Sunday December 15th, 2002
New CD's this past week:
- Whitney Houston - Just Whitney
- Nivea - Nivea
- Aaliyah - I care for you
Short news stories this week:
Lou Rawls Sets Tour Dates
Lou Rawls has scheduled a series of tour
dates that will keep the R&B
vocalist out on the road well into 2003. Highlights of the tour include
a New Year's Eve (December 31) performance at the Harrah's Casino
outside Chicago, and a Valentine's Day (February 14) show at Casino
Magic near St. Louis.
The deep-throated Rawls is perhaps best known for 1966's "Love Is A
Hurtin' Thing" and 1976's "You'll Never Find Another Love Like
Mine,"
both of which hit Number One on the R&B chart.
R. Kelly Trying To Reignite His Career
R&B star R. Kelly, who is currently
facing child-pornography charges,
has released a new single, "Ignition," taken from his forthcoming
album,
Chocolate Factory, which is due out January 28. The singer returned to
the studio and created a new album after scrapping his Loveland set,
which was due in November, because of the tension generated from his
pending criminal trial.
Mariah Carey's 'Charmbracelet' Debuts At Number Three
Mariah Carey's new MonarC/Island Records
album, Charmbracelet, premieres
at Number Three on the Billboard 200 this week after selling more than
241,000 copies in its first week of release. The figure marks the
biggest opening of the award-winning singer-songwriter and producer's
career.
"We're obviously thrilled and it's only the beginning," said Lyor
Cohen,
chairman and CEO of the Island Def Jam Music Group. "Mariah's album for
us fulfills all of our expectations; it's pure and simply electrifying
and it's Mariah at her best."
Charmbracelet is also the Number One album for a second consecutive week
in Japan. Carey wrote the songs on the album, and she co-produced the
set with the help of top-notch producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and
Jermaine Dupri, among others. Carey's second single from the album, "The
One," is set for released in early January
Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland Sings 'Little Sister' Solange's Praises
Upcoming singer-songwriter and producer
Solange will appear on the same
bill with older sister Beyonce Knowles's group Destiny's Child (DC) at
Thursday's (December 12) Z100 Jingle Ball in New York City. Solange's
debut album won't be out until 2003, but she's already been making a
mark in the pop and R&B world thanks to Beyonce and the other members of
Destiny's Child.
Solange made a cameo on DC's 2001 holiday album, 8 Days Of Christmas,
helping to sing "Little Drummer Boy," and she also co-wrote and
co-produced the track "Beyond Imagination" for DC member Kelly
Rowland's
solo album, Simply Deep.
Rowland tells us that she was impressed with the way the younger
performer worked with her in the studio: "Yeah, it was weird, but of
course I gave her the respect as a producer, and we worked so well
together. And I remember, it was times (where) I was, like, 'Solange, I
can't do this part.' Like (laughs), sometimes I felt like a little
sister (laughs), but she's so supportive, and it was just magical in the
studio with me and her."
After spending most of 2002 working on outside projects, Rowland,
Knowles, and Michelle Williams plan to reunite for a new Destiny's Child
album in the spring of 2003.
Whitney Houston's 'Just Whitney' On Track For Huge Opening Week
Whitney Houston's new Arista Records album,
Just Whitney, will be the
Number One album on next week's Billboard 200 albums chart if it
maintains its currently explosive sales pace.
The album, which came out Tuesday (December 10), sold more than 200,000
copies on its first day, breaking Houston's prior one-day sales record,
according to the singer's official website (whitneyhouston.com). The
previous record was set in 1995 when the soundtrack for Waiting To
Exhale sold 177,284 units on its first day of release.
To put Houston's one-day sales feat into perspective, it took Mariah
Carey's new MonarC/Island Records album, Charmbracelet, a full week to
sell more than 241,000 copies.
Brandy And Husband Write Songs For Toni Braxton And Kelly Rowland
Brandy and her producer husband Robert
Smith have written songs for Toni
Braxton and Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland.
The couple share publishing credit on "Selfish" and "Always"
from
Brixton's More Than A Woman, and "Love/Hate" from Rowland's solo
debut,
Simply Deep.
The couple, who married during the summer of 2001, began their working
relationship on Brandy's Full Moon album, released in March 2002. The
pair has such good chemistry, that they work together as much as
possible. Smith told us: "Brandy writes on pretty much everything I do.
She's an incredible writer. Basically, she just found out. She just
tapped into it, from just playing around, you know, with me. I was like,
'You're talented.' She's just an incredible writer. She pretty much
writes everything I do."
They are currently working on Brandy's next album, and wrote the songs
"When You Touch Me," "Wow," and "Die Without You."