Sunday December 10th, 2006 HOME
New CD's this past week:
- Ciara - Ciara: The evolution
- Brian McKnight - 10
Music news headlines this week:
Aretha Franklin To Release New Album Next Year
Aretha Franklin is working on a brand-new album that will be released on
her own imprint early next year. The Queen Of Soul's next release will be
called Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love, a title the singer says her
fans can relate to. "We've all been there once or twice," the multiple
Grammy winner told BET.com.
Franklin assembled a who's who of writers and producers for the project,
and penned a few songs herself. "It'll be out on Aretha's Records. It's
produced by Gordon Chambers, Troy Taylor and myself. Mike Powell did the
chorus. I wrote three songs on it," Franklin continued. "I'm also doing a
song written by my son called 'New Day.'We had a super time recording it.
Now all that's left to do is the mixing."
In the meantime, Franklin can be heard in a duet with Mary J. Blige on the
soundtrack to the new ensemble film, Bobby. The two cover "Never Gonna
Break My Faith," written by Canadian rocker Bryan Adams.
Because Franklin has crossed paths with the Kennedys many times over the
years, she wanted to be part of the soundtrack to the film about the day
Robert F. Kennedy is killed. But she didn't find out until after she had
done her vocal that the tune was actually a duet with Blige. "I really,
really love it," the Queen said of the Harvey Mason Jr. production. "I
think we complemented each other very nicely.
Boyz II Men Readying US Release
R&B super group Boyz II Men’s first week sales from their new album “The
remedy,” released in Japan, has surpassed opening week totals from
Beyonce’s “B’Day,” Janet Jackson’s “20 Y.O.” and Justin Timberlake’s
“FutureSex/LoveSounds,” according to a release from the group’s rep.
The Group, who faced a lot of hardships solidifying a deal on U.S soil,
decided to release the new album in Japan and Australia to test the
market.
Explaining their absence from the music scene, group member Nathan Morris
says: “We experienced what many artists go through, once we were on top we
expected more control and labels fought us so we took a break from
recording and just toured.
“We realized that the industry wasn’t going to wait for us. We went
through a humbling time and a bit of a reality check, we knew that
everyone was still praising our talent but there were many new artists
coming up fast, we knew that we needed to work even harder this time
around, so this album is sort of an epiphany for us and aptly named ‘The
Remedy.’”
Boyz II Men are currently touring the U.S. The group is also preparing to
tour overseas in early 2007, with the release of the album shortly
thereafter in the States.
“This album is special to us because it came from our hearts and from all
of us coming back together with a fresh new outlook,” says Nathan. “We
have grown from young boys to men with wives; children and a more adult
look on life."
Tyrese Preps for Dec. 12 Release, Singer To Drop 3
Singles
Tyrese, the multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, actor,
writer, producer and now rapper (aka Black-Ty), has unleashed an airwave
assault with the simultaneous release of 3 tracks from his upcoming Alter
Ego double cd. The melodic ballad "One," produced by The Underdogs, the
sensual "Turn Ya Out" featuring Lil' Jon and the club- banging rap track
"Get It In," all showcase Tyrese's never-ending talents as each song
impacts R&B mainstream, Rhythmic Crossover and Mixshow radio formats,
respectively.
To promote the December 12 release of Alter Ego on J Records, Tyrese will
make several television appearances including The Meghan Mullally Show
(12/12), Craig Ferguson (12/8), Spike TV Video Games Awards (12/13), The
Tavis Smiley Show (12/12) and MTV's Sucker Free (airdate tba).
Tyrese also gets creative with his current "How Do You Wear Your Black Ty"
campaign: "Don't Be Shy to Show Nothing but Ty." The online campaign is
aimed at building community interaction between Tyrese and his fans.
Following the theme of Tyrese's upcoming album Alter Ego, users can upload
pictures of themselves wearing a black tie however they choose. Ten
winners will receive $50 gift certificates to Victoria's Secret. The
contest runs now through January 2007 via www.myspace.com/tyrese or
www.tyrese.com.
On Alter Ego's R&B disc, Tyrese joins forces with producers The Underdogs
("One," "Better To Know"), Brian Michael Cox ("Gotta Get You"), Lil' Jon
("Turn Ya Out"), R. Kelly ("Hurry Up," "Signs of Love Makin' Part II"),
Eric Dawkins and Tony Dixon ("Morning After," "Better Than Sex,") and
Trick Stewart ("Lights On"), resulting in a bevy of soon-to-be-classics
that cater to Tyrese's R&B fanbase.
Although many of Gibson's colleagues acknowledge his singing prowess, they
were pleasantly surprised by his skills on the mic as rapper Black-Ty. The
Game, who appears on "Ghetto Dayz," says "He's [Tyrese] been successful on
every scale from singing to acting so what would make anybody think that
he couldn't rap?" After collaborating on "Get Low" and "Roll The Dice,"
Snoop Dogg comments, "He [Tyrese] really got it cracking to the point
where he didn't seem like he was out of his range. It seemed like
something he was naturally born to do." Manni Fresh, Scott Storch, All
Star and various members from Tyrese's Headquarter Entertainment in-house
production team The Frontline BoyZ, add their production skills on the
hip-hop disc which features additional guest appearances by Kurupt, Too
Short, Method Man and Manni Fresh.