May 10 - Tony Thompson, lead singer of HI-Five, goes solo in "Sexsational" and check out new albums from Portrait, Keith Martin, and IV Examples.
June 6 - There is an Interesting article in this week's Billboard magazine called "Is Hip-Hop's Growing Dominance of R&B an Evolutionary Step, or Is it Displacing Traditional Soul Music Altogether." It's kinda short like all Billboard articles but it raises a good question. Albums soon to be release (a month or two), After 7, All4One, Jodeci, and of course Michael Jackson
June 12 - Check out albums from All4One - "and the music speaks", Jon B. - "Bonafide, and the self titled debut of VYBE which are already in the record stores nearest you. JODECI's new album and Michael Jackson's History will be released on June 20, while XSCAPE's second album - "Off the Hook" will be coming soon. After 7's "Reflections" will be released on July 18 and Brian Mckinght's "I Remember You" on August 8.
July 5 - Here is some updated information - Both JODECI's and XSCAPE's, as well as After 7's "Reflections" will be release on July 18. Don't blame me for the delay. TLC should be ready to rejoin the Budwiser Summer fest tour(sometime soon) after pulling out because they just weren't ready to hit the road. Brownstone on their tour has replaced Monica Dody (Mimi) with Kina Cosper because of Monica's bronchitis. However, Monica will be back for BrownstoneÕs next album. I know this is old news, but I thought that I should pass it on anyway. So, here is the story on EN Vogue provided by the Electronic Urban Report
EN VOGUE: IS THEY OR AIN'T THEY?
En Vogue is still together -- for the moment anyway. The problem
is the hitmaking quartet is trying to re-negotiate their contract -- and
probably with good reason. Cindy Herron publicly alluded to the problem
2 years ago in an interview where she bluntly said she was still waiting
to get paid. En Vogue was put together by producers Denzil Foster and
Thomas McElroy. After two mutliplatinum albums, it's being reported that
the production duo does notwant to renegotiate the terms of En Vogue's
original contract. Besides money, also a sticking point is En Vogue's
desire to be more involved in production -- doing their own songwriting
and working with other producers.
While this is being hashed out, Cindy Herron and Dawn Robinson are
doing solo albums. Our sources tell us the group does not want to break
up, but they don't want to stay together and be broke either. We'll keep
you posted.
July 25 - Both JODECI's and XSCAPE's, as well as After 7's "Reflections" are in your local record stores. But don't forget to check out UNV's Universal Nubian Voices and MoKenStef's AZZIZZ The big news of the week seems to be the bankruptcy of TLC.
TLC the R&B group whose album, CrazySexyCool, produced three top 10 single, and is currently the #4 Album on the Billboard 200 has filed for bankruptcy, with liabilities totaling more than $3.5 million. All three member of the group has filed for Chapter 11 - creditor protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta. Lisa (left - eye) Lopez is the worst off of the three, carrying debts of some $2.2 million, with assets of less than $100,000. Most of this debt come from the $1.3 million claim against her for torching her current boyfriend, former Atlanta wide-receiver star, Andre Rison's mansion. Andre Rison who since has moved on to Cleveland, gave each of the members $15,000 to filed for the bankruptcy. This, after reports that he personally gave Lisa $1 million dollars of his $5 million signing bonus. All this brings us to one conclusion and that is, success in the music industry doesn't mean money. If you want proof, ask TLC and En Vogue.