Sunday January 20th, 2002
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and R&B Album Chart January 26
New CD's this week:
No interesting releases this past week.
Short news stories this week:
India.Arie Shoots New Video, Starts Work On Next Album
'Ready for Love' features host of
R&B-world cameos.
Bolstered by the confidence that seven Grammy Awards nominations can bring,
singer/songwriter India.Arie has begun working on her next album, which she
expects to have ready for a summer release.
One new song is titled "I Really Think Someone Oughta Know," her
publicist said.
Other titles are being kept under wraps.
Arie is also putting the final touches on her new video, "Ready for
Love," which
was shot right before Christmas by director Sanaa Hamri, who filmed the Mariah
Carey video for "Don't Stop." The clip depicts Arie performing on a
set decorated
with white candles and features cameos by Freddie Jackson, Musiq Soulchild,
Glenn Lewis, Kindred, Nona Hendrix of Labelle, Grenique, Renee of Zhané and
a few new Motown artists.
Prince Tracks Available Online
Prince has placed two songs from his
recently released The Rainbow Children online
for download. American Online members can download "Mellow" for a
limited time,
while Web surfers who visit Prince's npgmusicclub.com can download "She
Loves
Me 4 Me." Since his bitter battle with former label Warner Bros., Prince
has
championed the use of the Internet in music distribution.
In related news, Prince did not marry girlfriend Manuela Testolini in Hawaii on
New Year's Eve, according to New York's Daily News, which contradicts reports
to the contrary from two Minneapolis television stations. Prince's
representatives
said, "No comment," when contacted.
New Jackson Single Pushed Back Yet Again
The commercial release of Michael Jackson's
"Butterflies" single has been pushed
back yet again. First due out on January 15 and then moved to January 29,
"Butterflies" will now has a February 12 street date.
"Butterflies" currently occupies
the Number 16 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. And since no one can buy the single
yet, its high chart position is based solely on radio play. In typical Jackson
style,
no reason for the delay has been made public.
Ginuwine To Open For Janet Jackson And Plans A 'Tribute To A Woman'
R&B singer Ginuwine has been tapped to
open for Janet Jackson on 10 concert
dates beginning January 25 in Louisville, Kentucky, and ending on February 9
in Hampton, Virginia. Ginuwine's latest album, The Life, is currently Number 156
on the Billboard 200 albums chart and has sold more than 1.2 million copies
since
its release. R&B quartet 112 opened for Jackson on the first leg of her All
For You
world tour in 2001.
In related news, Ginuwine is gearing up for the release of a third single from
The
Life, titled "Tribute To A Woman." The singer told us why
"Tribute To A Woman"
is a special song: "You know, I thought about my mom a lot when I wrote
that also
'cause, I mean, I saw the struggles that my mom went through. I also see now the
struggles that women go through in the business, in this business, also as
women-
period--in the outside world, so I just basically wanted to show the women that,
you know, there's a dude out here that feels them. It's basically a singing 2002
'Keep
Ya Head Up' by Ginuwine."
Faith Evans Says 'I Love You' On New Single
R&B singer-songwriter Faith Evans
recently released a new single to radio, "I
Love You," which appears on her third album, Faithfully. Evans, the widow
of
the Notorious B.I.G., has re-created herself for her third release, with the
changes
including shedding 50 pounds and taking more creative control. The singer and
her
new husband, Todd Russaw, served as executive producers for the collection
alongside Bad Boy Entertainment honcho Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.
Faithfully has
sold more than 370,000 copies since its November release, according to
Soundscan.
Newcomer Glenn Lewis Lands Coveted Opening Slot On Alicia Keys Tour
Canadian singer-songwriter Glenn Lewis has
come a long way since independently
releasing his first two singles, "The Thing To Do," and "Bout
Your Love," and
things have just gotten a lot better: The singer has landed the highly coveted
opening
slot on the forthcoming Alicia Keys tour, which is sure to provide the necessary
exposure to take the talented newcomer over the top. Lewis's major-label debut
single, "Don't You Forget," currently sits at Number 64 on both the
Billboard Hot
100 and Hot 100 Airplay charts. The song was written by Lewis and produced by
Andre Harris, the man behind the recent success of Musiq Soulchild and Jill
Scott.
Lewis's debut set, World Outside My Window, is due out in March on Epic Records.
Some of the songs that will be included on the set are "Lonely,"
"Never Too Late,"
"This Love," and "Simple Things."