Toni Braxton is being released from Blackground/Universal Motown, Billboard.com has learned. The Grammy Award-winning R&B singer logged the majority of her hits during her tenure with LaFace/Arista before joining Blackground. Her sole release with that label, 2005′s “Libra,” has shifted 431,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Braxton remains the resident headliner at the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas, a gig she began last August.
In addition, the artist is suing her former personal manager, claiming she owes him $10 million for convincing her to leave Arista and join Blackground, according to the Associated Press.
The suit says Braxton hired Barry Hankerson as her manager in late 1997; a year later, she negotiated a five-album deal with Arista that netted her more than $20 million in advances.
However, the relationship soured in 2002, when Hankerson began fabricating creative disputes with the label, according to the suit. By 2003, Braxton says she was convinced to leave Arista and sign with Blackground. When that arrangement proved unstable, Braxton claims she tried to fire Hankerson as her manager but that he promptly turned against her. SOURCE
Looks like she’s gotta go double up on those Vegas shows now. Sucks because ‘Libra’ was a really good album…
PLEASE POST THE CORRECT INFO… TONI WAS IN FACT NOT NOT NOT AND I REPEAT NOT DROPPED FROM ANY LABEL.. SHE LEFT SO CONCRETE LOOP, IF YOU WANT TO SAY YOU HAVE THE SCOOP, WHICH YOU DON’T GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT…
YEAH I HEARD ABOUT THIS-
TONI’S SEEMS LIKE A NICE GIRL-JUST PROBABLY REALLY DIDNT UNDERSTAND THE BUSINESS.
ALOT OF LAVISH SPENDING AND NOT ENOUGH ACCOUNTING GOING ON.
THEN YOU GOT THE HIP HOP SCENE THAT SHE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO GET TANGLED UP INTO
WHY?
I DONT KNOW WHY SHE CHOSE TO MESS WITH BABY AND NEM
BUT SHE’S A GOOD SINGER AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO PULL THROUGH.
I WISH YOU WELL, TONI.
looks like she can join c. milian
Im gagging at this picture of her. LOL. It coincides perfectly with the situation at hand. Its like she is saying “OH HELL, Dropped AGAIN!”
SHE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE STUCK TO HER ORIGINAL WRITING TEAM.
MAYBE BABYFACE OR JIMMY JAM CAN HELP HER GET HER TOUCH BACK.
THE HIP HOP SCENE WAS NOT GOOD FOR HER BC SHE WAS BEST AS AN ADULT CONTEMPORARY SINGER-
LOVE BALLADS AND MATURE MUSIC.
SHE WAS GREAT AT THAT-
I think Toni needs to go back to Arista or work with Babyface again. They work well together and she puts out hits. I have her last album Libra, and although it is really good, I don’t think it was marketed well. Toni is a seasoned veteran. She doesn’t have to wear skimpy clothes and try to appeal to the younger fans. She should try to keep the fans who have grown with her. That following alone will convince everyone else to give Toni another shot.
Jay – if you have a problem with the post, take it up with the source. Not only billboard reports that she has been RELEASED meaning DROPPED but, AP news and other news sites state this as well. Until we get an email with from a reputable source stating that she left out of her own free will…this is what is on the press.
TIANNA…GIRL If you read ENGLISH if she was dropped they would have said dropped… released meaning she asked to be out and they let her out of her contract! I actually got my info from the horses mouth TONI’S CAMP and she was NOT DROPPED from any label, NOR is she BROKE. Toni has made 30 million on vegas, as well as royalties from Blackground. She is suinging for 10 million because Barry lied and cheated his way to get her to sign to Blackground and she hired an undercover accountant to take a look at things and it was discovered that Toni had never recieved any accounting statements and some of her crew wasn’t paid by the company, NOT from Toni… so TIANNA I suggest you get info correct, read carefully before you go posting FALSE HEADLINES! HAVE A NICE DAY!
Who ever who posted this has obviously misread of misunderstood the press release! Please let it be known that Toni Braxton Left Blackground! She was only Released from her Contract! Toni is taking that double crossing back stabber Herkinson to court because he messed with the wrong Diva this time! Herkinson has pofited off and exploited so many other artists in the past including his own niece! And thank god for Toni who is gonna set him straight!
As for your little comment, “Looks like she’s gotta go double up on those Vegas shows now”.. lol hunny FYI Toni made over 30 million from her sold out Vegas show last year! She is being called the biggest thing in Vegas right now!…so next time you wanna take a cheap shot at a world class Diva like Toni! At least get your facts straight!
Toni is a 6 time Grammy winner who has sold over 45 million albums worldwide! She is even being honored with the 2007 Trumpet Award for Entertainment! She has nothing to prove to a bunch of haters like you!
I hope she get back with Babyface and Arista. I love me some Toni. She’s a great singer!
#8 JAY,
LOL-
I LIKE THE PRECISENESS-
HAVE A NICE DAY! LOL
DAMN $30 MIL IN VEGAS?
THAT’S SERIOUS-
ONLY THE REAL ARTIST GET TO RACK UP IN VEGAS LIKE THIS AND TONY DEFINATELY IS ONE OF THE CREDIBLE ARTISTS OF THE 90′S
I love this site and all but yeah the info here be really late and bad sometimes.You can’t just post stuff because someone sent you an e-mail.A Google search can confirm most things.Saying she was dropped was incorrect and most people knew the real deal anyway because it happened last week.
#4 – What do you mean “dropped again”? Get your facts together, dear. Toni was not dropped from her first deal. I’m not sure what the scenario with Blackground is though.
Why are the gerls coming for Tianna’s wig in such rude fashion? Its really not THAT serious. There are millions of blogs, so if you dont like what this blog brings to the table, dont come here. Granted, some of the news might be misconstrued, or what have you, but news in Hollywood is updated so many times, flipped and dipped in so many ways, its pretty hard to keep up. Lay off her gilda.
Is number one toni braxton herself!?
Good luck Toni. God Bless.
Yeah, it’s really not that serious for all the “get your facts str8″ comments. It’s a damn blog not CNN. Anyway, Toni has had to deal with money drama from back when…she did have a bankruptcy issue…people don’t always look out for u, so u gotta make sure u got your eyes open. I’m sure she does.
who cares, she tries to hard anyway, she tries to hard to keep up with these young girls. GO AWAY TONI
Ouch! @ Jay
Calm down jay, as long as Toni knows what really happened, who cares what us Loopers Think.
?… i dont kno what do believe knowadays.
Wow, no wonder she’s been looking so out of it lately..decisions, decisions!
WOW! PEOPLE GET REALLY SERIOUS @TIMES, BUT ON THE SAME MERIT, I WORK IN THE INDUSTRY AND IT IS A WELL KNOWN FACT THAT ‘RELEASED’ MEANS EMANCIPATED FROM YOUR CONTRACT, A LA MIRIAH CAREY, WHO BROUGHT OUT ‘EMANCIPATION OF MIMI’ ON DEF JAM!
GOOD DAY…
Well I think Tianna is too big of a person to argue back and forth via POSTS. She is just doing her damn job people! I gotcha back T! *wink* lol Anyhoo I do have to say in IMO, the LIBRA album absolutely sucked. Again this is my opinion so dont bite my head off Loopers! lol
This is sad to read because Toni is a very talent singer, but you are only as good as the people behind you i.e. managers, accountants, publist,etc. Damn another blow for Toni
I am a big Toni Braaxton fan, I’ve loved her for yeas since the Boomerang soundtrack. I wish her the best, she is a great singer.
@ JAY……. DAAAAAAAAMN!!
Damn, I thought I stepped into a cat fight coming into this post. Calm down people this is a blog, we can say what we please here, it’s not that damn serious.. and if the information happens to be incorrect who the f*ck cares, Toni is washed up!!! Her Secrets CD was the last thing I heard from her that was actually worth listening to. Keep doing your thing Tianna. We got your back
Toni Should SUE ConcreteLoop for posting Bullshit Info.
This is a GOSSIP BLOG, LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT.
It’s Toni’s fault. She’s a bad business woman. Anytime something goes bad, she blames it on other people. She should put on some clothes and she needs to stop letting her husband work on her music. Grow up, be woman, learn the business and stop blaming everyone when you mess up.
Concreteloop posted:
“In addition, the artist is suing her former personal manager, claiming she owes him $10 million for convincing her to leave Arista and join Blackground, according to the Associated Press.”
Sont you mean HE owes her $10million?
I really liked Libra. Song #5 is my jam “It’s midnite… do you know where your man is” among others.
Libra was several times better than that Bday garbage. It stays in my CD player rack of my car. I neer take it out.
I love Toni, but I must agree with some of the other post when they say she is not a good business woman. Everytime something goes wrong in her career she blames other people. I know she believed Berry when he was telling her all this stuff, but she been with Arista from the start she should have not beleived it so easily. They gave her a 20 million dollar advance and her albuns have not been doing good since 2000. they obviously were not trying to abuse her.
TONI HAS A GREAT VOICE BUT SHE IS UGLY AS SHYT
I feel so sorry for Toni she have been going through a lot lately.
LMAOOOOOO JAY
NEXT
I dont believe toni has made over 30 million in vegas. Everytime I look at top selling concerts according to billboard .com, Elton John and Celine Dion are the top acts in vegas. We can all see that toni isnt a smart business woman nore does she have intelligent people that handle her paper work. Hopefully she will get her shit str8, good luck getting 10 million bucks from blackground records…lol
I think her booking in Vegas is the one “saving” grace for Toni! She’s not been at her BEST in a while. I did like her appearance on Taye Diggs’ defuncted show, whatever the name was where he had the baby.
But, I agree that her money management has been the pits. I LOVE Toni so I hope she can get all this mess behind her and move on! It’s a NEW YEAR so get it togetha DIVA!
TONI LEFT BLACKGROUND AND WAS NEVER DROPPED. RELEASED DOES NOT MEAN DROPPED. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT. DUH!!!
calm down JAY.
it’s clear now what really happened with toni.
no need to get sensitive.
sorry but she has been a disappointment to me lately.
That used to be my girl! Well Tony, when all else fails do like other ICONS (i.e Janet Jackson) and put out a pin-up calendar, or perhaps so crotch shot like Mya…so tasteful.
That used to be my girl! Well Tony, when all else fails do like other ICONS (i.e Janet Jackson) and put out a pin-up calendar, or perhaps some crotch shots like Mya…so tasteful.
damn, i mean as soon as this show goes good, something bad happens…
Toni…I’m gonna have to ask you to stop posting on concreteloop under fake names to defend yourself! Lol
Geesh, some of you people act like someone said she bite of the head of a small child! Whether she was dropped or not, with 431,000 albums sold, I’m sure the “release” was mutual.
Toni is a great talent, but we all now talent is meaningless in this business. I hope she calls babyface, gets back in the studio soon and records some GROWN UP material (like her old stuff). I’ll be first online for that album!
Damn, I see you’ll going hard on this post. LMAO!!!!!!!!
Maybe she can mend fences with Arista/LaFace records as well as Babyface. Good luck to her.
http://www.betterloversem..._wife_catches_husband.php
This is so FuNNy!!!
WOWW! Thats soooo sad! DAYUM!
Why get upset as to whether or not a person was dropped or released? Either way, girlfriend is not there. Will we ever know the REAL STORY? Not worth having a fit over it..imo…
I hope she finds a new label becuase I love toni’s music and I hope she will make a new album soon!
Damn, first bankrupt, now dropped. Mint Condition better drop soon or we’ll see a sext tape soon.
LMBAO.. TIANNA.. U GOT OWNED ON UR OWN SITE BY JAY AND HIGH.. UR A PUNK! LOL
Poor Toni. She’s such a talented and beautiful woman. I may regret saying this but I truly believe that Toni’s decision to start a family (during her attempt for a comeback) actually hurt her career.
I’m sure her gig in Vegas pays the bills.
Toni just needs to sit her ass down and start a wig line like Beverly Johnson. LOL.
Tonis problem is that she trys to cater to younger people and it comes off kind of lame. ex. janet and she started looking too slutty
She is actually suing Barry Hankerson as her manager, but he is also the founder, owner of Blackground Records.
Braxton Sues Former Personal Manager
Grammy Award winner Toni Braxton is taking her former personal manager to court, claiming he owes her at least $10 million for deceptively convincing her to switch record labels.
Braxton filed suit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Friday accusing Barry Hankerson of profiting from her jump from Arista Records to his own label in 2003. She had been with Arista since 1991.
The suit reads, “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.”
Hankerson was employed by the singer in 1997. She claims she has since tried to fire Hankerson as her personal manager but he refused to relinquish control of her career or communicate with any of several other personal managers she hoped to employ.
Toni is beautiful, no way is she ugly.
I can’t believe #36 said that. Just my opinion.