I was just listening to “In My Own Words” today thinking, “when are we gonna hear about a new release from my boy Ne-Yo?” And here it is!!!

#1 film, “Stomp the Yard.” And he’s writing for other artists, such as Britney Spears and Whitney Houston. So how in the world does Ne-Yo find time to indulge in the sexcapades that he translates so eloquently into lyrical form, let alone actually record new music? “Not easily,” he laughed as he sat at the boards at Sony Studios while working on his forthcoming sophomore LP last week. Not easily indeed. “2006 was a ridiculous year,” Ne-Yo added. The year came to a close with the singer finishing dates on the Scream V tour and seeing the song he wrote for Beyoncé, “Irreplaceable,” reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “I’ve been living out of suitcases pretty much the whole year,” he said. “With that being said, I had to develop what I call a ‘portable comfort zone.’ Pretty much wherever I’m at — be it a restaurant, bathroom, hotel room, where I sit down — that becomes a comfort zone. I don’t have the luxury of saying, ‘OK, let me get a flight to L.A., I gotta put this song down.’ I gotta find the focus wherever I can find it at.”

With his debut, In My Own Words, still being promoted, Ne-Yo has been trying to sneak in time to work on his yet-untitled second LP, as he did at Sony last week. The Las Vegas artist, dressed in a black T-shirt and black stocking cap, described his songwriting process as frill-free and said the end product sounds a lot more exciting than the actual music-making. Surrounding him were a couple of friends, reps from Def Jam and his engineer. So how does the young but already masterful craftsman approach the writing process? “It just depends on the song and the track and what part of the track catches me first,” he said. “Sometimes it’s the hook, the verse, sometimes it’s the bridge. It’s whatever, as long as the song comes out a specific way and there’s melodies you hear once or twice and can sing back, lyrics you can do the same with but have depth. And a hook that catches you right off top.

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Man, this James Brown thing is getting crazier and crazier as the time goes by…

The late singer has provided for six of his children, but son James Jr. and partner Tomi Rae Hynie have been overlooked, said Brown’s lawyer Strom Thurmond. Hynie’s lawyer, Thornton Morris, admitted his client had no idea she wouldn’t be listed in the will. He said: “She was locked out of the house so she doesn’t know where the will that’s being probated was found. “She has no knowledge as to when this particular will was executed.” Brown died on Christmas Day from congestive heart failure as a result of pneumonia. He was 73. Soon after his death, the gates to Brown’s home were locked until the singer’s estate was settled.

Another of Brown’s lawyers, Buddy Dallas, explained: “The house is owned by the trust and has been that way since August of 2000. “Technically, the trustees own it for the benefit of the trust. It was not in the name of James Brown and hasn’t been that way for years.” The will – which was read in Aiken, South Carolina, last Thursday – has not yet been filed in probate court.

Now, the reason I put “Papa” in quotes is because there are rumors circulating that James Brown is not James Brown Jr’s real father. I personally believe otherwise, but if Tomi Rae takes these people to court, we will soon find out the truth. If he IS James Brown’s son, that would be really messed up to not be included in your dad’s will. And if he ISN’T James Brown’s son, that would be even worse because his damn name is JAMES BROWN JR. Anyhow, all of this will teach people to get their stuff together to make sure their family is taken care of because no one on this earth knows when their time will come…

The body of legendary soul singer James Brown had yet to be buried on Friday, 19 days after his death, because his family has not yet decided where and how to lay him to rest, said his lawyer. The 73-year-old “King of Soul” died of congestive heart failure in an Atlanta, Georgia, hospital on December 25. His body has been kept at his house in Beach Island, South Carolina, in a temperature-controlled environment, an employee of the Augusta funeral home in charge of his embalmment told AFP. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s will was read to his six children on Thursday and would be probated next week, said Brown’s lawyer, Buddy Dallas.

But the place and manner of his burial is still undecided. “The family will announce where the mausoleum is to be built,” said Dallas. “There has been an awful lot of effort devoted to his affairs. It just takes time… The body is well-protected.” Signs of discord among relatives over Brown’s estate were beginning to emerge at the time of a tribute to Brown at the Apollo Theatre in New York on December 28. Brown’s partner, 36-year-old singer Tomi Rae Hynie, who lived with Brown and mothered his youngest son, five-year-old James, said she was barred from entering the star’s house on the day of this death. United States media have reported conflicts over inheritance rights, with a lawyer for Brown questioning the legality of Hynie’s marriage to the singer.

Toni Braxton sued her former personal manager Friday, saying he owes her at least $10 million for maneuvering to have her abandon a long, lucrative relationship with her record company and jump to his own record label. The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan accuses Barry Hankerson of putting his financial interests ahead of Braxton’s and using fraud, deception and double-dealing to get her to leave Arista Records.

“Hankerson actively sought to destroy Braxton’s relationship with Arista through underhanded `double-talk,’ telling Braxton that Arista was not interested in working with her anymore, while telling Arista that Braxton no longer wanted to record for Arista,” the lawsuit said.

There was no public telephone listing to reach Hankerson for comment Friday, and a telephone listing for his company, Blackground Records, was not in service. In March 2003, Braxton ended the business relationship she had begun with Arista in 1991, when she signed a contract that led to her 1993 debut album, “Toni Braxton.” That recording rose to No. 1 on the “Billboard 200” and sold more than 10 million albums worldwide. Braxton received the Grammy Award for best new artist in 1993, and she won Grammys that year and the next for best female R&B vocal performance. The singer said in the lawsuit that she hired Hankerson as her personal manager in late 1997 and a year later the singer negotiated a new five-album deal with Arista, receiving more than $20 million in advances on the records.

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