Atlantic/CBE recording artist and hit songwriter Sevyn Streeter spotted in Los Angeles on the set of her new music video ‘Don’t Kill The Fun’, featuring and directed by Chris Brown. Check out more pictures after the cut. (more…)
Roxbury welcomed Rihanna the other night, who stopped by to support her good friend Melyssa Ford, who hosted the club’s #FridayNightRox party. The singer appeared to be in great spirits and spent the entire night enjoying a mixed drink as she sang and rapped some of the lyrics to her favorite tunes. Also on hand was J Cole, who sported a black suit and a bottle of Hennessy in hand. Cole was the life of the party. In addition, Meek Mill and Wale dropped by to enjoy several bottles of Ace of Spades and greet Rihanna and Melyssa. Resident DJ, DJ BAD and DJ Infamous spun a mix of West Coast essentials and a southern classics to keep the party going. Check out additional Von Jackson pictures after the cut. (more…)
‘Dancing with the Stars’ contestant Christina Milian celebrated her 32nd birthday in Hollywood on Tuesday night. The singer’s ex-boyfriend Nick Cannon stopped by to wish her a happy birthday, then got on stage after the DJ asked him to perform his hit single, ‘Gigolo’. Nick pleased the crowd with a quick performance, joking that now he’s married to Mariah Care, he shouldn’t be singing songs like that anymore.
Milian broke some news to TMZ when she referred to Rap-a-Lot Records CEO Jas Prince as her “fiance” as she has been coy about the subject, even though she’s sporting a big diamond ring.
‘Entertainment Tonight’ correspondent Rocsi Diaz took to the mic too wish Christina a great birthday and congratulated her for being on ‘DWTS’. Rocsi was then spotted snuggling with rapper Juicy J. Also in attendance was The Game, Too Short, Mario, Ginuwine and more.
Check out more Von Jackson images below the cut. (more…)
John Legend released his fourth studio album ‘Love in the Future’ on August 30th, and offered Walmart Soundcheck a glimpse of the creative process behind the ballads. In an interview with the R&B singer, Legend explained why his music is made for those believe in love and how it may just be his best record yet.
Talking about themes on the record, Legend said, “I think that attitude is pervasive throughout the album. The idea that beginning something new is beautiful and holds a lot of possibility. It’s for people who want to believe in love.”
On the making of his new album, Legend said, “I wanted to think about what it means to make a modern soul album – knowing your heritage but also keeping it fresh and not feeling like you’re bound to the past.”
Discussing the ‘Made to Love’ music video, he shared, “We wanted to create a video to visually simulate what love felt like. It’s one of my favorite videos I’ve ever done.”
On mixing old and new on ‘Love in the Future’, Legend explained, “This album is sonically different than my previous albums. I think of it as a progression. People will hear some familiar vibes and some new ones too.”
The interview video can be viewed at soundcheck.walmart.com. View more photos from the interview after the cut. (more…)
Ne-Yo did a live set recently that included performances of ‘Lazy Love’, ‘Jealous’, ‘Don’t Make ’em Like You’, ‘Unconditional’ and ‘Let Me Love You’. The singer also sat down for an interview, discussing the name of his latest album ‘R.E.D.’, how the album was divided for his R&B and pop/dance fans, taking on the role of an executive at Motown, how there will always be a song for him to write thanks to love, and the delicate balance between his job and being a father, and songs off the new album.
“The name of the new album is ‘R.E.D.’ It’s an acronym standing for ‘Realizing Your Dream’. I called the album that because that’s where I am in my life right now. I’m realizing every dream. I decided at age 9 that music was going to be my life, and every dream and aspiration I set for myself from 9 to now, pretty much every single one of them have all been realized, and all through the power of music, so this album is a celebration of that fact.”
Discussing his mindset when recording the LP, Ne-Yo explained, “When I went in to start recording this one, this is actually the first album that I paid attention to the fact that I have two very dominant fan bases. I have my die-hard R&B fan base here, and I have my die-hard dance and/or pop fans here, and then we have the people that rest in between those two points. With this album I needed to make sure that everyone who calls themselves a Ne-Yo fan had something to latch onto. This album is almost split down the middle. There’s an equal amount of R&B songs and equal amount of pop and/or dance songs, and then those songs that fall into the middle of those two points. My last album with ‘Libra Scale’, I went really, really heavy with the conceptual. Really really heavy with theme. With this one I decided to just go back to the basics and just try to do quality music and making sure every Ne-Yo fan had something to latch onto with this album.”
Talking about his new role as Senior Vice President for A&R at Motown Records, Ne-Yo said, “I’m excited about the position because it allows me to help out the hundreds of thousands of young artists I come across every single day. At the other side of the same card, it’s definitely a learning experience. The language of an executive and the language of an artist are not always the same language. Another thing that Motown is doing right now is artist development, which is something that record labels just don’t do anymore. That’s kind of one of the things that attracted me to the job, the position in the first place. With an artist, it’s about the vibe and the energy and the emotion and the passion. With the executive, it’s about the numbers and the bottom line and staying out of the red. It definitely is something that I’m getting better at, I’ll say that.”
The mini concert and interview can be viewed at soundcheck.walmart.com. Check out additional pictures from Ne-Yo’s appearance after the cut. (more…)
Trey Songz performed songs from his hit new album ‘Chapter V’ for Walmart Soundcheck. In addition, the R&B singer sat down for an exclusive in-depth interview. The set list features ‘Simply Amazing’, ‘Dive In’, ‘2 Reasons’, ‘Heart Attack’, ‘Can’t Be Friends’ and ‘Say Aah’.
During the interview, Trey discussed what he wants to do with his music, being amazed that he’s released five albums, how the album differs from his prior work, the story behind the track ‘Simply Amazing’ and the first single ‘Heart Attack’, the writing process for ‘Chapter V’ and how the most pressure he feels is from himself.
“I want to make music that can serve as a soundtrack for so many different people’s lives,” Trey explained, “and I think that’s what this album does. It opens up very sensual, very crazy, then it goes to another place of love and life and heartbreak and happiness and we go to the club a couple of times. We’re gonna make you dance, we’ll cry together, we’ll laugh together and we’re gonna love together on this album.”
On the career he’s established at 27-years-old, Trey said, “First of all it’s hard to believe I have a fifth album. I still remember my first album very vividly and ever step to get where we are here now, and every album as been about evolving, adding to my musicality, to my production value, whether it be lyrical content. I think my voice has got a lot stronger.”
Talking about how his latest effort has differed from his prior albums, Trey said, “With this ‘Chapter V’ album, I think a lot of what’s different about the album is that within two years I saw a lot of the world that I’ve never seen before. I met a lot of fans I never knew I had and realized the impact I have on people’s lives.”
Talking about ‘Heart Attack’, Songz said it “speaks on the many emotions of love. The point when loving someone isn’t easy anymore. It’s not the beginning of the relationship when you’ve had your ups and downs and you’re at a point where you’re trying to figure out if you’re gonna make it. That’s a hurtful feeling. This song is about not wanting to give that up, and I’ve definitely felt that before.”
On the ‘Chapter V’ writing process, he said it “varied from song to song. I recorded some of this album in Miami. I recorded some in New York. Some in LA. I even did some recording in Brussels, even in Australia as well. It’s such an incredible process to see a song come from nothing to audio to now a video to now a single, to a song that nobody knew you could perform to now singing it like they wrote it themselves. Sometimes I hear a track and I might write it out. Sometimes it might be already be an idea. Sometimes somebody may bring an idea incompletely to me and I’ll finish that up. For the most part, it’s amazing.”
The performances and the interview video can be viewed at soundcheck.walmart.com. View additional pictures from Trey’s visit below the cut. (more…)
WMG hosted a BET Awards after party on Sunday (July 1), presented by Coke Zero, Smart Water and Crown Royal Black at at Cecconi’s in Los Angeles. Among the attendees were Tyrese Gibson, Ginuwine, Tank, Brandy Norwood, Trey Songz, Stevie J, Lauren London, Bridget Kelly and Teairra Mari. Check out the images of the attendees after the cut. (more…)
Elle Varner is out with the music video to her new single ‘Refill’, off the Los Angeles R&B singer’s upcoming debut album ‘Perfectly Imperfect’, out soon on RCA Records. The video features Varner taking a trip to New York City with her cheerleading squad, where the 23-year-old meets a man on the final night of her trip who shows her around town. She races back to make the bus, but not before getting his number, which is ripped in half as the bus keeps moving.
Watch the Constellation Jones directed video via Vevo below and check out pictures from the music video shoot after the cut.
‘The X Factor’ season one finalist Marcus Canty is out with his new single ‘Won’t Make A Fool Out Of You’, featured in the upcoming film ‘Think Like a Man’, an adaptation of Steve Harvey’s book ‘Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man’. Listen to the song via Soundcloud below.
Melanie Fiona visited Walmart Soundcheck to perform songs from her second album ‘The MF Life’. The live set included ‘This Time’, ‘Give It To Me Right’, ‘Running’, ‘Wrong Side Of A Love Song’, ‘It Kills Me’ and ‘4AM’.
During an interview with the Canadian R&B singer, she talked about the album, wanting it send a message that it’s okay to go thru ups and downs life sends you, how not knowing where your partner is late at night inspired her song ‘4AM’, loving to perform the passionate songs on the disc live, doing a lot of in-studio writing in contrast to her debut, and more.
“I’m a very emotional writer,” Fiona admitted. “I’m not the world class, A-list writer that can get it and write a hit song for myself and others. I have to be in the right mentality and right state of mind and place and environment to be able to really express because I feel that when I write it is like opening up a page in my diary. I have to be in that right mood and setting to be able to do my best work. I find that my creative juices, when they’re flowing, it’s good. I have to strike when the iron is hot and it makes for a better song.”
The live set and interview can be viewed at soundcheck.walmart.com. Check out additional pictures from the appearance after the cut. (more…)
