Sunday November 30th, 2003
New CD's this past week:
None to report
Music news stories this week:
Alicia Keys Planning To Reveal Her Diary Soon To
Small Crowds
Alicia Keys will face a difficult
challenge when she begins touring
nationally in January — getting her piano through the door.
The songstress is planning several small club shows before launching a
larger theater outing in March.
"I love to tour and what I'm really excited about doing is that I'm gonna
purposely do some very small venues, like 600 people only," Keys said at
Thursday's Vibe Awards. "We're gonna have intriguingly intimate nights
like that."
First though, Keys is focusing on promoting the release of her second
album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, due December 2.
"The title comes from the fact that I've always kept a journal. I've
always felt like that's the way I can be the most honest with myself,"
Keys said. "Another reason that I called it that is 'cause you can really
see a difference in yourself in just like a week or a month when you read
back in your old journals, and this album really represents that. It shows
many diverse sides of who I am."
The album's first single, "You Don't Know My Name," is reminiscent of
Keys' breakthrough sultry ballad "Fallin'," but her follow-up will stray a
little more from what fans might expect.
Keys is still deciding between two very different songs, including one
called "Heartburn." "It's a mixture between James Brown [and] Lyn
Collins," Keys said, referring to the '70s soul singer whose voice is the
sample on Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's "It Takes Two." "It's crazy. You're
gonna have a lot of fun with this one."
The other contender is "If I Ain't Got You." "That's really special," she
said of the tune. "It's like a thing that reminds me of what life really
means, and that's why I really love that song."
The Diary of Alicia Keys will also include the mixtape favorite "Streets
of New York," featuring Nas and Rakim (see "Alicia Keys Mulls Over First
Single; Nas Predicts Saddam Misfortune On New Track"), along with a
plethora of intensely personal numbers, some of which she produced
herself.
"Every single song on this album I've poured my heart and soul into," Keys
said. "You can definitely expect so much growth from me as an artist, as a
woman, as a producer, as an arranger. Being able to travel in the way that
I did really exposed my mind to so many things."
Once Keys hits the road in 2004, she will spend her time offstage reading
scripts. She said rumors that she might star in an "A Star Is Born" remake
were blown out of proportion, but she does have the acting bug.
"My mother's an actress and I've grown up around theater my whole life,"
she said. "I feel like acting is a wonderful way of expression just like
music is, so I think you're gonna see that soon."
Keys performed "You Don't Know My Name" at the Vibe Awards with '70s R&B
group the Moments.
"Those are people whose music inspired me in a major, major way," Keys
said. "The Stylistics, the Emotions, the Originals — people who really
just had an incredible sense of harmony and genuine love for music. So I
really wanted to work with them tonight and they've been on a couple of
shows with me actually and it's just been incredible to learn from people
who have seen so much."
The dates for Keys' tours have yet to be finalized
Ashanti To Drop Remix CD And DVD; Planning New
Studio Album
Her record label may have dropped the
"murder" from its name, but Ashanti
insists that nothing will change about her presence at the Inc. — she'll
still be killing it when it comes to her music.
Not only does she have a Christmas album that just hit stores, she's also
got a remix CD and an accompanying DVD dropping in February, as well as an
album of all new cuts due in mid-2004.
"Yes, the name is officially changed!" Ashanti said Thursday in New York.
"I think it's definitely a positive thing. Sometimes people would get it
twisted as far as what Murder Inc. meant," the singer explained. "Some
people were intimidated by it. It was basically just saying that we're
murdering the music industry [and that] we're selling records. Basically
we've proven that so we dropped it to 'The Inc.' ['Murder'] was kinda
hindering a couple of things."
Luckily, negative label connotations haven't hurt Ashanti's popularity
with her fans or the music industry. She recently made good on an
invitation to perform her hit song "Rain on Me" at the American Music
Awards.
"That set was a lot of money," Ashanti said of the backdrop used for her
performance of the song, which included fake lightning, a faux tree and
lots of H2O. "I'm not bringing that everywhere. I came up with the idea of
really getting wet on the stage."
Even though Ashanti anticipated that producers would use enough rain to
illustrate the song's title during the show, she had no idea she'd be
caught in the middle of a virtual monsoon onstage.
"When I put my head back, oh my god!" the star said giggling, remembering
the heavy downpour during her set. "It was beatin' me! I thought I was
gonna choke. It was bouncing off my lips. At one part I tried to play it
off. I had wiped my eyes very dramatically, but [it was because] I just
couldn't see. But it was well worth it because it came out really good."
Fortunately, Ashanti didn't have any harsh elements to battle a couple of
months ago when she traveled overseas to act in her first big-screen role.
"I actually just got back from India where I was filming a movie called
"Pride and Prejudice," she said. "It should be out next year. Oh my gosh,
it's so funny. I'm not [playing] myself but I'm like a singer and I
actually have to sing in Hindi. So there's this huge beach party and I'm
singing in English and in Hindi. It was so weird when we were shooting. I
knew all the Hindi parts but I didn't know the English. My brain is crazy
sometimes."
Stateside, Ashanti recently filmed a video with the rest of the Inc.
family at the Henderson housing projects in the Jamaica section of Queens,
New York. She was shooting the remix clip for "Rain on Me" with Ja Rule,
Charli Baltimore and Fatal Hussein. The clip is scheduled to accompany the
first release from her upcoming remix album.
"There was so much love out there," she said of the video set. "It was
bananas. The remix is hot. It's very rugged. The record is basically
talking about positivity and whatever struggles that you're going, [and
how] you wanna rise above that. The video is basically showing that even
in the gulliest [environment] you can rise to the top." The clip will air
in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, the sexy performer is going to focus on relaxing and
having a bit of fun with her family.
"On Thanksgiving I will definitely be home with all my family," she said.
"I'm actually gonna be doing some of the cooking. I like to be home and
get all into it with the family and it should be nice. I just got a new
house so everyone's gonna come over and spend Thanksgiving together. As
busy as I am, I make sure that I'm home those two days. I'm looking
forward to that."
Dwele Slowly But Surely Winning over Fans
Singer and rapper Dwele released his debut
set, Subject, in June on Virgin
Records. Although the set peaked at Number 108 on the Billboard 200 albums
chart, it has remained a fixture on the chart for the past five months and
is presently Number 197.
Dwele has been able to build a following through touring. The singer is
presently on the road and is slated to perform his lead single, "Find A
Way," on Soul Train on Saturday, December 6th. Please check your local
listings for time and channel.
Dwele spoke about being labeled as a neo-soul artist. Dwele said: "I mean
I rather just be considered, you know, a soul cat, you know what I'm
sayin', 'cause that's what it is really, it's just music from the soul,
you know. I think the 'neo' kinda comes from the fact that the songs are a
little bit more harder than they used to be back in the day, you know I
mean as far as the drums go.”
Dwele continued: "But I mean I don't know I mean they got to categorize it
as something you know and I feel that if they have to categorize me I
rather them categorize me as neo-soul because I like a lot of the other
stuff that's going on within the so-called neo-soul movement, you know, so
I take it as a compliment."
Gerald Levert Takes New Album Out For A Spin
R&B singer Gerald Levert sets his modesty
aside during a
late-2003/early-2004 road trip that supports his recently released album,
"A Stroke of Genius."
Levert's schedule began on Sunday (11/23) at New York's Westbury Music
Fair, and dates so far stretch into early January.
"A Stroke of Genius" surfaced late last month, and features the single
"You Got That Love Again."
The new album is the follow-up to Levert's 2002 set, "The G Spot."
Levert is currently participating in a fund-raising effort for the
American Sickle Cell Anemia Association. The singer is auctioning off via
eBay six teddy bears donated by Vermont Teddy Bears, and will donate all
proceeds to the ASCAA. Winning bidders will receive a bear with their name
embroidered on it, and autographed by Levert.