Sunday October 14th 2001
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and R&B Album Chart October 20
New CD's this week:
This week we have new album releases from
veterans The O'Jays who deliver another
classy album "For the love…" , new RnB/pop singer Rhona with her
self titled album,
the debut album by brother and sister duo Charles & Gwen Scales called
"So good"
which will definitely be so good if you like smooth, and jazzy soul. Further
more the
debut album by new and young DefSoul artist Christina Milian (self titled) and
last but
certainly not least Kenny Lattimore, who not only has a new label (Arista), a
new album
(Weekend) but also a new girlfriend. The new love in his life is none other than
singer
Chanté Moore.
Short news stories this week:
Maurice White Surprises EWF in L.A.
Earth, Wind & Fire founding member,
drummer and producer Maurice White,
who retired from concert appearances with the band in 1994, surprised the
band and the crowd Tuesday night, 10/2, by joining the Grammy-winning troupe
on stage at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles. He performed their
classic "Keep Your Head To The Sky." Before White hit the stage to
thunderous
applause and a standing ovation, lead singer Philip Bailey dedicated the song to
Americans everywhere, especially those touched by the events of September 11.
White, who still produces, co-writes and sings on Earth, Wind & Fire albums,
hinted at making the appearance earlier that day in a radio interview with
comedian
and Los Angeles radio personality Steve Harvey. The long-time producer and
drummer is currently at work on the band's 23rd album, which will include, among
other highlights, an appearance by The Emotions, their first collaboration with
the
band since "Boogie Wonderland" in 1979.
Bell Biv DeVoe to unleash new album
Veteran hip-hop/R&B group BBD (Bell Biv
DeVoe), comprising New Edition
members Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe, spent the weekend in
Los Angeles taping the video for "The Hot Sh-t," the first release
from its album
"Beat And Melodies", scheduled to be released December 4 on Universal
Records.
When we spoke to group member Bell last spring, he said he expected the album
to include production from Rockwilder, Buckwild, Jagged Edge, and original BBD
contributors Spiderman and Freeze, and Wolfe and Epic.
Bell added that the group's sound, a hip-hop and R&B hybrid popularized by
early
'90s singles "Poison," "Do Me!," and "When Will I See
You Smile Again?", has
evolved. "With the way we're coming back right now is with the same flavor,
same
vibe that we've always had. It's just 2001 now, as apposed to 1990 or
1993," Bell
explained. "It's still very innovative. Still hip-hop with the R&B
feel, and all of that.
It's much more funkier and flier now."
The group's last album, "Hootie Mack", was released in 1993. Bell said
the trio took
such a long hiatus in order to get its business in order. "One of the
reasons we were
kinda off for so long was because our situation as far as business and legal
wasn't
right," Bell said. "We were able to move Bell Biv DeVoe over to
Universal, Biv 10.
We were able to see a better business side on the back end than we were ever
able to
before."
Independent Women Of Destiny's Child Coordinate Solo Projects
To ensure they don't rival each other on
the charts, the ladies of Destiny's Child
will stagger their solo albums over the next year and a half and pursue film and
television projects in their respective musical downtimes.
First up with a solo disc will be Michelle Williams, who is planning a gospel
album
for early next year, according to Mathew Knowles, DC's manager and the father of
singer Beyoncé Knowles. The record will include Williams' duet with veteran
gospel singer Shirley Caesar on "Steal Away to Jesus" - a ballad that
will first
appear on Caesar's album Hymns, due October 30. Williams plans to record the
remainder of her album before year's end and will mark her arrival in the gospel
world at January's Stellar Gospel Music Awards. Destiny's Child's "Gospel
Medley"
and "Outro (DC-3) Thank You," which originally appeared on Survivor,
will serve
as bonus tracks on Williams' disc.
Beyoncé is expected to announce next week that she has accepted a supporting
actress role in a major movie, her father said. After completing that project,
she
will turn her attention toward a solo album, due next fall.
Kelly Rowland's solo debut will be the last to drop, surfacing in early 2003 and
sporting an "alternative R&B" style, Knowles said. Kelly's plans
in the meantime
include making appearances on television, beginning with a guest-star role on an
episode of the Nickelodeon sitcom "Taina." The episode will be shot in
early
December.
"I wouldn't want any of my artists to directly compete with each
other," Knowles
said. "They're so multitalented that while one's working TV, the other can
be
working a record."
Between all the solo projects, the ladies will still find plenty of time to be a
trio.
Destiny's Child are planning to headline a tour kicking off in March or April
that
will also feature Beyoncé's younger sister, Solange, and other artists managed
by
Knowles. The trek will concentrate on cities that Destiny's Child didn't already
visit
on MTV's recent "TRL" tour.
Solange is scheduled to release her debut, "Solo Star", in February.
Solo Star's title
track appeared on this summer's "Osmosis Jones" soundtrack
The album will also include a duet with Beyoncé and a guest appearance from
Destiny's Child. Solange and DC already collaborated on the theme song to the
Disney Channel's animated series "The Proud Family."
112's Slim used in Janet's on stage sex act
Slim, lead singer for P. Diddy protege
group 112, will never forget the group's stint
as the opening act for Janet Jackson's All For You tour. Though Slim wishes the
group had more interaction with Janet throughout the tour, their interaction
couldn't
get much better their date last month in Atlanta, 112's hometown.
During a recent interview with Slim, he tells us what Janet did to make the
Atlanta
show so special: "She has a very sexual part in the show where she picks
somebody
out the crowd right while she sings her ballad. And it's the song 'Would You
Mind,'
and it's like one of my favorite songs on the album. Well, in Atlanta she picked
me.
And she strapped me to the bed, and Janet was definitely doing a lot of sexual
things.
And being that that was my hometown, whatever, she definitely made me probably
one of the most popular guys, or talked-about guys in Atlanta."
112's latest album, Part III, is double platinum, and is enjoying two singles on
the
charts, "Peaches & Cream," and "Dance With Me."
Jill Scott to release new live double album
Soul singer Jill Scott will release a new
live double album, "Experience: Jill Scott
(826 Plus)", on November 20. The first single from the live album is a new
uptempo
version of Scott's "He Loves Me."
"Experience: Jill Scott (826 Plus) was recorded live at Washington, D.C.'s
'
Constitution Hall on August 26, and includes 1"1 live tracks plus six new
bonus
songs. Scott explained her forthcoming release in a statement, "I wanted to
give my
fans something more with the new cuts and we recorded the D.C. show because it
was magical and I wanted everyone who could not be there to experience it. D.C.
has always supported me and I wanted to say thank you."
Scott's debut set, "Who Is Jill Scott?", is rapidly approaching the
double-platinum
status for sales of 2 million copies, and the singer is currently working on the
follow-up,
"Brown Baby Lullabies", which will be released next year.