Sunday December 30th 2001
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and R&B Album Chart January 5
New CD's this week:
Due to the Christmas break no new releases
this past week
Short news stories this week:
Ruff Endz Wants To Know If You Need 'Someone To Love You'
Baltimore-based R&B duo Ruff Endz is
gearing up for the March release
of their sophomore set, Someone To Love You. The title track of the forthcoming
album will be the next single released. "Someone To Love You" was
produced
by Corey Rooney and the group recently shot a video with director Jessy Terrero.
Group member Davinch shared what fans can expect from the video in a statement,
"The main thing about this video and especially the song is that we sing it
with
raw, down to the bone emotion."
The track listing for Someone To Love You includes: "Someone To Love
You,"
"Will You Be Mine," "You," "Bigger," "Shake
It," "Cash Money Cars Clothes,"
"You Mean The World To Me," "Sure Thing," "Would You
Leave Me," "Wine
And Dine," "Kama Sutra," "Threesome," "If It
Wasn't," and "Look To The Hills."
Aaliyah's 'More Than A Woman' Video Release In Limbo, New Album In Works
The release of Aaliyah's "More Than A
Woman" video has yet to be scheduled, due
to conflicts between the late singer's label, Blackground, and its former
distributor
Virgin Records, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
The labels that joined efforts to issue Aaliyah's self-titled third album in
July, and
Timbaland & Magoo's Indecent Proposal in November, severed its ties in
November
as well. Blackground is now distributed by Universal.
Though the split has been described as amicable in public statements from both
parties, the Atlanta Journal Constitution notes behind-the-scenes problems,
including
the recent termination of Ken Berry, the former CEO of Virgin's parent company
EMI. Berry helped ink the deal with Blackground.
Spokespersons for Blackground and Virgin did not reply to us by press time.
"More Than A Woman" would mark the third single from Aaliyah's
self-titled
album released in July. The "More Than A Woman" video was taped with
director
Dave Myers prior to the singer's trip to the Bahamas to shoot the footage for
"Rock
The Boat." "Rock The Boat" is Number Four on Billboard's Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop
Singles & Tracks chart.
In related news, Blackground is expected to release a new Aaliyah album of
previously unreleased material in 2002, according to label president Jomo
Hankerson. Additionally, Aaliyah's brother Rashad Haughton was used to voice
over parts of Aaliyah's dialogue in Queen Of The Damned, which is expected to
be released in February.
Aaliyah and eight other passengers were killed in a plane crash on August 25
when leaving the Bahamas, headed for Florida.
Mariah Carey May Exit Virgin Records
Mariah Carey's first album for Virgin
Records, the soundtrack for the movie Glitter,
did not live up to the expectations of her record label, or its British-based
parent
company, EMI. Just three months after the release of Carey's Virgin debut, EMI
is looking to buy out her contract with one large lump-sum payment in exchange
for
her departure from Virgin Records, the Los Angeles Times reports. Glitter has
sold a
mere 2 million copies worldwide since it was released on September 11.
Carey signed an multi-album, multimillion-dollar international recording
agreement
with the Virgin Music Group Worldwide in April, but the details were not
disclosed
when the deal was officially announced. Various media reports estimate the value
of Carey's contract deal to be anywhere between $80 million and $120 million.
Carey is the top-selling female pop artist of the 1990', and she has sold more
that
150 million albums and singles worldwide, and earned 84 Recording Industry
Association of America gold, platinum, and multiplatinum certifications.
Jackson Hopes To Donate $50 Million From 'What More Can I Give' Single
Michael Jackson has enlisted the help of
the ToolTrust Corporation (TTC) to handle
the corporate sponsorship side of the charity single "What More Can I
Give."
Together, Jackson and TTC hope to raise more than $50 million from sales of the
song, which features appearances by Mariah Carey, Nick Carter, Celine Dion,
Billy
Gilman, Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, *NSYNC, Tom Petty, Carlos Santana, Luther
Vandross, and others. Vandross noted, "Michael is really genuine in his
love for
mankind. He wrote this song to both teach us and inspire us to feel each other's
pain.
I was honored to be included because I know this song will reach its
target...the heart
and soul of all." All proceeds from the sales of "What More Can I
Give" will be
donated to the victims of the September 11 attacks on America.
R. Kelly Says He'll Stick With Last Year's New Year's Resolution
Superstar singer-songwriter R. Kelly is up
for two American Music Awards (AMAs)
next month, including favorite male pop/rock artist and favorite male
soul/R&B artist.
The AMAs will be presented during a ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in Los
Angeles that will air live on ABC starting at 8 p.m. ET on January 9.
The singer, who enjoyed a highly successful year, recently shared what his New
Year's resolution might be: ["I haven't thought of them yet. I've been
doing well so
I might just do the same thing I did last year, you know, because the album has
done well. I've been doing good, you know? I gotta, you know, couple of things
on
the way that's going real good for me, so I may do the same thing, you
know?"]
R. Kelly and Jay-Z are expected to release a duet album, The Best Of Both
Worlds, in
the spring.