Reviews :
The ten-time Grammy Award® winning musical phenomenon, rapper, producer, and now singer embarks on a new musical journey taking his audience to new heights. Kanye West returns with his fourth album 808s & HEARTBREAK. His highly anticipated new album set for release on November 25th, featuring the heart pounding first single LOVE LOCKDOWN which premiered live for the first time on the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. LOVE LOCKDOWN quickly exploded at radio with the video premiering nationwide on the Ellen Degeneres show. "Heartless," the second single, is next up to hit the airwaves further amplifying the story behind the musical direction for 808s & HEARTBREAK.
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Reviews :
2008 release, the latest in this long-running series of Pop compilations. This is the most up-to-date compilation on the market, containing the absolute hottest songs on the planet including certified hits, songs currently scaling the charts and sizzling radio smashes. This, the 29th installment in the series, features 20 tracks including cuts from Pink, T.I., Lil' Wayne, Leona Lewis, Kardinal Offishall, Rihanna, Pussycat Dolls and many others. Why listen to yesterday's songs when you can live in the here and NOW?!?!
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Reviews :
She may be beautiful, but Alicia Keys is a musician first and foremost. She plants herself firmly behind the piano keys on her debut, unlike many of the booty-waggin' junior divas who are crowding the R&B videoscape these days. Though many of the tracks on Songs in A Minor are embellished with adolescent angst, this 20-year-old's substantial, gorgeously soul-drenched alto putties the cracks between notes with astonishing ease. "Fallin'," the album's first single, showcases Keys at her best. She wails plaintively and passionately over rolling blues chords, in the tradition of the greats that this young talent clearly wants to align herself with--Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and Aretha Franklin. She swoops and soars over the spicy, flamenco-fueled melody that opens "Mr. Mann," one of the many winning tracks gathered here. And she digs deep into a remake of the beloved Prince B-side, "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" packing more heat into her melismatic wails than most singers twice her age. --Sylvia W. Chan
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Reviews :
In composing the music for acclaimed director Danny Boyle's intoxicating new film Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman has conjured the sound of a city, fusing the frenetic scramble of daily life in Mumbai, India into beautiful fugues that ride upon the dust clouds kicked up by its everyday people.

From the movie's first frames --- with children racing through alleyways, knocking over merchants and pottery, police kicking loose clay roof tiles, disrupted birds fluttering from gutters -- we hear the sound of their commotion made manifest in "O... Saya." It's a rumbling hybrid of Bollywood and hip-hop, a brand new collaboration between Rahman and M.I.A. It's the kind of cinematic moment where image and sound coexist. And that's only the first five minutes.

Filmed in the streets and slums of Mumbai, India, Boyle needed just the right music to compliment the film's cinema verité urban realism. He turned to internationally renowned composer A.R. Rahman (a huge star in South Asia--selling more than 100 million albums worldwide and 200 million cassettes--Rahman is one of the world's top 25 all-time top selling recording artists.) The film's score is central to the propulsive modern grit that pervades the story, but is also a nod to classic Bollywood productions where the music is front and center. And loud. Says Rahman, "We wanted it edgy, upfront. Danny wanted it loud."

M.I.A.'s appreciation for Bollywood music led her to record much of last year's Kala inside A.R. Rahman's studio in India, although the two had never worked together until now. Referring to him in URB magazine as "the Indian Timbaland," M.I.A. obviously jumped at the chance to work on "O... Saya" with the famed composer. Rahman says, "She's a real powerhouse. Somebody played me her CD and I thought, `Who is this girl? She came here and knew all my work, had followed my work for ages. I said, `Cut the crap, this "my idol" crap. You have to teach me.'"

M.I.A. crops up again, later in the film, with the remix of her worldwide hit "Paper Planes" seemingly made for Slumdog, as the lyrics pronounce, "Sometimes I feel like sitting on trains..." while a light blue locomotive chugs and hurls its way through India, young boys perched up top in the sepia sunlight scoping out for a scrap of food.

Other songs on the soundtrack include "Gangsta Blues," featuring hip-hop artist BlaaZe, which flutters with the rhythms of a film projector, capturing a bit of the madness of crowds as they disperse in a thousand directions to escape the claustrophobia of back alleys. And nothing quite prepares you for the triumphant climax, the overarching ode to joy that is "Jai Ho," closing out the film in a rousing sing-a-long that's had film audiences burst into spontaneous applause. As Rahman told Variety, "The energy of the film takes you through a roller coaster, and that's one of the main inspirations for the whole music."
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Reviews :
Explicit version. Grammy nominated, Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx returns with his 2008 album Intuition. As a follow up to his platinum selling, J Records debut album Unpredictable, this album is sure to please with writing and production by The Dream, Timbaland, Sean Garrett, Tricky, Salaam Remi and Marsha Ambrosia. The first single, 'Just Like Me' features rapper T.I.
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Reviews :
"Songs In The Key Of Hanukkah" was created and produced by composer and multi-instrumentalist Erran Baron Cohen, brother of Ali G and Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen. Baron Cohen scored the original music for his brother s film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (in which he rewrote the Kazakhstani national anthem), as well as his hit TV series, Da Ali G Show, where he collaborated with the likes of Chrissie Hynde, Travis , and Supergrass among others. The record is indeed a collection of songs that brings the ancient music of Hanukkah kicking and screaming straight into the 21st Century. Recorded in London, Berlin and Tel Aviv, the songs combine klezmer, reggae, electronica, hip hop, tango, pop and other genres, all fluently woven into something uniquely Baron Cohen s. The album contains five reinterpretations of classic favorites as well as five original tunes created exclusively for this project, all sung in English, Hebrew or Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish). They are performed by some world-class Jewish singers, including Israeli superstar Idan Raichel, world-music diva Yasmin Levy and New York City-based rapper Y-Love (who actually rhymes in Yiddish!) to name but a few. Songs In the Key Of Hanukkah is set to be the premiere musical celebration of one of the world s most beloved holidays for years to come.
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Reviews :
T.I. has grown to truly be one of his generation's most captivating speakers. Whether he's conversing frankly with a room full of youth about the positive side of staying in school and following their dreams, or moving tens of thousands at one of his concerts, the audiences are immediately engrossed by the King of the South's words. T.I., here delivers his most potent and important LP to date; 'Paper Trail.' The title is a direct reference to T.I.'s return to literally writing down his lyrics- a practice he hasnt engaged in since his debut. By going back to the basics T.I. has evolved into a better MC. The album features guest appearances and production by Lil Wayne. Rihanna, Usher, The Dream, Fall Out Boy, Kanye West, B.O.B, John Legend, DJ Toomp, Swizz Beatz, Drumma Boy, & Danja. This is the explicit version.
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Reviews :
Ludacris is gearing up for a multi-tiered and mutli-faceted plan to introduce his newest release to his fans. There are plans to rollout consecutive new singles and videos leading up to the November 25th release of THEATER OF THE MIND, the most important album ever recorded by Disturbing Tha Peace CEO and DTP/Def Jam recording artist Ludacris.

The unprecedented schedule got underway last week (Oct. 14th) when the song "Undisputed," went up on iTunes, followed this week by the premiere of the video for "Undisputed," which co-stars boxing champion Floyd "Money" Mayweather. On October 20th, the second new single "One More Drink" co-starring T-Pain impacted radio formats, in advance of going up on iTunes. In between, on Oct. 23rd, Ludacris will perform on the annual syndicated BET's Hip Hop Awards '08 and on October 24th, Ludacris will perform on MTV's Veteran's concert live from Nokia Theater. The "One More Drink" video premiere will then take place on Election Day, Nov. 4th.

One week later (Nov. 11th, Veteran's Day) comes the third new single. The final element, a video podcast on Nov. 18th (details to be announced in the weeks ahead) sets the stage for the eagerly anticipated arrival of THEATER OF THE MIND in the physical and digital marketplace on Nov. 25th.

In between this mind-boggling schedule he has been busy continuing to build on his career as an actor. The new action film Max Payne, based on the popular video game, opened in the # 1 box office spot raking in over 18 million dollars in its weekend debut. Chris Bridges aka Ludacris stars as an internal affairs agent alongside Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Beau Bridges. Also on the movie front, after a successful limited release in NY, Toronto, LA and the UK (in which it debuted at #1 as well the 1st weekend) RocknRolla, written and directed by Guy Ritchie, will be released throughout the rest of the U.S on October 31st. Chris joins an ensemble cast including Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Idris Elba and Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson for an exciting tale of the Russian mob setting up shop in London.

THEATER OF THE MIND is the long-awaited follow-up to Luda's RIAA platinum Release Therapy (released Sept. 2006), which debuted at #1 on first week sales of 309,000 copies - the same week that its first single, "Money Maker" (featuring Pharrell Williams) hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts, Luda's first #1 hit in six years. A rare RIAA platinum single, "Money Maker" was followed at #1 by "Runaway Love" (featuring Mary J. Blige), whose video directed by Chaka Zulu/Jessy Terrero dealt with the issues facing runaway and homeless youth. Luda and Mary J. performed the song live with special guests Earth, Wind & Fire at the 49th annual Grammy Awards worldwide telecast - where Release Therapy won for Best Rap Album. "Runaway Love" went on to win Best Collaboration at the BET Awards '07.

2006 was a landmark year for Chris `Ludacris' Bridges. In addition to the success of Release Therapy - his follow-up to 2004's double-platinum The Red Light District - he also scored rave reviews for his star appearance in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the show's highest rated episode ever. His role in the critically acclaimed film, Crash (which opened May 2005) began to reap honors in 2006, including landing Bridges the SAG Award for Best Ensemble, the Critics Choice Awards for Best Ensemble, and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporter Actor in A Motion Picture.

He teamed up again with Terrence Howard for John Singleton's critically acclaimed Sundance discovery Hustle & Flow. Ludacris also began hosting his own XM satellite radio show, Disturbing Tha Peace Presents Ludacris' Open Mic. Filming also took place in London for Fred Claus - in which "Fred Claus, Santa's bitter older brother, is forced to move to the North Pole" - starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, with Chris cast as `the DJ Elf' with issues. After an appearance in the indie film Ball Don't Lie, he went to work on RocknRolla and Max Payne, and finished up his seventh studio album, THEATER OF THE MIND.

THEATER OF THE MIND, Release Therapy and The Red Light District follow-up 2003's double-platinum Chicken-N-Beer, the #1 Pop/#1 R&B, success that gave Ludacris his first across-the-board #1 Rap/#1 R&B/ #1 Pop crossover smash hit single with "Stand Up." Ludacris' mega-selling streak began with his debut, 2000's triple-platinum Incognegro (aka Back For the First Time, with "What's Your Fantasy" and "Southern Hospitality"); followed by 2001's triple-platinum Word Of Mouf (with "Area Codes," "Move B***h," and "Saturday (Oooh Oooh!)").
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Reviews :
singer/songwriter/producer, Akon burst out of the starting gates with the winningly melodic and compulsively danceable single "Right Now (Na Na Na)." The song is sparking up the charts in a record-setting pace that's familiar to Akon's millions of fans worldwide. "Right Now (Na Na Na)" is the lead track from Akon's 3rd upcoming album FREEDOM. The infectious song is the #1 Most Added at Rhythm Crossover radio stations in its first week of release. FREEDOM features collaborations with Hip- Hop's "man of the hour" Lil Wayne ("I'm So Paid") and Akon's platinum artist T-Pain ("Holla Holla"). Akon broke out on the music scene in 2004 with the platinum album TROUBLE that featured singles, "Locked Up" and "Lonely." He returned in 2006 with the triple-platinumcertified KONVICTED CD. The Senegalese native broke chart history in 2007 as the first artist to simultaneously hold the #1 ("I Wanna Love You") and #2 ("Smack "That") positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart twice. He went on to become Billboard Magazine's Top Artist of 2007, the #2 Hot 100 Producer of the Year, and #2 Hot 100 Songwriter of the year.
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Reviews :
Brandy releases her 2008 debut album on Epic Records, entitled Human which is her most personal album to date. Per Brandy, 'I have grown so much since my last album. Being able to express myself and my journey through my music is a feeling I can't describe.' Reunited with executive producer Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins, who first collaborated with Brandy on her 1998 multi platinum selling album Never Say Never. Human shows a side of Brandy no one has ever seen before. Having sold more than 25 million albums worldwide, Brandy has been one of the top selling female recording artists in Pop music history. Brandy has more than 100 awards worldwide.
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