Category Archives: ROUND UP

NEWS ROUNDUP: KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR NAMED GLOBAL CULTURAL AMBASSADOR / MLK MEMORIAL ERROR TO BE CORRECTED

NBA legend and all-time scoring leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was appointed global Cultural Ambassador by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday (January 18).

In his new role, Abdul-Jabbar will travel the world engaging young people and helping to promote diplomacy. He said:

“I am excited and honored to serve my country as a Cultural Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. I look forward to meeting with young people all over the world and discussing ways in which we can strengthen our understanding of one another through education, through sports, and through greater cultural tolerance.”

Abdul-Jabbar will make his first trip as Cultural Ambassador in just as few days when he heads to Brazil on Sunday for a number of events centering on education.

MLK Memorial Error to be Corrected

Following criticism of a misquote on the Martin Luther King Memorial after its unveiling in August, the first African-American memorial on or near the National Mall and the only one not in honor of a former president was dedicated in October and will corrected.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has ordered the National Park Service to rectify the issue within thirty days by changing the inscription from “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness,” to King’s words of “If you want to say I was a drum major, say I was…”

Poet Maya Angelou perhaps served as the memorial’s biggest critic, citing the quote used as the memorial’s inscription “makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an arrogant twit”. Salazar said it’s “important to correct the error because King ‘and his presence on the Mall is a forever presence for the United States of America’”.

( Photos: Getty Images )
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MUSIC NEWS: AMERIIE DISCUSSES “CYMATIKA, VOL. 1″ + POSSIBLE RICH HARRISON REUNION

Newly married songstress Ameriie had a sit down exclusively with Billboard.com to talk a little bit about her fifth studio album, Cymatika, Vol. 1, and even a reunion with producer Rich Harrison.

Q: What are the core genres of the album?
A: Trance and electronic. ’80′s new wave, but not in the sense of the sound, particularly, but more so the song structures themselves. I really wanted to try different things. Even with vocal approach, some of the songs my sister listened to and she didn’t even know it was me. I wanted to experiment with androgyny.

Q: In Love & War was about the gray area between being in love and not. Now that you’re a married woman, is that something you touch upon on Cymatika, Vol. 1?
A: This particular album is different as far as the subject matter. I kind of went in a place I didn’t go before. Relationships are very important to talk about but I also want to go a little deeper in to what it is that makes us human and what we have in common.

Q: Which producers are you working with?
A: Different people, but two I’ve worked really closely are Andre Harris, of Dre & Vidal but has branched off to do his own thing. He did probably a majority of the album. Continue

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MUSIC NEWS: DAWN RICHARD PREPS SOLO ALBUM / AUBREY O’DAY TALKS DANITY KANE REUNION / JOJO ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM INFO

Seems as though Dawn Richard’s solo project is coming sooner than we thought. Fresh off the heels of the release of Dirty Money’s Last Train To Paris, Richard took her first official foray into the world of solo artistry with her mixtape release, #ATellTaleHeart. But it seems as though the former Danity Kane starlet will release her debut solo LP via Bad Boy/Interscope Records this fall.

“I’ve been incredibly lucky to have been in two amazing groups, but I feel like I’ve never had the opportunity to show the world what I can do on my own,” says the 27-year-old singer-songwriter.

In addition to gearing up for the release of her solo project, Richard is kicking off the Coming Home tour with Dirty Money on April 13th. The three will tour intimate venues around the United States before she begins promotion for the currently untitled solo project.

AUBREY O’DAY TALKS DANITY KANE REUNION?

Speaking of former Danity Kane members, Aubrey O’Day premiered her brand new Oxygen reality TV series, All About Aubrey last night. She sat down with the folks at Rap-Up.com and gushed about what we could expect from the new show, as well as a little insight about whether or not she and the girls would be willing to hook up for a Danity Kane reunion.

Aubrey is also on her way to releasing her first solo album this summer, and the new series will follow her journey of recording, preparing for showcases and finding her way back to stardom. All About Aubrey airs every Monday at 10 PM (EST) on Oxygen.
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MUSIC NEWS: R. KELLY PERFORMS ‘NUMBER ONE HIT’ ON LOPEZ TONIGHT / THE DREAM REVEALS ALBUM NEWS / JANELLE MONAE & BRUNO MARS ANNOUNCE JOINT TOUR

R&B singer/songwriter R. Kelly stopped by the Lopez Tonight show and sang his Valentine’s Day appropriate single, “Number One Hit” from his phenomenal studio album, Love Letter. Love this song. Go cop the album if you haven’t heard it yet.

THE DREAM REVEALS ALBUM NEWS

Just a couple of days ago, The Dream announced that he is working on a fourth studio album, but now he’s revealed some more information about what’s going down.

Originally, he said that he was going to title the album Love Affair (all his previous albums had ‘love’ in the title), but he has swapped to the title The Love, IV.

“This album is gonna have more features, which is unique for me, ’cause I usually don’t carry a lot of features,” he told MTV News. “I’m calling it out now. I’m cashing in my chips. I’m gonna try to get everybody, Wayne, Kanye, Jay, Drake, Mary, anybody that I’ve worked with or loaned a hand to, I’m trying to get on my album.”

Usually, The Dream works exclusively with producers Los Da Mystro and Tricky Stewart, but this time he plans to get in the studio with producers Dr. Dre, Polow Da Don, Carlos McKinney and Kanye West. Originally, he announced that the album would be out by August, however he’s set his eyes on June 7th for release.

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