A new track by Ne-Yo has surfaced on the net not too long ago. The Syience-produced track is called ‘Nothing New’ and you can check it out below.

I know Leona Lewis isn’t going to be happy that four of her new songs have leaked in a space of TWO days, and her new album does not drop until November. Check out newly leaked songs ‘Brave’ and ‘Perfect Strange’ below:

*AUDIO REMOVED*
Brave (the first stream) sounds fantastic. I’m loving it’s sultry guitar chords and heavy strings and vocally, she nails it. Once again, this is another soft-rock/pop ballad with live instrumentation. ‘Perfect Stranger’ is cool and very upbeat. It’s not as hot as Brave but it’s definetely reminiscent of early 90’s Mariah. Out of all the leaks ‘Strangers’, which I posted yesterday is my least favourite. I have to add I am sooo feeling this latest new sound she’s embracing right now and I am so anticipated for her new album.

Christina Milian and The Dream’s cover for Vibe’s last ever issue was unveiled this week. Now here are a couple of pictures from the photoshoot. Check them out below:

{Thanks to the owner of Christina’s World for the pics}
I retract my statement from a couple of days ago when I said the shoot was sexy although it had some potential. The cover didn’t look that bad to me because he was behind her but the spread photos have more of a focus on him. I think looking at these pics of The Dream trying to get his sexy on kind of made the sleep from my eyes drain away with the quickness. The nappy underarm hair and man boobs really did it for me and he’s just not a sexy man. I know it’s a horrible thing to say but some people should not even have magazine covers looking like this, or better yet, just keep the clothes on. I think this is possibly one of Christina’s worse photoshoots and it’s very rare this chick takes bad photo’s. It all looks forced and Terius looks like a tool. We know you’re engaged with a healthy sex life (spare me the visual) but maybe, the photoshoot would have looked a bit better if she was on her own. I don’t want to see a photoshoot like this ever again.

Hollywood TV caught up with Brandy as she left Katsuya in Hollywood earlier this week. The R&B veteran says that the late Michael Jackson was “the biggest influence on my life”. Brandy said if there was going to be a public memorial or a private one that she’s invited to, she’ll be there:

As it turns out, a memorial service for the singer will be held at the Staples Center on Tuesday (July 7th). For more info, click here. The two-hour funeral is expected to draw in ONE MILLION fans in attendance with 750 MILLION expected to watch on television. There is even talk that some of the biggest names in music will perform at the event. An official statement is expected to be released from The Jackson family shortly.

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I have no idea what’s going on with Tiffany Evan’s forthcoming new album ‘Ponytail Krush’ (interesting title but not one to be used if you want to be taken seriously as an artist). One of the songs from those recording sessions has surfaced. The song is called ‘Spotlight’ and it is helmed by Rihanna’s producer Brian Kennedy. Listen to it below:

I crave this. It’s furiously infectious with an upbeat, danceable sure-fire pop melody. The beat sounds a lot like Keri Hilson’s ‘Do It’ minus the LL Cool J sample. Her debut may have sold a measley 4,000 copies in its first week but her album had lots of hot tracks but she hardly got any promotion so a flop was inevitable sadly. Better luck this time around hopefully. Plus, I’m definetely rooting for her. I know she reads the blog because she gave me a shout-out earlier this year on her Youtube channel.

UPDATE: Her new album title is now ‘Ms Tiffany’. I am glad she changed it, lol.

Leona Lewis has been living in LA for the past year recording the follow-up to her internationally successful debut. A new track from those latest recording sessions has leaked and it is titled ‘Strangers’. The song is produced by Ryan Tedder who also produced her monster worldwide hit ‘Bleeding Love’. Tedder has reportedly produced three songs for Leona’s new album and I guess this is one of them. Listen to the track below:

I don’t really know what to make of it but if I could describe it I would say it’s on some Kelly Clarkson meets Coldplay with its spaced out indie soft rock sound. Whilst it is no Bleeding Love, I can appreciate the live instruments used and that they didn’t try to recreate the Bleeding Love envelope which would have been tediously repetitive. That said, it’s not a bad song at all, and could even be an instant hit future single.

UPDATE: Another new Leona song has just leaked and it’s once again produced by Ryan Tedder. The song is called ‘I Got U’. Listen to a 1-minute clip here. So far I’m totally feeling this one.

Just as I make the official announcement post, Whitney Houston’s comeback single ‘I Didn’t Know My Strength’ finally leaks online. The track is the lead single from her forthcoming new album ‘I Look To You’ which will drop on Sept 1st. Listen to the Diane Warren-penned/David Foster-produced powerballad below in HQ:

What I appreciate about this (and ONLY hardcore fans will appreciate this) is that it’s not cliche, it’s not gimmicky and she has refused to sell herself out by following trends or by trying to appeal to the younger generation of music listeners. She decided to come back as 100% Whitney Houston. So whilst some may say, “a powerballad isn’t going to sell her because the music industry has changed” and so forth, her fanbase, the ones that followed her in her prime can help propell her to the top once again. I’ve already made the mistake of doubting one legend so anything goes in my book. The voice is clearly still there and she sounds fantastic, soulful and very much a dignified woman back on the rise. Welcome back Ms Houston.

In this CNN exclusive, the late Michael Jackson is seen rehearsing on June 23rd for his ‘This Is It’ London concerts. The rehearsal took place last week at LA’s Staples Stadium. The legendary King of Pop looked to be in fine form and totally energetic so the fact that he was pronounced dead 48 hours later came as a major shock. Check out the heart-rendering footage below:

Seeing this really saddens me and I feel bad. I feel bad because I actually doubted he had what it took to wow again. Now I see the spark and the passion. I finally see that his comeback had the potential to be something he could have pulled off successfully. Now we’ll never see him pull off the biggest comeback in pop music history. Reports suggest there is a tape of high quality footage recorded of the whole rehearsal. The footage reportedly contains over two hours of the singer putting his explosive dance routines into practice. I hope they release it as a DVD so that his fans really can watch for the last time why he was deemed the greatest performer on the planet.

Whitney Houston has officially announced her first mini concert in September. The legendary singer made the announcement this morning on Good Morning America, where the concert will take place. Whitney will perform her first televised gig in years as she undergoes a huge promotional blitz to plug her new album ‘I Look To You’. The project will be preceded by lead single ‘I Didn’t Know My Strength’. The song is said to be a big powerballad penned by the legendary songwriter Diane Warren and produced by famed hitmaker David Foster. Check out the official announcement below:

I am excited for Whitney’s new album. I didn’t think I would ever say this but I’m starting to anticipate it more than Mariah’s. I sooo look forward to seeing her perform again. Roll on September. Roll on.

After a four year absense, Ginuwine’s comeback album ‘A Man’s Thoughts’ has topped the R&B charts and is also #9 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The album is preceded by the Bryan Michael-Cox produced single ‘Last Chance’, and is the first release under new label/production company Notifi/Asylum/Warner Bros.

Notifi Records President Ira Dewitt is ecstatic at the success and issued the following statement yesterday (July 1st): “It makes me incredibly proud that my small independent label has earned a #1 R&B album on our very first try”. I am really happy for Ginuwine. I have not listened to the album yet so I don’t really know if it’s any good, although I really enjoy the Brandy duet ‘Bridge of Love’. This chick has been on so many leaked collaborations lately but I can’t wait for her new joint which is rumoured to be out later this year. G’s album stays sitting on my laptop just like the Maxwell and Melanie Fiona albums. I have a lot of listening to do but I will get round to listening this week. I have like 3-4 album reviews to write. It’s insane.

‘Boom In It’ is the latest simultaneous leak from Mario’s forthcoming new album ‘And Then There Was Me’. The track which had The Dream featured on a previous version now has R&B veteran Brandy gracing her vocals over the track instead. Listen to it below:

History is repeating itself all over again. With his last album ‘Go’, there were so many leaks which resulted in his album getting pushed back one year later than the intended release date. It was such a fantastic album but sadly, it underperformed really badly. I hope that’s not the case with this latest new album. As for the song, Brandy’s part on the smooth R&B midtempo is really restricted. As the song entails sexy lyrics where he is calling out to his girl, the song could have been a sexy his and her phone convo. Mario starts off the song with the phone references so such concept makes a lot of sense. It’s a nice song but not really a full on collaboration, just a feature. Although Mario says his album will explore sounds outside of the R&B circle, I am glad that he is still pursuing the contemporary R&B songs that he is well known for.

Jordin Sparks has unveiled a set of new promo’s for her forthcoming sophomore album ‘Battlefield’. The project will now drop on July 20th, which is like three weeks away. Peep a couple of pictures from the photoshoot below:

She looks cute. Any of these would have made better facial shots for the album cover, which I’m not really liking at the moment but oh well. Hope the album is good. The Ryan Tedder-produced ‘Battlefield’ has stalled at #31 on the Hot 100. It may not have been Jordin’s ‘Bleeding Love’ but there’s still hope yet for the talented American Idol.