Apparently, the only clock that was ticking wasn’t the biological one. Usher, who is now a husband and a father is ready to release his album, according to producer and long-time friend Jermaine Dupri.
“He has been taking a pretty long time to put it out, but I think he’s ready now,” says Jermaine Dupri, “The last couple times I’ve been around him, you could tell he’s got the bug to hurry up and put this record out. He wants to get back out here and give the people that. He’s got that itch.”
2004’s Confessions, released via Jive, has moved 9.4 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. So what’s the hold up with this project? With a few new tracks leaked, several release dates that have come and gone and rumors swarming of a wife who demands that all the performer’s interests be turned towards her and his new family, Usher fans have been disappointed time and time again.
Anybody remember Nicole Wray? She only released one album and struggled to release new material over the past few years. I actually liked the direction that she was going with her track “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” a couple years ago, but it didn’t catch on as well as I thought it would. Over the last couple years, I’ve posted a couple of new tracks from Nicole, like “Take Your Man” (supposedly produced by Rich Harrison), but none of them seemed to produce any buzz.
This new single, “Stand Up” is produced by Dame Grease, and is apparently from a new album that Nicole plans to release sometime during 2008. I like the production of it, but I’m not sure if I’m quite sold on the song. I want to hear some more material to see what direction Nicole’s going in.
Alice Smith may not be new to some CL visitors but nevertheless she deserves a spotlight. The NYC-based singer has been making waves since late ‘06 when she released her debut album , For Lovers, Dreamers & Me. Rolling Stone listed her as one of the ‘10 Artists to Watch in 2006′ and just last month she was honored with a Grammy nomination for ‘Best Urban/Alternative Performance’.
Her music is often described as a Soul/Rock/Pop blend but Alice has an array of musical influences including: Go-Go, Country, Classic Rock, R&B, Blues, Jazz and Gospel music. In the early 2000s, while she was wrapping up her studies at Fordham University, she sang with Greg Tate’s improv band, Moomtez, that drew upon a broad range of influences and was a part of the Black Rock Coalition.
I’m actually excited to hear new material from Missy Elliott. I always love her delivery, she is just such a fun artist to me. Even though I’ve heard that in person, she isn’t as energetic and fun, I always like what Missy Elliott offers on a track. She always brings such an energy that I love. Missy is apparently working on a new album, a follow-up to 2005’s The Cookbook, which had some fun and interesting material on it.
However, “Ching-A-Ling” is a track that is to appear on the soundtrack to the upcoming film, Step Up 2, which randomly stars Cassie. Even though I don’t know whether this is representative of the work that Missy’s doing on her upcoming project, I will most definitely be on the look-out for her, because Missy has been groundbreaking in the past.
Looks like Team Missy is doing their job and keeping the MySpace page updated - ’cause there’s a single cover for the new song. Be sure to go over there, check Missy out and show her some love.
So, Michelle Williams posted up a recent blog on her MySpace page, updating us on the status of her album and the leaking of the snippet of her new song “Stop This Car.”
“As you guys know a portion of ‘Stop This Car’ was ‘leaked’ on the internet and to my surprise the responses have been so positive! I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t leak, nor can I tell you who did even if my life depended on it! Thank y’all so much for embracing it! It’s truly a different song for me! I almost didn’t record it… I’ll get in to why a little later! So that being said… it looks like it will be my first single (I THINK!). This time around it’s time for you guys to know who I am and I’ll make sure of it! This album will not disappoint… I promise you!”
If you missed the snippet of “Stop This Car,” click here so you can hear the song that fans seemed to like.
For more updates about Michelle’s album, be sure to check out her MySpace page, because apparently, Michelle will be blogging more about what’s going on with the progress of the new project, due out sometime this year. And you know CL will give you the latest on Michelle.
Here we have new music from the beautiful Estelle. I absolutely love the vibe of this song, and I love the sound of her voice. As we told you last year, The UK sensation is the first artist to be signed to John Legend’s new ‘Homeschool Records’ label. I am very excited about this project, the more I hear from her. She is funky to me. I love this girl’s imagery. “American Boy” is definitely a ‘diggable’ track, it’s from her upcoming album, Shine which has recently been pushed back for May 2008 release.
A new Faith Evans song has leaked, and I must admit, even though I’m lukewarm on the song, I am definitely excited about new material from Faith. I really enjoyed Faith’s last album, The First Lady, which was released via Capitol Records. This new song, “Maybe” was supposedly produced by The Neptunes - it has the same feel as 702’s “I Still Love You,” with the cowbells and what have you. Not surprising, either, because on her past two albums, Faith has worked with the duo.
