First it was set for early 2010, then it was bumped up to December 21, and now it's "TBD." The release of Usher's next album, Raymond vs. Raymond, has been delayed because "We believe that the album is so strong that we want to give it the opportunity to have the proper setup before coming out," a rep for the singer told MTV News.
"I think Usher is in a place where he really wants to express what's going on in his life, as any artist would," Cox said, referring to Usher's divorce from Tameka Foster-Raymond. "All the greats did it. Marvin Gaye did Here, My Dear. All the greats express where they are personally."
Cox said the album will tell the stories everyone wants to hear, especially since Usher is back on the single scene.
"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." It'll just be a little while before he know exactly what.
Considering how many chart-topping albums he has had and the number of smash singles he has released, it's amazing to think that Jay-Z has never had a song top the Billboard Hot 100, the definitive pop songs chart. That changed this morning, as his "Empire State of Mind" took the top spot in its tenth week of release. The track, which of course features a memorable hook care of Alicia Keys, picked up a ton of radio airplay in the wake of the New York Yankees' World Series win (the team ended up adopting it as a victory anthem). Meanwhile, "Run This Town," the first single from The Blueprint 3, remains in the top 20.
While it does mark the first time Jigga has had one of his own songs at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, it's not the first time his name has been associated with the top spot. He has been a guest on three other number one tunes: Mariah Carey's "Heartbreaker,"Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" and Rihanna's "Umbrella." Keys is no stranger to the summit of the pop mountain either, as she has had two of her own songs hit the top spot ("Fallin'" and "No One") as well as another collaboration ("My Boo," with Usher).
Elsewhere on this week's Hot 100, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" jumped seven spots up the chart to #11, which suggests that it should bust into the top 10 the same week that her The Fame Monster gets its official release. Other big gainers included 50 Cent's "Baby by Me" and the version of "Defying Gravity" as performed by Chris Colfer and Lea Michele from "Glee."
When the 1980s came to a close, there were a handful of artists who had established themselves as definitive contributors to the decade's musical palette. Names like Bruce Springsteen, Prince and Michael Jackson became synonymous with changing the direction of popular music in the decade of decadence. A strong late bloomer (but still a powerful contender), U2 were also mentioned alongside those greats. Their '80s output (especially 1987's The Joshua Tree) cemented them as not only a group who could fill stadiums with their soaring anthems but who were also pushing the envelope musically and socially. Of all the great groups from the '80s, U2 managed to evolve both the fastest and the best, and they proved it on this day in 1991 when they released Achtung Baby. The 12 song collection was recorded at least partially in Berlin, Germany, in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and blew out U2's sound to include elements of dance music, industrial rock and the glowing, humming ambient tones of co-producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. While it seemed like U2 were on top of the world, Achtung Baby elevated them to new heights, inspired the massive "Zoo TV" stadium tour and helped usher in the era of alternative rock. (U2 don't get enough credit for making arty experimentation seem like pop music.)
Though the rest of the '90s were not nearly as triumphant for U2 (they battled both fans and critics on the even-further-reaching albums Zooropa and Pop), they remain one of the great shape-shifting international rock bands, and despite having 30 years of experience under their collective belt, they still feel vital today. Break out your copy of Achtung Baby and marvel at how well it has aged. Start with "Even Better Than the Real Thing."
Yesterday, Ellen DeGeneres presented one of her "Read Letter Day" segments, where she reads and responds to fan mail. One of the letters was from a girl from Connecticut who lamented the fact that she missed the episode featuring Justin Bieber's performance. "That's why I keep guests around just in case," she said. The host stood up from her chair and found Bieber lying on the ground behind her reading an issue of O magazine.
Bieber was greeted with rapturous cheers from the audience and gave a shout-out to the fan from Connecticut. After announcing the release of his album My World yesterday, Ellen mentioned that Bieber was on Usher's label and that it was only appropriate that Usher was there too.
The curtain on the "Ellen" stage parted and revealed Usher, who danced in and hugged DeGeneres. The R&B superstar told the story about how he found Bieber and revealed that what sold him was Justin's rendition of "U Got It Bad."
DeGeneres then raised the stakes. "You guys should dance a tiny, tiny bit," she said. "Yeah!" kicked in on the PA and the pair both started busting out moves, including Usher's strange sideways moonwalk that Bieber aped perfectly. They closed out the show by reminding everybody about Bieber's golden ticket promotion, which will give winners a chance for a private concert from Bieber and the opportunity to be in one of his videos.
There are a ton of new releases hitting the streets today, including albums from Kris Allen, John Mayer, Them Crooked Vultures and 50 Cent. But the one album that might be the most anticipated of any of those is the debut from Justin Bieber. My World is now available (currently on sale for $7.99 at iTunes), and it is the culmination of all of the build-up that Bieber has had in the past few months. Bieber first made a splash two months ago at the MTV Video Music Awards, where he gave a shout-out to a contest-winning fan during the red carpet show.
After that, he parlayed his many Twitter followers and Facebook friends into an aggressive onslaught that saw him drop a total of four singles (which makes up half the album), cut a pair of videos (for "One Time" and "One Less Lonely Girl") and appear on just about every talk show imaginable (including "Today," "Good Morning America" and "Ellen," where he'll be making his second appearance today).
Bieber's story is now the stuff of legend: He put footage of him singing up on YouTube just so his extended family could see him perform, and the video clips got spread around and lead to a bidding war between Justin Timberlake and Usher. The latter signed the 15-year-old Canadian, and the rest is, as they say, history.
Bieber celebrated the release of his debut last night with a dinner with his new mentor. In traditional Bieber fashion, he tweeted about the experience and posted a picture. Today, he posted a video thanking his fans for his success in celebration of the release of My World. For Bieber, it's just getting started.
Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.
Has anybody promoted his debut album better than Justin Bieber? The precocious 15-year-old posted some footage of him singing on the Internet, inspired a bidding war between Justin Timberlake and Usher (the latter won), amassed a ton of Twitter followers and Facebook friends, dropped a series of catchy singles (including the latest one, "Favorite Girl") and appeared on just about every television show available to musicians. Bieber's debut album My World hits the streets tomorrow, and Bieber kept up his push up on Sunday (November 15) with an appearance on "Good Morning America." He performed his first single "One Time" live on the show, and then when the cameras stopped rolling he sang a pair of Ne-Yo songs: "Because of You" and the new "Never Knew I Needed" (which is from the upcoming Disney animated film "The Princess and the Frog"). He won over yet another crowd (both live in the studio and on television), which bodes well for the debut of Bieber's album.
Justin Bieber's promotional blitz for his debut album My World continued yesterday when the 15-year-old singer hit yet another milestone. Bieber made his daytime television debut on yesterday's episode of "Ellen." He performed his first single "One Time," sat down for a brief conversation with the host and got a bit of one-on-one time with some rabid fans.
During their short chat, Bieber told DeGeneres how he parlayed his Internet stardom into a bidding war between Justin Timberlake and Usher, which has lead to his tremendous crossover success. He also told DeGeneres that he attempted to spin his success into a relationship with another pop star.
"Did you ask Rihanna out? Is that true?" DeGeneres asked.
"Yes, that did happen. I just went in," Bieber said.
"And what did Rihanna say?"
"Well, I'm not dating her," he replied. Still, he held out hope for a possible relationship in the future. "Maybe in a few years."
DeGeneres repeatedly called Bieber "adorable," and the singer told her that the biggest lesson he has learned from his new mentor is that he needs to "stay humble." Bieber's debut album My World hits stores on November 17, and his new single "Favorite Girl" — a funky, groovy, swaggerific jam — just debuted on iTunes today. So far, Bieber has dropped three other singles ("One Time," "One Less Lonely Girl" and "Love Me"), each of which has catapulted up the iTunes charts ("Favorite Girl" currently sits at #4). Check out his "Ellen" performance of "One Time" below.
Last night, deep inside the bowels of the new Yankee Stadium, Shaheem Reid and I found ourselves given free rein to roam pretty much anywhere we wanted to in the Bronx venue. During game two. Of the World Series.
Now, we've both been backstage at some major concerts before. Or inside recording studios when hits were being created.
But this experience was entirely different.
Two music journalists who are big (big!) sports fans with the opportunity to masquerade as baseball writers with credentials to go just about anywhere we wanted. Only the guys in the Phillies and Yankees uniforms had more access than us. (And maybe that Jay-Z fellow who performed last night before the game.)
When we walked into the stadium we were overwhelmed by the amount of people, cheers and general pandemonium that ensues during a game of this caliber.
We quickly found a staircase and traveled down to the field level and unexpectedly ran into Swizz Beatz, who told us Jay-Z and Alicia Keys were about to head onto the field. We hurried along with him and soon spotted Jay-Z's camp. The second Swizz yelled out, "There goes Jay!" it seemed like we stumbled onto the stage like Lil Mama to witness something epic.
Jay-Z was standing behind the left field wall, which slowly opened up to let him out onto the field like he was Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.
The view we had was just like the beginning shot of his performance at the VMAs last month: A panoramic shot from behind as Jay-Z walked into the stadium with 50,000 pumped-up Yankee fans going crazy.
We swung around and walked through a back door that delivered us right into the Phillies' bullpen, where we could see Pedro Martinez warming up. Soon, Shaheem, myself, and Jay's team were walking along the warning track to get a closer view of the proceedings. Read more...
"Gossip Girl" star Leighton Meester has become the latest actress to unleash a song on the masses in an attempt at a crossover. The track, "Somebody to Love," features a guest spot from Robin Thicke and is the first single from Meester's forthcoming debut full-length album. It's bright, shiny dance beat (produced by Mike Caren and Oligee and written by Usher collaborator Rico Love) borrows heavily from classic Madonna tracks and provides a good base for Meester's shape-shifting voice. The track is also miles away from the type of music that "Gossip Girl" castmate Taylor Momsen has been producing with her band Pretty Reckless.
We know what we think, but what do the people thing? We decided to hit the street outside of MTV News headquarters, play the tune for some folks and get their initial reaction to it. It's a chilly day in Times Square today, but did Meester's "Somebody to Love" help provide some warmth?
The delightfully unscientific results are in, and the majority have sided with Meester and "Somebody to Love." 72 percent of the people we talked to in Times Square said that they were on board with it, citing the propulsive beat and the subtly catchy melody. Even the 28 percent who didn't like the track wanted to let Meester down easily. "I like the song, but she's better as an actress," said one respondent.
What do you think? Does "Somebody to Love" deserve heavy rotation or the old heave-ho? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!
Buying a birthday gift for some people is close to impossible, either because they have exotic taste or because they already have everything. Usher probably falls into both categories, but just because you can't afford to by the man his own Bengal tiger doesn't mean you can't wish him a happy birthday. The man born Usher Raymond IV turns 31 years old today, and he is certainly doing it on top of the world. The Atlanta native has sold over 40 million albums and won five Grammy Awards since his 1997 debut. His biggest album, 2004's Confessions, yielded the chart-topping hits "Confessions Part II,""Burn" and "Yeah!" In fact, his record of consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 was only recently broken by the dominance of the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling." In addition to his music, he has also acted in a number of films (including "The Faculty" and "In the Mix"), develops new talent (like teenage sensation Justin Bieber) and owns a portion of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.
In December, he's slated to drop his sixth album Raymond vs. Raymond, and the divorce-centric single "Papers" is already making an impact. Raymond vs. Raymond will be the follow-up to 2008's fantastically successful Here I Stand, which featured another Hot 100 chart-topper "Love in This Club," a Polow da Don-produced, hallucinatory ode to having sex in public. The delightfully cinematic video features cameos by Young Jeezy (who raps on the song's third verse), Diddy and Kanye West. The song inspired a number of remixes, including the nearly superior "Love in This Club Part II," which recast the song as a debate between Usher and Beyoncé about whether or not they would actually make love up in this club. But for now, enjoy the original video.
