R&B singer John Legend is seeking non-traditional advertisers to power his upcoming as-yet-untitled album, slated for September.

Legend recently previewed eight new songs for Billboard at New York’s Legacy studios and reported he is meeting with several advertising firms to discuss new promotional strategies for his forthcoming LP.

“I want to go beyond what the label machine always does and think of some cool ideas,” said Legend, who declined to name the ad agencies he’s meeting with. “Labels get into a creative rut. I want an ad firm that launches other products to use their knowledge to launch my music. It’d be cool to get ideas from a firm that can still reach my marketplace. We’re taking proposals now.”

As for the music, Legend replaced his usual live instruments with sampled drums and futuristic synthesizers. The tracks sound much more mainstream than his 2004 debut, “Get Lifted,” and 2006 follow-up, “Once Again.”

“The last record was mellower,” says Legend. “The production this time is a little more up-tempo and more pop sounding than the last one.”

Legend admits that he was a bit disappointed with sales of “Once Again” — which has moved 1.2 million units to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan — but says he was not intentionally crafting radio-friendly songs this go-round. “Get Lifted” has sold 2.1 million units to date.

“‘Once Again‘ was difficult for people to digest because it wasn’t any one radio format,” says Legend. “It was between formats and there wasn’t an obvious place for everything to fit. I’ve been successful without a huge radio hit up until now, so I don’t think about the radio when I make songs.

“Artistically, ‘Once Again‘ was a great album, better than ‘Get Lifted,’” Legend adds. “I had a bigger tour on the second album and it set me up to be an artist that’s around for a long time, so I just have to capitalize on that.”

Legend is putting the finishing touches on his first single, “Green Light,” featuring Outkast’s Andre 3000, and expects to shoot the video in May. “It’s Over,” featuring Kanye West and produced by Pharrell Williams, may be the second single but Legend hasn’t yet committed.

Here is the preliminary track list for John Legend’s forthcoming album:

“Green Light” feat. Andre 3000
“Satisfaction”
“Everybody Knows”
“No Other Love”
“Cross The Line”
“This Time”
“Good Morning”
“Aim High”
“It’s Over” feat. Kanye West

Source

Well, I can’t wait already!

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After making one of the most harshly-received movies ever in 2001’s “Glitter,” Mariah Carey is trying her hands at movies again.

The new movie, “Tennesse,” premiered at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival last Saturday (April 26), according to Reuters. The movie focuses on two brothers searching for their estranged father. Along the way, they meet Krystal, a waitress played by Mariah.

“Mariah said, ‘This is going to be refreshing for me; this is actually something that I want,’ even knowing that it was a gritty, hard shoot,” said director Aaron Woodley. “Some people even told me that they forgot it was Mariah Carey when they were watching the film.”

“She’s not a diva and she came to work — and work hard she did,” said producer Lee Daniels, who admitted that “people do feel negatively about her as an actor.”

Daniels, who produced the Oscar-wining “Monster’s Ball,” saw Carey’s performance in “WiseGirls” and decided “it was clear that she’s a very talented actress.”

Mariah certainly has a lot going on, as the singer’s newest album E=MC2 produced her strongest debut ever, and the biggest debut of the year of any artist in 463,000 albums sold last week. Source

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I just posted the video for the first single How We Do It with Luda and a new track just leaked by Lloyd titled Project Window that should be included in the new cd Lesson In Love coming this July. This one is produced by Usher’s bro J. Lack

Check it HERE

Bonus:
The Rapture - No Sex For Ben (Prod. by Timbaland) (GTA IV soundtrack)
Akon ft Chantz Kacey & Orlando Brown - Exhausted (Remix)
Ryan Leslie ft Rob Grimes & Cassie - Addiction (Next Selection Remix)
Sean Kingston Ft. Prodigy - That Simple
Lil Mama - On Fire (new album bonus track)
Ne-Yo Ft. Casely - Closer Remix
Hunt - Sunshine
Francisco Ft. T-Pain & Flo-Rida - Get Low Remix
Fred Knuxx - Kind Of Grind

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New (?) Soulja Boy track from the new album (?). Do you even care?

Anyway it’s titled iDance (wtf?), check it HERE and remember where you heard it first!

Bonus:
The Game Ft. Clyde Carson - 911 Is A Joke (Cop Killa)

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T.I. drops, as he promised in a video some days ago, the first track off his upcoming new album Paper Trail.

The track is titled No Matter What and you can check it HERE

Bonus:
Young Steff - 2 Piece Juicy (Prod. by Danja & The Clutch) <— banger!
Atozzio - Talk About Us (Prod. By Maddscientist)
Rock City - Secret
Busta Rhymes Ft. Linkin Park - We Made It
Rich Graham - I’m Lookin For You (Prod By SoundZ)
Ne-Yo - Closer (VduB Remix)
Coldplay - Violet Hill (first single - it’s rock but they are great)

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Estelle’s album “Shine” is in stores today so make sure you go get it. The crew over at allhiphop have posted a review of her album and believe me, it’s fire. Preview it below and then hit up the link to read the rest.

“It’s John Legend’s protégé! In the context of music today, some might say it took him a little long to give all-due shine to Estelle, who co-wrote on Once Again.

English-native Estelle can now join the English-female artist invasion that was headed by Winehouse and Lily Allen.

The buzz around Estelle revolved heavily on Lauryn Hill comparisons because of her rapping/singing abilities. With the dropping of Shine, the comparison can come to a screeching halt.” Read the rest of the review courtesy of allhiphop.com HERE.

Bonus:
Estelle Featuring Kanye West - American Boy Video
Estelle - Wait A Minute (Just A Touch) Video
Audio:
Estelle - Come Over

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This is an homage track by Red Cafe honoring the memory of Sean Bell. The title is Long Live Sean Bell

Listen it HERE

Bonus:
Nas - War Is Necessary (CD quality)
Cassie And Casely - Me & U Alone
Lil Fizz Ft. Pleasure P & Teairra Mari - Choose U
Lil Kim - Rider Freestyle

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Thoughts?

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“Call G-Unit…Yea I just talked to G-Unit, they laughed and told me to call Young Buck.” I love these videos. Check out the guys from itsthereal.com every Monday.

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