the chal banz blog

Does Ashanti have new music on the way? Well that's the way it looks judging from her social media pages. The singer posted a video of herself adorned in a glittery dress walking in slow motion over an intoxicating instrumental. Ashanti included the hashtag #JustWaitOnIt signaling there is new music on the way. Are you all here for i? I know I am. I like Ashanti and I'm ready for some new music. Trey Songz, Migos and Bruno Mars are the first names announced as performers at this year's BET Awards. As much as I like Trey Songz, I'm not really sure why he gets a performance spot considering his latest album, "Tremaine" did horribly in sales as did the singles. I just found the whole project underwhelming. None of the singles grabbed me and I just felt like the whole sex thing this time comes off more as desperate than believable. Trey is currently on tour and now in his act, he brings a woman on stage; seduces her and attempts to pick them up without injuring ...

Happy Birthday to Remy Ma! I don't know how old she is but if I had to guess I'd say she's about 35ish. It is also Cee-Lo Green's birthday today. Remember back in the Summer when a video leaked of Cee-Lo Green on his Samsung phone and it exploded? Everyone was genuinely concerned for Cee-Lo and it was later discovered that the video was a hoax. Anyway...Azealia Banks will release a new song tomorrow on May 31(her birthday). The untitled song is said to be a teaser to Banks' re-release of her "Slay Z" mixtape released last year. The song will appear on Soundcloud but also iTunes, Spotify, and other streaming services. Personally I can't wait to hear the new music. In other music news, I hear Beyoncé may be set to give birth tomorrow. Missy Elliott wants to do a video to her remix of "I'm Better" featuring Eve, Lil' Kim, and Trina. Will it happen? We will have to wait and see. At presstime, Missy urged fans to tweet Atlantic Records(M...

So as I was searching for a picture to post along with who I was ready to talk about today, I came across one of my favorite pictures of Mariah Carey from her "The Emancipation of Mimi" album. Now I wasn't planning on talking about Mariah today but I did read through People magazine that Mariah is back with her ex-boyfriend, backup dancer; Bryan. If you are surprised by this revelation then you are not alone. I didn't bother reading the story, I just saw the headline and thought "Wow!". Now for what I truly wanted to talk about today was singer and TV host, Adrienne Bailon of the daytime talk show, "The Real". Well her former bandmate from 3LW, Naturi Naughton appeared on the show and Adrienne apologized to her for her part in the separation of 3LW. Naturi humbly accepted the apology though upon closer inspection, Naturi seemed like she wasn't really here for it. I knew their paths would cross again because they're both in the spotlight. ...

In honor of the new collaboration between Missy Elliott, Lil' Kim, Trina, and Eve on Missy's "I'm Better Remix", I decided to recall some of the most famous(and those that may of went under the radar) collaborations with our beloved female rappers. I will even dish on some collaborations that were supposed to happen and why they never happened. I will even tease a few that I know that are supposed to happen(and hopefully they will)It's all here! LADIES NIGHT(REMIX) - LIL' KIM featuring ANGIE MARTINEZ, MISSY ELLIOTT, DA BRAT, and LEFT EYE  - This collaboration from Lil' Kim's debut album, "Hardcore"(though it never appeared on "Hardcore"), turns 20 years old this year and was recently performed on "The Soul Train Music Awards" a few years earlier.  B.W.A. - FOXY BROWN featuring GANGSTA BOO and MIA X appeared on Foxy Brown's 1999 album, "Chyna Doll" and its as gutter as you can get back then with all ...

Hey guys! I'll tell you now, this is a lengthier post so I'm warning you now. So yesterday Nicki Minaj appeared on "Ellen" and she brought up Nicki's rumored new boo, Nas. While Nicki played somewhat coy, she did admit to having "sleepovers" with Nas. She also says that she's "celibate" but may make an exception for Nas. I bet she will in fact I think any woman(or man) that is celibate will make an exception for Nas. I still can't get over how people keep saying that "SHether" has been removed from iTunes(Apple Music) when I periodically check and I see it there. Nas is collecting those coins. I'm guessing Nicki doesn't feel a ways about that considering she's just rubbing in the fact that's she's "dating" Nas. Remy's not worried though. She's been married for several years. Speaking of female rappers, Iggy Azalea will release her new album, "Digital Distortion" on June 30. I w...

The word on the street is that singer Brandy is pregnant but she is denying it! Brandy's former "Moesha" co-star, Countess Vaughn(who she famously feuded with) congratulated Brandy on the news not once but twice. Brandy's own daughter came out and said her Mother had partaken in eating numerous amounts of pancakes and so forth. Well little does Brandy's daughter know that all the extra eating could mean your Mother is pregnant. Maybe Brandy is pregnant and she's just not ready to make the announcement. She did put in her bio that she is not pregnant and is far too busy to be. But Brandy has definitely been flaunting around her new man which has become a controversy in itself. Brandy hasn't had the best luck in relationships and I think people genuinely want to see her happy. But the real question is why is Countess Vaughn continually congratulating Brandy if she is saying it isn't true? Is Countess just being shady? Well, the Billboard Music awards w...

Beyoncé had a push party(baby shower) yesterday with several friends and family by her side. Beyoncé's due date and sex of her twins are unknown has seen much speculation. Nicki Minaj will be opening tonight's Billboard Music Awards with what is being labeled a "epic 9 minute performance". Nicki will perform a medley of her hits and I'm sure "No Frauds" will be included for good measure. :) Drake is also said to be performing among others. The Billboard Music Awards air tonight at 8 P.M. EST(Eastern Standard Time) on ABC(I believe). Snoop Dogg says he's putting out a gospel album. Why? I don't know. But hey if it makes you money then so be it. Busta Rhymes just celebrated his 45th birthday. Our 90s rappers are getting old! Speaking of Busta, he hasn't put out new music in awhile that I'm aware of. You can hear him spit some bars on Faith Evans' "The King & I" album which is currently #1 on iTunes R&B chart. Go Fait...

The BET Award nominations were released a few days ago and no surprises at all when it comes to the nominations. Beyoncé and Bruno Mars led with the nominations. The telecast will air on June 25(I think) on BET. VH1 rapper Cardi B from "Love & Hip Hop" got her first nomination for Best Female Rapper and was ecstatic about the news as she should be. Some trolls online weren't too happy about it and pissed her off and she ranted about it. I don't think she will will but that's very big that she did get nominated. A female rapper that didn't get nominated with Dreezy(song: "Close To You" featuring T-Pain) was very upset and vocal about her not getting nominated. I get her frustration because its like you're not being acknowledged by your own people but after all its the BET awards and its not the only music award ceremony there is in the world. As expected Remy Ma and Nicki Minaj are both nominated. Fan favorite Nicki Minaj has a shot at getti...

L.A. Reid, the man behind the careers of TLC, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston has left his post at Epic Records. On top of that he is being sued for sexual harassment by an Epic employee. I wonder is that why he left? For those of you unfamiliar with L.A. Reid, he started LaFace Records with Babyface and he was formerly married to 80s R&B singer Perri "Pebbles" Reid back in the day. He was also rumored to have had a fling with Chili from TLC, something both have denied over the years. Speaking of Epic Records, Future(who records for Epic Records) has everyone talking in a good way when he posted a sentimental message to Ciara for Mother's Day. It comes on the heels of Ciara's husband, Russell Wilson catching flack for including Future and Ciara's song, Future as his "family". If you think about it, Russell is Future's son stepfather so he is his family. I don't see the big deal. People need to find something else to go on about. In new mu...

The feud between Nicki Minaj and Remy Ma continues to heat up as Nicki Minaj snatches Nas and Remy Ma takes shots at Nicki on TV and in a new collaboration. Earlier this week Nicki Minaj sent everyone into a frenzy when she revealed a snap shot of her and rapper Nas hugged up in a restaurant. The caption red "When KINGS support QUEENS" with several emojis to follow. The picture immediately led everyone to believe that the two rappers were dating though I can't quite figure if that was Nicki's way of making it official or was this just a meeting of the minds at a restaurant. If Nicki Minaj and Nas are in fact dating its quite interesting for two reasons. One, Nas appeared in Nicki Minaj's video a few years ago, I think it was "Right By My Side" with Chris Brown where she kissed Nas at the end of the video. Nicki was with currently with Safaree at that time and that shocked everyone when there was a kiss. Two, Nas' "Ether" instrumental is t...

Sorry for the lack of updates guys but I'm back with a few things I wanted to talk about. First, "American Idol" is being brought back after being off the air for 2 years or so. FOX cancelled the series after 15 or so seasons and now ABC will revive the show. There is no word on who will host and sit on the judging panel. What would be interesting though is if they got Ryan, Paula, Randy, and Simon. Do you think it could happen? Perhaps, for the right price. Speaking of money, did you contribute to the Go Fund Me for TLC to kick start their new album? Well their new self-titled album will be released on June 30. The album features the single, "Way Back" featuring Snoop Dogg and the new song, "Haters". TLC is currently on tour overseas and will soon kick off their 90s tour with other 90s act. Diddy is being sued by his chef who says they were sexually harassed by the mogul. The only thing I read about this story was that the chef was asked to make Did...

Beyoncé is releasing "How To Make Lemonade" a box set of her hit album which contains a 600 book with a vinyl album. The box set retails for $300. While the price tag is ridiculous I do commend Beyoncé for always creating memorabilia for her fans to cherish for years down the road unlike other artists. Iggy Azalea is gearing up to release her new single, "Switch". It comes on the heels of her single, "Mo Bounce" which came and went faster than a meteor. Good luck to her! An Xscape biopic is in the works for the Atlanta quartet and apparently Jermaine Dupri and the group are butting heads. I don't know the whole story but its funny because when Xscape mentioned they were reuniting I didn't hear a peep from JD. Now that all these offers are on the table from Mona Scott Young and others, JD must want a piece of the piece as well. Janet Jackson has announced that she will be heading back out on the road after cancelling her tour last year to have a b...