50 Cent believes that every time he puts out an album negros want to see his downfall, particularly his rap colleagues. And although he insists his latest album Before I Self Destruct isn’t different from any of his previous albums, however the immense pressure that comes with releasing an album makes him feel like Britney Spears. Guess he might as well pull out a razor and start shaving. He tells MTV,

“Well, the title itself is a representation of the cycle of success from an artist perspective,” he said. “I feel like the general public turns you into a favorite by consuming your material. We all start from an underdog space. And after they consume it, they begin to resent you for not bearing the same pressures. Because you’re in this financial space where they know you’re not under the same circumstances they are. … This is why they like nothing more than to see Britney Spears when she’s shaving her head and swinging at the cameras. We should be covering her more now. They covered it during the confusion, but the intensity, that’s less than when she made the comeback.”

Word is Janet Jackson is desperately trying to revive her music career. As you may remember, Janet dropped Island Records last year after they failed to promote her album Discipline and then she decided to take matters into her own hands by managing herself. But, according to the New York Daily News, the singer has released a new greatest hits compilation titled Number Ones after secretly signing a new contract last month with A&M Records, which happens to be the first label she signed with at age 16. And word is A&M executive Jimmy Lovine is making sure that Janet comes out on top with her next album expected to hit store shelves in 2010, by recruiting top producer Rodney Jerkins to crank out some hits for the songstress. A snitch tells NY Daily News,

“Jimmy has given the mandate to make this Janet record a success. He believes that he has the right team in place to finally take Janet back to the top of the music charts. It’s a top priority for the label.”

Hope everything works out for Janet.

Listen to Rihanna give an in-depth track by track preview of her new album Rated R. Here’s an excerpt of what she had to say about tracks “Hard” and “Stupid in Love”.

“‘Hard’ is lyrically–lyrically it’s very different from anything I’ve ever done. It’s very cocky. Um…it’s a lot of bragging Uh, on both my part and Young Jeezy’s part, but that’s the fun in the song. It’s like ‘I’m so hard’. I love it, I love performing it. As cocky as it is, it’s one of the least serious records on the album so it’s fun.”

“‘Stupid In Love’ is the first song that was written on my album. Actually Ne-Yo wrote it a couple days before the Grammy’s this year, so when we heard it was just crazy how it was like a premonition and the lyrics just made complete sense. It’s really about being blinded by love and coming to terms with that and the reality of  the state of your relationship and just saying ‘This is not what I stand for. I don’t want to do this anymore. Eventhough I still love you, this relationship is stupid’.”

Check out Rated R x Nokia’s live concert this past Monday in London.

]]> http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/18/rihanna-talks-rated-r-x-nokia-concert-full-video/feed/ 0 http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/18/rihannas-new-man-lives-in-90210/ http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/18/rihannas-new-man-lives-in-90210/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:00:24 +0000 J'More http://str8nyc.com/?p=28509 THEY SAY…RIHANNA’S NEW MAN LIVES IN “90210″?!

Word is Rihanna is really feeling 90210 actor Tristan Wilds. According to the NY DailyNews, this became evident this past weekend during a party at the singer’s L.A. home in which Tristan was a guest.

“No one knew why Tristan was there initially, because it was not an industry party — it was very intimate,” says a fellow guest. “But everyone quickly realized they weren’t meeting for the first time, because they were openly affectionate for everyone to see.”

And the snitch claims sparks flew from the moment they met.

“He’s a real gentleman,” says the snitch. “She likes him a lot, and it shows. From the moment he walked into her party, Rihanna lit up.”

Although Rihanna is in major promo mode prepping for the release of her album, the snitch reveals that the “couple” have come up with a plan to make their fling last.

“They’ll keep in touch while she’s away.They’re already planning to use iChat and Skype to stay in contact until Tristan finishes shooting ‘90210′ for the season and can fly out to meet her on the road.”

In related news, the Bajan beauty will perform her new single Russian Roulette from her new album Rated R on Britain’s “The X Factor” on Sunday, November 29^th. However, she’s not the only star on the bill for that night. Alicia Keys will also be performing “Doesn’t Mean Anything” from her new album, The Element of Freedom.

Mary J. Blige and Usher are joining forces with TNT to ring in the holidays in musical style with its annual presentation of “Christmas In Washington”, set to air on December 20^th at 8 p.m. (ET/PT). This year’s concert will be hosted by funny man George Lopez and other musical guests include Neil Diamond, Sugarland, and Rob Thomas. “Christmas In Washington” is attended annually by the President and First Lady and other Washington VIPs. According to Michael Wright, executive vice president/head of programming for TNT, TBS and TCM,

“We take pride in presenting “Christmas In Washington” each year as we bring together musical artists from a variety of genres for a fantastic holiday concert. This year, we’re especially thrilled to welcome a lineup of top-name performers and an equally amazing host, George Lopez. Together, they will make this a holiday celebration to remember.”

Last night’s episode of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” sure didn’t disappoint! Not only is my girl Mya still in the running to being crowned champion of DWTS, but Grammy-Award winner Alicia Keys and Leona Lewis blessed the audience and TV viewers with their beautiful voices as well. Alicia sang her new single “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart” off her new album The Element of Freedom, due in stores December 15th. Leona Lewis sang her latest song, “Happy” from her just-released album, Echo. Mya is up against Kelly Osbourne and Donny Osmond, as they’re the final three finalists vying for the coveted trophy.

In case you missed Mya’s stellar performance last night, we’ve got you covered!

I don’t think Mya has anything to worry about, she’s bringing that trophy home!

ANY THOUGHTS?!

Check out andPOP’s recent interview with “Mr. Birthday Sex” aka Jeremih as he discusses how he got into the music business, the attention he’s garnered from “Birthday Sex”, how he’d like to smash Halle Berry and Keri Hilson. Oh and by the way ladies– he’s single!

Last Friday, Ike Jr. aka Chris Brown debuted the video for his new single “Crawl” on “The Wendy Williams Show” which features the oh so talentless Cassie as his leading lady. Now, one would think the lyrics suggest he’s actually singing about getting back with Rihanna, however Chris explains to MTV that “Crawl” really isn’t only about her–it’s message is basically about moving on.  He says,

“When I heard the whole concept and everything I was like, ‘Yo, this is crazy,’ ” Brown said about the track. “So being able to express the feelings, it was like, probably one of the best [records I've done.] But it was more than me trying to do a record that meant crawl to love, crawl back to love. Meaning whether it’s from your negative situations, whether it’s from any problems you’ve dealt with, like anybody’s situation. Mine being my personal situation with shorty, but for anybody, for being inspired as far it being the war or a death in the family, whether it’s anything, anybody just crawl back to love. ‘Cause love conquers everything. Love, at the end of the day, makes everybody happy.”

If you can’t get enough of Chris, listen to his third single “Sing Like Me” which is “dedicated to the ladies”.

“All this bottle poppin’ got me feeling nicely/Leaving by myself feels highly unlikely/Lookin’ for a right now dont need no wifey/Settling down one chick that ain’t even like me/When I get them off to the room/We aint playing by no rules and girls singing melodies/And it sounding like ya favorite song playing on the radio and can’t get enough of me/ Got a girl singing like me”

“Sing Like Me” is such a far cry from him begging Rihanna to take his ass back on “Crawl”. But, I can’t even front, the track is hot and unfortunately the hook is really catchy.

Graffiti in stores December 5th!