RnB Music News

Amerie recently announced all her fans that she has finalised her name change. Her real name is Amerie Mi Marie Rogers but just recently changed that to Ameriie. The only difference is that she added another “I” in her name. It’s quite odd considering that the pronunciation of her name stays the same. Asked why she went through this process, the R&B star replied, “I operate on vibes and intuition, and I believe everything is energy; the vibration of the double I is right for me. Slightly different spelling, completely same pronunciation!”

Her name change is not new in the industry as many artists have gone through this process. Many opted to legally adopt their stage name so that they can get the credits and easily recognised for their work. But Ameriie’s reason behind the change is very interesting. Instead of adopting something, she created another way of getting the interest of everyone. Not everyone will say it’s a smart move but many agree that it’s an interesting concept.

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Destiny’s Child was one of the biggest female groups during the 90s and early 2000. Selling more than 50 million albums worldwide, it was the group that launched the career of Beyoncé Knowles. Even though not all members equal Beyonce’s status in conquering the world through music in their solo careers, they are still recognized for their talent. Beyoncé, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland were once icons and their music is now part of the pop-culture.

This is exactly the reason why the rumours about DC’s reunion are gaining momentum online. It is said that Matthew Knowles, the group’s former manager is talking with different members of the group for a possible reunion and even a single. Not only is the manager talking to the three members of the group but even with the former members: LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson and Farrah Franklin which was the last person to leave the group – making DC a trio. According to different online sources online, LeToya and LaTavia seemed to be interested.

Aside from the nostalgic idea of bringing the group together, another story revolves around the obligation of the Destiny’s Child to Columbia Records.

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Teairra Mari is in the news because of her latest musical  effort  – “Sponsor”.  The BET network which  is well known for its support to African American artists won’t broadcast  Teairra Mari’s second single.

At first, the banning from BET was just a rumour but it became official as the singer’s representative came out confirming the news about the ban. Apparently the executives from the network believe that the video might convey a bad message. In the video, Teairra Mari  has a “sponsor” (Soulja Boy) that will give her anything she wants.

Naturally, representatives of Teairra Mari are not pleased with the decision. They felt that the smaller artists like her can’t easily push their music to their fans because of the possible censorship they have to go through. They also defended the video as the singer actually has something on her own in the end (black credit card) which means she doesn’t really rely on her sponsor for the things she needs. But there’s something good that came out of this small controversy: because of the buzz, her music video became  popular on video sharing sites which could be her platform to get more notice. Bad news or not, she has been placed in the  spotlight.

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Kelly Rowland is pushing to create a buzz with an upcoming single called “Smooches”. The song is set to be part of her third solo album set to be released this year. The single is being produced by Bangladesh. The producer is known for being a part on well known singles such as Beyonce’s Video Phone and A Milli by Lil’ Wayne.

The RnB star is previously known as one of the members of “Destiny’s Child”. After the group decided to call it quits, each decided to go on a solo career. Beyonce is currently regarded as the top RnB artist. Although Kelly Rowland’s fame is not the same with her former band-mate, her skills are still acknowledged worldwide.

The single “Smooches” is being released with some controversy. Another RnB singer named Teyana Taylor is complaining about the song since it was supposed to be her single for her first album. This means she should have released with her version first before Kelly Rowland’s rendition. Teyana Taylor is an upcoming RnB singer and already well known for a single called “Google Me” which was released in 2008.

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Britain’s Star magazine reported that at Beyonce’s concert in Salvador a gang of youngsters opened fire on fans and the singer had to cut short her show. The singer’s representatives say that the reports about gunfires are false.

The singer played to record number of fans in South America and she has certainly pushed her name to greater heights in the RnB world in the recent Grammy Awards. Her latest album “I am…Sasha Fierce”  helped her bag six awards which made her one of the most awarded female artist in one night. She is now compared to Alicia Keys and Lauren Hill as they were also big winners in the past who received multiple Grammy Awards just like Beyonce.
The following are her awards:
• Song of the Year – Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
• Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – Halo
• Best Female RnB Vocal Performance – Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
• Best Traditional RnB Vocal Performance – At Last
• Best RnB Song – Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)

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Some people are just born lucky to have the talent and looks to make it in any industry. One of those people is Ciara. After being part of the music industry for the past few years, Ciara went back to her roots – modelling.

With her fame and good looks, she is now part of 2010 Adidas Originals Global. She’ll be working with David Beckham as the male counterpart in this campaign. Some see this as a slow shift to her modelling career because the music industry was not kind to her but it’s actually the opposite. She is just reestablishing her role in the modelling world.

Ciara started to gain the attention of everyone in 2004 when her debut album “Goodies” became a platinum hit in the US. Her international fame was sealed when the same album was released internationally January of 2005. Her three singles “Goodies”, “1, 2 Step” and “Oh” were top of the charts in various countries.

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Mariah Carey was awarded the Breakthrough Actress Performance prize at the Palm Springs Film Festival for starring in the film Precious, a recent movie release. Unfortunately her performance during the acceptance speech seemed to be a lot less convincing. Or rather, the only thing she convinced the audience about might have been the level of alcohol she just had consumed.

As soon as she stepped on the stage, together with Precious film director Lee Daniels, it was clear something was wrong with the actress/singer who could barely articulate her words and, in fact, asked the public to excuse her as she was “a bit, um.. ”.
On a later occasion, the singer put the blame for her behaviour on her jokingly relationship with Lee Daniels. She said she and Daniels had enjoyed themselves prior to the award presentation with champagne and not enough eating.

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It’s been several years now since ex-Fugees front woman stepped down from the stage and abandoned recording studios. Even more saddening than the artistic loss of such an exceptional voice of the RnB, is the news that have circulated over the last years about the singer’s mental health issues. Her latest public appearances, in particular the shocking 2007 performance in Brooklyn, have raised several concerns about the unstable behaviour of the singer. Fears of psychiatric disorders have also been confirmed by former band members Pras and Wyclef Jean who declared Lauryn urgently needs psychiatric support.

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Like several other celebrities, Ashanti has experienced the bad side of being a famous by becoming victim of harassment. It seems the singer was subject to inopportune attentions by a 31 year old man, Devar Hurd, who has recently been found guilty for stalking the singer.

The harassment took place between last May and July, when Hurd sent to Ashanti’s sister, Shia Douglas, and mother Tina, numerous sexually-explicit texts and vulgar pictures. He has also been spotted in many of Ashanti’s performance venues.

Hurd introduces himself as a singer and record music company CEO. In front of the Manhattan Supreme Court, he explained that his sex-ting and pictures of his intimate parts were welcomed by the women as he was never told to stop.

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RnB singer Mya is one of the contestants of this season’s American edition Dancing with the Stars. The artist has recently managed to get to the third finals on the popular show and has also been voted by US Weekly as one of the “Hot Steppers of the Year”.

Mya’s skills as a dancer surely do not come as a surprise. Many of her videos show she is one of the best dancers around in the RnB scene and she also has a respectful dancing background from a very young age, especially in tap dancing where she has trained with renowned tap dancer Savion Glover of the Dance Theater of Harlem.

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