Sunday April 21rst, 2002
New CD's this week:
Michelle Williams - Heart to yours: The
gospel album from Destiny's Child member
featuring Carl Thomas, Shirley Caesar,Mary Mary and Men Of Standard.
Short news stories this week:
Joe On Sharing The Bill With Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly
Singer-songwriter Joe is out on tour with
the legendary Maze featuring Frankie Beverly.
Joe's latest release, Better Days, is currently Number 127 on the Billboard 200
albums
chart and has sold more than 529,000 copies since its release.
Joe recently said that he was excited about touring with Maze featuring Frankie
Beverly:
"I'm going on tour with, you know, the legendary Frankie Beverly and Maze.
You know,
believe it or not, I've never seen one of their shows before and everybody I
tell about, you
know, I talk to about this concert and this tour coming up, they're, like, 'Yo,
you know,
just be prepared--these guys are really, really going to put on a show,' and I'm
excited. I
can't wait to get on tour with a veteran group like that.
Tyrese Recovering From Motorcycle Accident
Singer, actor, and model Tyrese Gibson
checked himself into Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center in Los Angeles on Monday (April 15) after he was involved in a motorcycle
accident Friday (April 12). He is not expected to be released from the hospital
until
Friday (April 19), according to a spokesperson for the artist.
While motorcycle riding with friends in California's Riverside County last
Friday, Gibson
fell and slid 55 feet. He was immediately admitted to Rancho Springs Medical
Center in
Murrieta, where he was released within a few hours.
By Monday (April 15), Gibson was still experiencing tremendous back pain and
decided
to check himself into Cedars-Sinai. He is in stable condition.
His motorcycle, the same bike he rides in the "I Like Them Girls"
video, was totaled.
In related news, he is in the process of recording his J Records debut.
Gibson's sophomore album, 2000 Watts, peaked at Number Four on Billboard's Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Glenn Lewis And Tweet Hooking Up For 20-City U.S. Tour
Canadian R&B sensation Glenn Lewis and
Tweet are heading out on a 20-city U.S. tour
together. Lewis's debut album, World Outside My Window, is currently Number 34
on the
Billboard 200 albums chart and has sold more than 164,000 copies in its first
three weeks
of release. The first single from the set, "Don't You Forget It," is
currently Number 19 on
the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. Lewis will hook up
with video
director Chris Robinson in Los Angeles to shoot the video for a second single,
"It's Not
Fair," in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Tweet is taking the music world by storm. The singer, who is the
latest find
of Missy Elliott and Timbaland, bowed at Number Three on the Billboard 200
albums
chart with her debut album, Southern Hummingbird. Her lead single, "Oops
(Oh My),"
continues to be a mainstay at radio and is currently Number Eight on the
Billboard Hot
100 singles chart.
Will Downing Says 'Sensual Journey' Is A Trip To His Musical Roots
Vocalist Will Downing can't wait for his
next album, Sensual Journey, to get to his fans.
The album, which bows May 12, is his first for the GRP label.
Sensual Journey is a pleasurable mix of gentle grooves and jazzy melodies, all
laced with
Downing's distinctive bass phrasing. The album features guest turns by Lee
Ritenour,
Marc Antoine, Boney James, Marcus Miller, Vesta, Phil Perry, and others.
Downing says that after eight albums, this may be the best representation yet of
his
musical sensibilities. He said, "I feel very strongly about every album
that I've recorded.
And I think that each album was kinda like the best that I could do at that
time. But I
think that this is a lot more musical, I think that this really caters itself to
a certain
audience, a certain age, a certain genre of music that I've always loved.
Whereas in the
past I've kind of vacillated back and forth between R&B or contemporary
jazz, I think
that this is bringing me more towards that place that I need to be."
Boyz II Men Head Separate Ways To Make 'The Color Of Love' Video
Boyz II Men members Nathan Morris, Wanya
Morris, Shawn Stockman, and Michael
McCary have decided to take a different approach to taping the video for
"The Color Of
Love," the first single from Full Circle, their Arista Records debut due
out June 11.
Each member will tape his own segment of the video with a separate director in a
different country with the purpose of capturing the color of the native people.
Nathan will
travel to Accra, Ghana with directors Benny Boom and Little X. Wanya will head
to San
Juan, Puerto Rico to work with Chris Robinson. Shawn, currently in Tokyo, Japan,
has
been teamed with Hype Williams. And Michael will visit Jaipur, India to
collaborate with
Little X, who will edit the entire piece.
Antonio "L.A." Reid, Arista Records president and CEO, said that he
has never been
involved with a video project more ambitious. "Boyz II Men have always
maintained a
certain mood with their music, and that couldn't be better reflected than with
the theme of
this clip--unity and brotherhood, a multi-cultural celebration in these
difficult times," he
said via a statement. "There is no better group to pull it off than these
four guys."
The song, produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, was the most added
at radio this
week.
Ja Rule Reacts To Ashanti's Number One Debut
Murder Inc. Records star Ja Rule told us
that he isn't surprised that his labelmate Ashanti
landed at Number One on the Billboard 200 albums chart, but he was shocked by
how
well Ashanti's album sold.
The rapper said: "I'm not surprised, you know? It kinda shocked, you know,
the number
503 (503,000), you know, but we knew she was going to do pretty well, so we're
all very
happy and she's crushing them right now. I really think it's the biggest
first-week debut
ever for a female R&B artist, so we're holding some weight over here right
now,
definitely."
Ja Rule also shared that he hopes to tour this summer with Mary J. Blige, but if
that
doesn't pan out he might tour with Ashanti and the rest of the Murder Inc.
roster.
Ruff Endz's Davinch Writes Song To Cope With Father's Death
Baltimore-bred R&B duo Ruff Endz
appreciates the success of its club anthem, anti-gold
digging track "No More," which reached Number One on Billboard's Hot
Hip-Hop/R&B
Singles & Tracks chart in 2000. But the group, comprising childhood friends
Davinch
and Chi, has steadily been making an effort to emphasize their musical
versatility.
The group's current single, the romantic ballad "Someone To Love You,"
which is the
title track from its sophomore album due out May 14, reached Number 33 last week
on
Billboard's Singles & Tracks chart, and first appeared on the soundtrack to
the Chris
Rock film Down To Earth.
As "Someone To Love You" continues to climb the chart, another ballad
on the album
signals a hit in reserve. On the uplifting ballad "Look To The Hills,"
which is the last
song on the album, the group sings, "When hurt and pain is all you feel
inside/ You got to
look to the hills/ And say to yourself/ I will survive."
Davinch told us that he wrote the song while mourning the death of his father,
who died a
few months ago: "I didn't want to write a sad song. I was trying to write
something
positive, and more inspirational to help the family and just to help people in
general that's
going through something."
Davinch added: "'Look To The Hills' is one of those songs representing Ruff
Endz,
basically, saying, you know what I mean, 'Times will get rough. The sun is gone
shine
tomorrow, you know what I mean? It might be raining. Yo sh-t might be looking
bad
today, but it's gone be, it's gone be a better day.' So that's the message
really in the song."