More '08 MTV VMA Nominees Announced

Best New Artist:

• Jordin Sparks "No Air"
• Katy Perry "I Kissed A Girl"
• Taylor Swift "Teardrops On My Guitar"
• Tokio Hotel "Ready, Set, Go!"
• She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named "7 Things"

Best Dancing In A Video:

• The Pussycat Dolls "When I Grow Up"
• Danity Kane "Damaged"
• Madonna "4 Minutes"
• Chris Brown "Forever"
• Ne-Yo "Closer"

Jordin Sparks has my vote BY A LANDSLIDE for Best New Artist with "No Air." It's simply no competition. Let's just say there's more than seven things I hate about *some* of the other nominees... As far as Best Dancing In A Video goes, I'll have to give that one to The Pussycat Dolls' "When I Grow Up." They were fly in that video & definitely better than any other nominee in that category. Easy week.

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Solange Performs "I Decided (Pt. 2)" On T4

Solange continued UK promotion by recently performing her single "I Decided (Pt. 2)" on T4. She sounded good & looked ... unique, but you gotta love her for it. I do hope she starts promotion in the US soon though since her sophomore album SoL-AngeL & The Hadley St. Dreams hits stores August 26th.

New Britney Spears Promo Pics

Britney Spears recently shot a promo video for the 2008 MTV VMAs alongside Russell Brand, who starred in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" with my favorite actress Kristen Bell this past spring, & a 9,000-pound elephant. Check out these photos from the shoot. Britney, a two-time nominee this year, is looking great.

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Beyonce's House Of Dereon Commercial

A new commercial/promotional video for Beyonce's mother's clothing line House Of Dereon has surfaced. It features Beyonce during the shoot her recent ad for the line came from. The clip also talks about the history of the company & how it ties in with her family.

Billboard Update

^This week's #1 album on the Billboard 200 chart

This week's #1 single on the Hot 100 chart^

See full charts HERE.

Sugarland have the last laugh this week, as they move 2-1 with their latest album Love On The Inside to top the Billboard 200 album chart. Katy Perry has topped the Hot 100 singles chart with "I Kissed A Girl" for way too long now. As this news hasn't particularly appealed to the blog as of late, I decided to find something positive to report. The Pussycat Dolls move into the top 10 on the Hot 100 this week with their single "When I Grow Up," which sits at #9 (its peak), while Estelle reaches a new peak of #12 with her single "American Boy" after it sat comfortably in the iTunes top 10 last week.

"I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" Watch

TW: #70 - LW: #67 - Peak: #67 - Week: #4

Album Review: Ashanti "The Declaration"

Disclaimer: This is my last album review to get caught up! I hope you have enjoyed this feature & I look forward to reviewing more great titles as they are released! Thanks for reading. :)

As Ashanti states at the beginning of her latest album The Declaration, it's been four years since we heard from the singer, but she is back & ready to take over once again. Ashanti may not necessarily be known for strong vocals, but she has noticable improved over the last few years. Evidence of this is featured in the album's first single "The Way That I Love You," a passionate song that has the singer showing off her vocals & giving us reason to love her again. Ashanti looks to give us even more with The Declaration.

The album gets going with "You're Gonna Miss," a sassy uptempo that has Ashanti using a vocoder & is very cool. "So Over You" keeps not only with the mood, but the quality as well. "Struggle" slows it down a bit & is more in the vain of "The Way That I Love You." The track is far from poor, but doesn't quite compare to the first single. The track that follows, "Girlfriend," is an average slow jam.

The Robin Thicke-assisted track "Things You Make Me Do" is next. Though the song features nice production from 7 Aurelius, someone Ashanti has previously worked with (successfully), I am not a fan of the track, most notably because of the annoying contributions from Thicke. Ashanti is more successful with "In These Streets," as well as the album's fun second single "Good Good." Nelly's current single "Body On Me," which features both Ashanti & Akon, is featured here in a modified form that features more vocals from Ashanti. The song isn't my favorite, but is definitely improved with the additional parts by Ashanti.

Ashanti closes The Declaration with a few textbook tracks, but they are quality, so credit to her for that. "Mother," a dedication to her own, is a decent track, but is made better because of the heart behind it. The inspirational "Shine" is also nice, but I seem to recall Ashanti using that card before (& even doing it better). The title track "The Declaration" is a solid finale that obviously keeps with the theme of the record.

The Declaration is definitely a solid effort from Ashanti. I haven't really given her previous albums enough of a chance to compare them with this one though. One problem I have with some of this new material is that it is somewhat forgettable, even if each track does basically have its own identity. It's also hard to get around the fact that her voice just isn't as smooth as your Beyonces & Keyshia Coles. Still, as seems to be the case with most R&B albums of any sort of quality, there are enough good songs on The Declaration to justify purchasing it. And one thing's for sure: if Rihanna is there, then Ashanti should be up at the top of the charts with the rest of 'em.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Album Review: Usher "Here I Stand"

Having been four years since his record-selling album Confessions, Usher was finally ready to return to the scene with his fifth studio album Here I Stand. At first, it was with quite a bang, as the Young Jeezy-assisted first single "Love In This Club" hit #1 before a video was even out for the song. Like its predecessor, Here I Stand debuted atop the charts, but didn't manage to sell the astronomical amount Confessions had. Usher had a lot of success with his last album, which I enjoyed, but I didn't think it was life-changing. In my opinion, Here I Stand, as a whole, is at least as good, if not better, than its predecessor, but is not without its own problems.

Following the decent "Love In This Club" is the better "This Ain't Sex." It's a cool song, but would have obvious issues if released commercially. The next track, the slow jam "Trading Places," is quite excellent, but not exactly radio-friendly in content. One of the best tracks is the second single "Moving Mountains," which features sensational vocals & should remind us why we loved Usher in the first place. "What's Your Name," which features will.i.am, follows & is pretty fun.

Usher goes along pretty well, but then comes to a point where every track sounds like an album filler. While probably significant personally, "Something Special" is alright, but falls short. The latter can be said of "Love You Gently," which doesn't compare to the earlier "Trading Places." The Jay-Z-assisted "Best Thing" also falls flat. The album picks up then, with "Before I Met You" & the long-leaked "His Mistakes," before peaking (for the last time) with "Appetite," a song that surprises me (in a good way) with its content. "What's A Man To Do" is another decent midtempo.

Here I Stand finishes out with the sub-par "Lifetime," the add-on (but enjoyable) "Love In This Club Part II," which features Beyonce & Lil' Wayne, & title track "Here I Stand," an alright song vocally, but otherwise difficult to sit through. "Will Work For Love" is a hidden track & quite better than half of the album's other material.

Usher is an excellent vocalist, so Here I Stand has that going for it. I'm also happy for him, being married now & all, but if he's gonna sing so much about it, he needs to make it so that the listener wants to hear it. This project is definitely hit & miss, but makes itself worthwhile with the hits. If the right songs were chosen as future singles, Usher could have some decent success with Here I Stand, which he deserves, though I doubt he will hit it as big as the last go-round.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Jennifer Hudson "Upscale" Magazine Cover + Movie Updates

Jennifer Hudson is looking gorgeous on the cover of the latest issue of Upscale. She is finally set to release her self-titled debut album on September 30th.

In related news, some updates are now available concerning J-Hud's movie career. She is set to star in "The Secret Life Of Bees," which opens October 17th, & the movie's poster can be viewed HERE. She will also be in the film "Winged Creatures," the trailer for which can be viewed HERE.

New Kelly Rowland Promo Pic

Check out this beautiful new promotional photo of Kelly Rowland. Apparently, she is pictured here with French singer Nadiya because the two have recorded a duet entitled "No Future, No Past" to be released in France. Well, isn't somebody just becoming the biggest little star in Europe?

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N.E.R.D. "Everyone Nose (Remix)" Video Premiere

N.E.R.D. have enlisted Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, & Pusha T for the remix of their first single "Everyone Nose (All The Girls Standing In The Line For The Bathroom)" off their latest album Seeing Sounds. The clip was directed by Hype Williams (Janet Jackson, Kelis). The video is really creative & I quite like it! FYI: Pharrell, Kanye, & Lupe make up the group CRS.

Usher Re-Engages Mother As Manager

Usher has parted ways with both his manager & publicist, & re-hired his mother Jonnetta Patton as his manager for the first time in a little over a year. Usher's former manager, Benny Medina, handled most of the launching of Usher's latest album Here I Stand, which, after 10 weeks of release, is just shy of selling one million copies. Personally, I think Usher has some issues. To have sold that many copies in that short a time in today's industry is something you should be proud of, whether you sold a million week one last time or not. Everybody can't be Lil' Wayne these days, so get over it. It's not like Usher can't say he has sold over a million copies in the first week before. He had his moment. He should just be thankful that people actually care as much as they do ... I mean, he fired his mom. C'mon.

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Album Review: Ryan Cabrera "The Moon Under Water"

Armed with an all-new image, Ryan Cabrera went the indie route for his third effort The Moon Under Water. After being dropped by his major label, Ryan wasted no time recording new material & releasing it to his fans. It is a shame, however, how underrated Ryan is. He is an incredibly talented singer & not only stays consistent with the quality of his music minus the big money producers & label, but maybe even improves it. In fact, I find it difficult to say anything negative about his latest album.

The Moon Under Water starts off well with "In Between Lights," which leads into the album's second single "Enemies," a catchy tune with something to say. Speaking of catchiness & things to 'say,' the first single off the project, "Say," would have been a massive Top 40 hit had there been big promotion bucks behind it. And just think: it didn't even take some famous behind-the-scenes magician in the industry to create "Say." Good stuff.

Ryan slows it down a little on "Rise (The Dog Barks)," a nice, calming song, (possibly) despite its title. Like the first track, Ryan doesn't completely abandon his pop/rock beginnings on "Sit Back, Relax," which is one that shows off his great vocals quite well. Ryan returns us to his edgier sound with "The Tango," then slows it down again for contrast with "How Bout Tonite," both enjoyable tracks. Probably only because I can relate to it the most personally, my favorite song on the album, "I Shoulda Kissed U," has great emotion from Ryan within the awesome vocal delivery.

Wrapping it up incredibly well, "Say You Will" & "Please Don't Lie" are those magical songs that you can listen to on repeat & never get sick of. The last track on the CD is probably the most recognizable: "I Will Remember You." Unfortunately, I think it is the weakest song on the album, but it seems as more of an add-on, as it has never been featured on an album of his before, than an actual finale.

The Moon Under Water features the triumphant return of one of the industry's most talented young men right now--except, this time, he is finally making music his way. I loved Ryan's first two albums & I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed his third effort, simply because he made the whole thing by himself. Sure, basically all the songs are either uptempos or ballads, but the whole album sounding similar works in this case because of how good that 'similar' happens to be. If I can't say anything else, I have to stress just how much we need someone like Ryan Cabrera in an industry with, oh I don't know, the Jonas Brothers?... True talent. Good music. Isn't that what we really want anyway?

Rating: 4/5 Stars

N.E.R.D. Perform "Spaz" On Late Night

N.E.R.D. performed their second single "Spaz" off latest album Seeing Sounds on Late Night With Conan O'Brien Tuesday. This is my jam!

Jordin Sparks On Loose Women

"No Air"

Interview

Jordin Sparks was recently doing some promotion in the UK & stopped by Loose Women to do an interview & perform a solo version of her hit single "No Air" off her self-titled debut album. Jordin gave an entertaining interview & sounded awesome. Kinda wish she had recorded this one alone in the first place...

Watch "The Single: Monica" Reality Special

Are you a Monica fan? Are you like me & don't live in the ATL? Well, do I have some good news for you! Monica's reality special "The Single: Monica," which just aired on Peachtree TV in Atlanta, can be viewed in full HERE.

I really enjoyed the special. It gave alot of insight into what Monica's vision is for her music at this point in her career & even allowed the audience to hear some of her new material. She worked with Bryan-Michael Cox & Stargate in the clip. *Sigh* @ Stargate, but the song they did with Monica, entitled "Taxi," seems to have ended up sounding really good. The main song featured is "Still Standing," which I think B. Cox & co. did a GREAT job on. The track features Monica's cousin Ludacris & will make an awesome first single. Still Standing is actually the name of Monica's new album now, which is set to drop by the end of the year.

P.S. Aren't Monica's little boys adorable?

P.P.S. LMAO at the guy from her label. Don't tell me he's the one who chose "Everytime Tha Beat Drop" as her lead single last go-round...

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