New Releases

Musiq- Onmyradio

Musiq Soulchild's 'On My Radio,' graced by such producers as BlackKeyz and Dru Castro, is his highly anticipated sophomore album under Atlantic Records. Soulful tracks such as 'Radio,' 'So Beautiful' and 'If You Leave' ft. Mary J. Blige has shown that Musiq Soulchild has come back to reclaim his genre, as only he can. Crafting ear-caressing tracks that blends old-school soul fervor with new-school hip-hop rhythms, Musiq has evolved with this album.-Amazon

Anthony Hamilton-The Point Of It All

Best-known for soulful ballads like 2006's "Can't Let Go," Anthony Hamilton kicks it up a couple of notches on his latest album. He's still discoursing on his favorite subject, the love of a good woman. But Hamilton wraps his feelings around a more uptempo framework, like the lead single "Cool" featuring rapper David Banner and the strut fest "Fallin' in Love." While proving he can get down with the best of them, Hamilton doesn't forsake his stock in the ballad market. He poignantly shifts into Smokey Robinson falsetto on the moving confessional "Please Stay." And the spare, yet powerful title track is worth the price of the CD alone. Forget the retro tag that's usually affixed to descriptions of his work. Hamilton is simply a damn good singer with a rich, warm voice that just gets better with time. —Gail Mitchell

Heather Headley to release first gospel cd on January 13th

Other Music News
Musiq, Ne-Yo & Jazmine Sullivan announce tour...
2/5 - Las Vegas, NV The Pearl at The Palms (w/Jazmine Sullivan)
2/6 - Oakland, CA Paramount Theater (w/Jazmine Sullivan)
2/7 - Los Angeles, CA Nokia Theater (w/Jazmine Sullivan)
2/11 - Miami, FL American Airlines Arena *updated*
2/13 - New Orleans, LA UNO Lake Front
2/14 - Houston, TX Reliant Center
2/15 - Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Live
2/18 - Washington, D.C. Constitution Hall
2/19 - Baltimore, MD Lyric Theater (w/ Jazmine Sullivan)
2/20 - New York, NY Radio City Music Hall (w/ Jazmine Sullivan)
2/21 - Orlando, FL Universal Studies (Ne-Yo only)
2/22 - Upper Darby, PA Tower Theatre (Ne-Yo only)
2/25 - Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre
2/26 - Memphis, TN Orpheum Theatre (w/Jazmine Sullivan)
2/27 - Chicago, IL Chicago Theater
2/28 - Detroit, MI Fox Theater
3/1 - St. Louis, MO Fox Theater

Jermain Dupri leaves Island Records
Less than two years after becoming president of Island Records Urban Music, Jermaine Dupri exited the post this week, according to reports. The Island Records Urban division was created within the Island Def Jam Music Group a short time prior to Dupri's hiring in February 2007, just after he stepped down as president of urban music at Virgin in October 2006. In the position, Dupri oversaw the label's urban music operations and reported directly to label chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid and Steve Bartels, president of Island Music and COO of the Island Def Jam Music Group. In July 2007, Dupri's girlfriend, singer Janet Jackson, who also departed from Virgin in the wake of two consecutive commercial disappointments, was signed to Island Def Jam. But her label debut, "Discipline," sold just 428,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and a Live Nation-promoted tour also fared badly. Jackson left Island in September. Dupri's other major initiative at Island was a joint venture with Procter and Gamble's TAG brand. The partnership created a new marketing module that allowed for new talent, like So So Def/Tag artist Q, to be cross-promoted with TAG Body sprays through print, television, radio and digital advertising. -Mariel Concepcion, N.Y.(Billboard)

Jill Scott Pregnant
Jill Scott is pregnant with her first child, the R&B singer and actress revealed to reporters at the Television Critics Association conference in Los Angeles on Friday. Promoting her new HBO series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, based on the popular novels by Alexander McCall Smith, Scott said she discovered that she was pregnant just before leaving for Botswana where she filmed the show. "The first trimester I spent in Botswana," said the star, who is due April 25. "That was one of the biggest challenges of my life. First trimester! You're sick every morning. It was seven hours time difference, the heat, the bugs, the 14 hour days." Still, the actress, who is engaged to drummer Lil' John Roberts, says she's glad she went through with the plans to film. "My doctors gave me a clean bill of health and said you can do this, so I did it." - By Lisa Ingrassia (People)

The foundation begins with soul, "explains 20-year-old singer/songwriter/producer Laura Izibor of her passionate, piano-guided songs. On her forthcoming debut album, Izibor continues the lineage set out by artists like Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott; artists who combine a reverence for the traditions of early R&B with a thoroughly modern sensibility.

Born to a working class family in Dublin, Ireland, Izibor admits she didn't grow up in a musical household. "My mother raised five kids on her own, so there wasn't much time to buy records - it wasn't that kind of home. I found myself fancying music at about 13." Once the love for musicians like Stevie Wonder, Candi Stanton, and Roberta Flack took hold, she was smitten for good. "One door opened to the next - first I discovered Marvin Gaye, and then Otis Redding, and I just fell in love with soul music."

At the age of 15, Izibor won a prestigious national performance competition, the "2FM Song Contest." At 17, she started work on her debut album, taking the time to really hone her songs. Let The Truth Be Told was recorded over the course of four years in a diverse range of cities: New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Dublin among them. Laura also performed live constantly during this period, finding her true home onstage. Having performed several sold-out shows in Ireland, and opened for acts including James Brown, Angie Stone, and The Roots, she's earned the affectionate moniker "The Soul of Ireland" from the folks back home.

Early 2009 will reveal the fruits of this process, when Izibor releases the fully self-penned and co-produced Let The Truth Be Told. "The title felt like a strong, almost biblical statement," she explains. "I've written this album because it's my truth. It's a sincere record and it has a feel of survival in it as well." Izibor resisted the urge to feature established artists on various tracks, instead creating a revealing, and very personal, document of this moment in her life. "I didn't want to be anybody's protégé," she says. "It's very tempting to put in the reinforcements, but for my debut album I wanted it to be 100% from me."

The songs are ripe with authenticity, from the sassy, soulful album opener, "Shine," to the magnificent and deeply personal "If Tonight Is My Last," to the anthemic and inspirational "Mmm," which colored the soundtrack of Step Up 2: The Streets. With her tracks also featured on Grey's Anatomy, The Hills, and The Nanny Diaries, Izibor has found that airing her heartfelt take on life and love has translated to the hopes and struggles of various characters, as well as to the people at home watching them. "I hope people take away a sense of honesty and realness in the record. They're just songs written from a really sincere place, and hopefully people can connect to it on some level and relate their own lives to it as well."-Courtesy Atlantic Records

For more on Laura vist her at lauraizibor.net