Rihanna is taking the Billboard charts by storm once again, this time pushing label mate Taio Cruz to the side. Her newest single “Rude Boy” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making this her fifth #1 as a solo artist.

“Rude” is Rihanna’s sixth Hot 100 No. 1 and fifth as a lead artist. Her most recent chart-topper had been as a featured vocalist on T.I.’s “Live Your Life” in 2008. Her other leaders are “SOS” (2006, three weeks), “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z (2007, seven weeks), “Take A Bow” (2008, 1 week) and “Disturbia” (2008, two weeks)

Since debuting on the scene in June 2005 with the No. 2-peaking “Pon De Replay,” Rihanna has posted more Hot 100 No. 1 than any other artist. Next in line is Justin Timberlake who has scored five chart-toppers during this span.

BILLBOARD

It was announced yesterday that Michael Jackson’s estate signed a $250 million recording contract (with a guarantee of $200 million), making this the biggest deal in the history of music. The deal, made with Sony Music Entertainment, includes a contract for 10 projects to be released over a span of 7 years. The first album will debut in November. Sources say Jackson recorded enough material prior to his death for at least three albums of fresh never-before-heard songs.

A source tells TMZ the royalty rate on foreign sales is the key to the deal — and 2/3 of the sales of MJ records traditionally have been outside the U.S. And we’re told Sony gets a two-year extension for the right to distribute the Michael Jackson catalog — to 2017.

The deal has nothing to do with The Beatles’ catalog — it’s all about MJ original recordings. The agreement was brokered by John Branca and John McClain, executors of the MJ estate.

Wow! $250 million?! We tell you what: those kids (Prince, Paris and Blanket) are gonna be set for the rest of their lives…

Young Money rapper Nicki Minaj revealed that she wants to right for Beyonce! Now that she’s worked with Usher, Mariah Carey, Ludacris and more, she’s ready to work with the Queen.

“I think I can come up with some crazy, crazy stuff for Beyonce,” Nicki offered. ”I have things that I write for girls, like R&B singers and you know, Beyonce, she’s fearless. I think she can embody my crazy swag in a female R&B world.”

BET

We can’t even imagine the type of things Nicki would have Beyonce saying in a song. This could turn out either really bad… or really good.

Check out this dope graphic a fan made of Lady Gaga and Beyonce, following the premiere of their big “Telephone” music video last week. The picture made its way around the Internet over the weekend and was even spotted by Lady Gaga herself who tweeted this:

“I think the Pop Universe just imploded. Completely brilliant. Whoever made this: BRAVO.”

Meanwhile, MTV is refuting reports stating that their network had “banned” the racy video because they had deemed it inappropriate. The network premiered the video Friday and fans can view it both on-air and online via the MTV.com website. Peep MTV’s statement below…

“MTV did not ban Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s ‘Telephone’ video — in fact, we premiered it on Friday, March 12, on-air and online at MTV.com, two days before this story was falsely reported,” said MTV Executive Vice President of Music and Talent Amy Doyle. “Fans can continue to catch the video as we repeat it on-air and online.”

MTV

Also, the designer who created the graphic above put together another image of Gaga and Beyonce in the video as a thank you to everyone, including Lady Gaga herself, who appreciated the first one. Continue reading to check that out!

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Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s new “Telephone” video has gotten mixed reviews since its premiere late Thursday night. Some believe it’s “epic” while others believe the hype around it was considerably higher than how good the video actually was.

Well, Lady Gaga recently hit up a couple radio stations to clarify some things in the video; from the “acting” on both her and Beyonce’s part, to the number of product placements that lined the video. After listening to these, we can definitely say that no one puts as much thought into a video like Gaga does and it looks like she’ll be sticking around in this here music biz!

Lady Gaga talks to JJ at Z100
[See post to listen to audio]
Click here to listen to Gaga speak with Carson Daly on 97.1 AMP Radio. Also, there’s the shorter version of the video that you will see on television. We actually like it better than the original 9-minute version. Continue reading to check it out!

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… because radio stations refuse to play his music due to an incident that happened over a year ago.

R&B singer Chris Brown reached out to his fans directly via his Say Now account yesterday, pleading for them to request his songs to help him get back up in the radio charts.

“I ain’t never really did this but right now I need all of my fans help. Some radio stations aren’t playing my records. They are not being that supportive and I wouldn’t expect them to. It’s on the fans and you guys do what’s in your power to bring me back. That’s all I need is you guys and nothing else will do that except for the fans. I don’t know what else to say. It’s nothing else that I can do. I’m doing everything that I need to do. I’m doing me as a person and I’m a better guy. It’s on ya’ll. My singing and my music I do it for you guys and everything else but it won’t be possible if I’m not relevant on the radio and it wouldn’t be possible for me to be an artist if I don’t have any support from the people giving artists an outlet. I can’t be an underground mixtape artist. That’s where we are. I just want all my fans to help me. I love ya’ll. Peace”

This may go against the majority’s opinion, but we agree with him all the way with this one. It’s definitely not right for radio stations to play with another person’s career like that over something that they went through in their personal lives. And it happened a year ago. It might be time for people to move on from that now. If Rihanna can forgive the dude and move on, everyone else should be able to as well…

If you wanna help Chris out, request his two latest singles “Sing Like Me” and “Pass Out” on your local radio stations.

CLICK HERE TO REQUEST CHRIS BROWN’S MUSIC

Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s eagerly anticipated music video for their mega-hit “Telephone” didn’t premiere Monday as planned (obviously) but LG’s label made up for that by releasing a few never-before-seen shots of Gaga and Beyonce in the video, set to premiere this Thursday (for real this time… hopefully) on E! News at 11:30 PM EST. It will make its online debut one half hour later on Vevo.com.

After the premiere, Gaga will dissect the inspiration behind “Telephone” and explain how she has been able to out-do herself yet again exclusively to Ryan Seacrest. The video will make its online debut at midnight that evening on VEVO.com and LadyGaga.com. Gritty, erotic and wildly fierce, this nine-minute, visually stunning, cinematic masterpiece is helmed by famed music video director Jonas Akerlund. Rich with Gaga’s unique dance stylings, iconic costume design and unworldly hair and make-up, this is far from your typical music video.

We’re just ready for them to release the damn video… what about you? Peep the pics below…

Between being a mother and trying her damnedest to take her estranged husband Nas for everything he’s worth, singer Kelis is a pretty busy woman! But that’s not stopping her from putting out new material and making some more money to fund her lavish lifestyle. “Acapella,” the debut single from her forthcoming 5th studio album FleshTone, due in stores May 4th, hit No.1 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart this week; and her label put out a picture of her in the song’s upcoming music video.

In a recent interview with VIBE Magazine, Will.i.am, head of Will.i.am Music Group, the label Kelis’ new album will be released under, said that the singer, popular for her “Milkshake” song back in the early 2000’s, could be as big as his group the Black Eyed Peas.

“Kelis has always been a best kept secret,” says will, who inked the singer/songwriter to his Interscope-distributed label, will.i.am Music Group last December. “The cool people know Kelis. But the majority of people just know ‘Milkshake.’ If Kelis were fashion she would be a girl’s favorite pair of shoes or a coat…high fashion. I would like Kelis to show she’s an international sensation. She can be big. A lot of people think big is being on the radio or that being big is having a show in London, France and sometimes Japan. But that ain’t international…that’s just three countries. The Black Eyed Peas are big; the Black Eyed Peas are international. I think Kelis can be that big. As big as the Peas.”

Will also points out that artists like Kelis usually don’t get their deserved shine because of out-of-control egos that control the hip hop industry. “A lot of time rappers have these labels and they don’t let their artist become bigger than them,” he says. “I’ve proven that’s not me. Fergie is huge. When Fergie blew up she was bigger than me! I believe Kelis can do the same.”

FleshTone, Kelis’ first album in nearly four years, will be launched alongside a promotional tour that is set to kick off at the Winter Music Conference in Miami later this month. Additional details will be announced shortly.

Hundreds of top music industry suits paid up to $1,000 each to hear Reid speak at the Billboard 2010 Music & Money Symposium at the St. Regis last week. But hours before the talk, delegates were told that his son was in the hospital with a head injury and needed surgery. Reid has four sons, from 6 to 29 years old, as well as a daughter, 8.

However, sources contradict that story about his son being in the hospital, saying that it is false and Reid didn’t want to speak at the Billboard event because he didn’t want to face inquiries about his uncertain post at Def Jam. Apparently, the folks at the label were very disappointed in the sales figures for Rihanna and Mariah Carey’s latest albums and want him out.

“There was speculation among other music executives that this was not entirely the truth. Reid didn’t want to answer questions about his future with Island Def Jam,” a source said. “The move left organizers panicked with no speaker with just hours to go. Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff agreed to stand in.”

One of Reid’s friends reached out to the NY Post and told them that he had to cancel because he was called away on family business; not because his son was ill. They also added that he “isn’t going anywhere” and plans to sign Jennifer Lopez soon…

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Check out what pop singer Lady Gaga sent to her 2 million plus followers on Twitter this week (Thu Mar 4). It’s a picture of her covered in police tape, which comes straight from she and Beyonce’s brand new “Telephone” music video, set to premiere this upcoming Monday (or sooner, you know how this here Internet works sometimes!)

Just one day prior to sending this picture out, Gaga thanked her “little monsters” (what she calls her fans) for making the single number one on the dance/pop charts over here in the States.

LITTLE MONSTERS!! Today is an exciting day. Telephone become our SIXTH NUMBER 1 RECORD IN A ROW IN AMERICA! I love you so much! Celebrate!

We also hear that following the “Telephone” video comes the video for The Fame Monster’s third single, “Alejandro.” It goes to radio sometime this month. In the meantime, click here to check out the new tour dates for her “Monster Ball” tour. Summer dates for the U.S. will be announced soon…

We are getting word that pop superstar Lady Gaga will be extending her critically acclaimed “Monster Ball” tour to meet high demand. Following her sold out dates in the UK, Australia and Japan, Gaga will return to Europe to perform shows, beginning May 7th in Sweden, followed by dates in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France before returning BACK to the UK (Lady Gaga sure does love the UK!)

As far us over here in North America are concerned, she’ll be touching down over here for a 30-city arena tour beginning in June. Those dates haven’t been released just yet, but continue reading to peep the new European tour dates…

But before you hit the jump, here’s more good news: The “Telephone” video featuring Beyonce and cameos from Tyrese and Semi Precious Weapons will hit the Internet no later than MONDAY (MAR 8)! So be sure to keep it locked on GOT so that you’ll know as soon as the video comes out!

In the meantime, continue reading to check out Lady Gaga’s new European tour dates…

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We don’t why we had a feeling that this was going to happen, but Jay-Z has been recently talking about a crew that he is working on called the Mob Squad consisting of Young Jeezy, Trey Songz, and Hova himself! Here’s what he had to say during a recent interview with popular Atlanta radio personality Greg Street:

“Yeah, the Mob Squad, I’m trying to put that together,” Jay told radio personality Greg Street. ”Trey made a song, I’m just trying to refine the hook so we can get our first song out there. I don’t know if Jeezy heard it yet so I’m probably gonna surprise him with this but we got it Mob Squad.

Here’s what Trey Songz said about it:

“The way Jay explained it to me, he wanted to give people the best show possible,” Songz said in an interview. “They could have easily done it by themselves and it’d be great. But [Jay] wanted to give the best show. All of us bring a separate aspect to the table, making it a great show all the way. I’m there for the ladies, of course. Then I bring an R&B soul vibe and my hip-hop. Jeezy got the streets. And Hov is Hov. It’s definitely all in the talks [as far as collaborations.] It’s the Mob Squad. Me, Jay, Jeezy, we plan on working together while we on this tour because the energy we have together when we get around each other is amazing. And like I said, all aspects like that on a record is amazing. Maybe while we out on the road we get it done.”

We aren’t not sure if we want to see these three together in a group.  Seeing these artists as solo acts is much more interesting. Besides, most of these spur of the moment “groups” never work out in the end. Remember CRS? Or what about TGT? Or let’s take it back even further to LSG! …… See our point?

A question been going around back and forth in my mind because I’ve been hearing a lot of people talk about “Trapped in the Closet”; people been asking what “the package” is…ya’ll know I’m not [gonna] give ya’ll that. But I just finished up fifteen more chapters but before I start releasing this stuff, I need to know…you know I’m at my best when I’m on it. I need to know if this is what you guys want from me. Ya’ll let me know because I’m ready.

So that leaves one question: do we want another set of Trapped in the Closets? The series left off with a pretty big cliff-hanger (a rumor about “the package” circulating) but at the same time, anyone who’s seen all of them will know that the original five were the best and they got a bit ridiculous as time went on. But if you want more, let Kellz know by sending him an @reply on his Twitter. For those who have no idea what Trapped in the Closet is, we’ve included the first chapter after the break.

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Kanye West is preparing to put out his 5th studio album later this year. But in the meantime, Yeezy released this dark, chilling music video for “Coldest Winter,” a track from his last album 808’s & Heartbreak (released in 2008) to hold fans over for what “is going to be the best hip-hop albums in the last 10 years,” according to Drake who talked about Kanye’s new project in the Young Money rapper’s piece for GQ Magazine.

The So Far Gone rapper revealed to GQ that he’d spent some time in Hawaii recently with West working on his album as well as the Chicago superstar’s next effort. The Lil Wayne protégé may be hip-hop’s next big thing, but he told the magazine — which featured the Toronto native in a dress-shirt selection photo spread — when it comes to dividing ‘Ye’s attention between both projects, it’s not exactly a 50/50-type thing. “More like we work on his album until he gets tired,” Drake joked about the process. “His album is going to be one of the best hip-hop albums of the last 10 years.”

We can’t wait! Continue reading to peep Kanye’s darkest video yet…

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“Jennifer had a wonderful relationship with the Sony Music Group, and they have shared many successes together, but the time was right to make a change that best serves the direction of her career as an actress and recording artist, she is grateful and appreciative to everyone at Sony for all that they accomplished together.”

So what will happen to her album, Love?, which was slated to his stores in April? No one really knows, but we hear that the album’s material is nowhere near ready to be released, which played a major role in the reason behind her being booted from the label.

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R&B singing group Brutha is gearing up for the release of their sophomore album Vacancy, due in stores sometime this year. But in the meantime, check out this behind the scenes footage of the five brothers at a photoshoot for quintet’s follow-up to their self-titled debut album. Continue reading to peep the video!

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In a recent interview with Tim Westwood, hip-hop mogul/rapper Diddy put it out there that he and his Dirty Money crew (Dawn Richard and Kalenna) are willing to open for anybody in order to get word out about their upcoming Last Train to Paris album.

“Me and my crew, we’re putting together a whole new team and we coming to smash and spread a lot of love,” Diddy told radio personality Tim Westwood. “And we wanna do shows and we wanna go on right before anybody who wants to open up for them. Whoever wants us to open up for them, we just wanna open up and we’ll take shorts on the money, we’ll make you a better performer…I’m just coming to do what I do, I’m not putting anybody under pressure, I’m just here to raise and elevate the level of the game…Hey UK, you know I’m coming there. Any UK artists want me to open up for y’all or whatever, put your boy on. I’m gonna do some collaborations out there with some cats you know, just look out for that Last Train to Paris coming at the end of June…”

TIM WESTWOOD TV

Well damn, someone’s on their grind huh?

Some of you may remember that there was some talk of R. Kelly and Birdman teaming up to put out Best of Both Worlds 2 back in 2003. And no one really knew what had happened to that project… until now! Here’s what Birdman had to say about it in his cover story for the latest issue of O’Zone Magazine:

“Probably the worst investment I did was f*ckin’ with R. Kelly. That was a waste of my time. I could’ve made money if I wasn’t f*ckin’ with that clown-ass n**ga”

Wow! Sounds like Jay-Z wasn’t the only rapper that was rubbed the wrong way by ol’ Kellz…

Lady Gaga and Beyonce are gearing up for the release of their second music video together – Lady Gaga’s “Telephone!” And if you thought Lady Gaga’s other videos were the sh*t, you’ll really think this one is the sh*t! Why? Because she says it’s the best video she’s ever done!

Gaga recalled going in front of the lens with B for the second time. “It was really amazing,” she told Johnjay and Rich on Phoenix’s 104.7 KISS FM. “Beyoncé’s incredible and I had a lot of time with her, so I was able to put her in quite a bit of the video.” The Jonas Åkerlund-directed clip reportedly picks up where “Paparazzi” left off, but surpasses its predecessors. “I feel so bad for the ‘Bad Romance’ video ’cause the ‘Telephone’ video’s so much better,” she said.

The Grammy-winning pals had a blast on set. “[Beyoncé's] really a great friend of mine. We have a lot of fun working together. We’re so very different in our approaches, but somehow when we come together it’s really magical. I’m very excited for everyone to see the video. What I like about it is it’s a real true pop event, and when I was younger, I was always excited when there was a big giant event happening in pop music and that’s what I wanted this to be.”

RAP-UP

The video was shot a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles and will feature singer/actor/model Tyrese as the leading guy. Meanwhile, rumor has it that Gaga and Beyonce are planning to perform the new song at the Brit Awards next Tuesday (Feb 16)! Nothing’s been confirmed yet though, but we’ll see this time next week…

The NY Daily News is reporting that Usher’s mother and manager Jonetta Patton has decided to end her managing relationship with Usher. They have been working on his new project Raymond vs. Raymond, which was suppose to be released this month, but has been pushed back again due to the fact that he has failed to release a hot single to the radio waves. So now that Jonetta’s out of the picture Usher wants to “manage himself.” Here’s the scoop:

Apparently the crooner and his mother — and former manager– Jonetta Patton are officially on the outs and severed their professional ties in late November 2009. “She walked away from the project because Usher had his girlfriend [and former Def Jam executive] Grace Miguel was all in the mix,” says the source. “She felt as though if she didn’t end things when she did, it would permanently affect their personal relationship,” continues the source. Usher had apparently declared that he would manage himself, with the help of Miguel, but the label felt that “there was chaos in the camp.”

READ MORE »

This is really sad. Once again, it looks like Usher has put his mother on the back burner for his latest chick. In our opinion, not having his mother involved in his career is a very bad move. Does he not remember what happened with Here I Stand?!

The King of Pop Michael Jackson continues to break records months after his death. His concert film “This Is It” took the No. 1 spot this week in DVD sales, selling an estimated 1.2 million copies! The documentary film, released last Tuesday (Jan 26) has broken the record for first-week’s sales of a music film.

In addition, it was the No. 1 Blu-Ray seller last week. It seems everyone still has Jackson fever! And for good reason too. The film was put together from over 100 hours of backstage footage, showing Jackson and his team in an element never seen before by the general public. By the end of the movie-like documentary, you feel like you were there the entire time and a little sad that the show will never be shown in its true form.

Check out the trailer for the Michael Jackson “This Is It” DVD below…

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Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta came to Taylor Swift’s defense earlier regarding her very pitchy performance at the Grammys this past Sunday. While doing so, he also took a shot at American Idol saying:

“This is not ‘American Idol.’ This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.

Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she’s probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don’t seem to want more of it.”

Seems that the first American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson took an offense to his remarks and responded in an open letter to him on her blog:

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While the details of their personal, romantic relationship is unknown, Jermaine Dupri and Janet Jackson are teaming up with Bryan Michael Cox for JJ’s next album, the follow up to Discipline, released in 2008.

“I’m producing Janet’s album with Jermaine and it’s going to be hot,” B. Cox told Rap-Up.com at Tricky Stewart’s pre-Grammy party last Friday. “That’s all I can say so far.” His producing partner Kendrick “WyldCard” Dean also chimed in, adding, “Some great collabos on there,” but didn’t disclose further details.

Janet has been in the studio with Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins working on her 11th studio album, due this year on A&M Records.

During Sunday night’s 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Michael Jackson’s kids, Prince Michael and Paris accepted the Lifetime Achievement Awards on behalf of their late great father. This was the first time that the world got the chance to hear Prince Michael speak.

“We are proud to be here to accept this award on behalf of our father, Michael Jackson,” said Prince Michael. “First of all, we would like to thank God for watching over us these past seven months and our grandma and grandpa for their love and support. We’d also like to thank the fans. Our father loved you so much because you were always there for him. Our father was always concerned about the planet and humanity. He has helped through many charities and donated to all of them. Through all his songs, his message was simple: Love. We will continue to spread his message and help the world. Thank you.”

And apparently it won’t be the last. Maya Angelou wrote a poem for the re-make of “We Are the World” and one of the song’s leading producers Quincy Jones says he’s going to try and get Prince Michael and Paris to read it at the end of the Haiti tribute, titled “We Are the World 25 Years for Haiti.”

Quincy is saving perhaps the most touching moment for last. At the request of Katherine Jackson, Maya Angelou penned a poem to be read at the end of the song. Quincy is going to speak to Michael’s children about reading that narration.

ET ONLINE

The charity song’s co-producer Lionel Richie told MTV that the King of Pop’s little sister Janet Jackson will sing her brother’s part.

Co-producer Richie said that Janet Jackson would be laying down her version of Michael Jackson’s part on Tuesday, and he hinted that some other artists might also be added over the next few days.

CLICK HERE FOR 30+ PICTURES OF CELEBRITIES AT THE BIG RECORDING SESSION FOR “WE ARE THE WORLD 25 YEARS FOR HAITI”

In an effort to raise money for Haitian earthquake relief, a gang of singers, rappers, producers, musicians and other celebrities showed up at Jim Henson Studios yesterday (Mon. Feb 1) in Hollywood to record “We Are the World 25 Years for Haiti,” a remake of Michael Jackson’s famous “We Are the World” song, which raised at least $30 million for African humanitarian programs 25 years ago.

Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie came together and rounded up folks like Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jennifer Hudson, Wyclef Jean, Jamie Foxx, Justin Bieber, LL Cool J, Usher, Keri Hilson, Brandy and a ton of other celebrities to lay down vocals and instrumentals for the charity single.

The song and accompanying music video will premiere on NBC next Friday (Feb. 12th) during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. Check out 30+ pictures of celebrities banding together for a good cause below…

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Poor Omarion. The former B2K member’s third studio album Ollusion dropped last Tuesday (Jan 12) and opened at a disappointing No. 19 with only 19,000 copies told for the week. That’s definitely no bueno for an artist who should be considered established. His last album 21, released in 2006 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 ad sold 119,000 copies (100x more!) in its first week due to the success of the album’s lead single “Icebox.” And his debut album O dropped in 2005 and also debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts with 180,000 copies sold. So yeah, 19k is pretty bad :-/

But anyway, on to the good news! Even though his latest album tanked, he’ll still be able to pay his bills with no problem as MTV has scooped him up and given him a gig as a judge on the upcoming season of MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew.” The 25-year-old entertainer will be replacing Shane Sparks, who was axed after child molestation allegations were brought against him late last year.

O had this to say about joining the judge’s panel:

“I’m so excited to be a judge on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew. Dancing and performing is what I do and being a judge on this show will allow me to give creative feedback to the newest and hottest dancers on the rise.”

We think that this a perfectly good look for Omarion since he has a great deal of dance experience! Congrats to Omarion! He’s exactly what more artists should do. Think outside of the box. Music isn’t selling, so you have to be creative and think of new ways to bring in some chips. Those bills gotta get paid somehow!

Big name stars like Beyonce, Madonna, Jay-Z, Rihanna and more are scheduled to perform in what’s beginning to look like a dress rehearsal for the upcoming 2010 Grammy Awards.

The stars mentioned, among others, will take part in a two-hour televised telethon today (Fri. Jan 22) called “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief.” The show will air on all major cable networks beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern and will feature musical performances from all over the world from folks like Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Shakira, Taylor Swift, Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake and proud Haiti native Wyclef Jean.

The show, which in the United States will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern time on all the major networks and on cable channels, is to feature musical performances from multiple locations: Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Shakira and Wyclef Jean will play in New York, while in London Bono and the Edge of U2 will collaborate with Jay-Z and Rihanna, with Coldplay also slated to perform. The program in Los Angeles is to include performances by Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake and a collaboration among Keith Urban, Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow. Songs from the telethon will be for sale on iTunes for 99 cents beginning Saturday, will all proceeds going to a number of relief organizations.

SOURCE: NY TIMES

Even if Ke$ha never made a hit past that “Tik Tok” song, she’ll always be remembered for being the person to knock Susan Boyle out of that #1 position on the Billboard 200 album charts. Her debut album Animal sold 152,000 copies in its opening week, making it this week’s highest selling album in the country.

As expected, Ke$ha opens at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with her debut album “Animal,” shifting 152,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The newcomer’s set replaces Susan Boyle “I Dreamed a Dream,” which drifts to No. 2 with 93,000 (down 32%) after a six-week run at the top of the heap. Young fans of Ke$ha must be delighted to see the 22-year old party-hearty girl bump the soaring sounds of the 48-year old Scottish reality TV star.

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Looks like Michelle Williams is going to follow in Kelly Rowland’s footsteps and has decided to part ways with Music World, Mathew Knowle ‘ management/artist devolopment company.

“After much prayer and consideration I have decided to part ways from my management team, Mathew Knowles and Music World Entertainment,” Michelle said in a statement. “From my time in Destiny’s Child to my solo career, I am grateful for everything Mathew and his team has done for me. We’ve shared great success together. However, as I move in a new direction in my career, I felt it was time. I wish Mathew Knowles and the Music World Entertainment family all the best.”

Go girls! We think that this is a good move.

It’s about time! After literally performing all over the world and killing every other chick in the game, Beyonce is finally gonna take a break. She recently sat down with USA Today and had this to say:

Beyonce: It’s definitely time to take a break, to recharge my batteries. I’d like to take about six months and not go into the studio. I need to just live life, to be inspired by things again… when I got home, I wrote out a contract with myself. I made a list of everything I want to do that has nothing to do with music. Well, some of it does. But I promised myself that I would not go back on tour or in the studio until I finished these things. …I’m going to do random things. I want to go to restaurants, maybe take a class and see some movies and Broadway shows. I’ll spend more time with Daniel. He’s a wonderful kid, amazing, so smart. And I spoil him, so it’s a lot of work. He’s a 24-hour job. …It will be the hardest thing in the world for me to make myself not do an album and shoot a video and turn it in and say: ‘I’m ready!’ I already have all these melodies and ideas in my head. I have to tell myself: ‘Sit down! Sit down!’

SOURCE: USA Today

It’s only six months but we can’t remember a time where Beyonce took ANY time off in all the nearly 13 years he’s been on the scene. So this break is not only something we need, but something she needs lol. Maybe she and Jay can find the time to make some babies in that 6 month period! LOL

Lady Gaga recently announced that she’ll be scrapping her entire “Monster Ball” show after she wraps her final date in the U.S. at the end of this month, and will be heading back to the drawing board to come up with new ideas for the U.K. leg of the world tour. Gaga plans to start fresh with brand new acts, a revamped stage set and possibly an entirely new set list. The overnight pop sensation feels that it would only be right to revamp her tour since she had to put everything together in such short notice.

“It’s kind of funny because, after Kanye and I split up for this tour, I was really unsure if I could get a show together in time for my fans,” Gaga told MTV News hours before her Monster Ball stop in San Diego. “But I didn’t want to disappoint them and not tour over Christmas, and I had a new record coming out, so … what’s exciting about this show is that I was able to put together something that, in truth, I never would have done if I had a longer amount of time.

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Wow! So Teddy Riley from Blackstreet (the guy in the middle in the picture above) allegedly beat the sh*t out of his two daughters a week ago (Wed. Dec 23). Sources tell TMZ that the 43-year-old R&B singer beat his 18-year-old daughter Teja and her older sister with it, along with “stomping, punching and bashing them.” Teja was granted a temporary restraining order against her dad.

In the documents, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Taja claims at one point Teddy, “lifted a Rock Band guitar and threatened to kill person(s) w/ it.” Taja claims she suffered several injuries in the alleged altercation — including “bashes to temple, contusion on face” and “pain in knee.” Teddy has been ordered to stay 100 yards away from Taja. The next hearing is set for January.

Oh but that’s not all. According to the homie Necole Bitchie, all of this went down live and in person on Twitter (yes, THE Twitter). And it was over his girlfriend, who’s apparently around the same age as Teja.

Now, believe it or not, all of this played out on twitter the night it happened! From what I gathered (and I could be wrong), his daughters had a serious issue with the woman Teddy Riley was dating because she was around their age. So they resorted to going back and forth with him on twitter as well as calling her a “Golddigger”. He eventually deleted his twitter account and made his girlfriend delete hers.

Continue reading for the screencaps of all of the messages!

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The tribute show Jermaine Jackson had been organizing for his late brother Michael has been canceled for the second time. And this time it’s for good.

The event organizers, World Awards Media, canceled the first show, which was supposed to be held in Vienna, Austria, in September 2009 due to promoters having issues securing big name stars to perform at the event. The show had since been rescheduled for London was supposed to be held in the summer of 2010, but a decision was made last month to dissolve the company behind the project.

Martin Schneider, liquidator for the organizers, said: “The company cannot sign any new contracts and will certainly not plan any new events.”

Jermaine had been trying to get big names like Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, and Natalie Cole to perform at the Vienna concert, which was canceled shortly after the King of Pop’s brother began organizing it. No names had been announced for the London concert, which has also been canceled.

If you didn’t already know, Day 26’s Qwanell Mosley, known to most simply as “Que” was handed his walking papers yesterday and made a big announcements on Twitter. Once word made its way across the Internet Que hopped on Ustream to tell his side of the story. And now he’s released this over-the-top, dramatic as hell video. Continue reading to peep it and leave your thoughts in the comments!

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Rapper Kid Cudi, pictured above with model Jamie Baratta, hosted a party at the Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino’s LAVO Nightclub in Las Vegas last night (Fri. Dec 18).

Shortly after he punched a fan during a solo performance in Vancouver, Kid Cudi announced Wednesday (Dec 16) that he would be leaving Lady Gaga’s “Monster Ball” tour to focus more on his own solo tour, which kicked off in Reno, Nevada the same night he made the announcement.

In addition to opening for Gaga, Cudi was performing his own shows during off-days and after-hours on the Monster Ball Tour. In fact, Cudi’s punching incident at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom on December 12th took place during the “Day N Nite” rapper’s fifth show in three days in the British Columbian city, the Vancouver Sun notes, so the heavy schedule may have taken its toll on Cudi.

SOURCE

Continue reading for the dates for Kid Cudi’s solo tour!

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Wow, so word on the sidewalk is that Qwanell “Que” Mosly has been kicked out of R&B singing group Day 26! The 21-year-old singer confirmed the news himself via his Twitter earlier today, saying that he had just gotten a letter from his former group members telling him that they would be moving forward without him.

Willie Taylor spoke for the group when he called in to a radio station shortly after Que announced that he was axed from the group. Long story short, Que was acting up and he just had to go. Willie even compared Que’s situation to “cancer” saying that he was infecting the whole group with his shenanigans.

And what’s even worse, Willie claims that he can’t even get in touch with Que through his telephone OR his Twitter, which is odd considering Que has close to 100,000 followers. How are you gonna have 100,000 followers and not one of them are your fellow group members. And forget about Twitter, how about his own CELL PHONE. Just all kinds of craziness.

Continue reading to listen to the short radio interview where Willie lays it all out in plain sight.

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Check out pop singer Lady Gaga’s new David LaChapelle photo shoot and the shot above with Gaga’s good friend, rapper Kanye West. Our homie Necole Bitchie posted these today and we have to kind of agree with what she said about the pics:

I get the artistic vision behind this shoot … However, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would still “get it” if it was one of her R&B counterparts (i.e. Beyonce, Rihanna) …And maybe I ask that because the Rihanna’s and Beyonce’s of the world are always criticized when wearing something a bit racy (or next to nothing), however the Lady Gaga’s of the world are admired for pushing the envelope. Aren’t they all pushing the same envelope? Double standard much? Dope shoot though

She’s got a point right? Just imagine if Lady Gaga were Nicki Minaj and Kanye West were Lil Wayne, which would look hella dope too but you already know folks would have some ish to say just ’cause Nicki’s a brown girl. SMH…

In related news, MTV has named the Lady we call Gaga their “Woman of the Year” for the year 2009, which is nuts considering no one even knew what a Lady Gaga was about a year and a half ago.

New York native Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta began the year as a hot hopeful and will end it as one of the biggest pop stars in the world. And there’s no one who challenged, provoked, entertained and, well, titillated us over the past 12 months quite like she has.

Poor album sales has caused Chris Brown’s third studio album Graffiti to open at a disappointing #7 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. Additionally, the 20-year-old entertainer’s release only sold an even more disappointing 102,000 copies which is about half of what it was predicted to sell a few days before its release. His last two albums, Exclusive and his self-titled debut sold 294k copies and 154k respectively. Exclusive debuted at #4 on the charts while Chris Brown opened at #2. To this date Chris has never had an album debut at #1.

One artist who hasn’t been having a hard time selling artists recently is “Britain’s Got Talent” runner-up Susan Boyle, whose album titled I Dreamed a Dream sold an impressive 582,000 copies in its third week, rounding the total number of albums sold to nearly 2 million in less than a month! The album has also been sitting in the #1 position since its initial release.

Imprisoned rapper Gucci Mane’s sophomore album The State vs. Radric Davis moved 90,000 units putting it at the #10 position while Justin Bieber’s My World moved 97,000 units putting it at #8. Continue reading for the full top 10!

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R&B crooner Robin Thicke promoted his new album Sex Therapy Tuesday afternoon (Dec 15) by paying a visit to J&R Music and Computer World in New York City and performing songs from his fourth studio album, which hit stores the same day.

Continue reading for more pics of Robin performing!

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Nas was ordered to pay his his estranged wife Kelis $40,000/mo in a court hearing back in July, but a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ordered the rapper last week to increase his monthly child-and-spousal support payments to his soon-to-be ex-wife and their infant son Knight. Judge David Cunningham believes Nas can afford to pay a little more per month and bumped his payments up to $51,101 per month.

The judge came to this conclusion after a 2-day court hearing in which Judge Cunningham determined that due to the money the New York MC made in the past few months, he should be required to pay more for support, but should no longer be required to pay for the former couple’s LA residence, which is where Kelis and their son are staying.

So Nas comes out ahead in the end because we’re sure $11k is a lot cheaper than the expenses of that crib!

While on the stand, TMZ reports that Kelis tried to reconcile with Nas to no avail back in September. She also talked about the difficulty she had making money due to her new child and her lack of work experience outside of the music industry. The “Milkshake” singer even brought up the fact that Nas was releasing two albums next year.

One of the big issues in the case — how much money Nas makes. Kelis testified she knows Nas is set to release two albums next year. The judge asked Kelis what she heard about the albums on TMZ and other newsworthy entities. She said, simply, “Loved it.”

SOURCE

Kelis is working on an album herself following her signing a record deal with Will.i.am and Interscope. She told MTV News that the album, inspired by her current divorce situation and the birth of her son Knight, will have a “futuristic disco” sound.

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Kandi Burruss from one the 90’s hottest R&B groups Xscape has placed all the finishing touches with her new record deal with Asylum Records on Monday.

BV: “I’m really excited about my new deal and releasing my CD to the masses. People got to hear some of my new music on the ‘Real Housewives’ show, but I’ve got so many more hits that I can’t wait to put out,” Kandi told me.

Kandi stars on Bravo’s Atlanta franchise of their Real Housewives series and the singer/reality star was working out a deal with Capital Records during the filming of the show, but unfortunately that fell through between the taping of the season finale and the reunion.

“After my Capital situation didn’t work out, I released my EP on iTunes and it performed very well. But now I’m excited about dropping my full-length CD in 2010, because its been almost 10 years since I’ve put out a solo record,” she expressed, before adding: “I guess I didn’t realize it had been that long!”

The 33-year-old R&B singer’s first studio album in over 10 years will be released sometime in 2010. She’s calling it “B.L.O.G.” and the album’s first single “Fly Above” is already making its way through radio! We wish Kandi the best with her music career AND her stint on the ATL Housewives.

You know, it’s a sad day when a celebrity deleting their Twitter account makes headline news over at CNN. If you’re wondering why your Twitter timeline is missing its “mechanical dummy,” it’s because Chris Brown chucked the deuces with a final message to his 170,000+ followers and deleted his account.

All of this comes just days after the 20-year-old entertainer took to his Twitter and issued a series of angry tweets because he was being told that major retailers (like Walmart for instance) weren’t stocking his new album Graffiti, which hit stores last week. Following his rant, fans sent him messages confirming the singer’s allegations that store managers weren’t putting his album out on the shelves so he personally went to a store and saw it for himself.

But according to Billboard, his Twitter rant was “unfounded” because they hit up a few major retailers themselves and received a completely different response.

A survey and store visits find that Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Trans World, Newbury Comics are all carrying the Brown record and sources say that his album received widespread distribution and promotion by his label, Jive Records, and his distributor, Sony Music Entertainment. Jive shipped over 400,000 units of “Graffiti,” and also had it positioned in prime stores space at all key accounts, according to sources. In fact, sources suggest that Jive may have overshipped his record, as sales are slow.

‘Overstocked’

“Not only am I carrying it, I am over carrying it, because it isn’t selling,” says the head of purchasing at one large chain. “I wish I could return it.” He says the album’s first week sales only reached 40% of expectations. At 27-unit Newbury Comics, Carl Mello head of purchasing, echoes that sentiment. “We have it; it’s not selling much.”

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Chris Brown’s new album Graffiti is having a hard time making its way to the shelves of certain music retailers … and the R&B/pop entertainer is not happy! Via his Twitter account (@MechanicalDummy) a very livid Chris Brown unleashed a rant of sorts Friday (Dec 11), calling out major stores for “blackballing” his new CD because they’re not stocking shelves and managers are blatantly lying to customers giving them the impression that the shelves will NEVER be stocked with the 20-year-old’s music. And Chris feels so strongly about his rant that he’s not taking ANY of it back!

# im tired of this sh*t. major stores r blackballing my cd. not stockin the shelves and lying to costumers. what the f**k do i gotta do…

# WTF… yeah i said it and i aint retracting shit

# im not biting my tongue about shit else… the industry can kiss my ass

# thx again to my real fans. u dont go unnoticed .love yall

What say you, GOT? Is it right for stores to not stock Chris Brown’s album just because of his assault conviction? Or are they totally and completely out of pocket for doing so? Let us know in those comments (and/or by taking the poll below)!

Pop singers Jordin Sparks, Jay Sean and Justin Bieber, who performed in a cast due to his fractured foot, took the stage Wednesday night (Dec 9) in Camden, New Jersey for the Q102 Jingle Ball at the Susquehanna Bank Center.

15-year-old Justin Bieber performed on his acoustic guitar during  his “Favorite Girl” song and surprised a fan out of the audience with roses and a serenade. The second part of his debut solo album My World drops in March 2010.

Continue reading for more pics from the concert!

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With the help of W Hotels and American Express, Alicia Keys hosted an album release party for her new album The Element of Freedom at Aqua Wednesday (Dec 9) in London. The R&B singer/songwriter also performed at the event.

Alicia was recently quoted as saying she thinks of Beyonce as a sister. She and Bey did a song together called “Put It In A Love Song” (listen here) for The Element of Freedom and Alicia says the pair had a lot of fun.

“Her and I together was like reunited sisters – most people get in the studio and don’t get a chance to really collaborate, be in one room, we were in one room having a ball,” she gushed.

PHOTOS: GETTY / WIRE

Rihanna and her label announced Wednesday (Dec 9) that she will be taking her new album Rated R on the road in the UK! The “Russian Roulette” singer made the announcement during a press conference/photocall at Westfields in London, England. She’ll be performing in 8 different arenas in the UK, including London’s O2 Arena, beginning in May 2010.

Continue reading for the tour dates!

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With Beyonce taking her sister’s advice and looking to work with more indie bands, rumors are starting to swirl that the singer could be making moves to leave her record label (Columbia Records) to become an independent artist!

Word on the street is that Columbia might be S.O.L when Beyonce’s contract ends. Tentatively the biggest chick in music is to complete two more albums – and I hear she’s currently already at work on her next one. My sources close to the situation and her team, is telling me that Jay-Z is wooing Beyonce to break away from Columbia and go completely independent.

SOURCE

We’re not sure how legitimate this is since we believe that Bey has fulfilled her three-record contract with Columbia. Now all that’s left for her is to sign another contract or, of course, go independent, a move that we believe would only help her. She has enough money and fame to do so and she will  be able to have a lot more input on the type of music that she wants to do.

Clothing brand Famous Stars & Stripes celebrated their 10th anniversary with a big party at Vanguard Tuesday night (Dec 8) in Hollywood. The party also doubled as an album release party for rapper Snoop Dogg’s 10th studio album Malice N Wonderland, which was released to stores the same night. Travis Barker, pictured with Snoop above, along with other celebrities like Sean Paul, Pharrell Williams, Ray J, Mike Epps, Vanessa Simmons, Lamar Odom and many more all came out to celebrate both occasions.

Continue reading for lots of pics!

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Well that didn’t take long! Earlier today, Birdman revealed via his Twitter that Lil Wayne’s new album Rebirth will not make its December 21st date. Wayne’s album will be pushed back to February 1, 2010 but Young Money’s compilation album titled We Are Young Money is still set to be released on the 21st of this month. Their new video for “Bedrock” was released yesterday on BET’s 106 & Park.

We’ve lost count on the number of times Rebirth has been pushed back, but we know that it’s pretty high. We’re not even worried about the album anymore as we doubt anyone else is either at this point. Just go to jail, give us all a break from you and come back with The Carter IV and V as a double disc compilation. Throw away all that rock sh*t altogether.

“HEY DADDY (DADDY’S HOME)”
[See post to listen to audio]

Some say this is the album cover for Usher’s new album Raymond vs. Raymond. Some say it’s a fake. It’s hard to tell these days but we’re posting it anyway. We’re also posting this new song that is supposed to be the album’s debut single. It’s called “Daddy’s Home.” R vs. R hits stores in March 2010, nearly 4 months later than its previous release date (Dec 21). His rep said: “We believe that the album is so strong that we want to give it the opportunity to have the proper setup before coming out.”

Let us know what you think about that, the new song and the alleged cover over in them there comments… And a download link for the song is waiting for you when you continue reading.

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