the chal banz blog

Brandy is spreading the word early that she has a new album in the works. The singer recently shared on social media that album #7 would come in "divine timing". It's been two years since Brandy released Two Eleven and if you know Brandy she generally takes her time between records. If anything I see her dropping at the top of the year but don't bet on it. I do think its good though that she's keeping us in the know. 

DADDY'S LITTLE GIRLS: I know, I know I'm a little late on this story. But Mathew Knowles says his daughter Beyoncé, Solange, and Jay Z fighting in the elevator was all staged. He says the incident was said to help dismal ticket sales and if so it obviously worked. The power couple who have been the butt of divorce rumors seemed to put an end to the rumors at the Video Music Awards . But why would Father Mathew say all of this? I mean judging from the video, the surveillance video that is, things looked pretty real and intense. Mathew Knowles did a radio interview awhile back but I never sat and listened to it, I simply just read excerpts from it. But I'm sure if you want to hear the audio you can to get a more accurate depiction of what he's alleging. CANNON BALL: As if we haven't heard enough about the ugly split between Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey but now their saying Mariah is accusing Nick of being the reason her new album stalled. Mariah claims that Nick woul...

MUCH OBLIGED: Mary J. Blige spent the Summer in London recording what will be her next album, Mary J. Blige: The London Sessions . The album pairs Mary up with an array for UK artists and producers. The album includes such acts as Disclosure and Sam Smith. The ten track album is due in stores this Fall. RAY OF LIGHT: Ray J has accepted a plea deal after a May 30 incident. The incident in question is when Ray J acted a plum fool in a Beverly Hill hotel. I believe the VH1 cameras were filming as well for Love & Hip Hop Hollywood . Anyway Ray J groped a girl and something else transpired. I forget what but I'm over Ray J and his foolish antics. Grow up! 

Luke James has revealed the album cover for his self titled album due in stores on September 23 through Island Records. The song contains the single Options featuring Rick Ross. The singer also just released a video for his new single Dancing In The Dark. Will you be supporting Luke James? 

Tinashe, known for her hit song 2 On will release her new album Aquarius on October 3. What do you think about the album's cover? 

The big story right now is Karreuche Tran(or however you spell her name) is in hot water after making comments about Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy's hair on BET's 106 & Park . As expected the Beyhive; Beyoncé's fans have rallied against the famed girlfriend of Chris Brown and have issued death threats and even deportation. Not only is Karreuche in hot water but BET as well as they have issued an apology to viewers, Beyoncé and Jay Z and the like. Could BET be feeling the sting from the Carters skipping out on the BET awards this year? Could be but one person's opinion on Blue Ivy doesn't reflect the network as a whole. There is news that 106 & Park will be off the air for an entire week after the fiasco. I don't think anyone will miss it though. I think they should just cancel because its old and done anyway. What do you think? 

Yes! I'm behind on my reporting for the Video Music Awards but better late than never. I'm sure by now everyone has seen the telecast or have heard the highlights. But in case you have not here's a little info on what went down Sunday night. As expected there were plenty of forgettable and unforgettable moments. The highlight of the night was of course Beyoncé's performance which closed the show out. As rumored the diva performed a staple of songs from her recently released self-titled album. At the end Beyoncé was joined onstage by her husband Jay Z and daughter Blue Ivy when she received the Video Vanguard award. The lost for words Beyoncé simply said "thank you" and kissed her husband and child. How sweet. Elsewhere they were numerous performances from Nicki Minaj( Bang Bag (in which she experienced a said to be rehearsed wardrobe malfunction) with Jessie J & Ariane Grande, Anaconda , Usher's She Came To Give It To You ). Other highlights includ...

THREE'S COMPANY: K. Michelle is hoping to collaborate with Anita Baker and Nicki Minaj for her new album. The reality TV star gushed about collaborating with both artists. Anita Baker, herself recently paid K. Michelle a visit and gave her some much needed pep talk. Time will only tell if these collabs go down. I could definitely see the Nicki Minaj collab happening though. FIRE STARTER: Shots rang out last night at a Chris Brown Video Music Awards Pre-Party in L.A. Suge Knight was shot twice and rushed to the hospital. The Game was denied entry into the club and his team stayed around and are likely to have contributed to some of the violence if not all. Not to blame Chris Brown but it seems like trouble follows him wherever he goes. I think Chris needs to stay out of the club for awhile. 

Tamia's days of being an independent artist are over for now. The Canadian songstress has inked a deal with Def Jam Records. The singer recently announce the news. Tamia's last two albums were indie releases and the first indie release did moderately well. I wonder what made Tamia considering going back to a major label. She obviously struck a suitable deal that works for her. Let's see how this goes. When you tune in to this year's Video Music Awards, one performance we all will be looking forward to is undoubtedly Beyoncé. The singer is rumored to perform her entire self titled release in a 15 minute set. Beyoncé is currently pulling out all the stops to make sure this performance is monumental, defining, and will be a part of VMA "history". Faith Evans has revealed that her new single I Deserve It featuring Missy Elliott and Sharaya J will be released on iTunes on August 28 anad the album Incomparable will be available two months later on October 28. Will...

With news of Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon separating, Nick Cannon's father has gone on Facebook to air out some of the messy details of his son's marriage. Nick's father laments on Mariah's weight of 200lbs and Nick wanting to have 10 children and her just 2. In Mariah's defense by the time she had her twins she was already up in age. I didn't see her having any more kids. Speaking of kids, Nick's father also said that Mariah had an abortion. I think Mariah said she was pregnant before but she lost the baby. I'm not sure if this is the same pregnancy or a totally different one. I mean that's her business and if she chose to do that then that's on her. Not really my place to judge. And if that's not enough, Mariah Carey has reportedly issued a gag order for Nick. So that means he can't speak of the intimate details of his marriage with Mariah, anymore. I think gag is the perfect word. I mean Nick has already revealed a lot about his relat...

CANNON BALL: The rumors are true, Nick Cannon has confirmed that he and wife, Mariah Carey have been separated for months. The two are even living in separate houses. This was the rumors and it all turned out to be true according to Nick who revealed the news to USA Today I believe. Mariah and Nick were a very odd couple but they made it work for awhile. I'm actually sad to learn that this is true but maybe there is hope then again maybe there is not. MAMA KNOWLES BEST: TMZ caught up with Tina Knowles, mother of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and she put the rumors to rest that the superstar couple were divorcing. So why does divorce rumors continue to run rampant about the couple? Simple. It's possibly a PR stunt. A "FUTURE" WITHOUT: Future has finally spoken out somewhat against the rumors that he cheated on Ciara with a stylist by simply saying "I don't respond to rumors. I respond to money". So what is he saying? If someone cuts him a check, he'll revea...

According to reports Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon are separated and have been for months. They even say the couple are living in separate quarters. The reports go on to say that Mariah has been feeling humiliated by Nick's outspoken rants about Mariah and their sex life. I'm not sure how true this is but hopefully its not. It's funny because I remember seeing Mariah at the premiere for Hercules with The Rock and she looked good alongside him, much better than she does with Nick Cannon but oh well. In the meantime Mariah is currently readying a tour overseas, perhaps to get away from Nick. Nick has several gigs so both are usually typically busy but we'll have to see how this all plays out. 

AUGUST ASS-INA: So..August Alsina reportedly denied a transgender woman access to pictures with him during a VIP meet and greet. When approached to take a picture with August, the transgender woman was told that they were not doing pictures. The upset fan took her frustrations to Rolling Out magazine. Sounds a little suspect to me if it is indeed true. Why deny your fan a picture with you? It doesn't matter if their a man, a woman, a transgender, etc. They are supporting you. August is typically snobbish towards his fans but for some reason these girls still have a thing for him. I also think its a little suspect that you can't take a picture with a transgender woman. What is up with that? Are we not comfortable enough in our skin? Things that make you go hmmm. FUMBLE: The NFL wants Rihanna to perform at their Super Bowl but there's a hitch. She's one of three artists being considered and if she is picked, she must pay for her performance. This comes on the heels of re...

DANGEROUS: Jennifer Hudson aka JHUD , also the title of her new album just dropped a new single titled Dangerous . It is the newest single from her 10 track album due September 23 on RCA Records. Will you be buying or downloading? NOT FIT FOR A QUEEN:Queen Latifah's show may be in danger of being cancelled after less than stellar ratings. It's funny because that's what happened to the first. Despite having A-list talent and being shuffled between a variety of shows, the show has not found its footing. Queen definitely has the potential to carry her own show but something about it is off and I always felt that way the few times I did watch it. I think even with the A-list stars the show was a bore. There was no umph. 

CRAZY IN LOVE: As if we haven't grown tired of the ever impeding rumors of Beyoncé divorcing Jay Z. Now comes the story that the rumors of divorce may have come from the couple themselves. Since these rumors have been running rampant for awhile and nothing has been concrete, it could possibly be a publicity stunt. But I don't know. Something in the milk ain't clean. If that ain't enough Beyonce is being sued by a woman who claims to be the surrogate mother of Beyoncé's child Blue Ivy. This is the same woman who claims to have been a surrogate for other celebrities including Kim and Kanye. Speaking of Kim K., the famed reality TV star is apparently wanting a public apology from Beyoncé after making her look like a plum fool for not showing up to her wedding. Good luck to Kim K. on getting an apology and a public one at that. I don't see it happening. Beyoncé rarely addressed the public. She just makes music and power moves. TOUR DE FORCE: Mariah Carey is taking ...

HOLLYWOOD SWINGING: VH1 has just announced the cast list for Love & Hip Hop Hollywood formerly known as Love & Hip Hop L.A. The cast includes Ray J, Soulja Boy, Teairra Mari, Lil' Fizz of B2K, Omarion, and Yung Berg just to name a few. The show will premiere on Monday, September 15. VH1 has already began showing the teasers of the show. Will you all be watching? I will! R&BEEF: K. Michelle has opened up about her beef with Elle Varner. The outspoken star says Elle was trying to be her! Really? Why? And K. also said that no one wants to hear that "India.Arie shit" she's singing about. Ouch! Can't we all just get along? 

BRAXTON FAMILY DRAMA: I know I'm a little late on this story but better late than never I suppose. Tamar is beefing again! No surprise there. This time the singer is mad at one of her collaborators TC. When her collaborator made note that he saw the first episode of  Braxton Family Values , he swore he would not be tuning in to the new season. Tamar got wind of the words and thought it was in bad taste for him to air that out in public. What do you all think? I mean I don't get to watch Braxton Family Values being that I don't have the channel it comes on. Though I guess I could see online if I really wanted to. Usually when I go to visit my sister I usually catch up on the reruns then since she gets the channel. The show has been on for a few seasons and the drama like any other reality show has escalated with each season but I do think that's something he probably could of kept to himself. He didn't have to post his thoughts like that on a social media forum lik...

RAISING KANE: Can't we all just get along? That's the question when it comes to Danity Kane. The trio recently parted ways again after a fight went down between Dawn & Aubrey in the studio. According to Dawn, the other group members were jealous because she had the better vocals. When did this become about vocals? Then she says the remaining members re-recorded songs behind her back taking her vocals off the songs. As for an upcoming Danity Kane reunion, you'd be better seeing an album from Foxy Brown before Danity Kane reunites again. Then again I actually see the ladies reuniting again in the future maybe without Dawn. Who knows? Who cares? Do you? DIVORCE COURT: For the last few months we've been reading and hearing that Beyoncé is divorcing Jay Z. Now US Weekly the same publication that says Ciara said her engagement is off with Future, says the Beyoncé is preparing the divorcing proceedings. I guess we will have to believe it when we see it. 

Beyoncé and Jay Z just can't catch a break. It's enough that the divorce rumors continue to run rampant. Then there was the embarrassing and funny music video from Jay Z's alleged mistress and now a woman claims to have birthed Blue Ivy. Now whether or not Beyoncé actually gave birth remains a big mystery. But what's funny about this story is that the woman making the allegations have made these allegations before against Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, and Janet Jackson. What do you say to that? In other Beyoncé news Beyoncé reportedly called on Rihanna to remix her song Blow . 

Omarion and Jeremih team up for the sultry duet Show Me . I'm not sure where Show Me will end up or whose album it'll appear on. I'm guessing maybe Omarion's upcoming release since his named is billed on the single first. Just a few weeks ago Omarion became a father for the first time. Congrats! 

It looks like Ms. Christina Milian just can't catch a break. Ever since she started dating Lil' Wayne, she's been called everything from a gold digger to a ratchet hussy. Now one of Lil' Wayne's other baby mother's, Nivea has decided to kick up some dust towards Ms. Milian. Why? I guess because when you think about it Christina is following in Nivea's footsteps. She was married to The-Dream and has a child with him like Nivea does. Now she is dating Lil' Wayne like Nivea did and is rumored to be pregnant. I'm not sure how true the pregnancy rumors but I won't be surprised if Lil' Wayne knocks her up pretty soon. As we know Lil' Wayne is pretty fertile and loves spreading his seed all throughout Atlanta and beyond. Christina Milian has been signed to Cash Money/Young Money for a minute and has yet to issue an album let alone a mixtape. I'm wondering will she ever or will she simply find her music career on the backburner once again. W...

You know what they say, you mustn't mix business with pleasure but that's what all the celebrity couples do. When will they learn? I think the big news story of the day is that Ciara has called of her engagement to fiancé Future. There were rumors going around that Future cheated on Ciara with his assistant/stylist. I feel bad for Ciara to be honest. Though she did know what she was getting herself into being that Future has like five baby mamas. Now Ciara has joined the coveted list. SMH! Hold your head up CiCi! You will be fine. 

GAME CHANGER: Beyoncé set precedence last year with her self-titled album. Now the record industry is taking notice and forcing record companies to release new music on Friday. This global industry move will affect every country. So when an album is released on Friday here in the States, its released every where else. This is a ploy the record companies are hoping will help cut down on piracy. But why Friday though? I'm not sure why. I think music should be released on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Then again when you think about it, by Friday everyone should have their paycheck and they can go out and purchase the new release from their said favorite artist. ROCK THE BELL: Patti Labelle will be joining the cast of FX's American Horror Story . She will play the Mother of Gaborey Sidibe's character, a local townsperson intent on discovering and investigating the strange happenings in the show titled Freak Show . Patti will star in four episodes. AHS premiers this Fall on...

Jennifer Hudson unveils the new album artwork from her new album JHUD due September 23. The album features the singles It's Your World featuring R. Kelly and Walk It Out . Producers on the album include Timbaland and Pharrell. What do you think of the album cover and the title? If you look closely, the album cover is a still from Jennifer's Walk It Out video. Do you think its lazy to use a still from your video shoot for an album cover? I don't think so long as its the right photo. I think Jennifer looks great!

Keyshia Cole is currently filming a new reality show for BET. This will mark her third show for the network. This time around the show details Keyshia making her way as a single mother and getting her recording career back on track. Those who will be watching say "I"! Keyshia will release her new album Point of No Return on September 2. The album will include the songs Rick James, Next Time, She, and more. Keyshia says she shot a video for every song on the album and most of it was freestyled, the lyrics that is. Sounds interesting.

Well what do you know! Chris Brown was spotted at Rihanna's Monster tour with Eminem. Chris recently dumped his longtime girlfriend and now he's back in the good graces of Rihanna, well for now anyway. It's only a matter of time though before these two are on the outs again. The same can be said for Rihanna and Drake. 

END OF THE ROAD: Danity Kane has officially called it quits. After the quintet reformed as a quartet before ending in a trio, the group released the single Lemonade . The song was released to huge fanfare on iTunes. The ladies were working on an upcoming album. After group members Aubrey O'Day and Dawn Richard got into a fist fight, the hope that existed among fans that the group would come back strong has now gone down the drain again. Poor girls! I think Dawn needs to stay out of groups period. She's had no luck with them. Remember when Dawn was apart of Diddy's Dirty Money group? Then again maybe the ladies can reform again in the future when everyone has matured and are clearly ready to partake in a proper reunion. FRANK-LY SPEAKING: Frank Ocean is said to be tying the knot to his transgender lover. The singer is planning the wedding to coincide with the release of a new album coming soon. Frank shocked some earlier in the week when he revealed himself with blue and gr...

Raz B of B2K fame is said to be joining the cast of Love & Hip Hop L.A. The cast is already said to include artists such as Ray J, Teairra Mari, The Game, Soulja Boy, and Omarion. Love & Hip Hop L.A. is set to premiere on VH1 on September 15. Another interesting tidbit I learned that Dawn Richard of Danity Kane was filming for the show until she was dropped for having too weak of a storyline. Maybe if Danity Kane decided to fight while the camera was going maybe she'd still have a spot on the show. But from the sounds of the show, since its inception the show looks to be a very big mess if indeed the rumors of the cast and other happenings are true. 

Beyoncé will be performing at this year's Video Music Awards . The singer will also be on hand to receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award. Beyoncé leads this year's nominations with a total of eight nominations. Sara Stokes of MTV's Making The Band series found herself arrested after a domestic violence dispute with her husband. If you remember the show Sara's husband Tony was very vocal and caused a lot of tiffs between the group. Sara was arrested previously before as well for stabbing her husband. This has been quite the week for Making The Band cast mates. Earlier in the week there was a report that Danity Kane members were involved in a fist match in the studio. The group diffused the situation by playing nice by wishing Dawn a Happy Birthday! 

Chris Brown unveils his new album cover for X . The long awaited album will FINALLY be released on September 9. You all ready for Chris' new album? 

MUSIC BITS: Drake says there's nothing but love between he and Rihanna. This comes on the heels of Drake using Rihanna's picture in his concert followed by the number 666. He explained that the 6 stood for his upcoming album View From The 6 . Who do you think? For some reason I'm not completely buying this but whatever. Teyana Taylor is releasing her album VII on October 21. The album features the first single Maybe featuring Pusha. Omarion's girlfriend went into labor earlier today. I'm guessing by now she's likely given birth but the sex of the baby is unknown at presstime. Faith Evans has shot the video for her new single I Deserve It featuring Missy Elliott & Sharaya J. The video features cameos from KeKe Wyatt, Stevie J, and Joseline Hernandez of Love & Hip Hop fame. Faith's upcoming album Incomparable is due later this year. 

The gloves have come off in the studio between Danity Kane members Aubrey O'Day and Dawn Richard. Just when the group reunited as a quartet then later a trio, the group may be in jeopardy once again before they really take off again. Apparently Dawn was upset with Aubrey after she photoshopped Dawn's picture making her appear to be bigger. Those feelings must of spilled over during a studio session and Dawn struck Aubrey with a closed fist to the head. The third member, Shannon tried to break up the fight to no avail. Police were called resulting in Aubrey filing charges with the police. I like Danity Kane. I'm not their biggest fan by any means but I do believe that Aubrey can be annoying and push you to the edge if provoked. What do you all think? Is this really the end of Danity Kane again? 

Hot on the heels of the news that Drake made insinuations that Rihanna was the devil, Rihanna is not the only musician being linked to the devil these days. Check out the list of other musicians who are rumored to have ties with the devil himself. Check it out!   Beyoncé & Jay Z - The husband and wife duo, whose marriage is or isn't on the rocks have been dogged by rumors of having dealings with satanic cults for years. The rumors have only fueled their reputation making them both two of Hip Hop/R&B's highest paid entertainers. Jay Z has touched on the rumors somewhat in songs but some of the imagery in his videos continues to fuel the speculation. Azealia Banks - When Azealia Banks was signed to Interscope Records, she did a number of videos with several signs that point to the Illuminati, which many believe is a satanic cult. Her videos for #YungRapunxel and Licorice featured imagery that led many to believe that she was joining the ranks of the famed satan...

CAREY ON: Mariah Carey has reportedly fired JD(Jermaine Dupri) as her manager. Making JD her manager in the first place was a bad idea. Just because you two make hit songs together doesn't mean he'll equal a good manager. JD faced a lot of criticism early on from the Lambs(Mariah's fans stans). The constant album pushbacks and misleading singles lead to Mariah's current album Mariah: I Am Me...The Elusive Chanteuse becoming one of the worst selling albums of her career. It didn't make it any better that the album hasn't produced a hit single and the singles she did release prior were good but not good enough to top the charts like Mariah's songs usually does. Anyway it turns out Mariah has hired new manage, Kevin Liles whose worked with Mariah before. Kevin Liles has quite the track record and the track record that Mariah currently needs to get her career off the ground. DEVIL'S DUE: Drake has caused an uproar at his concert when he flashed pictures of...

Jhene Aiko unveils the cover to her Def Jam Records debut Souled Out. It is the follow up to her 2013 EP Sail Out . Souled Out will feature the songs Promises featuring Jhene's daughter, To Love & Die featuring Cocaine80s and The Pressure . 

FIGHTING WORDS: Not only does Christina Milian need to get her music career off the ground, she's been having a hard time defending her new relationship with Lil' Wayne. Ever since the two have been dating, everyone from Lil' Wayne's daughter, his ex-baby mamas and fans and critics alike have had nothing nice to say about Ms. Milian. Is the woman that bad though? I mean she does seem to go from one RICH man to the next but whose counting? Though I'm not sure if her last fiancé was rich then again maybe he was. Christina recently had to get a few critics together who accused her of being a gold digger and sleeping with men for money and music tracks. Well it is true. Do you think Lil' Wayne should come out and make a statement? I mean Christina is taking the heat pretty badly. BREAK UP TO MAKE UP: So Chris Brown and Karrueche Tran are broken up again. I mean hell it'll be no time before the two are canoodling around again at some L.A. event. Anyway Karreuche...

X MARKS THE SPOT: Chris Brown has revealed that his long awaited album X will arrive in stores on September 16. The album features the singles Loyal and New Flame featuring Usher and Rick Ross. The album is said to include appearances from Nicki Minaj, Wiz Khalifa, Brandy, Kelly Rowland, and more. Chris recorded over a dozen tracks for X and has released a dozen singles since the album's inception. What will make the final cut remains to be seen. FLAWLESS INDEED: Beyoncé has possibly shined some light on the problems between Jay Z in a remix to her song Flawless featuring Nicki Minaj. The song leaked out last night via Beyoncé's website. “Of course sometimes s**t goes down when there’s a billion dollars on an elevator,” is what Beyoncé can be heard singing among other things. Nicki closes the song out with a rambunctious flow full of everything we've come to know Nicki for.

Since its release I haven't been able to stop playing the Warner Bros./OVO Records debut from PARTYNEXTDOOR. His new album TWO was released on July 29. The album features the singles Her Way and Recognize featuring Drake. For those unfamiliar with PARTYNEXTDOOR his music is in the vein of The Weeknd. One of the songs that sticks out the most to me and is possibly my favorite thus far is Thirsty. The title repeats throughout the track and PARTYNEXTDOOR serves lines like "Tell them hating ass niggas to shut the fuck up" before telling his girl that he wants to "hit it more than once a day". Other songs to check out for are FWU(Fuck With U), Options, Muse, Bout It, Grown Woman , and much more. PARTYNEXTDOOR had a huge online following his first release an EP which contained the song Wuz Good/Curious which a lot of people liked. If you liked his first EP or you like artists like Frank Ocean, and The Weeknd,  you'll love PARTYNEXTDOOR. I think another reaso...

Jill Scott goes blond for the cover of Essence magazine. The newly trim singer is showing off her figure and is currently starring in the new James Brown movie Get On Up in theaters now. 

PLANET JANET: There has been talk from an engineer claiming to have worked on new music from Janet. He goes on to say that Janet is in a very happy place musically and we'll hear it in her upcoming work. Well I was just browsing Facebook and I follow Janet on Facebook and she just posted a status saying if there is new music, you'll hear it from her lips. Hmm well it turns out either someone is lying or speaking too prematurely on the project. FRIENDOR FOE?: Chris Brown and his on again and off again girlfriend Karrueche Tran have broken up again. On top of that on a recent trip to St. Tropez, Chris was seen canoodling with Tran's friend. Of course social media and the other blogs blew up insinuating that the two were an item. Well it turns out that Tran's friend was also in St. Tropez visiting another friend and just happened to bump into Chris. What do you all think? I'm not sure about this though. I mean you have to keep a close eye on some friends if you know w...

Tiny sits with the infamous The Breakfast Club radio show and dishes on everything from T.I., her marriage, and Azealia Banks.