Looks like Rihanna is whoopin’ the sh*t out of Chris Brown’s ass in album sales! The Bajan beauty’s Rated R trumped her abuser’s album coming in at No. 3 on the charts selling 181,000 units its first week out. Meanwhile, Chris’ latest release, Graffiti debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard charts this week, selling a depressing 102,000 copies. Guess Chris was right about retail stores not selling his album. And surprisingly enough, one would think that with all the beatdown drama surrounding the ex-lovebirds that they would be killing the charts.

While Rihanna lays a smack down on Chris Brown, ATL rapper Ludacris has postponed a concert in Alaska so he can deal with a “family emergency”. The rapper was scheduled to perform at the George M. Sullivan Sports Arena this Friday, December 18^th, but will now hit the stage on Saturday instead. A statement released by SMG, the company representing the venue, reads,

“While we hate to disappoint fans, this change was necessary to accommodate a family emergency. Rest assured that his performance will be worth the one-day wait.”

We hope all is well with Luda and his family.

Yesterday, Diddy and Dirty Money honey Dawn Richard stopped by Miami’s Y100 and The Beat radio stations at Clear Channel’s headquarters to promote his Last Train to Paris and to talk about himself of course! Hmm…where’s the other chick from Dirty Money? Earlier this week, the mogul made an appearance on the Home Shopping Network in which his fragrance collection sold out in 15 minutes, thus breaking the channel’s selling record!  Take that, take that Martha Stewart!

While Diddy and Dawn made their rounds in M.I.A., LL Cool J and Maxwell were hard at work rehearsing for “The Grammy Nominations Live Concert: The Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night” which airs tonight on CBS at 9 pm.

]]> http://str8nyc.com/2009/12/02/snaps-diddy-dawn-make-their-rounds-ll-cool-j-maxwell-put-in-work/feed/ 1 http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/25/itty-bitty-tidbits-usher-gets-pushed-back-mariah-gets-an-award/ http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/25/itty-bitty-tidbits-usher-gets-pushed-back-mariah-gets-an-award/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:05:35 +0000 J'More http://str8nyc.com/?p=28968 ITTY BITTY TIDBITS: USHER GETS PUSHED BACK/ MARIAH CAREY GETS AN AWARD…

If you’re planning to cop Usher’s new album Raymond vs. Raymond, you’re gonna have to wait a while! The R&B star’s album was originally set to hit stores in early 2010, but then label bosses over at LaFace Records bumped up the date to December 21^st and now it appears they’ve changed their minds again. According to Usher’s mouthpiece,

“We believe that the album is so strong that we want to give it the opportunity to have the proper set-up before coming out.”

Usher revealed that his new album was inspired by experiences from his personal life and now that he and his cougar ex-wife Tameka Foster have called it quits, Usher has a lot he wants to get off his chest. It’s not like we’re the only ones itching to hear what Usher has to say, songwriter/producer extraordinaire Brian M. Cox recently revealed his excitement to MTV as well.

“I think [the new album] is where we are going to see Usher as an artist. I’m very curious to hear what the rest of the album is going to sound like,” Cox said about Raymond vs. Raymond. “Our records are definitely in that lane of touching on what’s going on in his life, so we are going to see what’s going to happen. I’m very excited about the album. I think he has a lot to say.”

While Usher gets his thoughts together, Mariah Carey can finally put her “Glitter” days behind her. I still haven’t seen Precious, but from the looks of it Mariah Carey must have killed her role playing a make-up less social worker. The diva is finally going to be recognized as a bonified actress as she’s set to be handed the Breakthough Performance Award at the 21^st Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 5, 2010. Previous stars to receive the award include Slumdog Millionaire’s Frieda Pinto and Ocscar winner Jennifer Hudson.

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.”

Check out this 30 second clip of Rihanna’s new video for her lead single “Russian Roulette” off her upcoming album Rated R. As previously mentioned, the video for “Russian Roulette” will premiere tomorrow on ABC.

Can’t wait to see the final product!

]]> http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/12/sneak-peek-rihanna-russian-roulette/feed/ 0 http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/12/teyana-taylor-lands-stomp-the-yard-2-gig/ http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/12/teyana-taylor-lands-stomp-the-yard-2-gig/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:01:16 +0000 J'More http://str8nyc.com/?p=28063 TEYANA TAYLOR LANDS “STOMP THE YARD 2″ ROLE + “DOPELIPS” PROMO PICS

Self-proclaimed Princess of Harlem, Teyana Taylor is giving you more reasons to “Google” her! Aside from her new lip gloss line “DopeLips”, the Harlem native is set to make her acting debut in “Stomp The Yard 2: The Homecoming”. She told BV Buzz,

“I am very excited about this movie. The anticipation is crazy! The cast is dope. I am definitely ready to bring my swag to Stomp The Yard 2. Adding, “I am extremely grateful to Will [Packer], Rob [Hardy] and Columbus [Short] for this opportunity to display all of my talents in this film.”

Teyana’s not the only one making their acting debut, 106 & Park’s host Terrence J. has also snagged a role in the film. Production for the film has already begun in Atlanta.

Glad to hear Teyana is making serious moves!

After being leaked on the internet, the release date for rapper 50 Cent’s upcoming album Before I Self Destruct has been moved up.  A statement from Interscope reads:

“50 Cent’s fourth studio album, “Before I Self Destruct” leaked almost a full month before the expected release date. In an effort to combat widespread piracy, the album will now be available in stores on November 16th. The album is currently available for digital pre-order exclusively on iTunes (www.itunes.com). Pre-order consumers will receive the exclusive track “Man’s World” in addition to what post-release date iTunes consumers will receive.”

“Before I Self Destruct” was originally scheduled to drop November 23^rd, but Interscope immediately hopped into damage control once the album leaked on the net. I must say that this definitely a good week for 50! He got free promo from Beanie Sigel’s rant about Jay-Z, signs Beanie to G-Unit and now his album gets moved up.

Don’t you agree?!

Meanwhile, 50’s arch nemesis rapper The Game’s The R.E.D Album was given the red light and has been pushed back. The album was scheduled to drop December 8th, but label bosses over at Interscope decided to push it back to allow him and Dr. Dre more time to work on the project. Using  Twitter as his publicist, he hopped onto his account to break the bad/good news, he writes,

“Album is Officially pushed back, says Interscope so that I can finish wit Dre without having to rush him, myself or the album. Think R.E.D.”

Currently there is no word on a new release date, but we’ll definitely keep you updated!

Looks like MediaFakeOut is still up to its no-good tricks—making up stories. Back in September the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige revealed that she had no plans to adopt children because her hectic schedule would make her a “poor parent”. Well, the folks over at MediaTakeOut now have Mary on preggo watch. Apparently, this all began because Mary opted to leave her form fitting clothes at home and wore a maxi dress to the AFI Fest 2009 Screening of “Precious” earlier this week. According to Mary’s mouthpiece, there isn’t a “slight” bit of truth to the story…it’s simply “not true”. Check out the pic in question below.

What baby bump?! Either I’m blind or there isn’t one to begin with.

In related news, Mary will be belting out the “Star Spangled Banner” at Game 6 of the World Series matchup between the Yankees and the Phillies at Yankee Stadium tonight!

Who: Wendy Williams and MORE!

When: Sunday, November 8th, 2009
9AM – 4PM

Where: Meadowlands Expo Center

355 Plaza Drive
Secaucus, NJ 07094

Click HERE to purchase tickets!

Aside from the fact that he recently copped a plea and is expected to serve a year in the pen for possession of an illegal gun, rapper Lil Wayne isn’t letting his legal woes stop him from having a good ole’ time! Word is Lil Wayne and buddy Nelly were spotted partying it up at a Miami hot spot. A snitch reveals to the NYPost,

“They were with a big group of women and stayed until 4 a.m.”

Lil Wayne is expected to be sentenced in February, not to mention he already has to stand trial in March 2010 to face drug possession charges stemming from an 2008 arrest in Yuma, Arizona.