MUSIC NEWS: RUBEN STUDDARD DROPPED / KANYE, LUPE & PHARRELL? / RICK ROSS SPEAKS ON RELEASE DELAY / DMX INKS NEW DEAL

Friday, December 21, 2007

American Idol winner Ruben Studdard has reportedly been dropped from J. Records after disappointing record sales of his most current release, 2006’s The Return.

Studdard’s first J. Record release, Soulful, released in 2003, is RIAA certified platinum. His 2004 gospel follow up, I Need An Angel also fared well - reaching gold status. However, sales from The Return have been unable to match his previous success, moving barely 235,000 copies.

Here is an email that was sent to us earlier this week:

“My brother tours as a background singer for Ruben Studdard and he was just informed today that Ruben was dropped by J Records. The sales were just too bad from his last album. He has only sold 234,000 copies.”

Most recently, in November, he spent time touring alongside Robin Givens in a play called “Heaven I Need a Hug” and according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he is currently preparing to play jazz great Fats Waller in a national theatre tour of “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” Studdard is also scheduled to make a holiday appearance in his hometown Birmingham, Alabama this weekend, performing with his old band Just a Few Cats at the WorkPlay soundstage.

Wow, tough break. I wonder if Ruben will shop himself around for another deal and put out another album? That’s a shame. He was America’s Teddy Bear!

Remember the song “Us Placers,” that we posted a while ago from Kanye West’s Can’t Tell Me Nothin’ mixtape? It was a track that featured Kanye himself, Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco. Well, the three have formed a group called CRS (Child Rebel Soldier). Apparently, the trio is working on an album together - which should be interesting, since Lupe Fiasco is in the stages of promoting his album, The Cool, which was released this past Tuesday, Kanye is in the middle of a tragedy, and Pharrell should be working furiously on the new N.E.R.D. album.

To your left, you will see the unofficial video for their track “Us Placers.” It was directed by Va$htie, who has been romantically linked to Pharrell for a while now, but no one is sure of their current status. It doesn’t surprise me though, considering that Va$htie is a member of the collective Box Fresh Pictures. She’s directed a few projects which are listed there.

The video is pretty interesting, considering that child actors were used to replace Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco. Apparently, the video was shot with a zero budget, meaning they had no money behind the project. Check it out. It’d be interesting to hear an album from the three of them.

Rick Ross fans were disappointed when they found out that Rick’s sophomore set, Trilla was pushed back from December 18th to February 19th via Slip-N-Slide/Def Jam. He sat down exclusively with Billboard.com to speak on the dilemma.

“We had a few clearance issues, including one song produced by DJ Toomp,” says Ross. “It’s called ‘This Me’ and it’s a real personal record for me, so I wanted to make sure it got on the album. Toomp produced ‘White House’ on my first record and we made magic.”

Current single “Speedin’” featuring R. Kelly, DJ Khaled and Diddy, which we posted in a rap review, is on the move on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it jumps 74-60 this week. A video for the song recently premiered on BET’s 106 & Park.

After being released from his Sony Music deal earlier this year, rapper DMX has signed a deal with the music division of Canadian online gaming company Bodog Entertainment. The rapper plans to release his next two albums, Walk With Me Now and You’ll Fly With Me Later in 2008 via Bodog.

“I’m thankful for the fact that Bodog believes in me,” says DMX. “We share the same vision and the fact that they see in me the same thing I see. I’ll show Bodog Music how it’s supposed to be done, and we’ll get to where we’re supposed to be. You got a dog for life.”

Bodog Music is a part of the digital entertainment company, Bodog Entertainment International Group. The company has several U.S. locations but is based in Vancouver. It recently snagged international distribution rights for the Wu-Tang Clan’s comeback album, 8 Diagrams.

How ironic… DMX thinks he is a dog and he signed with a label with the word “dog” in it. Sorry, I had to laugh.