Kanye West leads the nods for most Grammys
The kid can do no wrong. He's won numerous awards since his emergence in the last year and looks like there's no end in sight for this 'College Dropout'. That kid is the talented rapper and producer Kanye West who was recently given the distinction of having being nominated for the most grammys this year with ten.
The producer mantle also has a hand with the artist trailing him. Following up the rear is the reigning R&B prince and princess Usher and Alicia Keys respectively who both garnered eight nominations each and both having Album of the year nominations (West co-producing Keys album). A close 3rd is the late Ray Charles who's last works 'Genuis Loves Company' has given him seven.
The Black Eyed Peas, Jay Z and The Beastie Boys all come in with three nods each while Philly natives The Roots and rapper Eminem come in with two. The ceremony takes place next Sunday (February 13th) at 8pm in Los Angeles to be broadcast live on CBS.
source: grammy.com
__________________________________________________________________Stars grammy performance to benefit Tsunami disaester
Speaking of the Grammys, in recognition of the disaester that took place in Asia late last year, one of the live performances in this years grammy's will be released as a single to benefit the Tsunami disaester.
A host of stars that include Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Velvet Revolver, Tim McGraw, U2 frontman Bono and Brian Wilson are all listed to perform in the song which is a remake of the Beatle's classic 'Across the Universe'
The track will be made available for download at Apple's iTunes Music Store for 99 cents, with all of the proceeds of the song to aid the victims of the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Video of the performance will be available on demand at CBS.com soon after the airing of the awards.
- Source: Billboard.com
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Lauryn Hill unveil new songs at Bob Marley's Birthday tribute
Not to be the norn but rumor has it that she's back and proof was given last night, Lauryn Hill performed two new songs last night (Feb. 6) at a concert to celebrate the late Bob Marley's 60th birthday in Ethiopia.
Hill, who is married to the late Marley's son Rohan, made an unannounced appearance accompanied only by an acoustic guitar to perform the previously unheard tracks 'Walk' and 'Politician's Spirit', as well as 'War in the Mind' which first appeared on her 2002 "MTV Unplugged" album.
"I learned a lot from this trip. It was purposeful. I only decided to perform at the last minute. I think I underestimated the need for black people to see other black people walking in confidence and truth."
Her set came as part of the Africa Unite concert, A free concert which was staged in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa in front of an estimated audience of more than 300,000.
It's been 7 years since her debut album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill dropped and all of her fans are waiting for the forthcoming album of hers which is now in the making process and rumor has it that she'll be working with Kanye West among others. Be on the look out for it
- Source: billboard.com
Amerie's new sophomore set is for all to 'Touch'__________________________________________________________________
R&B sweetheart Amerie has been MIA the last few years. Ever since her debut she's been on the down low but now she's back with her sophomore set called 'Touch'.
The Washington, D.C native travels back to her native roots to get in touch with the go go sound soul she grew up with on the lead off single 'One Thing'. "Being from D.C., I always loved go-go, and my producer Rich Harrison used to be in a go-go band, so he was always playing something," she said recently. "I touched on it a little bit with the last album, but I knew I wanted to touch on it again. So when my manager Lenny Nicholson heard it, he knew it was the single."
The chemistry between Harrison and Amerie is abvious. He worked with the songstress on her debut breakthrough hit ';Why Don't We Fall in Love'. The producer has also worked with the likes of Beyoncé ('Crazy in Love') and Jennifer Lopez latest hit 'Get Right'. Said the singer "There is just this magic that happens when we work together. We've both worked with other people since my last album, but when we get together everything seems to click. We're each other's musical soulmates."
In addition to Harrison, Amerie also enlisted the production efforts of Dre & Vidal, the Buchanans and Red Spyda, among others, for the album. According to Amerie, the overall theme of Touch is a bit more mature than her All I Have debut. "My last album dealt with the emotional side of relationships, it was also more mellow. I didn't really touch on my sexuality. This album is a lot more up-tempo. I've grown in the last two years". The album is due on record shelves April 26th.
- Source: spotlightonR&B.com