RIHANNA & NICKI ARE NOT LESBIAN COUPLE

Appently, according to the UK press, there has been speculation about a blossoming romance between Rihanna and Nicki Minaj with reports saying the pair are living together.

Rihanna & Nicki have since laughed of these claims and posted this spoof picture on twitter.

My main thought?? DAMN!! Those two SHOULD be lesbians! They would be the hottest girl-on-girl couple ever!

JUSTIN BIEBER CSI

Like everyone who's anyone in showbiz at the moment (you gotta have a sponsorship deal, be the face of a brand, have your own fragrance - you can't just release music anymore you also have to be an actor, a director, a businessman, an author, a charitable philanthropist - the list goes on), the BeeB's is branching into new grounds...

Already having starred in one episode, Justin Bieber is filming his second appearance in the massively popular TV show next month in the "Targets of Obsession" episode - and I'm sure Justin can relate to being the target of many an obsession.

Also in February, we will be hit with Never Say Never the 3-D Justin Bieber biopic. How anyone his age can have a biopic movie is beyond me, but the tween sensation has got one. See it if you dare!..

BRITNEY SPEARS ARTWORK

What is it with V/W magazines at the moment? We've had an awesome funky photoshoot with Nicki Minaj, and now its time for Britney to turn up the heat, and she certainly does . . .

With sexy bondage & leather, snakes and plenty of skin on show, Britney is one goddamn sexy mama! Reminiscent of one of her most sexiest moments; the Slave 4 U video. I deffinately hope she encorporates some of this sizzling vibe into her new music video for Hold It Against Me.

Also, for any Britney & Glee fans out there; Spears herself will be making a guest appearance in this weeks episode where character Brittany is anesthetized and dreams of herself performing a medley of Britney's hits. Sneak preview ...

CEE LO GREEN - F*CK YOU (IN SIGN LANGUAGE)

Here we have of the most popular hits of 2010, performed by an ASL sign language student to her class of fellow students - all of whom totally lap it up cheering & clapping along.

It would be excellent to see our usual TV sign lady do something like this . . . Perhaps we could have a sign lady on some of our music channels - I would watch just for that.

BRIT AWARDS: TINIE TEMPAH & JESSIE J LEAD THE CHARGE

The biggest event in British Music is coming around soon, and the nominations have been released.

Tinie Tempah (deservedly) leads the pack with four nominations - breakthrough act, best British single, top British male and album of the year. Winning would be a massive achievement for Tinie, who at only 22 was nowhere this time last year and now is one of the UKs biggest acts.

Jessie J who performed her hit Do It Like A Dude at the nominations party, has already been announced as the Critic's choice winner. It appears to be too late for her to be considered for breakthrough act - but I'm sure she'll feature in the nominations for this category next year.

 

Housewives favourite & cardigan models Take That have two nominations - album of the year and best group - if they win either category it will be their 13th Brit Award, which I find incredible when you think of some of the amazing British talent who've only won a single or even no awards.

The awards show next month looks set to be a bit of an extravaganza, with Rihanna also set to perform. Last years big winner was Lady GaGa who took home three trophies.

LET IT RAIN - TINCHEY STRYDER ft. MELANIE FIONA

No not the EPIC ballard by Jordin Sparks (see here), this is a brand new track from Tinchey's album Third Strike, featuring the completely overlooked Melanie Fiona.

(Melanie Fiona who for anyone that's unfamiliar with her, is a Canadian artist, she's friends with Kanye & Jay-Z and has written songs for Rihanna. She released her debut album The Bridge in 2009, which sold reasonably well in the U.S. but not so great over here, and her track It Kills Me topped the Billboard Hot 100 R&B/HipHop chart for 10 weeks. Her track Give It To Me Right, is also v-e-r-y good.)

Like most songs with "rain" in the title, it's epic, emotional, dramatic and ballad-eqsue. There are emotional wet people, slow motion dance moves and "I'm gonna be alright" survivor lyrics. Yes, this is deffinately a song about rain.

Heartfelt and emotional, its nice to see Tinchey - who's one of the most talented and successful UK urban acts around - release something different to his usual HipHop-Pop and shows that he's more than a one trick pony, who I'm sure will be around for a few years to come.

NICKI MINAJ ARTWORK

Heres a shot from the recent V magazine photoshoot & interview with Nicki Minaj.

Remind you of anyone? . . .

If you'd like to see more shots from the session with bad-ass Nicki, head here.

TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF - MISSY & TIMBALAND

Heres new music from Timbaland's Thursdays, a series of tracks which the hiphop maestro will be releasing one per week, on ... you guessed it ... a Thursday. This one features Missy Elliott.

Timbaland's Shock Value III is due out later this year.

KEISHA BUCHANAN: UNDER CONTROL

HOLD EVERYTHING!

This is it.

The first leak/clue/snippet/taste of Keisha Buchanan's new solo material (apart from the brief clip of Fearless). Not just a snippet, we have a whole, entire, track. Yes, Under Control (reference to the incredible Janet here anyone??) has just leaked online today, and I for one died when I heard it. I have had high hopes for Keisha - always the hardest working of the Sugababes, writing the majority of their hit singles and with her incredible vocal talent, the benchmark for her solo material was/is high.
But if this leaked track is anything to go by, the future looks bright ...

Powerful Push-The-Button-esque synths provide the beat, to this sassy survivor song of determination and defiance. Screw the haters, Keisha's got it Under Control. While this doesn't showcase her incredible singing ability as would a ballad, it does display the effortlessness in which she can turn out an up-tempo fresh athem - without getting lost in the production around her - not too disimilar from Push The Button and About You Now.

Hopefully, a taste of things to come.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS - YELLE

I came across "Yelle" today, and liked their track Safari Disco Club so much I thought it was worthy of a post. It's the first time I've come across the French group - probably because we don't get many French groups here in the UK - but they've already had one album Pop Up and one top five French single Je Veux Te Voir. If you like your pop music arty, alternative or left field, this could be for you ...

Something about this reminds me of the quirky New Young Pony Club (remember them? I think a "where are they now?" post may in order) from a few years ago, and also the French popiness of Alizee (remember her???). Below is an equation exploring these findings...

WORST YEAR EVER FOR ROCK MUSIC IN UK CHARTS

Only three songs featured in the 100 biggest singles of 2010 (news article) which is the lowest ever since 1960. The three songs included were Journey's Don't Stop Believein' (thanks to Glee), Florence & The Machine's Dog Days Are Over and Train's Hey Soul Sister (random?).

The 100 biggest UK singles in 2010 were made up of 47% R'N'B, 40% Pop and 10% Dance. I think from the massive tide of female eletronic dance/pop/r'n'b artist's we have in both the UK & USA at the moment, the tide has completely turned against the Indie & Rock flood of a few years ago. I for one am starting to feel a little overdosed though . . . perhaps a change is coming? . . .

H.A.M. FIRST SINGLE FROM KAYNE & JAY-Z

For all those Kanye & Jay-z fans out there, here's the cover artwork to the duos new single H.A.M. (which in case you didn't know, stands for Hard As a Motherfu***r).

The hip hop masters plan to release a collaboration album Watch The Throne, and H.A.M. is the first clue as to what we can expect from the two joining forces. Huge, over-the-top production and almost operatics from Kanye, and the hard-hitting gravitas from Jay-Z. The synths sound slightly like KnightRider to me, but then in bursts the screaming, chanting & strings . . . I'm not sure how successful this will be, as it's quite explicit and could be too out-there for a mainstream market. All the same, there's plenty of fierceness & drama in there, so credit to them for trying something different.

Inspired? Groundbreaking? Or just insane? You decide.

SUGABABES 4.0 RELEASE GREATEST HITS - PUSH THE BUTTON: THE COLLECTION

I couldn't believe this when I read it today, well I could, but I was still shocked.

Britain's most talented girl-group The Sugababes (the latest version) will release Push The Button: The Collection next month, February 28th to be exact. DOES THIS MEAN A NEW SINGLE TO PROMOTE THE ALBUM???

This will be the group's second retrospective, the first being Overloaded: The Singles Collection (2006), and Sugababes have released three studio albums since then, all with potential hit singles for a new collection. Overloaded marked the departure of founding member Mutya Buena and introduction of Amelle Berrabah to the group, so it seems fitting to mark the (dramatic, and in my opinion terrible) departure of final founding member Keisha Buchanan and introduction of Jade Ewen to the band. A new greatest hits will provide closure to the much publicised reformation of the group, ending one era and welcoming another - as well as paying tribute to the massive part Keisha has played in the Sugababes succes.

SINGLE REVIEW: BRITNEY SPEARS - HOLD IT AGAINST ME

Ok, so "the wait is ova" (see previous post). It has taken at least a couple of listens to this before I could even attempt to form an opinion...

HOLD IT AGAINST ME

This goes for an all out instant adreneline rush, similar to the drama and urgency of Womanizer, but with some killer dubstep breakdowns. This is Britney as dominatrix, as femme fatale, and in the techno auto-tune style du jour. Although undoubtedly fierce, I can't help but feel I've heard better uses of dubstep by mainstream artists (see Christina meets MIA) and I don't think this is as catchy - or as completely refined into one solid polished track - as comeback singles Womanizer or Gimme More before it. While deffinately better than all those wannabe GaGa/Britney's out there at the moment, this isn't in the iconic league of Toxic, but a sure fire hit all the same.

RIHANNA BREAKS 5TH CONSECUTIVE #1 RECORD

Congratulations to the magnificent Robyn Rihanna Fenty who yesterday scored her fifth UK #1 with What's My Name, which makes her the only female artist to achieve five top singles in five consecutive years. What's My Name in 2011, Only Girl (In The World) in 2010, Run This Town in 2009, Take A Bow in 2008 and Umbrella in 2007. Only Elvis can match this record.

Currently holding the top of the singles and albums chart, as well as having two other singles in the top ten ... all hail Rihanna.

INTRODUCING YASMIN & SINGLE REVIEW: ON MY OWN

For anyone who hasn't heard On My Own the debut single from UK artist Yasmin, they're in for a treat.

Yasmin is a UK artist, already touted by names such a Pharrel Williams, Eve, Taio Cruz and Tinie Tempah as the next big thing. Hailing from Manchester, she's signed to Ministry of Sound and has recently toured with Example as a supporting act last year.

On My Own shows this newcomer as a little lady with a big voice. She's got tatoos, she's got nails like a rude girl and she sings with enough of a hint of attitude to convince you she's been there and seen a few things. The production to the single is moody and melancholic, but dancey at the same, reminiscent of a Massive Attack single. This is modern r'n'b pop, with style and substance. I actually prefer this to the highly touted Jessie J. Lets hope there's more to come from Yasmin.

BRITNEY SINGLE COVER FOR "HOLD IT AGAINST ME"

Britney fans have been screaming all over the place as an early demo for her new track

Hold It Against Me has leaked and Britney herself has tweeted;

"Heard an early demo of my new single leaked. If u think that's good, wait til you hear the real one Tuesday."

So until we get the official version to critique, lets make do with her new cover artwork.