Kelly Rowland Signing On As ‘The X Factor’ Judge

Christina Lee
May 19th, 2013 // Leave a Comment
Elle's 4th Annual Women in Music Celebration

Kelly Rowland will soon Talk a Good Game as an X Factor judge, if all goes according to plan. Entertainment Weekly reports that Rowland is “firming up a deal” to help replace Britney Spears and LA Reid, to appear with returning judges Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato.

To her advantage, Rowland holds prior experience on The X Factor, albeit the U.K. version. As her fellow Season 8 judges poked fun at her Houston-bred critiques (her retort: “I’m a Southern girl, y’all isn’t going anywhere”), Rowland was warm and enthusiastic. One of her best lines was directed at a contestant who confessed she felt insecure of her weight. More »

Posted Under: ,

Chris Brown’s “They Don’t Know”: Preview The Aaliyah-Sampling Single

Christina Lee
May 19th, 2013 // Leave a Comment
chris brown aaliyah

Chris Brown has released a snippet to “They Don’t Know,” the X single that samples previously unreleased vocals from the late Aaliyah. Based on the preview, Brown doesn’t deviate far from its source material.

“They Don’t Know” borrows from Digital Black‘s “Don’t Think They Know,” from his 2008 album Memoirs of an R&B Thug. Digital Black was one of three members in ’90s R&B group Playa, whose members (Static Major especially) worked with Aaliyah in addition to Ginuwine, Missy Elliott and Jo Jo. Timbaland had also produced Playa’s 1998 debut, Cheers 2 U. Hear Brown’s take after the jump. More »

Posted Under: ,

Jay-Z And Drake Hit The Studio Together

Christina Lee
May 19th, 2013 // Leave a Comment

Drake‘s found yet another reason to thank Jay-Z later. As reported last night, he hit the studio with the Roc Nation CEO for their first collaboration since “Light Up,” off his 2010 debut. “Warning: Please be very afraid of the music we’re working on. OVO x ROCNATION,” a Roc Nation photographer posted to Instagram.

In the Thank Me Later track,  Drake rapped of how his friends were partying, but he was making the music they party to — “I got these new rappers nervous / prom night, n—-” — before a pissed-off Jay warned him of how fame can turn ugly: “Not as cool of a n— as I once was, these bright lights turned me to a monster.” Revisit the track after the jump. More »

Posted Under: ,

Kanye West’s ‘Yeezus’ Album Art, Unveiled

Christina Lee
May 19th, 2013 // Leave a Comment

Kanye West‘s album art for Yeezus has been revealed. Shortly before West took the Saturday Night Live stage, Kim Kardashian and West’s manager posted a photo of the cover, placed by the sneakers that West wore on stage (above).

While West performed new songs “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” to a quick-cutting slideshow of sales tags — shout out to Savers — the Yeezus cover art features an indecipherable bronze mass. Maybe it’s a bust being melted apart. (Crane your head to the right.) Maybe it alludes to Watch the Throne. (Likely, no?) Maybe it’s a Season 1 Game of Thrones reference. (Okay, maybe not.)

More »

Posted Under:

Janet Jackson Preps First New Music In Five Years

Christina Lee
May 19th, 2013 // Leave a Comment
Janet Jackson Timeless Diva

Janet Jackson sees our desire: Days before her fifth album janet. celebrates its 20th anniversary, the enduring pop diva announces that she’s prepping her first new music in five years. “We are creating the concept and initial thoughts on the music,” she says to Billboard. “I am excited about the direction that we’re taking.”

At this point in planning, the possibilities for Jackson’s new music seems endless. Her most recent album, 2008′s Discipline, had debuted at No. 1 only to fall swiftly from the charts, but it’s hard to ignore that she’d replaced long-time producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis with a wide array of still-relevant collaborators, including Darkchild, Stargate, Rodney Jerkins, Tricky Stewart, and The-Dream. More »

Posted Under:

Kanye West Performs “Black Skinhead” & “New Slaves” On ‘SNL’ Season Finale: Watch

Carl Williott
May 18th, 2013 // 5 Comments
kanye west black skinhead snl
Yeezy's Not For Sale

One night after premiering “New Slaves” on 66 different building facades in 10 cities, and hours after the world learned his new album will be called Yeezus (seriously), Kanye West appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live‘s May 18 season finale. For the first song he debuted “Black Skinhead,” and it was an intense, angry and focused performance. Yeezy ranted with fuzzed out vocals over an industrial racket as menacing black-and-white images and price tags flashed on a screen behind him.

There was word that some stuff on Yeezy’s new album is screamy and sounds like Nine Inch Nails, and this track certainly delivers on both of those fronts. With his unhinged European shows, the recent paparazzi rants and the vitriol of “New Slaves,” West is clearly in a volatile and exciting creative space. He’s a mad scientist, and that’s why we put up with his bullshit.

Watch “Black Skinhead” up top, and check out his performance of “New Slaves” below. More »

Posted Under: ,
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next »