Sunday May 14th, 2006 HOME
New CD's this past week:
- The Isley Brothers - Baby makin' music
- Jagged Edge - Jagged Edge
- Teena Marie – Sapphire
- Terri Walker - I am (UK release)
Music news headlines this week:
Prince Sets Up club 3121 In Las Vegas
Superstar Prince is just as well known for
his impromptu and late night
shows as he is for his incredible recordings. Now the Minneapolis-bred
artist will take over a club on the Las Vegas strip for two nights,
dubbing it Club 3121 in honor of his top-selling album 3121. Prince and
his latest protege Tamar will perform Saturday and Sunday, May 27th and
28th, at the new 3121 location at 3765 Las Vegas Boulevard South,
previously known as the Empire Ballroom. These will be the first shows
Prince has played in Sin City in two years.
Tickets to the shows are limited to two per customer, and they are priced
at $312.01, echoing the title of his top-charting set. Tickets are
currently available at TicketMaster.
Meanwhile, the debut album by Tamar is expected next month.
Joe To Release New Album In August
R&B singer Joe will release his sixth
album this summer. Allhiphop.com
reports that the singer will release his new and still-untitled album in
August. The first single from the project is "Where You At" featuring
Papoose. The singer explained, "It's an up-tempo, really good, club
record." The album will feature guest appearances by Nas, Chamillionaire,
Fabolous, and Young Buck, with the production of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis,
Brian Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, Cool & Dre, and Tim & Bob.
While Joe's new album features several rappers, the singer shared that his
influences are primarily the R&B greats: "I look up to all the old
schoolers: Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Michael Jackson, Steely
Dan, and the Eagles. I mean, there are so many great artists before me,
you know, that really kinda set the stage for a young guy like me to come
on. So, you know, it's not just about hip-hop or pop. It's all about
music. It's just about music.
Kelly Rowland Album Bumped To 2007
The release of Kelly Rowland's sophomore
solo set for Columbia/Sony Urban
Music, "My Story: Kelly Rowland," has been moved from July to
first-quarter 2007. Manager Mathew Knowles says more time is needed to
properly set up the project. "We want to make sure our marketing strategy
is a multi-tiered approach that capitalizes on the synergies afforded by
her other projects."
Asked if more songs will now be recorded for the pushed-back set, Knowles
says, "If she finds a better song or songs to add, we'll use them. But
that's not the reason for changing the date. [Everyone] is pleased with
the record Kelly made."
As for Rowland's "other projects," she co-hosted the fifth annual MTV Asia
Awards ceremony May 6, where she premiered her new single "Gots to Go" for
a worldwide audience. Tomorrow (May 13), the Destiny's Child co-founding
member will be in Atlanta to kick off the five-city Soft
Sheen-Carson/Vixen Model Search for women of color.
Rowland previously said the upcoming album is more personal than her 2002
solo debut "Simply Deep," which bowed at No. 12 on The Billboard 200 and
has sold nearly 600,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen
SoundScan.
"This album is very different from the last record. It was so alternative
and this record is urban," she said last month during a playback of the
new set for members of the media. "I wanted to go back to my roots
because that's where I started and that's what feels natural to me."
Chaka Khan's Son Cleared of Murder Charges
Damien Patrick Holland, the 27-year-old
son of singer Chaka Khan, has been
acquitted of murder in the death of his former friend Christopher Bailey,
17. After two days of deliberation, the jury ruled to acquit Damien of all
charges levied against him, including murder, voluntary manslaughter, and
involuntary manslaughter.
Damien was charged with shooting Christopher with an M-16 assult rifle
during a dispute at Chaka's home, where both men, along with Damien's
girlfriend and 5-year-old daughter, were temporarily residing.
Damien testified that he pointed the loaded gun at Christopher's head--and
accidentally fired those fatal shots--while the two were arguing over
Christopher's claim that he had an affair with Damian's girlfriend.
Chaka took the stand last week and confirmed that the shooting was indeed
an accident.
Urban Mystic Reveals Latest 'Revelations'
Soul has mystically returned to urban
music, and this is quite
appropriately thanks to the up-and-comer Urban Mystic. Urban, whose real
name is Brandon Williams, like a number of soulful singers, comes from the
background of bible belting, in other words belting out a joyful noise in
church.
The son of a minister, Urban got the urge to sing in the choir loft and
has welcomed his very gospel-esque sound to urban radio. His sophomore
album, “Ghetto Revelations: II” is actually his debut into the limelight.
This disc is quite aggressively making Urban a household name, bringing
back producer KayGee and bringing on board help from the likes of rappers
Paul Wall and Trick Daddy to show-off on the disc, available in stores
now.
“’Ghetto Revelations: II’ is a continuation of ‘Ghetto Revelations I,’”
Urban said of the new disc. “Basically, my first album had a lot of old
school, soulful vibes on it. It had one rap song on that album. I felt
like with the first album, people didn’t really get to know me and didn’t
get to see what it is that I do. With this album, I just wanted to pick
back up where I left off. I wanted to come back and capitalize on more of
the hip-hop, more of the young age music. I’ll let the fans decide if
there will be a III or a IV. I’ve lived in the ghetto, I grew up in the
ghetto and I have a revelation that needs to be fulfilled. If it takes two
or three more albums to fulfill that, so be it.”
Urban’s voice has been noted as “raspy, soulful, Southern-style.” It has
the earmarks of gospel greats, so his gospel upbringing and gospel
aspirations aren’t really a surprise. He said of plans to make a gospel
album in the future: “That’s going to be in the making. Once I get through
with telling my revelation, a gospel album will definitely be in the
making.”
Currently, of course, Urban is not a gospel singer, per se, although his
moniker alludes to his background.
“I actually got the name Urban Mystic from the CEO of my record label,
Cecil Barker [of SoBe Entertainment]. The name [describes] me as a person:
Urban represents my urban life, my urban style of living; and Mystic has a
spiritual meaning behind it, my spiritual background – I was raised in the
church and I currently still singing in the church. I felt this was me for
real. I went along with the name Urban Mystic because I felt it was just
the right thing at the right time,” he said.
Urban further explained that he was formerly known as Top Dollar, but the
label exec felt that the name Urban Mystic had a more universal appeal.
“With the type of music that I’m doing, Top Dollar just didn’t stick and
didn’t coincide with the music I was doing, as far as R&B and hip-hop. If
I was doing just hip-hop, it would work.”
Urban’s music spans the spectrum of urban music with its gospel
undertones, weaved between R&B melodies and hip-hop backbeats. The first
single, “It’s You” does just that, pairing producer KayGee. The tune
caught the attention of “The People’s Champ,” Paul Wall.
“‘It’s You’ is basically talking about a woman in you life that you’re
doing all these things for,” Urban described. “That woman could be your
wife, that woman could be your daughter; it could even be your mother.
You’re just letting her know it’s you that you’ll go out on a limb for. As
far as bringing in Paul Wall,” he continued, “One of my reps out of Texas
is good friends with Paul Wall. He let Paul Wall listen to some of my
tracks and when Paul Wall heard the ‘It’s You’ track he said, ‘This track
could use some hip-hop.’ And I said, ‘Why don’t we get a verse from you on
that.’ So Paul Wall came through and blessed the track for us.”
Another cut, “Let’s Make A Change,” expresses Urban’s conscious level and
further exhibits his gospel-hip hop melding talents. The track talks about
the contributions of Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, but it also
incorporates the lyrical stylings of Trick Daddy.
“I went and got one of the artists from the neighborhood I’m from – Trick
Daddy. He blessed the track for me. This is a song we made for the world
for someone to listen to or when you’re down and you need something to
uplift your spirit. It’s talking about what our ancestors like Rosa Parks
and Dr. King wanted to do back then, but we’re doing it in the modern-day
style. We’re just trying to let everybody know, especially what’s going on
in today’s society, that we can make a change.”
Urban Mystic is clearly working to make a change in urban music. The
singer, who performs his rap-sing flair with an eight-piece band, says he
is ready to “show fans all sides of me” and urges music fans to keep their
ears open.
Ghetto Revelations: II” is in stores now. For more on Urban Mystic, check
out his website at www.urbanmysticmusic.com.