecast "Backstage at the
Grammys" at 7 p.m.
IMX's Marques 'Batman' Houston Flies Solo.
Marques "Batman" Houston, the
front man of IMX, has big plans for his
upcoming solo set, but abandoning the group is not one of them. Still,
his debut single, "That Girl," has already premiered on BET and is
currently rising up the charts, setting up his upcoming solo album. Even
though both he and the remaining members of IMX hear the steady flow of
conflicting gossip, he refuses to acknowledge them. "I'm not even going
to focus on the rumors. We all played our part in the group. We always
looked at ourself as one unit so we never listened to stuff like that,"
the 21-year-old told BET.com. Houston said he takes pleasure in the
comforts the group offers him, but maintained his solo project
represents a leap forward in his growing process. "I've always enjoyed
being in IMX and being in a group. IMX was doing our thing so there was
no reason [to test the solo waters] until now," he said. "I feel like
this is the right time to do it and I'm 21, entering manhood now. I'm
legal. I just felt like this was the perfect timing to do it." The other
members of IMX, Romeo and LBD, are never too far away, even when he
enters the stage as a soloist. "Actually the recording process wasn't
too different because the boys were all in the room. They were all
around me in the studio supporting me. The biggest difference is the
performances and being on TV, doing the appearances and stuff," Houston
explained. "It's kinda weird not having [the group] with me but [going
solo] is exciting at the same time." Proving his loyalty to his
buddies, Houston said the he, IMX and little brother act, B2K, have
joint projects lined up. "Right now, I'm focusing on my album, but we
actually have a movie coming up [with] B2K called "Dance," which is a
dance movie. I'm gonna continue to do acting in the future though."
Currently, there is no firm release date for Houston's solo set
TLC And Nas Hook Up For 'Girl Talk' Remix
TLC has recruited Queensbridge-based
wordsmith Nas for a remix of its
latest hit, "Girl Talk." In the new version, Nas encourages males to
step up their sex game, as the song was originally about men who are
unable to sexually satisfy women.
The original version of the song is up for a Grammy Award in the best
R&B performance by a duo or group with vocal category. The Grammy Award
winners will be announced during a televised ceremony on February 23.
TLC and Nas have crossed paths before. In 1998 TLC's Tionne "T-Boz"
Watkins and Nas starred in the Hype Williams-directed film, Belly. The
two played a couple that decides to leave the streets of New York and
relocate to Africa for a better life for their daughter. Nas also
co-wrote the film.
Dru Hill Says 'I Love You'
Baltimore-based quintet Dru Hill released
the new single, "I Love You"
to radio on Monday (January 27). The song is the second single from the
group's third album, Dru World Order, which is Number 62 on the
Billboard 200 albums chart.
Dru Hill producer Nokio recently told us how the groupmembers have grown
as songwriters and individuals since the release of the group's
self-titled 1996 debut: "The first album we were kinda just singing
about stuff that we wanted to know about. We hadn't really, like,
experienced a lot of stuff yet, even though we had been in the business
for a while before we had a deal. And our second album, it's kinda like
we had a taste of it and then we were kinda starting to write about what
we thought it was. But with this album, it's definitely like I went
through it and, you know, I'ma tell you my experiences and hopefully you
can listen to what I'm saying and get something out of it that can help
you with whatever you're going through."
Dru Hill is scheduled to perform on Soul Train on February 15--please
check your local listings for the time and station in your area.
Mary J. Blige And MCA Records Hit With Lawsuit
R&B superstar Mary J. Blige and her
label, MCA Records, were hit with a
$10 million lawsuit in United States District Court in the Southern
District Of New York on Monday (January 27). The suit was filed by
songwriters Kiyamma Griffin and Floyd Howard, who maintain that they
were never paid any royalties for five songs they produced and wrote for
the R&B diva.
The songs in question include "Sexy" by Howard and Griffin as well as
Griffin's "No Happy Holiday" from Blige's 1999 set, Mary; and
"Flying
Away" by Howard and Griffin, "Destiny" by Griffin, and "To
You" by
Griffin from Blige's 2001 album, No More Drama.
Mary and No More Drama were both certified platinum for sales of 2
million copies.
Attorney Wallace Collins, who is representing Griffin and Howard,
explained the details of the case. "There is a producer agreement,"
Collins said. "This isn't someone claiming, you know, 'You stole my
songs.' This is a situation where they made a deal, and basically Mary
J. and MCA just have never been responsive to their request to be paid
the royalties going back to the album before last. So, you know, finally
they had no choice. I mean, you know, we called and wrote to everyone
there was and everyone just said, 'Wait, wait, we'll get to you.' So
finally they said, 'Let's start legal action, otherwise we're never
gonna get our money.'"
A trial date will be set once Mary J. Blige and MCA Records respond to
the complaint. They have 20 days to respond.