the chal banz blog

Here is the revamped tracklisting from Ray J 's new album, "All I Feel" in stores April 8. Note: The tracklisting has changed significantly deleting tracks that once featured Lil' Kim , Lil' Wayne , and Snoop . I assume Ray and his people are taking the "less is more" approach. I am looking forward to this album. The current single, "Sexy Can I" featuring Yung Berg is currently #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. 1. Don't Wanna Be Right (Intro) 2. I Like To Trick 3. Sexy Can I feat. Yung Berg 4. Gifts 5. Girl From The Bronx 6. Jump Off 7. Boyfriend 8. All I Feel 9. It's Up To You 10. Where You At feat. The Game 11. Real Nigga feat. Styles P 12. Good Girl Gone Bad feat. Shorty Mack 13. I Can Feel It (Outro) Video: Mariah Carey In The Studio View this exclusive video of Mariah in the studio recording the song "Migrate" featuring T-Pain . Video is not the best quality and you will have to turn your volume up to hear. I'm unsure wh...

Beyonce Who exactly is having a "Beautiful Nightmare" this week is anyone's guess? Though I would say "Beautiful" represents Beyonce's devious scheming and "Nightmare" may describe how Kelly Rowland feels right about now. According to Mediatakeout Kelly Rowland is furious with Beyonce over the leak of "Beautiful Nightmare" and she should be! It is ironic how Beyonce's new song leaked out the same week of Kelly's digital re-release of "Ms. Kelly". A lot of people feel like Beyonce deliberately put out the new track to take away from Kelly's shine. This is not the first time that Beyonce has come under fire for attempting to sabotage a group member's career. I am sure we all remember when Beyonce dropped "Deja Vu" just as another member (Former bandmate Destiny's Child LeToya Luckett ) had just released "Torn". Luckily Beyonce didn't succeed in sabotaging LeToya since "Torn" ...

Video: Mariah Carey - Love Story Check out this exclusive video of Mariah Carey recording "Love Story" a track off her upcoming album, "E=MC2" in stores April 15. I'm not aware of where this video is from but maybe we will learn soon. If I'm not mistaken it looks like an upcoming special on MTV or something. It's always interesting to see an artist particularly someone of Mariah's stature in the studio. You get to see firsthand how the music is created and everything else that goes into recording a song and/or album. Audio: R. Kelly - Hair Braider Here is an exclusive listen to R. Kelly's new single from his upcoming album, "12 Play 4th Quarter" in stores soon. "Hair Braider" was rumored to be a remake of Mario 's "Braid My Hair" but it doesn't sound anything like Mario's song. Then again its been awhile since I heard that song from Mario so I'm not sure but judging from the lyrics, its pure R. Kell...

According to the Weekly Poll Question, Common came in with 39% when asked "Who has the best style?". Pharrell Williams - 31% Kanye West - 12% Andre 3000 - 11% Others - Usher , Chris Brown , Mary J. Blige - 05% Lupe Fiasco - 02% Make sure you check out the new "Weekly Poll Question" in the right side margin. You can vote unlimited and multiple times for your choice. Rap star Nelly will release his new album, "Brass Knuckles" on June 24. The lead single, "Party People" featuring Fergie is already gaining huge spins on radio and it may be the surefire hit this album needs to get it off the ground. If you didn't know Nelly's album, like a lot of other album got a false start last year with the single, "Wadsyaname" failed to take off. Now with a fresh outlook for this album, Nelly has collaborated with Ciara , Akon , LL Cool J , Lil' Wayne , and Snoop Dogg for the new album. I wonder what the Ciara collabo sounds like. M...

Video: Trina feat Keyshia Cole - I Got A Thang For You The second single/video from Trina's "Still Da Baddest" album in stores April 1. Trina wasted no time releasing this second video and it makes sense since Keyshia Cole is hot right now. Keyshia's single, "I Remember" just spent its 7th week on top of the R&B charts. As far as the video is concerned its a decent video. It fits the song perfectly and it's nice to see Trina still representing for the female rappers. Producer/rapper Polow Da Don who brought us such hits as Ciara 's "Promise" and Fergie 's "Glamorous" has revealed the list of artists he will be contributing tracks to for 2008. Already riding high with Usher 's #1, "Love In This Club" featuring Young Jeezy , Polow has done tracks with Lloyd , Nelly , Bobby Valentino , Fergie, Nas , and Snoop Dogg . I like the majority if not all songs that Polow has produced thus far that I know of. I will ...

Here is the new and improved album cover from Disney star Raven Symone . The self-titled album includes production by Timbaland , The Clutch , Sean Garrett , Kwame , and Mario . Raven is reminding me a little of Beyonce in this new album cover. Raven's new album is in stores April 22. Video: Keyshia Cole - Heaven Sent Ms. Cole releases the 4th single/video from her platinum, "Just Like You" album. Keyshia Cole - Heaven Sent (music video) Uploaded by geronimos87 This was a nice little video. It was very simple and not much to it. The video reminds me a little of Mary J. Blige 's "Everything" video. I noticed that a lot of Keyshia's videos don't differ much. It's usually just her standing in one spot or moving around in dresses and what not. Producer Rodney Jerkins has recently revealed that Lil' Kim did not write her rap verse on Mary J. Blige's "I Can Love You" track insisting that Notorious B.I.G. wrote the track. Well what...

UK sensation Leona Lewis aka The New Mariah Carey has the #1 single in the U.S. with "Bleeding Love". The single dethrones Usher 's "Love In This Club" which had been #1 for the last 3 weeks. While Leona is celebrating her #1 debut, the real chart story of the week is Chris Brown . Brown has 3 singles in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. One song as a lead artist, "With You" (at #3) next "No Air" with Jordin Sparks (at #6), and "Shawty Get Loose" with & Lil' Mama,T-Pain (at #10). Rapper Lil' Wayne jumps from 85-9 with new single, "Lollipop" featuring Static Major . Wow! The charts haven't looked this interesting in I can't remember how long. R&B legend Al Green is returning with a new album entitled, "Lay It Down". The new album features guest appearances from Corrine Bailey Rae , J ohn Legend , and Anthony Hamilton . The album was produced The Roots ?uestlove and James Poyser ...

Rapper The Game will release his new album, "Los Angeles Times" on June 24. It is the follow up to his platinum, "The Doctor's Advocate" album which spawned the hit, "One Blood". Rumored to be his third and final album, the West Coast rapper plans to tackle some whether controversial issues. The recently leaked single, "Big Dreams" is not only a prelude of things to come from the upcoming album but is now the album's first single. Rap duo Cool & Dre had a hand in production as did longtime collaborator/mentor Dr. Dre. Game can currently be heard on a newly released song by former Floetry songstress, Marsha Ambrosius entitled, "What's Going On". The song samples The Isley Bros. "Footsteps In The Dark". I have heard "Big Dreams" and I think it is a poor choice for first single. I don't know what it is with Game and picking singles. I feel like he picked all the wrong singles for his last album ...

Brooklyn rapper Fabolous is planning a new album and he is taking a cue from Jay Z 's "American Gangster" by recording this album with a theme in mind. While the theme wasn't exactly revealed it would be a far cry from how Fab usually goes about recording his albums according to the rapper. Fabolous hopes to rope in Kanye West , NeYo , Just Blaze , and Polow Da Don for the album's production. Speaking of Ne-Yo , Fabolous spoke about a possible "Best of Both Worlds" collaboration. Gawd no! I'm sick of everyone tryng to do the "Best of Both Worlds" thing. Bow Wow and Omarion tried it and we all see what happened with that. Meanwhile Fabolous just completed a remix for Britney Spears ' "Break The Ice" and Janet Jackson 's "Feedback". With famed girl groups like The Pussycat Dolls , Cherish , and Danity Kane topping the charts, former girl group Blaque famous for the single, "808" produced by R. Kelly ...

Teyana Taylor - Google Me Video The Neptune 's latest discovery struts her stuff in her debut video for her upcoming album, "From a Planet Called Harlem" in stores May 20. I think the video and song is cool. Teyana does remind me a lot of Kelis but also Neneh Cherry . The video reminds me a lot of Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance". If you ever saw that video or haven't and watched it, you'd understand what I meant. The season finale of "Making The Band" aired last night and I didn't see the show in its entirety. When I did catch the show, it was near the show's end. Donnie Klang was performing his new single, "Take You There" featuring Diddy . I noticed produced Seven in the crowd so I'm assuming he produced it. Diddy says there will be another season of MTV's "Making The Band". Whether or not this show will consist of Danity Kane , Day 26 , and Donnie Klang is unknown. Have you noticed that all three Ba...

Former Destiny's Child member, Michelle Williams will release her third album entitled, "Unexpected". The title refers to the variety of sounds the album will feature from use to the vocoder box (currently used by T-Pain ) to upbeat dance numbers. The singer worked with Stargate , Rico Love , Soulshock & Karlin . First single, "We Break The Dawn" will be released in April. The second single will be the recently leaked song, "Stop This Car". "Hello Heartbreak" "We Break The Dawn" "Lucky Girl" "The Greatest" "Til the End of the World" "Private Party" "Stop This Car" "Unexpected" "Thank You" "Too Young for Love" A release date will be announced once it becomes available. The tracklisting comes courtesy of Billboard .

Actress/singer Raven Symone will be releasing her new album on April 22. The album contains the single, "Double Dutch Bus" which also appears in Raven's new movie, "College Road Trip". 1. Got It Girl 2. Anti-Love Song 3. In The Pictures 4. What Are You Gonna Do 5. Green 6. Love Me or Leave Me 7. In Your Skin 8. Stupid 9. Girl, Get It 10. Keep A Friend 11. Shorts Like Me 12. Hollywood Life 13. Double Dutch Bus The results are in from the "Weekly Poll Question". Readers were asked to vote on "Who is the best female singer/dancer?". Janet Jackson topped the list with 26% of the votes followed by Beyonce with 25% and Ciara with 19%. Other artists who were mentioned but were not on the officially tally were Danity Kane , Taylor Swift , Fantasia , Lil' Mama , Aaliyah , and Toni Braxton . Make sure you check out the new poll in the right margin! You can vote unlimited and multiple times. See you next week!

Here is the tracklisting for the new Lil' Mama album, "Voice Of The Young People" in stores April 29. The album features production and collaborations with Cool & Dre , Scott Storch , T-Pain , Chris Brown and Swizz Beats . New single, "Shawty Get Loose" has just entered the Top 20 on the Pop Charts. Go Lil' Mama! 1. Intro 2. Lip Gloss/ No Music 3. One Hit Wonder 4. Get Loose Request 5. Shawty Get Loose Lil Mama featuring Chris Brown & T-Pain 6. What It Is (Strike A Pose) Lil Mama featuring T-Pain 7. G-Slide (Tour Bus) (Radio Version) 8. Gotta Go Deeper Skit 9. Stand Up 10. L.I.F.E. 11. College Lil Mama featuring Yirayah 12. Emotional Rollercoasters Skit 13. Broken Pieces 14. Swim 15. Truly In Love Lil Mama featuring Peter Toh 16. Look At My Life Skit 17. Make It Hot 18. Pick It Up Controversial rapstress Khia who is known for her one hit, "My Neck, My Back" has expressed her disdain with Janet Jackson over their 2006 collaboration, ...

R&B singer Dwele who appeared on Kanye West 's hit single, "Flashing Lights" is the latest artist in an already long line of artists who has recently jumped ship to the #1 independent record label in America: Koch Records. Together with RT Music Group, the label plans to release the next Dwele album in June. First single, "I'm Cheating" will be shipped to radio shortly. You can hear Dwele on labelmate Foxy Brown 's upcoming album, "Brooklyn Don Diva" in stores May 13. Rap's favorite duo, Method Man & Redman will release the follow-up to their platinum debut album, "Blackout" this summer entitled, "Blackout 2". The album will feature guests and production by Ne-Yo , Eric Sermon , DJ Premier , Treach , Nelly , Chamillionaire , and David Banner . Also be on the lookout for Redman's new album, "Muddy Waters 2" dropping in early 2009. Singer Chris Brown is re-releasing his platinum, "Exclusive...

Now that Mariah Carey 's new album, "E=MC2" will be released in less than a month (April 15) the official tracklisting for the album has been unveiled: 1. Migrate featuring T-Pain (Danja) 2. Touch My Body (C. “Tricky” Stewart and Tarius “ The-Dream ” Nash) 3. Cruise Control featuring Damian Marley (Jermaine Dupri) 4. I Stay in Love ( Bryan-Michael Cox ) 5. Side Effects featuring Young Jeezy (Scott Storch) 6. I’m That Chick ( Stargate ) 7. Love Story (Jermaine Dupri) 8. I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time (DJ Toomp) 9. Last Kiss (Jermaine Dupri) 10. Thanx 4 Nothin’ (Jermaine Dupri) 11. O.O.C. (Swizz Beatz) 12. For the Record (Bryan-Michael Cox) 13. Bye Bye (Stargate) 14. I Wish You Well (James Poyser) Overseas Bonus Track: 15. "Heat" (Will.I.Am) I'm eager to know how "E=MC2" will stack up against 2005's "The Emancipation Of Mimi" which was a really great album. First single, "Touch My Body" has been received very well and is performin...

Striking a similar pose a la her 2005 multi-platinum album, "The Emancipation of Mimi", Mimi is poised for her return to the top of the charts with hit single, "Touch My Body". So what do you think of the new album cover? Typical Mariah ? Sound off! In other Mariah Carey news, the singer will be MTV's "Artist of the Week" the week of April 14 in conjuction with the release of her new album. Rapper Nelly 's new single, "Party People" featuring Fergie is the official first single from his upcoming album, "Brass Knuckles" in stores June 24. Interestingly enough Nells and girlfriend Ashanti will both be releasing new albums in the month of June; Ashanti's "The Declaration" will be in stores June 3. I would think Universal Motown would push Ashanti's release date up being that her single, "The Way That I Love You" is taking off so fast unless they plan to pull another hit single out their asses before th...

Day 26 - Got Me Going World Premiere video from "Making The Band" quintet. Troubled rapper DMX unleashes a 10 year old scathing diss track aimed at Mary J. Blige . DMX and Mary J. having beef? Who would of ever thought? Rapper Gillie Da Kid infamous for his beef with Lil' Wayne when he alleged he ghostwrote songs for the southern rapper has inked a record deal with Koch Records. His album, "Get It How You Live It" will be released soon. I have noticed how Koch Records have been signing artists left and right from Foxy Brown to Ray J . I know many of us look at a move to an indie label as an artist's career being on its last legs. Fear not Ray J's career is blooming! His recent single, "Sexy Can I" featuring Yung Berg has become the singer's biggest hit to date reaching the Top 10 on the Pop Charts. Punch Ray! Platinum duo Gnarls Barkley has released their new album, "The Odd Couple" today instead of the April 18 release date...

Singer superstar Mariah Carey fresh from her "SNL" performances sat down with radio host Ryan Seacrest and dished about new album, "E=MC2" stating the album was sequenced in L.A. Reid 's office last night. The follow-up single won't be "Migrate" as originally planned but a ballad instead. Mariah will also be appearing on Fox's "American Idol" on April 9, 15, and 16 for the "Idol Gives Back" special along with a performance. Mariah also plans to tour for this album sometime this fall but nothing is set in stone. She also took time to clear up any rumors of a feud between her, Madonna , and Janet Jackson saying there is "absolutely no drama". As for her performance on SNL, Mariah say she still gets jitters onstage. I can tell! Diddy and Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond ; Game 's manager implicated in Tupac shooting from 14 years ago injuring Pac in a Quad Recording Studio. It is believed to be the reason f...

Celebrity Fit Club star Tocarra Jones confronts the "Celebrity Fit Club" panel in this uncensored version that you won't catch on TV! Every reality show has a memorable TV moment that has everyone talking. Consider Tocarra's outburst as this season's memorable moment. I can understand Tocarra's frustration but I also think some of this was for the cameras. Mariah Carey 's "Saturday Night Live" Performances Touch My Body MC-SNL-0 1 [jonnyalisblog.com] Uploaded by Alisvideo Mariah Carey performed hit single, "Touch My Body" and this video proves live performances have never been Carey's strong suit. Mariah has never had much stage prescene as she usually just stands in one place and caresses herself. Mariah Carey performing "Migrate" featuring T-Pain MC-SNL-0 2 [jonnyalisblog.com] Uploaded by Alisvideo Upon first listen the song sounds okay. I'm sure the studio version will do the song better justice. VH1 "Flavor Of...

Southern rap group Three 6 Mafia returns June 24 with their new album, "Last To Know". This time the duo teams up with rock veterans Good Charlotte , Lyfe Jennings , Akon , Project Pat , Eightball & MJG , and DJ Unk . The first single, "I'd Rather" was recently released to radio. In other Three 6 Mafia related news, the group won't return for a 2nd season of their MTV hit show, "Adventures of Hollywood" thus concentrating on their first love of music. I reported a few days ago that VH1 was airing a show entitled, "Interracial Love" which allegedly revolved around a white male looking for a black girlfriend. According to an associate of the VH1 network, the rumor is false. Thanks Brett! News Tidbits: Singer Naturi (formerly of group 3LW) will play Lil' Kim in the upcoming Notorious B.I.G. biopic. Keyshia Cole 's new video "Heaven Sent" will debut on BET's "Access Granted" on March 19. Look for Missy ...

Snoop Dogg is a fan of soap opera "One Life To Live"! He will record a remixed version of show's theme song. This comes on the heels of a scheduled appearance the rapper is to make on the long-running soap opera on May 8 and 9. Snoop also has a animated series in the work with Comedy Central. I won't be surprised if this cartoon's title reads something like "Snoopalicious" or something to that effect. Snoop is good at naming things after himself. Snoop Dogg's new album, "Ego Tripping" which features hit single, "Sensual Seduction" is expected to debut next week at #3 with an estimated 130K units. Go Snoop! Singer Rihanna is re-releasing her platinum, "Good Girl Gone Bad" album! The album will contain new single, "Take A Bow" written by Ne-Yo and produced by Stargate . Look for the re-release to hit stores May 27. I can't remember if I read anything about Rihanna re-releasing her album before. I do reme...

Teen rapper Lil' Mama will release her long-awaited album, "The Voice Of The Young People" on April 15. The album features the hit singles, "Lip Gloss" and "Shawty Get Loose" featuring Chris Brown & T-Pain . You can currently see Lil' Mama on MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew" which was recently renewed for a second season. You feeling Lil' Mama's album cover? Sound off in the comment section. First there was "Strange Love", "Flavor Of Love", "I Love New York", "Rock Of Love" and now VH1 brings us, "Interracial Love"! The show revolves around a white male, Tobias White who is looking for an African American girlfriend to bring into his family which includes two bi-racial sons; Marcus and Zachary. I can only imagine how this show will be. Let's just hope the women on this show looks better than the current flock of girls on "Flavor Of Love 3". Rapper Game ...

Singer/songwriter Solange Knowles will release her sophomore album, "Soul Angel and the Hadly Street Dreams" in August via Geffen Records. The first single is rumored to be titled, "Undecided" and is produced by The Neptunes and written by Cee-Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley . Production and guests for the upcoming album include Lil' Wayne , Mark Ronson (worked with Amy Winehouse ), and Jack Splash (worked with Alicia Keys ). Solange had a few songs leak awhile back and they were very eclectic sounding. I wasn't too keen on those songs but I do like Solange and I look forward to hearing what she hits us with. Superstar Usher is riding high with his #1 single, "Love In This Club". Usher's new album, "Here I Stand" is due this June and it will more than likely be one of the more anticipated albums of the summer. Besides producer Polow Da Don (who produced "LITC"), Usher worked with production duo Dre & Vidal who produce ...

Popular dancehall selector DJ Trasha partners up with Foxy Brown & Black Hand Management in a new mixtape called The I.N.G.A. Sessions (I.N.G.A.= I'm Not Going Anywhere) , the precursor to Foxy Brown's new street album Brooklyn's Don Diva that drops May 13, 2008 . The mixtape features new, old, exclusive and fan favorites from Foxy Brown in addition to shout outs from popular dancehall/reggae artists. Beyonce , Baby Cham , Lady Saw , Barrington Levy , Shyne , T.I. , Trackmasters , and Tony Matterhorn are some of the many artists that appear on the mixtape. Click here for the MIXTAPE DOWNLOAD LINK: Click here for the PREVIEW MIXTAPE AT DATPIFF.COM: Click here for the PROMOTIONAL VIDEO ON YOUTUBE: Click here for the NOTED ON MTV'S MIXTAPE MONDAY: Tracklist: 1. Introduction 2. Open Book 3. We're On Fire (feat. Mavado) 4. Magnetic (feat. Pharrell ) 5. Lady Saw Interlude 6. The Quan (feat. Lady Saw) 7. What's Good With You (with Beyonce) 8. Cham Interlude/Fo...

Raptress Missy Elliott will be releasing her seventh untitled studio album this May! Elliott has chosen "Best Best" as the album's lead single. Several of the album's tracks were recently previewed and they were described as both "eccentric" and "70s go-go". A few months Elliott had a contest where fans could name her album. While the winning title has not been revealed, one can assume Elliott had many titles to choose from. The upcoming set featuring production from Timbaland , Danjahandz, and Soul Diggaz is the follow-up to the 2005 gold "The Cookbook" album which featured the hit single, "Lose Control" featuring Ciara & Fatman Scoop . News Tidbits: Black Eyed Peas member turned solo star Fergie will release seventh single, "Finally" off her triple-platinum, "The Dutchess" album. Mariah Carey will replace Janet Jackson on "Saturday Night Live" after Jackson bowed out from flu-like sympton...

Danity Kane - Damaged First single/video from MTV's "Making The Band" famed girl group from their upcoming album, "Welcome To The Dollhouse" in stores March 18. Wow! The ladies put out a hot video! The choreography is hot and I like the concept behind the video. Troubled rapstress Remy Ma finally got her day in court stemming for last summer's incident involving the shooting of former friend Makeda Barnes-Joseph. The shooting stems from Remy discovering that $2,000 was missing from her purse when she asscused Joseph of the crime. In court some details were made public that were withheld before. Remy's lawyer Ivan Fisher states that the two ladies struggled over a gun which resulted in Joseph being wounded. Joseph's laywer struck back and claimed Remy was upset, shot Joseph twice in the abdomen and reportedly left the scene and hopped in a Cadillac Escalade before eventually crashing it and hiding out at a friend's house. Singer Mariah Carey r...