MUSIC NEWS: USHER TO RELEASE HERE I STAND IN JUNE / GNARLS BARKLEY VIDEO BANNED FROM MTV / ON SET WITH DANITY KANE

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Looks like Tameka couldn’t keep Usher on the short leash for too long. Usher’s new single “Love in This Club,” produced by Polow Da Don and featuring Young Jeezy is the #1 song in the country. And that’s after it jumped from #51 to the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That is crazy. I bet Usher is gushing. This will be Usher eighth #1 single in his career, which is pretty impressive.

Usher certainly had his work cut out for him this time around. With his last album, 2004’s Confessions, which went a whooping 9 times Platinum, Usher was on top. I was a little skeptical at first for this new project, which we have found out is titled Here I Stand, because I didn’t know what Usher was going to do to top the previous effort, much like my feelings about Mariah with Mimi. Also, a lot of songs had been leaking and none of the material was really stellar to me - I found myself only really digging the Rich Harrison-produced “Dat Girl Right There,” but apparently, the labels were too scared to release that as a first single.

In any event, Usher is set to release Here I Stand, worldwide, in June.

Well, it’s been said that MTV is pulling a Janet (well, not anymore) with Gnarls Barkley by banning their video from the popular music station. It’s been said to make people “go crazy.”

The clip for the Grammy-winning duo’s “Run,” which features a cameo by Justin Timberlake, has been kept out of rotation on the music channel after failing the Harding Test. The test monitors strobe effects in video content to make sure the images don’t set off seizures. Danger Mouse, one half of the hip-hop, soul duo, told Billboard that he and rapper-vocalist Cee-Lo Green hoped to retool the video and get it on air as soon as possible.

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but we’re having issues. I think the video is cool. It works for me. But I’m not necessarily that easily seasick,” Danger Mouse told Billboard magazine, which first reported the temporary ban. “We can’t predict how people are going to interpret it.”

Supposedly, some blogs have gotten in trouble for posting an edit that has leaked, so that’s why I haven’t seen the video. I’m hoping it’s not too much of a shocker, because I really love Gnarls Barkley, and can’t wait to hear what the new project sounds like. I hope I get into it as much as I did on St. Elsewhere. Check back for more updates on this whole video fiasco.

Here’s some footage of Diddy’s “Dark Angels,” Danity Kane on the set of their video for their first single, “Damaged,” from their sophomore set, Welcome to the Dollhouse, which is set to hit stores March 18th, just a week after the boys from Day 26 release their album.

These girls just seem like so much fun to me, and from what I’ve heard, the video is very dance-heavy. Can’t wait to see what they came up with for the new video, especially since the girls fought on the show for a more pop-dance record. Make sure you check back on CL when the video premieres, and be sure to support the girls on the 18th of March!