R&B crooner Maxwell will release his fourth studio album,”BLACKsummer’snight,” July 7 on Columbia Records, reports Billboard. His first single, “Pretty Wings,” and its video debuted today.
Maxwell produced the nine-song album, which was recorded with a ten-piece band. To promote “BLACKsummer’snight,” Maxwell will be touring this summer and headlining the Essence Music Festival on July 4th.
This is Maxwell’s first recording in nine years.
Here is Kanye West’s new video, “Amazing.” It was filmed in Hawaii by director Hype Williams. Very beautiful scenery that makes you want to go on vacation right now.
The VH1 Soul and BETJ cable networks will use its resources to create the Centric network in October, reports Billboard. The new network will compete with Comcast/Radio One-owned TV One in targeting the 25-to 54-year-old African-American audience, while reaching out to other multicultural viewers
VH1 Soul and BETJ will continue as individual networks. Centric will offer original programming such as “Monica: Still Standing,” a reality show starring R&B singer Monica. Comedian Mo’Nique will also have her own nightly talk and variety show. The “Soul Train Music Awards” will also be reinstated.
On Monday, singer Jill Scott and her fiance drummer Lil John Roberts welcomed their first child, a baby boy. Jett Hamilton Roberts was born at 4:20 p.m. on April 20 and weighed 7 lbs., 8 oz.
After years of being unable to conceive, Scott said she discovered that she was pregnant right before leaving to film her HBO series, “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency,” in Botswana.
“At one point I was trying to gain weight for the role, and I noticed I had put on 7 lbs. in 7 days. And I thought, my god! What’s going on here,” she tells PEOPLE. “I thought something was wrong with me, and I found out I was pregnant the day I was supposed to leave for Africa.”
As part of her 10-city European summer tour, Lauryn Hill will headline the Stockholm Jazz Festival in July, reports Billboard. It is one of the country’s biggest summer events and is expected to attract 30,000 people. Previous artists at the fest include Mary J. Blige, Stevie Wonder and Ella Fitzgerald.
This will be Hill’s second time headlining the fest and the first time she has publicly performed since 2007. Last January, Hill gave birth to her fifth child with Rohan Marley, Bob Marley’s son.
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Ne-Yo’s new video,”Part of the List,” is the prequel to his last video,”Mad,” where he is involved in a lover’s spat over a text from another woman. In “Part of the List,” it is discovered that the text is from an old girlfriend that he sees again while vacationing with his new girl. The plot thickens!
The video was filmed in Prague, where Ne-Yo is filming the Tuskegee Airmen movie, “Red Tails,” with Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Suite 411 reported earlier that singer Jasmine Sullivan also appears in the movie.
Rapper Juvenile said that he and other Hot Boys’ members Lil’ Wayne, B.G. and Turk are closer to reuniting for another album.
“I already signed the deal,” Juvenile told Vibe.com. “So for me, I’m gonna definitely say it’s a go. I already received the check. Wayne is going to put that out, so for me and Wayne, it’s a go. I don’t know if the business been straightened out, but I know B.G.’s on board and he’s willing to do it. I don’t know where Turk stands on the business side.”
The group originally disbanded after financial disagreements with Cash Money Records chiefs Slim and Baby.
American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino will star in her own VH1 reality series. Premiering in 2010, the show will follow the North Carolina native’s life as a singer and a young single mother.
“Fantasia’s life has been an open book, but at 24 years old, her story has just begun,” said executive producer Randy Barbato to the Hollywood Reporter. “We look forward to smashing expectations and revealing the fresh, funny and unexpected side of this one-of-a-kind country girl and superstar.”
The nine-time Grammy nominee’s autobiography, “Life is Not a Fairy Tale,” was made into a Lifetime movie, in which she played herself.
Chilli from the R&B group TLC is now pitching Coca Cola’s Dasani and Dasani Essence water brands to African American women.
African-American women are heavy purchasers of packaged waters and the new effort is about “invigorating women in a that allows her to escape her daily challenges,” said Yolanda White, assistant VP of African-American marketing.
Chilli, a 38-year-old single mom, represents this target audience, White said. “She gives reassurance to moms that you can still be a great mom, take care of yourself and look beautiful.”
Rapper and actor Common will work with Diesel to introduce the new men’s cologne, “Only the Brave,” reports Billboard. The Chicago native will appear in print and TV ads and perform in select Diesel stores nationwide.
“Common perfectly represents the spirit and energy of ‘Only The Brave’ fragrance: passion, will and conviction,” Diesel president Renzo Rosso said in a statement. “He’s in control of his own destiny and has made his mark in all of his pursuits, creating changes through every effort and every medium.”
“I wanted to partner with Diesel because that’s really what I’m about too – to be an individual and an artist, it takes both bravery and courage,” Common said.
Common will also work with Microsoft to promote Softwear, a T-shirt line about the popularity of personal computers. The T-shirts, which were designed by Common, are available in retail stores.