Sunday July 30th, 2006
New CD's this past week:
- Glenn Jones - Forever: Timeless R&B classics
- LeToya - Letoya
Music news headlines this week:
Valentino's 'Special' Serves Up 'Real R&B'
R&B singer Bobby Valentino previewed tracks from his upcoming sophomore
album, "Special Occasion" for Billboard yesterday (July 27). Due Sept. 19
via Ludacris' Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam imprint, the set features
production by Bryan Michael Cox, Dre & Vidal, Tim & Bob and Rodney
Jerkins, among others.
Valentino co-wrote several tracks, including current single "Wreck,"
cowritten and produced by Sean Garrett. A video for the official first
single, "Turn the Page," produced by Jerkins, will be shot this month.
Other confirmed album cuts include "Checking for Me," "Come Home," "Tired
of Being Alone" and a cover of Babyface's "Soon As I Get Home."
"I'm about that real R&B. Nobody's doing that right now," Valentino tells
Billboard.com. "My approach was to make this album hotter than the first,
which was like a classic R&B album to me. I really wanted to step outside
the box and step outside things that I would normally write for myself and
get ideas on how other producers saw me as an artist."
Though one or two guest artists may be added to the disc, Valentino says
he chooses not to overcrowd his albums with cameos. "I think a lot of
artists get away from themselves by having too many guest features," he
says.
"Special Occasion" will be the follow-up to his 2005 self-titled debut,
which bowed at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 675,000 copies in
the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Early next year, the
singer will launch a new line of women's jeans called Bobby V jeans.
Sunshine Anderson Returns With New Album
R&B vocalist Sunshine Anderson will release her sophomore disc, "Sunshine
at Midnight," in January via her label, Shining Star Incorporated, and
Matthew Knowles' Music World company. Dr. Dre and Raphael Saadiq are among
the album's producers.
A video for lead single "Something I Wanna Give You" will be shot next
month in Los Angeles by director Gil Green and a second single is expected
in November.
Anderson, who joined Knowles' label in August 2004, says the new offering
is intentionally devoid of guest features. "It's been a long time so we
just want everyone to focus on Sunshine again," the Charlotte, N.C.,
native tells Billboard.com. "My vocals are raw and honest and pure, with a
lot of emotion. So vocally not much has changed, but I've grown as a
businesswoman. I'm more involved in this project and I was a little more
inspired this time."
Album cuts include "Force of Nature" and "My Problems," which was produced
by Dr. Dre. "That song is just about everyday life -- a young lady who
lost her job, her boyfriend's been locked up, she's got two kids but the
rent is still due," says Anderson. "She's talking about how bad she feels
and she wishes she could just smoke and drink her problems away."
Another track, the Saadiq-helmed "Wear the Crown," is more personal to
Anderson. "It's about this girl who's kind of overwhelmed when this guy
walks into the Waffle House one day," she laughs. "She's just like, 'You
make me feel like that I can wear the crown, that I'm the new queen in
town.'"
"Sunshine at Midnight" will be the follow-up to Anderson's 2001
Soulife/Atlantic debut "Your Woman," which bowed at No. 5 on The Billboard
200 and has sold 487,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen
SoundScan. It spawned the single "Heard It All Before," which peaked at
No. 3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.