Black Music Notes Sept. 2

9/2/09: Jay-Z
It was only a matter of time before Jay-Z's forthcoming album, 'The Blueprint 3,' would leak. The hip hop mogul's latest project has managed to make its way on to the streets (and the web) a week prior to release. And the man also known as "Hova" doesn't seems to be too fazed by the bootlegging. "My pager is actually ringing right now, so people are probably calling me and telling me they pretty much like it," he told 'MTV News.' "I can tell by the way my pager rings if a song is good or not. It's really going crazy right now." Jay-Z said the album is a classic! "The whole thing about this album, how I approached it, is that I wanted to make a new classic to start that all over again - to go back to making classic albums like the ones we grew up listening to." 'The Blueprint 3' officially will be on sale Sept. 11.


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9/2/09: Hip Hop Honors
This year's sixth annual 'VH1 Hip Hop Honors' will honor the 25th anniversary of pioneering rap label Def Jam Records. Celebrating such a prominent company will take top-notch talent such as Eminem, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Fabolous, Ludacris, Method Man,Mary J. Blige, Redman,DMX , Ja Rule, The Roots, and Public Enemy, and that's who producers have slated. Hosted by Tracy Morgan, the annual event will take place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, New York and is set to premiere Oct. 13 at 9 PM/ET on VH1.



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9/2/09: Deborah Cox
Former char-topping vocalist Deborah Cox will join Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer David Foster for the 'David Foster and Friends' tour, starting Oct. 21 in Chicago. In addition to Cox and Foster, the 10-city trek will also feature Philip Bailey, Peter Cetera, Charice, Michael Johns and the Canadian Tenors. The 'Nobody's Supposed to Be Here' songstress released her latest effort, 'The Promise,' last year. The opus peaked at #14 on the US R&B charts and included the singles 'Did You Ever Love Me,' 'Saying Goodbye,' 'Beautiful U R.' The 'David Foster and Friends' tour ends Nov. 8 in Vancouver.



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9/2/09: The New Boyz
Teen hip hop newcomers the New Boyz are capitalizing off of their radio friendly smash hit 'You're A Jerk' by joining Sean Kingston on his upcoming tour. In addition to the trek, which begins Oct. 12 in San Francisco, group members Ben J and Legacy are also scheduled to release their 13-track debut opus 'Skinny Jeanz & A Mic' on Sept. 15 via Asylum/Warner Bros. Records. The duo insists that fans looking for something young, fresh, and new are in for a treat. "People think we only do jerk music, but we do a whole lot of everything," said Legacy. "The album is about having fun and the typical teenage life. The show will capture this." The New Boyz and Sean Kingston's North American tour ends November 13 in Iowa.


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9/2/09: Kem
Neo-soul crooner Kem has been steadily recording his third project, 'Album III: Intimacy' over the past few years, and apparently the fans will have to wait a little longer for its release. "We have a lot of orchestration on the new record," the Detroit native recently told Billboard. "It's taking longer than anyone would like. I'd love to just flesh it out and put it in the hands of the people immediately, but I just want to make sure that what I'm doing is right. We're trying to make a record that people will not soon forget."


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8/28/09: Ledisi
Two-time Grammy Award nominee Ledisi may have delivered the sleeper hit of the year with her new opus 'Turn Me Loose,' which debuted at #1 on Billboard's 'Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums' chart this week. The masterfully-crafted set -- her third album since 2007 for Verve – is a tour-de-force that defies categorization featuring collaborations with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Lorenzo Johnon, Chucky Thompson, Rex Rideout and Raphael Saadiq, among others.


8/28/09: Beyonce
This week, Billboard magazine announced that the one and only Beyonce Knowles will be accepting its Woman of the Year Award at this year's annual Billboard Women In Music Event -- taking place Oct. 2 in New York City. There, the most powerful and talented women in the music business who has inspired the industry with their success, leadership and new ideas, and other accomplishments over the past year will be celebrated.


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8/28/09: Queen Latifah
With her latest opus 'Persona' currently in stores, hip hop's empress Queen Latifah has chosen to burn some rubber for the video of her new song, 'Fast Single.' The song's video clip features performances by Missy Elliott, Common, and Robin Thicke alongside his wife and actress, Paula Patton, who all got a chance to get behind the wheel in their own individual Ford Mustangs. As for Latifah, nailing everyone for the video was less hectic than expected. "I just asked them," she told 'MTV News' while filming the clip at Wall Township Speedway in South Belmar, New Jersey. 'Persona' is executive-produced by Cool and Dre and features appearances Mary J. Blige, Marsha Ambrosius, and Busta Rhymes among others.


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8/28/09: TLC
Despite the untimely loss of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in 2002, Grammy Award winning group TLC are expected to reunite on stage for the first time in six years. According to People.com, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas will join Justin Timberlake for his annual benefit concert, 'Justin Timberlake and Friends' on Oct. 17 in Las Vegas. Timberlake's concert, which benefits Shriners Hospital for Children, will also feature live performances by artists such as Alicia Keys, Ciara and Taylor Swift.


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8/28/09: Michael Jackson
Recently it has been announced that the much talked about and highly-anticipated Michael Jackson movie; 'Michael Jackson: This Is It,' will open in theaters for a limited two-week run on Oct. 28. More than 80 hours of behind-the-scenes and rehearsal footage shot in the lead-up to Jackson's sold-out London comeback concerts will be used for the film. "As we began assembling the footage for the motion picture we realized we captured something extraordinary, unique and very special," said the film's director, Kenny Ortega. "For the first time ever, fans will see Michael as they have never seen him before - this great artist at work. It is raw, emotional, moving and powerful footage that captures his interactions with the 'This Is It' collaborators that he had personally assembled for this once in a lifetime project." Tickets for 'Michael Jackson: This Is It' go on sale beginning Sept. 27.


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