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News Archives News: 9/22/2002
BOBBY BROWN & JA RULE TEAM UP FOR JA'S LATEST SINGLE
by Shaheem Reid
Irv Gotti is once again getting his way — well, sort of.
While Gotti still hasn't been able to sign Bobby Brown to Murder Inc., he finally got the legend in the studio. The crooning controversy magnet recently teamed up with Ja Rule for the track "Thug Lovin'."
The cut is the first release from Ja's The Last Temptation, due November 19 (see "Irv Gotti Moves Up Ja Rule Date to Sync With Nas' LP"). The thugsters will team up for the song's video when the clip goes into production in L.A. sometime in October.
That won't be the only video Ja pairs up for. He and fellow Queens-bred multiplatinum plaque-holder Nas will go in front of the camera lens, this time in Miami on September 23 and 24 for the video to the remix of "The Pledge," which also features Ashanti. That song is now going to be the initial offering from Irv Gotti Presents ... The Remixes, which drops October 29.
Meanwhile Gotti, who says he met with Bobby earlier this year in hopes of wooing him to the Inc., may just be that closer to producing the hit with the Brown Bomber he's dreamed about.
"I would love to sign Bob," Gotti said last month of the singer, who appeared with wife Whitney Houston in the Inc.'s video for "Down 4 U." "We're gonna see. Me and Bob talked, but Bob is his own dude. I don't know if he wants to come and be down like that, but we just like the guy.
"Everybody's down with Murder Inc.," he continued. "We get along with Bob and Whitney very well. I just think that Bob is a star. If Bob got a hit record, I think Bob will be off the chain. He's the R&B Tupac. He don't give a f---, and he says whatever he wants to say. I would love to make a hit record for him and just let him go be crazy-ass Bob."
News: 9/18/2002
GUY RELEASES 'GREATEST HITS' CD
New Jack legends Guy have released a greatest hits LP. To check it out at Amazon, just click here
*Thanks to Eric Andrews for the tip!
News: 8/24/2002
NEW YORK CITY'S NEWEST HIP HOP/R&B STATION FEATURES NEW JACK-ERA VETERANS
On Power 105.1, New York City's *newest* hip-hop/R&B station, Chubb Rock ("Treat 'Em Right) and Monie Love ("It's A Shame"), along with Yo MTV Raps' Dr. Dre and Ed Lover can be heard regularly as air personalities. Even better, you can even listen to the station online! Chubb Rock can be heard in the afternoons, Monie Love on the weekends, and Dr. Dre and Ed Lover are the station's morning show hosts. Bravo!
News: 8/14/2002
FORMER 'NEW KID' JOEY MCINTYRE LANDS ROLE ON FOX-TV's "BOSTON PUBLIC"
by Corey Moss
Joey McIntyre will make his television-series debut this fall, and fittingly, he's playing a new kid on the block.
Actually, the youngest of the New Kids is one of two new teachers on "Boston Public," but very young ones at that. Jon Abrahams (the son in "Meet the Parents") is the other.
"We're the two squirts coming in," McIntyre said Wednesday, phoning from his temporary residence, a Los Angeles hotel suite. "My character lets kids call him by his first name and tries to relate with them on the same level, and that may or may not work. The sh-- kind of hits the fan in the third episode. We may want to be their friends, but we have to certify ourselves as teachers."
McIntyre, who recently starred in the off-Broadway play "Tick, Tick ... Boom!," has been taking acting lessons since his days singing "You Got It (The Right Stuff)." He was planning to continue polishing his skills on the stage, but that changed when he flew to Los Angeles to be on "Hollywood Squares" and decided to do a few auditions while in town.
"I was getting ready to catch the red eye back to New York, when [my agent] said, 'Can you stay to read for David Kelley?' "
He read for the famed creator of "Ally McBeal," "The Practice" and "Boston Public" and after later realizing how perfect he was for the role, wrote Kelley a letter explaining his connection to the character. As a Boston native, he went through the school system and has a sister who teaches there.
McIntyre also shared a quality with several of the show's stars — the ability to sing. On a series where talent shows seem to happen weekly, that was important.
"They already got me singing on the second episode," McIntyre said, breaking his thick accent with laughter. "We're doing karaoke of all things. We bring out Jeri Ryan and Sharon Leal and do some lemon drops and then I sing 'To All the Girls I've Loved Before.' "
Music is still very much a part of McIntyre's life, and not singing karaoke.
"I just finished a 20-city tour with my buddy Eman," he said. "We call it a one-man show with two people. It's acoustic and we just have fun, we tell stories and goof off. We play my stuff and some cover tunes, a couple New Kids songs."
At the New York stop of the tour, at Joe's Pub, McIntyre recorded the live album One Too Many, which is available through his Web site now and in stores on October 8.
McIntyre is also writing and recording his third solo album, the follow-up to 1999's Stay the Same (see "Joey McIntyre Flexes Songwriting Muscle For Solo Debut") and 2001's Meet Joe Mac.
"Music is always something I want to do," he explained. "Maybe I'll do a club thing here. I like the intimate setting. So much more can happen."
News: 7/29/2002
Former Motown recording artists 'The Boys' have been reborn into the 'Suns Of Light', based out of Gambia, West Africa. Check out their homepage and their latest music
*Tip courtesy of Danielle Belton
News: 7/25/2002
FORMER TROOP LEAD SINGER/PRODUCER ON A COMEBACK TRAIL:
In conjuction with "The Characters" (producers Troy Taylor and Charles Farrar), Steve Russell has successfully produced/written tunes for B2K ("Gots Ta Be", "Why I Love You"), and has been recruited for work on 3LW's new album and more. If you listen to "Gots Ta Be", you can clearly hear Steve's voice on the chorus.
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This article appeared today at the
Detroit
Free Press website
UPDATED EDITION: BEFORE THE BACKSTREET BOYS AND N'SYNC CAME NEW EDITION, MAKING A COMBACK STOP FRIDAY AT THE FOX
By Kelley L. Carter
The beginning of a dream
Where our ideas were born
(Tell 'em Rick) To understand what this really means
Let's set the record straight
Once and for all and I'll tell you:
'Cause other people imitate
And try their best to re-create
This is where it all started from
So they only perpetrate
But they can never duplicate
This is where it all started from
-- "Where It All Started From," New Edition, 1987
*NJS4Ever Editor's note: The 'Heartbreak album (and the aforementioned lyrics) were actually from 1988)*
Ralph Tresvant tries not to get upset any more when he thinks about the lack of props New Edition has gotten.
The 34-year-old singer and his group, on tour this summer, were the '80s force behind New Jack Swing, the musical mixture of pop, R&B and hip-hop that is hotter than ever with boy bands everywhere.
New Edition wasn't the first to do what they do, but they were the first to do it well, providing a blueprint for the ultra-successful boy bands who have taken over today's pop music scene.
New Edition members Ricky Bell, Johnny Gill, Ronnie DeVoe and Michael Bivins (and sometimes bad boy Bobby Brown -- though he's not with them this summer) started out as friends who sang in talent shows around Boston to make money for movies and junk food. Gill, a Washington, D.C., native, replaced Brown before their highly lauded "Heart Break" album was released in 1987.
Now, 19 years later, New Edition remains a New Jack legend.
Tresvant is happy for the bands who found success by building on the New Edition formula -- but he does want to make one thing clear.
"Their opportunity came from the success and how big New Edition became," he says from his Atlanta home. "Their success was based on that."
He doesn't think today's groups embrace their roots in the same way New Edition did.
"When New Edition came out, we always talked about all the people who influenced us," Tresvant says. "It was a big thing to do. You felt like that was going to be a plus for you. . . . Nowadays the thing to do is to not give too much props to other groups. Some sort of way, some people think that will take away from your impact."
Still, he appreciates today's hot pop groups. "If they're out there doing their thing and they're making a living doing this, especially the ones with the smooth, cleaner images, I like what they're doing. I wish them continued success."
He also hopes to give them a run for their money.
This summer's New Edition tour is a preamble to the group's 20th anniversary projects. By September 2003, the group hopes to have a new CD with Brown, another tour and a bio-pic.
"Their music stands the test of time," says Steve Hill, vice president of music programming and talent for Black Entertainment Television. "Sometimes you just want to relive your youth. I think that a lot of people are enjoying reliving their youth and seeing NE perform. And they're catering to that."
The story began in the early 1980s, when five teens from a Boston housing project got together and sang and rapped at contests, hoping to make some spending money.
Maurice Starr had other plans for them. The up-and-coming record producer signed the boys to his label, Streetwise, in 1983.
They were never the Jackson 5, but they never wanted to be. They wanted to update that sound.
They emulated the hip-hoppers they heard in the streets and on the airwaves, sang like the groups they admired, such as the Jacksons; and danced like the groups their parents loved, such as the Temptations.
Their sound: hip-hop, smoothed out on an R&B tip, with pop appeal.
The masses loved the melding of those musical worlds, and first heard it in in 1983's "Candy Girl," a song Starr penned that featured rapping. It was big in the States (No. 11 on the pop charts, No. 1 on R&B) and huge in the U.K. (No. 1).
But the group wanted to be bigger. After their first album, "Candy Girl," New Edition left Starr and signed with MCA.
They got bigger and better, releasing songs such as "Cool It Now" and "Mr. Telephone Man" on a self-titled album.
Starr tried to sue them to restrict the use of their name.
He lost. New Edition was happy, but Starr wanted revenge -- vowing create a white version of New Edition.
In 1984, he auditioned more than 500 youngsters to create New Kids on the Block, who grew up not far from New Edition in Boston.
The two groups battled it out on the charts.
Sometimes New Edition won.
Other times New Kids did.
After releasing "N.E. Heartbreak" in 1987, the group parted ways for a short time, with Tresvant and Gill wanting to do solo projects.
Bell, DeVoe and Bivins got together as Bell Biv DeVoe, expanded on New Edition's formula and added a little more hipness with "Poison."
In 1996, New Edition got back together with Brown. With the release of "Home Again," they hit No. 1 on the R&B charts with lead-off single "Hit Me Off" and topped out at No. 3 on the pop charts.
And now, they are ready to mark 20 years since their overnight success.
How can New Edition hope to make a comeback after 20 years?
It's all in their legacy -- and their music.
"They really made the blueprint on how to make a boy band successful," says Bushman, the one-named deejay who hosts a hip-hop and R&B show 6-10 weeknights on WJLB-FM (97.9). "You needed five elements to create something powerful and they had it. It wasn't like all five of them have the same strengths. They all have different strengths. You brought them together and they were like a Power Ranger. Even if you look at the boy bands now, each one of them has their own personality and their own little strength, and these little girls are loving it."
New Edition was the prototypical boy band.
"When you think about how copied their model was, from New Kids on the Block to The Boys to Boyz II Men to 98 Degrees, the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, Troop -- all of these cats came after New Edition," says Khary Kimani Turner, a member of the Detroit band Black Bottom Collective. "And before that between them and the Jackson 5, there were no boy bands. You just didn't have them. And New Edition made it OK again. When you start rattling off the names, you think, how many of these cats never would have been here had it not been for New Edition?" The impact didn't end there. Music companies were influenced by New Edition and its success.
"Companies and record labels saw how much impact we had and they went out and started looking for those kind of groups," Tresvant said. "At the point when we came out, there weren't too many looking for that kind of group. Especially if they were young, they were thinking that they had to deal with inexperience and the parents, that kind of stuff. It was a little too much. But that market was really big and they saw how huge that was for male groups.
"A lot of money went into promoting those groups, and many were more talented than New Edition."But that didn't stop the group -- in all its configurations -- from scoring 18 No. 1 hits.
"New Edition just had this raw thing about them entertainment-wise," Tresvant says. With the 20th anniversary tour, "people will see what we really added to the music world."
And he's more than fine with that.
New Edition with Cherelle
7:30 p.m. Friday/ Fox Theatre -- 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit/ $50-$75
News: 7/24/2002
CLUELESS EXECS UNDERMINING "URBAN" PRESENCE ON TELEVISION? OR COLOR-BLIND SHOW BUSINESS AS USUAL? YOU DECIDE...
Fox Network moves "Bernie Mac Show" to Wednesdays at 8pm to directly compete with ABC's "My Wife & Kids" this fall. "My Wife & Kids" (starring Damon Wayans) and "The Bernie Mac Show" are the only two family sitcoms featuring African Americans on the air.
Television critics on Sunday heaped more awards on Bernie Mac. So it makes sense that he wouldn't be bothered by competition--even if it's from Damon Wayans.
The Original King of Comedy and star of Fox's rookie hit The Bernie Mac Show says he's okay with Fox's decision to move his series to a timeslot directly opposite Wayans' ABC comedy My Wife & Kids, despite Wayans' recent complaints that Fox's move would undermine two quality shows aimed at black audiences.
"Wherever I am, I have to play. I have to put on a good show," Mac told reporters Sunday at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena.
Mac said Wayans called him and asked for help in his battle. But ultimately, he said, "That's not my fight," saying there should be room for both shows to thrive on television.
Sandy Grushow, chairman of Fox Television Entertainment, claimed that Mac's audience was actually quite different than what My Wife and Kids attracts.
"I think about 86 percent or 87 percent of the audience that watches Bernie Mac doesn't watch My Wife and Kids," he said, adding, "We don't feel any obligation to ensure the success of any of our competitors' shows...So whether casts are black, white, green, yellow, purple, we're in a business here."
That's probably not the kind of contrition Wayans wanted to hear, after spouting off to the Los Angeles Times last month about Fox's plans to move Bernie Mac up a half-hour next season, to Wednesdays at 8 p.m., opposite My Wife and Kids.
"I was shocked when I learned what was going on," Wayans said. "The networks should not be playing checkers with two shows about African-American families that are working."
For now, at least, Wayans is ready for the competition. During an ABC party last week, the former In Living Color star reiterated that Fox's programming move was "unfair," but he also acknowledged that in the end, it's all business.
"They're playing chicken with Bernie's show," he told the Buffalo News. "I understand the bigger picture...the bottom line is it's business. This is Fox seeing ABC is vulnerable and they're trying to hit them where it hurts--8 o'clock Wednesday. If they can take that from them, they can definitely claim to be the number-three network.
"I love Bernie Mac," he added. "I think he's really funny. I've talked to him, but he's in an awkward position. It's like you are in your parents' house. You can't say much. But I know that he doesn't like it. But what are you going to do?"
In the meantime, however, Wayans declared to another newspaper: "We're at war."
Last season, Wayans' My Wife and Kids pulled in more viewers (11 million, on average) than Mac's 9.5 million. But Mac's got the critics on his side: The series, starring the funny guy as a reluctant dad to three adopted kids, has already nabbed a Peabody Award, two Emmy nominations (for Outstanding Writing and Lead Actor for Mac) and two honors from the Television Critics Association Sunday, for Best Comedy and for Mac's Individual Achievement.
Larry Wilmore, the show's executive producer, said he's not thinking about his competition in terms of race, and he doesn't think Fox launched an "insidious plot" in which they thought, "Hmmm, we have to kill this black show."
"To just think of our show in light of being an African-American show marginalizes what Bernie Mac is," he said. "It's a show about America. The fact that it's about a black family is secondary."
In other television critics news Sunday, Fox also scored honors from the TCA for its real-time thriller 24. The show was named Outstanding New Program and Program of the Year.
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NEWS: 7/23/2002
NEW ALBUM
Boyz II Men's new album "Full Circle" is in stores now.
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LL COOL J GEARING UP FOR RETURN WITH "X" IN SEPTEMBER
By Shaheem Reid
His current tour is taking him from state to state. His film career has already seen him bounce from Hollis to Hollywood, and most recently, to Holland, for a new thriller. But for LL Cool J, there's nothing like going back to the place that's most familiar — the recording studio. He's hoping for a helping hand to finish up his next album, X, which is due in September.
"It's a strong possibility," he divulged last week in Chicago about a last-minute duet with fellow chiseled stud muffin Usher. "Me and him have been talking about working on something. He's a real good dude. I have one more song to do and it might possibly be with Usher. I didn't do a lot of collaborations, I just wanted to give the world LL Cool J. They haven't been getting enough of that."
His first offering from the album, "Love You Better," can currently be heard on mixtapes and some radio stations. He rhymes about taking his mate for granted and making promises to work his way out the dog house ("I know you don't feel appreciated and what not ... Every other sentence is 'You make me sick.'
"It's just something I was really feeling and it came directly from my heart," Cool J said of the Neptunes-produced cut while preparing to take to the stage later that evening. "That's how true art is, at least for me. Maybe it's true in my life somewhat. I don't know."
"Love You Better" is just one of many tunes he and the Neptunes and Trackmasters concocted while in the lab making X (see "LL Cool J Turns Focus Back To 'Ladies Love' On Ten").
"When we got in the studio and locked up, the vibe was totally right," he said of the collaborations, which accounted for most of the album's 10 cuts (Neptunes produced five and Trackmasters did three). "When you got the right vibe, why mess it up? I was like, 'This is the direction I want to go in.' The music was flowing crazy, the beats were sounding unbelievable. When you hear the album you'll know exactly what I mean."
Several of the LP's cuts, such as "Paradise" (where Amerie has replaced Tweet as the guest vocalist on the hook), are reminiscent of some of LL's vintage cuts. However, the man who bestowed upon himself the title of "all-time greatest MC" said he just wants to keep it moving.
"I just [want] to make a hot record," he clarified of the blueprint. "I never choose to take things backwards, I choose to take it forward. I just wanted to make a real hot joint. A clean, positive, romantic, party-oriented joint."
From Cool J's description, X sounds like it will be at the opposite end of the spectrum from his last LP, 2000's G.O.A.T.
"I'm pleased with it musically," he said of G.O.A.T. "I feel it's exactly what I wanted to accomplish at that time. It's more a male-oriented street album, it came off exactly how I wanted it to come off. The only thing I think was a problem for me with G.O.A.T. was that rap music changed so much. There was a time when you say you're 'the greatest of all time,' people know it's your job to say you're the best.
"But in this era, when you say things like that, they take it literally," he continued. "They take it kind of personally, like you're desecrating the memory of every hip-hopper that ever existed. Run-DMC couldn't name their album King of Rock nowadays. That would be labeled narcissistic, [people would say,] 'They love themselves.' I think that's the part that was kind of unfortunate. But even that I learned from, so it was no harm in it. It was a great experience."
No matter how people rank LL among the kings of rap, they can't deny he has one of the most extensive catalogs in the game. He's been digging deep into his arsenal of hits on a nightly basis during his summer tour, which ends late next month (see "LL Cool J Going Back To Cali — And A Lot Of Other Places").
"Everything is good, phenomenal man," he said. "Doing films and everything else I was doing, you don't really get a chance to interact with the fans on the same level. I just wanted to get out here and touch the fans, let them touch me and we vibe together and mix it up. Tear it down every night."
As far as his other means of getting checks, he's completed two films this year — a thriller called "Mindhunters" and the romantic comedy "Deliver Us From Eva," both of which he said will drop in 2003.
"'Mindhunters' is with Val Kilmer and Christian Slater," he explained. "I play a character called Gabe Jenkins. He's a Philadelphia homicide detective who's basically doing some investigating of his own and things get real ugly. [In 'Deliver Us From Eva'] I play a guy named Ray. He's a loverboy who ends up running into a young lady played by Gabrielle Union. She's gets on everybody's nerves around her so much, all her friends get together, pay this loverboy $5,000 to come in and to break her off a little bit and loosen her up. All hell breaks loose. It gets crazy."
A little tamer is a children's book he's putting out in August called "And the Winner Is."
"It's a book and a CD," he said. "Kids nine and 10 years old are going to be able to rap along. It teaches them about sportsmanship. Not being arrogant when you win. Not being insecure when you lose. It's a real positive book."
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HEAVY D TO HELP RUN P. DIDDY's "BIG AND TALL" CLOTHING LINE - AND also working on new solo album for Bad Boy.
By Jon Wiederhorn
P. Diddy won't be changing the name of his company from Bad Boy to Big Boy, but he's got some huge talent coming in.
Heavy D, who has been out of the rap game for the past few years, is producing/developing Bad Boy artists and recording a new solo album for the label. He's also playing a major role in Diddy's Big and Tall Sean John clothing line.
"Puff has always been a fan of the lifestyle and culture, and we also want to serve big and tall men as well," said Heavy D, who was chosen as a Sean John rep not only because of his hefty stature, but because he knows how to dress sharp. The Big and Tall line will feature some clothes in the same style as P. Diddy's regular line, but there will also be exclusives.
"It's just about having the right person who thinks like a big guy," he said. "[Puff needed someone] who can be like, 'OK, this might not be comfortable for this individual, or this fabric might not look right on you.' "
When P. Diddy approached Heavy D two months ago, he wanted the well-rounded rapper to completely run the big-boned clothing line. But Heavy was more interested in a supporting role because he wanted to continue to focus on his acting career.
"Running the thing would have involved me moving back to New York," he explained. "With my acting stuff going on I didn't know if I could really do that. But I'm definitely going to play a major part in it because Puff's line is phenomenal. He's going to be like Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren.
"It's not just about the moment," he continued. "In another 10, 20, 50, 60 years from now he's still going to be making incredible clothing. And I want to be a part of that to keep the big boys looking hot."
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TONY TERRY RETURNS WITH NEW ALBUM, 'MY BEST'
Tony Terry, a singer whose biggest hit was "With You" in 1991, has returned after nearly a decade with 'My Best', which has been released on Golden Boy Records, an independent label. The single "In The Shower" has been recieving airplay on a number of stations -- mostly in the Urban/Adult Contemporary format.
News: 7/23/2002
A REVIEW OF THE NEW EDITION TOUR 2002 STOP IN BOSTON, MASS
By Paul Robicheau
BOSTON — Judging by their ecstatic homecoming on Sunday, New Edition are primed, pumped and ready for next year's 20th anniversary celebration.
"No more 'fans,' " Michael Bivins told the FleetBoston Pavilion crowd of about 3,000, which remained on its feet throughout the 90-minute set on this anniversary warm-up tour. "Now you're New Edition family."
There was plenty of family already on hand, as the Roxbury-bred singers gave shout-outs to their aunts and uncles. But others in the diverse if largely 30-something audience felt their own measure of closeness (including P. Diddy, who made a surprise cameo to introduce the group).
"I grew up with them," said former Roxbury resident Jaque Furtado, 37, of Jamaica Plain. "I'm here to support them. I like their style and their songs, and they dance well." Her husband, Roger, 40, added an observation that was echoed by many in the audience: "They're the original boy band."
But boys become men. Nineteen years since New Edition broke out of Roxbury's Orchard Park projects, and five years since their last tour, the group (with Washington, D.C., recruit Johnny Gill still in the fold, but not Bobby Brown) displayed a maturity that balanced the nostalgic harmonies.
Dressed in loose, snazzy dark outfits that stood out against their simple white backdrop and five-piece band, the singers exuded confidence and camaraderie. They launched into opener "Word to the Mutha!" (from early '90s side project Bell Biv DeVoe) with enthusiastic steps, and built on a communal vibe by remaining together onstage through later solo showcases.
Nostalgia was fueled early by a medley of 1983-84 pop-soul hits including "Candy Girl," a percolating "Popcorn Love" and crisp "Mr. Telephone Man," with Ralph Tresvant taking a smooth vocal lead, as he did on much of the group's repertoire. The ballad "Lost in Love" proved awkward when the singers shared a single, five-spoked microphone stand. But soon they were back to roving the stage and mixing it up, with Tresvant passing the lead to Ricky Bell during "Is This the End."
In a solo-based segment, Bell also tackled "When Will I See You Smile Again?," the suave Tresvant crooned "Sensitivity" and Bell, Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe donned Red Sox caps as they got the crowd grinding and singing along to "Do Me!"
But Gill stepped from the shadows to virtually steal the show with his R&B loverman's tour-de-force treatment of "My, My, My," working into a lather with his gruff-voiced exultations and falsetto yodels and whipping off his shirt to reveal a firmly chiseled chest and nipple rings.
"If It Isn't Love" capped the show, with Dorchester resident Licia Pitts and her friends mimicking the singers' graceful dance gestures. "Coming back after so long, they were really good," said Pitts, 31. "Nice energy. But they needed a dancer to back them." And she was ready to volunteer.
News: 7/2/2002
KEITH SWEAT'S LATEST ALBUM "REBIRTH" TO BE RELEASED ON AUGUST 13, 2002 [ELEKTRA RECORDS]
The New Jack Swing pioneer has the new songs
"What Is It" and "One On One"
currently being played at various radio stations around
the country. For more Keith Sweat info, log onto his
official site at
www.keithsweat.net
News: 6/19/2002
BOBBY BROWN HOSPITALIZED, STILL PLANS TO HIT THE STUDIO WITH P.DIDDY
by Minya Oh
"Humpin' Around" don Bobby Brown was told to take it easy for a few days after he checked into a hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Tuesday afternoon.
Brown was diagnosed with a mild infection and treated intravenously with antibiotics. He is set to be released on Thursday.
The 33-year-old singer and his wife, Whitney Houston, were traveling from Atlanta — where Houston was recording her new album — to their home in Menden, New Jersey, when a high fever forced Brown to stop their tour bus and seek medical attention, according to a family spokesperson.
When Brown finally makes it home, he'll jump right into the studio to appear on a track with P. Diddy and Lil' Jon & the East Side Boyz for Lil' Jon's upcoming release.
B. Brown will then begin filming his part in an independent film titled "Biscuits and Gravy" with director Jean Claude La Marre. Brown previously appeared with Pras and LisaRaye in La Marre's 2001 indie, "Go for Broke."
The singer declined to join his former boy-band cronies for the New Edition 2002 tour, which kicks off in Las Vegas next Friday and runs until mid-August (see "New Edition Still Kickin' It Old School, 'Cept For Bobby").
News: 6/18/2002
NEW EDITION STILL KICKIN' IT OLD-SCHOOL, 'CEPT FOR BOBBY - Group prepares for tour that will set up next year's 20th anniversary.
By Shaheem Reid
Nineteen years in the game and New Edition are still going at it as though they were still hungry kids roaming the project hallways in Boston.
The guys are in some serious rehearsals for their self-titled tour, which kicks off in Las Vegas on June 28, and no quarter is being given. A hoarse Ricky Bell can attest to that.
"We've been rapping [about the outings] for a minute," the usually silky voiced Bell said Monday, sounding as raspy as Jadakiss. "We're probably going into the studio next year, but what we wanted to do was mesh together as a group onstage first before we went into the studio. Plus it's a better way to reintroduce ourselves into the community by letting them see us first. Performing is what we like to do best. That's how we started off in Boston — performing together. We figured that's the best way to get back together as opposed to going back into the studio."
Bell said that he, Ronnie DeVoe, Mike Bivins, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant are ready to roll out with openers En Vogue, but the 2002 New Edition will be without Bobby Brown.
"He's not going to be on this particular tour, but for the 20th anniversary ... It's not going to be a 20th anniversary if he's not a part of it," insisted Bell. "He'll definitely be a part of it in some shape or form. Touring, recording, the TV show, movie, he'll be a part of it. The timing didn't work out [for this tour]."
Even though the guys haven't been together since 1996's Home Again tour, Bell said the chemistry is still there.
"We've been through a lot in our lives, personally and as a group," he explained. "Everyone's attitude is straightforward. We've been friends. We still hang out with each other even when we're not working. All of us have a very mature and very humble attitude of how this is supposed to go."
To let slick Rick tell it, the shows are going to go off without any special effects, but fans will still get plenty of entertainment.
"The game plan is simple," he said. "It's just going to be raw. No theatrics, no magic, just straight-up performances. Songs, stepping, dancing hard. An hour and a half of straight-up us and our six-piece band. We're going to do [solo] songs, but we're all going to perform them together as opposed to one of us breaking off. Everybody is going to do everything."
While out on the road, the guys are going to start writing New Edition's autobiography as well as planning their next album, Bell said.
News: 6/12/2002
NEW EDITION/EN VOGUE SUMMER 2002 COMPLETE TOUR DATE LIST
June 28, Las Vegas, House of Blues
June 29, Universal City, Calif., Universal Amphitheater
June 30, Oakland, Calif., Paramount Theater
July 4, Atlanta, Chastain Park
July 5, Baltimore, Pier Six Concert Pavilion
July 6, Cleveland, State Theater
July 12, Washington, D.C., DAR Constitution Hall
July 13, New York, Radio City Music Hall
July 14, Richmond, Va., Landmark Theater
July 18, Pittsburgh, Heinz Hall
July 19, Upper Darby, Pa., Tower Theater
July 20, Hartford, Conn., Oakdale Theater
July 21, Boston, FleetBoston Pavilion
July 25, Cincinnati, Proctor & Gamble Hall
July 26, Detroit, Fox Theater
July 27, Chicago, Arie Crown Theater
July 28, Kansas City, Mo., Midland Theater
July 31, Miami, James Knight Center
Aug. 2, Houston, Arena Theater
Aug. 3, Memphis, Samstown Casino
Aug. 4, New Orleans, Saenger Theater
Aug. 9, Indianapolis, Clowes Hall
Aug.10, Norfolk, Va., Chrysler Hall
Aug. 11, Greensboro, N.C., Auditorium Theater
News: 6/7/2002
SINGER R.KELLY BOOKED ON CHARGES
Fri Jun 7, 5:29 PM ET
By DON BABWIN, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) - R. Kelly was booked by Chicago police Friday on child pornography charges stemming from a videotape that authorities say shows him having sex with an underage girl.
"I'm just looking forward to my day in court," a smiling Kelly told reporters after arriving back in Chicago from Florida Friday morning on a private plane.
Minutes later, the Grammy winner was accompanied by defense attorney Edward Genson as he walked into the Cook County Criminal Courts Building. Police advised him of his rights before handcuffing him and transporting him to a nearby police station for booking.
The R&B star, dressed in a tan suit, spoke only to police and appeared calm as several bystanders shouted encouragement.
He left the police station without comment about an hour later after posting a $75,000 bail bond and then climbing into a silver Lexus. He was ordered to appear in court June 26 for an arraignment, the hearing in which a defendant formally enters a plea.
"We've already posted the bond. Then he's going to go home and sleep, and then we're going to prepare our case," Genson said.
The singer has denied he is the man on the tape, while Genson said this week that the woman on the tape was not younger than 18 at the time the video was made. And according to a law enforcement source, the parents of the girl claim it's not their daughter in the video.
What might further complicate the case is that, according to a law enforcement source, the girl has refused to cooperate with authorities.
Kelly, 35, who has been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct in civil lawsuits, was indicted by a Cook County grand jury Wednesday on 21 counts of child pornography stemming from a videotape that has circulated across the country in recent months.
If convicted, Kelly could be sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $100,000.
The singer, who lives in suburban Chicago, was arrested Wednesday at a house he rents near Davenport, Fla. He was jailed overnight before being released Thursday on $750,000 bond. The Florida judge ordered that he have no contact with minors outside of his family.
On Friday, Genson appeared angry after police arrested Kelly, whose first name is Robert, and whisked him to a police station rather than let him be processed at the main courthouse.
"I felt it was an attempt to portray Robert as someone who wasn't willing to come in, as some sort of fugitive," Genson said.
Kelly's arrest followed an investigation in which about 50 witnesses were interviewed before determining the tape showed Kelly and an underage girl, according to Chicago police and Cook County prosecutors. FBI (news - web sites) forensics experts analyzed the tape and concluded it was authentic, they said.
Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine said the video was made in November 1997 or later and that the girl was born in September 1984.
Kelly is the focus of at least four lawsuits, three of which accuse him of having sex with underage girls. He has acknowledged settling two of the lawsuits regarding underage sex, but his lawyers have said they will fight the third.
The singer is known for hits ranging from the Grammy-winning anthem "I Believe I Can Fly" to sexually charged songs such as "Bump 'n' Grind," "Feelin' on Yo Booty" and "Your Body's Callin.'"
He is married to a former dancer from his touring troupe. They have a newborn son and two young daughters.
News: 5/24/2002
NEW EDITION reunited -- WITHOUT Bobby Brown
New Edition will be performing at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles to kick off their 20 year anniversary campaign. Bobby Brown will not be included. En Vogue may be joining the group as well during their performance. This event will take place on June 29, 2002.
NEW EDITION UPDATE:
New dates have been added, click
here
for the dates listed at ticketmaster.
News: 4/26/2002
TLC Member Lopes Killed in Honduras Car Crash
By Gustavo Palencia
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, a controversial member of the chart-topping American R&B trio TLC, was killed when a sports utility vehicle she was driving with eight passengers flipped off a road in northern Honduras, police said
The crash happened outside the Caribbean port city of La Ceiba at about 5 p.m. on Thursday on the road to the nearby town of Jutiapa, where Lopes was vacationing, transit police investigator Johnie Cole said.
Cole said investigators believed the crash was caused by speeding.
"The vehicle flipped three times and Lisa Lopes died in the hospital from fractures and internal injuries," Cole said.
The eight passengers, all U.S. citizens, were injured, some seriously, in the crash.
Lopes, 30, becomes the second female R&B singer to die tragically in less than a year, following the death last August of rising star Aaliyah in a plane crash in the Bahamas. Arista rapper Notorious B.I.G. was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in 1997.
Atlanta-based TLC secured its status as one of the most successful female trios in history when its 1999 album "FanMail" topped the U.S. pop charts and sold more than 8 million copies.
'WE HAVE TRULY LOST OUR SISTER'
"We had all grown up together and were as close as a family. Today we have truly lost our sister," said surviving TLC members Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins.
TLC recently had been in the studio working on a "FanMail" follow-up set for release this summer.
"No words can possibly express the sorrow and sadness I feel for this most devastating loss," said Arista Records President and CEO Antonio "LA" Reid. "Lisa was not only a gifted and talented musical inspiration, but more importantly, she was like a daughter to me. My thoughts and prayers are with Lisa's family and friends. Her legacy will be remembered forever."
Lopes, a Philadelphia native who provided the raps for TLC, made headlines in 1994 after she was arrested for burning down the house of then-boyfriend Andre Rison, the former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver. She was fined and sentenced to five years of probation, and then entered rehab to deal with a drinking problem.
TLC burst onto the music scene 10 years ago with its debut album, "Oooooooh...On the TLC Tip." Its 1994 follow-up, "CrazySexyCool," brought the group mainstream success, with help from the multimillion-dollar video for the ballad "Waterfalls." The album won TLC Grammys (news - web sites) for best R&B album and R&B performance ("Creep").
"FanMail" yielded eight Grammy nominations, and TLC again won the trophies for R&B album and best R&B performance, this time for the hit single "No Scrubs," a savage put-down of loser boys.
But the band was highly combustible, with Lopes providing the fodder. She threatened to quit prior to the recording of "FanMail," and was reportedly infuriated that none of the eight songs she had written for the album made the final cut.
In subsequent interviews, Lopes exchanged insults and accusations with her frustrated colleagues. Their 1999-2000 tour was marred by poor sales in some markets and on-stage theatrics underscoring their feuding.
Arista Records is a unit of German media giant Bertelsmann AG (news - web sites) .
News: 4/1/2002
Two veterans of the New Jack Swing Era appear on latest projects by younger R&B acts. Teddy Riley, the Godfather of New Jack Swing turns up performing "talkbox" vocals on Brandy's "When You Touch Me" from her latest 'Full Moon' album. Also, Steven Russell, former lead singer of Troop co-wrote and performed background vocals on the first three tracks of B2K's debut album...
News: 3/17/2002
Former Seduction vocalist Michelle (Vanilla Child)
Visage has left her former morning show radio gig at New
York City's KTU-FM (103.5) and is now in sunny Los
Angeles, California alongside Sinbad doing mornings at
the new Hot 92.3...you can check out the website at
Hot 92.3 FM
News: 3/13/2002
Former Soul II Soul Singer Dies -
AP - Wed Mar 6,10:53 AM ET
LONDON - Doreen Waddell, a former vocalist with the group Soul II Soul, has died in a traffic accident, apparently after running from a store where she had been accused of shoplifting, police said Wednesday. She was 36.
Waddell died Friday after she was hit by cars on a highway in Shoreham in southern England, Sussex police said. It took several days to identify her body.
Police said it appeared she had been running from a supermarket after being confronted about shoplifting. She was struck by three cars on the nearby A27 highway and was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Goods from the store were found scattered across the road.
Waddell, who used the stage name Do'reen, sang on the influential British dance band's best-selling 1989 album "Club Classics Volume I" and was lead vocalist on the songs "Feel Free" and "Happiness."
Soul II Soul topped the charts with the song "Back to Life" on the same album, in which Caron Wheeler was the lead singer.
Waddell had not been active in the music industry for several years, and neighbors quoted by The Daily Telegraph newspaper said she did not talk about her time with Soul II Soul.
"She wasn't really earning the sort of money that she had done but she didn't let that get her down," the newspaper quoted Annie Ingham, a neighbor in Shoreham, as saying.
"You have to remember she had been a very successful singer who had appeared on television ... and then suddenly it was all gone. She never resented that, but it didn't mean life was easy," she said.
Soul II Soul said it would not comment on Waddell's death. She is survived by a 4-year-old son.
News: 2/19/2002
In the February 8th issue of Entertainment Weekly, pop singer Nelly Furtado shows love for the New Jack Swing Era in this quote:
"I think we're reaching the cusp of where we're going to start respecting the '90s more and realizing the impact of that era's hip-hop and urban music on the future. That's why I have a '90s tribute in the middle of my show, with tracks that really connect for people who were 14 in that special time, when "Push It" by Salt'N'Pepa was a big hit...I do Kris Kross' "Jump", BBD's "Poison", LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out", Mary J Blige's "Real Love" because I'm 23 and those are my classic tunes..."
News: 1/28/2002
New Jack Swing pioneer Al B. Sure! is now a radio
personality at 98.1 Kiss-FM in San Francisco, CA. His
show, entitled "The Secret Garden" starts at
8pm on Sunday nights. For more info, just log onto
Kiss 98.1 FM
Also, BBD released their third studio album, 'BBD' on December 18, 2001.