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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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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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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Last Thursday the New York’s Plaza Hotel hosted one of the most exclusive events in town: famous hip hop star and producer P Diddy – aka Sean Combs – threw the most spectacular birthday bash for his 40th birthday.

We all know that Diddy is not new to this kind of events and that he is in fact THE party specialist. Anybody will have already heard about his “White Party Affair” which he hosts every year and where guests not wearing 100% white attire can get a non-entry.

So, after the “White Party”, the “Black and White – Truman Capote Party”, the “Harlem to Hollywood Party” and the “Masquerade Ball – Cirque du Soleil Party”, Puffy came up with something really original this year (in the true meaning of the word). The theme for his birthday party was the Garden of Eden. No, this did not mean David Beckham, Bono and Jay-Z (to name some of his guests) had to walk through the red carpet only wearing a fig leaf on their private parts.

In P Diddy’s world it turned out to be spending more than 3 million dollars to transform the Plaza’s Grand Ballroom in an Eden by installing a black dance floor with an enormous black chandelier hanging on top of it, orchid layout decorations worth $30,000, silver confetti raining from above and, of course, a huge chocolate birthday cake with Sean John Comb’s initials.

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Simon Cowell has done it again. This time, he launched his newest girl group -  Bubbel G.  Bubbel G is composed of Elle, Bella, Bouji, Coco and Bliss and these 5 girls are the newest RnB sensation that’s just waiting for their turn in the limelight.

So, what does this new girl group have in store? They promise to mix urban dance with their own style of fun and glamour. Bouji, Bliss and Bella are from Dublin while Elle was from Manchester. Right now all 5 are staying in Essex together. They were formed as a group only in  th Mis year so they are still quite new as a group.

After 5 months, they will be releasing their 1st ever single this week entitled “Get Ready”. They are now getting their exposure from the radio and TV guesting. Not only that, just recently, they performed in front of the students of Swanmead Community School as a preview of what these young girls can do. The students were ecstatic and they all gathered in their school’s main hall as the new group was performing just for them.

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Mos Def (his real name is Dante Terrell Smith) had been in the business since late 90’s but he fell off the radar after the release of his first album. He had great potential back then and he was able to get fans that were hardcore fanatics of hip-hop or not. His first single “Universal magnetic” was a huge underground hit. Mos Def also appeared in movies such as: Ghosts, Showtime or The Italian Job.

Mos Def had released his 4th album which had been recorded since 2007. It was produced by J Dilla, Madlib, Mos Def himself together with other producers. Prior to the release of the album, Mos Def had already sang some of the albums during live shows and his fans already caught a glimpse of the album even before it was said to be released.

The album has some songs recorded with other artists such as Georgia Anne Muldrow and Slick Rick. The 1st single from the album is “Life in Marvelous Times” and the 2nd single is “Quiet Dog”.

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