the chal banz blog

WHAT'S BEEF: So let me take some time to stop stressing about the little things to bring you some music news. Erykah Badu was recently asked about Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks. When asked about Azealia Banks, Erykah replied, I "tried" to listen to her music. Of course word got back to Azealia who was likely internet trolling and called out Erykah saying she was "jealous" and a barrage of other things. It was quite interesting on Azealia's side as it always is. I just hope that Azealia Banks can fight because one day someone is going to want to fight her. Just saying and still love her though. Her debut album Broke With Expensive Taste will see a physical release on March 3 along with a "frisky" pictorial in Playboy arriving on March 20 that's said to "break the internet"(a term used saying that this will have everyone talking). I can't wait to see it and I guess I will also be buying my first issue of Playboy, believe it or not....

It has been four years since Justin's last album and as the singer states he is in no rush to record his next release. Timberlake is waiting for some inspiration to hit him before he decides on his next solo direction. "So, until it kind of slaps me in the face, I'm going to tinker around with everything," he said. "I'm obviously not the type of artist who rushes anything. I've done, like, two records in the last eight years." Timberlake enjoys the process of making music too much to rush it. "You know, I just believe that the process is what it's really all about. And if you make the process [like] what I was able to have the luck of tapping into for the first two [albums], the end comes out the way it comes out," he explained. "For me it is about the process — the discovery of whatever it is it's going to be. That's the most fun part." Rihanna Preps New Album! After much speculation, Def Jam Records announced today (...

Marques Houston revealed awhile back that he was recording a video for every song on his new album, "Mr. Houston" which is in stores today. Check out his latest video, "How I Do". Music Biz: Ciara Plans New Album! Ciara has been laying low as of late, but for good reason. The R&B singer is well into recording her fourth album and we’ve got the exclusive details. Christopher “Tricky” Stewart and his songwriting partner The-Dream have been secretly spending the summer in the studio producing the entire follow-up to Ciara’s Fantasy Ride. Stewart broke the news to Rap-Up.com in an exclusive interview. “We’re doing the whole project,” he reveals. “We’re pretty good into it at this point. We’re about 14 songs deep right now.” While there’s still the possibility of a release by the end of the year, it’s looking like 2010 will mark Super C’s return. “It’s a little up in the air, but there’s a chance that it might come this year. That was the goal, but at the same time, ...

Whitney Houston mania is still here though some say its been overshadowed by Mariah Carey with her new album coming out, Whitney appears on JET magazine. Music Biz: The-Dream Plans New Album! Now that he’s wed Christina Milian and expecting his second child, The-Dream is prioritizing. His new album Love King has been pushed to next year while he focuses on his family and penning hits for others. Producer Christopher “Tricky” Stewart spoke to Rap-Up.com about the delay of his hitmaking partner’s third album, originally slated for a fourth quarter release. “That’s not in the cards ’cause we’re just too busy right now,” says Stewart. “I think he wanted to take a little bit of time off from doing the artist thing.” In the meantime, Dream is working on two new videos that will quench fans’ thirst. “We are shooting two more videos for his Love vs. Money album this week, one to ‘Sweat It Out’ and the other one to ‘Fancy.’” As for Love King, the project is “almost” complete, according to Stewa...

Those who were expecting a new Christina Aguilera album this Fall is in for a disappointment. You will see the album is not being released in 2010. Kanye West speaks out on his outrageous statements concerning the "king of pop" and Mario has a change of plans! Read about all these stories and more below! Christina Aguilera Pushes Album Back! Despite rumours that Christina Aguilera's fourth studio album, tentatively titled "Light & Darkness, would be released around September/October, it's now been confirmed that the album isn't due until sometime in 2010. Aggie has also spoken out some more about the albums "futuristic sound", which is a huge departure from the jazz heavy "Back 2 Basics". "I kind of had an idea for a futuristic feel for many years now, but I also had that idea that I wanted to do a soul, blues and jazz record also." she says "But I knew I had to do that one first ... It's always been in the back of m...

Hello all! I hope you all are enjoying your Monday, I am. I am currently watching "The Wendy Williams Show" which is my new addiction. Here is some music news for the music news obsessed! Mary J. Blige Preps Stronger Album! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Mary J. Blige has been through the storm and is singing about it on her new album. The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul will release her 9th studio album Stronger on November 24. The first single, “The One,” features Drake and can be seen in a new AT&T ad airing now. “The album represents who and what I am right now,” MJB said on set of the commercial. “I’m a stronger human being after all the growing pains. It’s about life, love, change, strength—mostly really knowing who you are and being confident in that.” The follow-up single will be the title track, “Stronger,” which can also be found on the soundtrack to More Than a Game. The documentary about NBA star LeBron James’ high school days in Akron, Ohio, opens October 2 ...

Monica and JD takes viewers behind the scenes of her upcoming reality show set to premiere this October on BET. Check it out! Music Biz: Cassie Talks New Album! AHHA: If you could just kind of touch on the title. The mind definitely goes certain places when you mention the title. Cassie: The last album, it was self-titled. It was a fast release because I had the single out and I just had to put an album out almost immediately. It was like I had no choice, kind of. And it wasn’t that it was bad. It was a great album, but I wanted people to be able to see who I was and the kind of music I like and what I really like to listen to. Electro Love is not really supposed to be taken literally. DJ Cassidy gave me the idea, and I just thought it fit the sound of the album perfectly with where it was going. It’s not electro music/house like hardcore but there is a good beat to dance to. And the lyrical content is dope. It’s all different. So I have a record with Pharrell that he wrote on. Tricky ...

for Young Money's "Every Girl" is in full effect! Meanwhile Amerie talks her past label situations and Cassie speaks on her new album. Read on about it! Music Biz: Amerie On Columbia Records, Beyonce! AHHA: Did you feel Columbia was down for your project? Their priority artist on their roster seems to be Beyoncé. Amerie: Every label should never have one priority artist. That’s not good because contracts run out and then what are you going to do? It’s always good to just nurture different talent and everyone has a different flavor. I just felt like I loved the staff, they were really, really cool on a personal level and had some really creative ideas, but it just wasn’t meshing. A lot people said I really didn’t get the support that I should’ve had, marketing and all of those things, but it really wasn’t…you just really have to have that great match. It’s like a marriage. It just wasn’t working and I felt like that a little after my first project, kind of after my second ...

Hello all! Thank you all for your continued support of the blog. Here is some of the latest headlines and stories in music. Music Biz: Mariah Preps New Album! Mariah Carey will release her twelfth studio album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," August 25 on Island Def Jam, the singer announced today (June 16). The debut single, "Obsessed," is co-written and produced by Carey, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart and has shipped to radio, while a music video directed by Brett Ratner is forthcoming. With "Obsessed" impacting radio yesterday, as you can see the release date has been pushed up quite a few weeks. What is more interesting is the album comes out a week before Whitney Houston's album. I guess this will prove to be a good marketing strategy. Meanwhile "Obsessed" premiered and on top of that the remix featuring Gucci Mane leaked out way ahead of its supposed release date. Spectacular To Pose Nude? The staff at FlavaMen magazine doesn’t care whe...

Music Biz: Natalie Cole Gets New Kidney! Rhythm and blues singer Natalie Cole, who has been battling Hepatitis C, received a new kidney in Los Angeles and is resting comfortably, her spokeswoman said on Wednesday.Cole, the 59-year-old daughter of R&B legend Nat "King" Cole, underwent surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The kidney came from a deceased organ donor, the spokeswoman said in a statement.She has been receiving kidney dialysis three times a week since September, even as she toured the world to promote her new album, "Still Unforgettable." Cole will recuperate for the next three to four months, forcing her to postpone a summer tour, the statement said. I was just watching Natalie Cole on "Larry King Live" a few weeks ago and I am glad to hear she finally got her kidney. ---------------- Now playing: Electrik Red - Drink In My Cup (Produced By Tricky And The-Dream) via FoxyTunes

Ciara continues with her promo tour across the world this time stopping in Europe. The video is rather long(21 mins. or so to be exact). Check it out! Ciara has really been grinding and hopefully it all pays off in the end. Music Biz: Al B. Sure! Returns! Veteran R&B singer/songwriter Al B. Sure! has signed with Hidden Beach Recordings and will release a new album on June 23. "Honey I'm Home" signals the artist's first new studio project in over 15 years. The 13-track CD features the sensual lead single "I Love It (Papi Aye, Aye, Aye)," which is currently available on iTunes.Here's the complete track listing for "Honey I'm Home": 1. "Nite and Day (Interlude)" 2. "I Love It! (Papi Aye, Aye, Aye)" 3. "I'm Glad" 4. "Top of Your Lungs!" 5. "All I Wanna Do" 6. "Lady in My Life" 7. "Dedicate My All" 8. "Bye the Way, By the Way" 9. "Only You!" 10. ...

The movie that everyone is pretty much anticipating is the "Fatal Attraction" rip off "Obsessed" starring Beyonce and along with everyone else I do wanna see the movie even though its not exactly original. If I'm not mistaken this film has been in the works for quite a while. I remember LL Cool J being attached to this project long ago. Check out this exclusive clip of "Obsessed" which will be in theaters April 24. Music Biz: Either Mario or someone in his camp is deliberately leaking songs from the singer's upcoming album, "And Then There Was Me" in stores this June. Click here to hear his newest song, "Lonely Girl's Club" produced by Tricky Stewart[worked with Rihanna]. Trey Songz will release his new album, "Ready" sometime this summer. In the meantime click here to hear his newly leaked song, "Show Me Love". Christina Milian's original second single, "Zipper" featuring The-Dream finall...

The Black Eyed Peas returns with a new album, "The E.N.D." due June 1. Check out this exclusive promo pic from the famed quartet. I don't think I'm liking Fergie's new hair style. It makes her look older to me than again she's always looked older. There is certainly no shortage of leaked Mario songs in existence. Below you can check out his latest song. Audio: Mario - Afraid To Cry(Hardest Moments) There is no word yet on Mario's upcoming album. I'm assuming though the majority of these leaked songs will appear on Mario's upcoming album. Like his counterpart Mario, Ne-Yo has just as many leaked songs in existence if not more. Below you can check out the newest addition to his ever growing catalog. Produced by Tricky Stewart! Audio: Ne-Yo - Bite You If you have heard one Ne-Yo song you have heard them all. Every once in awhile Ne-Yo manages to surprise me but not much.

Christina Milian is hard at work on her new album, "Dream In Color" which hits stores real soon. Her album's first single, "Us Against The World" didn't have much of an impact so she is moving forward with second single, "Zipper" produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart. The two producers have a huge hand in shaping up the disc's sound. Let's hope this disc is hot and gets the attention it deserves. You can't deny how much Trina grinds! She is always putting out new music or jumping on the latest remix to one of the country's hottest songs. Her latest features are certainly no exception. Check it out! Audio: GS Boys feat Trina - Stanky Leg Remix Jennifer Lopez is returning to the music scene this year with two albums, a Greatest Hits package a new full-length studio album. Where this new song comes from is anyones guess but I figure in the coming days we will know for sure. Check out the newly leaked single from Jennifer Lopez! Prod...

As far as R&B females are concerned you can't get any hotter than Ms. Keyshia Cole. The singer has three successful albums and a hit BET reality show, "The Way It Is". The cover reminds me somewhat of Mary J. Blige. Mary J. Blige has graced Vibe magazine numerous times, and I wouldn't be surprised if Keyshia comes pretty close to a record number of covers herself. I will say this is one of Vibe's better covers. Over the last few months and years, the covers don't usually grab my attention nor does the artist on it. I used to remember when Vibe was like the black Rolling Stone(magazine). The magazine was much wider in width and longer in height. The covers were controversial as was the stories that filled the pages. Those were the days! Audio: Mario feat. The Dream - Boomin It Newly leaked track! Produced by Tricky Stewart! I like this! So many songs have leaked from Mario within the last few months its ridiculous. The amount of songs could conjure up a ful...

Audio: Usher - Enchanted Newly leaked track! This track isn't too bad. Look for a new Usher album to surface very soon! Audio: Cassie - I'm A Lover Newly leaked track! Produced by The-Dream & Tricky Stewart! Very 80s inspired! This sounds like something Vanity 6 would of recorded. I personally think Cassie should just give up singing. It is just not working at this point! A lot of the leaked songs in the past have been very mediocre. Audio: Slim Thug feat Akon - Please Don't Do That Newly leaked track! Sounds cool! I wrote off Akon and T-Pain awhile back but I'm starting to think they are here to stay.......a little while longer anyway. I also read that Slim Thug and LeToya are back together. The couple have been off and on for a number of years. Music Biz: Usher Collabs With Pharrell On New Album! "It's a little bit of everything," Usher said of what they've been working on. "Pharrell has his Web site where he lets you come inside his world a...

Audio: Blu Cantrell - Boy Crazy Newly leaked track! From new upcoming album, "Blubonic". You don't know how excited I was to see and hear a new track from Bllu Cantrell. I absolutely love her. The song is not that bad. I kinda like it. Video: T.I.'s "Road To Redemption" Show Preview Premieres February 10 at 9pm ET/PT on MTV! Audio: Justin Timberlake - Bigger Than The World Newly leaked track! I have heard that JT is working on a new album but last I read the singer denied it. Who knows? Music Biz: Mario Lands Fashion Deal! Vocalist Mario will star in the European ad campaign for the spring and summer collections from fashion label Pelle Pelle. Meanwhile, Mario is also hard at work on the follow-up to his 2007 album, Go. Mario’s working with an all-star roster of songwriters and producers including Polow da Don, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Babyface, Stargate and Tricky Stewart & The-Dream. Kelis, Nas Expecting First Child! From "Milkshake" to ...

This Philadelphia native first caught our attention via Jay-Z on his "Dig A Hole" song from his "Kingdom Come" album. The appearance set the stage for Sterling Simms' debut album, "Yours, Mine, and The Truth". The album is somewhat of a concept album(if you would like to refer to it as such). The album plays on three different sides hence the title, "Yours, Mine, and The Truth". Sterling explains he had just gotten out of a relationship and that the album is based on that. Sterling has released a couple of singles that failed to resonate with radio, "Jump Off" featuring Sean Paul of the Youngbloodz and "Nasty Girl"(which is one of my favorites). Now with the release of his latest single, "All I Need"(also recorded by Lloyd) featuring The-Dream & Jadakiss, Sterling is poised to become the next big thing in R&B. With a voice similar to Usher and a swagger like Lil' Wayne, Sterling is not your typical R...

Audio: Cassie - Summer Charm New track! Produced by Tricky Stewart and The-Dream! Video: Yung Berg - Outerspace Music Biz: Beyonce's Wedding Ring! A source tells Star magazine, “Even though Beyonce’s real engagement ring is insured, she doesn’t always feel comfortable wearing such a valuable stone.”Beyonce publicly displayed her wedding ring for the first time on the redcarpet for Fashion Rocks at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. Photogs and journalists went gaga over her bling, so we don’t blame her being super cautious. Keshia Chante Plays Aaliyah! Canadian(Ontario)-born R&B singer Keisha Chante has been confirmed to play Aaliyah in a much-anticipated biopic setfor release next year.According to the National Post, the ink is dry on Chante's contract to portray the R&B singer in theas-yet-titled biopic.Chronicling the life of the R&B star that brought magic to both the screen and the studio, Aaliyah'sbiopic will attempt to cover the singer's journey up to her ...

Check out the new album cover for Plies' 3rd album, "Da Realist" in stores December 16. The album is lead by 1st single, "Put It On Ya" featuring Chris J. The album sports collaborations from Ashanti and Sean Garrett. Slip-N-Slide is definitely on a roll. Fellow labelmates Rick Ross & Trina also have new albums scheduled for next year. I think most of us have seen the new Kanye West, "808s & Heartbreak" album cover but if not here you go. It's a pretty basic cover but the title itself is more revealing than anything. The last year for Kanye has been a difficult one with the death of his mother and his multiple arrests. Audio: Ciara - Explode This is a new track from CiCI. Produced by Tricky Stewart(worked with Rihanna). The new album,"Fantasy Ride" will be released early 2009. Audio: Ne-Yo - Voicemail This is a new track from Ne-Yo. It was produced by The Stereotypes(worked with Foxy Brown). When I first heard this beat I was plea...