1st Shift Crumbs

• Kanye West is coming to a city near you, and he’s bringing hip-hop’s pride and glory, Kendrick Lamar, with him. The “Yeezus” tour—’Ye’s first solo tour in five years—kicks off on October 19th in Seattle. Peep the dates here.
• They say, “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you,” but Emeli Sandé begs to differ. She brings this concept to life in an alternate video for RedOne and Alex P’s remix of her brilliant song, “My Kind of Love.”
• Katlynn Simone of BET’s The Game chatted with Megan Thomas, Kevin John and Fallon Mercedes of AfterBuzz TV to speak on her role as Brittany “Britt-Bratt” Pitts, her new single “Beautiful Lie” and more.
• Big Sean sneeringly asked, “Who’s Papoose?” on The Breakfast Club, and Remy Ma’s husband responded by mentioning Kanye West’s skirt-wearing ways, Sean’s speaking voice and Pusha T’s delayed album in a scathing diss. Honestly, it’s pretty decent. The cover art is so 2007, though.
• Rick Ross calls himself a “mastermind,” but everything he makes sounds like everything he’s already made. “Reductive” is a more fitting word for the Biggest Bawse. Listen to “No Games” featuring Future.
• Chrisette Michele hasn’t adjusted to the modern way of promoting an album, so Better isn’t receiving the proper attention it deserves. Still, though, the jazzy singer is delivering quality videos. The latest is “Love Won’t Leave Me Out,” and the stunning clip bears a striking resemblance to Khia’s “Been A Bad Girl.” Models included.
• And we thought Kobe Bryant was alone in unfollowing ex-teammates… Steelers coach Mike Tomlin unfollowed players that were cut last week.
• Katy Perry wants to be India.Arie so badly. After becoming one with nature in her visually enthralling “Roar” video, the artificial pop star poses topless in a field of sunflowers for the Prism album cover. Sorry, Mrs. Tarzan, I’m not buying it.
• Speaking of earthy women, Alicia Keys speaks on what it means to be powerful, vulnerable, elegant and tough simultaneously in Originmagazine.
• Meek Mill is doing all he can to make people care about Dreamchasers 3. He recruits Nicki Minaj, Fabolous and French Montana for “I B On That,” a song included on the project. A video will accompany the track.

Emeli Sandé Suffers Through The Insufferable Breakfast Club

Power 105.1 dubs The Breakfast Club “the world’s most dangerous morning show,” when in actuality, it’s the most incompetent, yet entertaining, radio show for urban pop culture.

Wendy Williams’ former sidekick, the woman who uses “the blogs” to opine and that other guy are equivalent to Love & Hip Hop characters—their asinine and ignorant behavior is absolved because they’re just “being real.”

Occasionally, a great interview seeps through the cracks (see: 50 Cent’s and Aunt Deb’s), but mostly, it’s ignorant hilarity (see: Webbie’s) or bootlicking fests (see: Jay Z’s). Read More →

Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson & Emeli Sandé Assist The ‘Idol’ Finalists

Pitbull, Psy and his sister-in-singing Jennifer Lopez may have represented everything wrong with Pop music during American Idol’s season finale, but Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson and Emeli Sandé provided balance by filling the Nokia Theater and living rooms around the world with soul.

Emeli joined Amber Holcomb for a duet of her hit, “Next To Me.” Although there wasn’t any chemistry between the two (mostly due to Amber not catching the groove), they sounded great. Read More →

Emeli Sande Jazzes Up Beyonce’s ‘Crazy In Love’ With The Bryan Ferry Orchestra

The Great Gatsby‘s soundtrack is really shaping up to be one of the best in 2013. Extraordinary talent Emeli Sandé teamed up with the Bryan Ferry Orchestra to deliver a jazzy cover of Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love” for the upcoming film. Listen below… Read More →

Beyoncé & André 3000 Put A Hip Hop Spin On Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’

Wait, more Beyoncé news is occurring.

Pepsi’s pride and joy reunited with André 3000 for a cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Back To Black.” Their version puts a hip hop spin on Amy’s classic and adds some wobbling synths to the beat. A preview of the song can be heard in the trailer for The Great Gatsby, which stars Leonardo DeCaprio and Tobey Maguire.

Jay-Z, who is an executive producer of the film, Emeli Sandé and Florence + The Machine are other names that will appear on the soundtrack. Read More →

Listen: Juicy J Ft. The Weeknd – ‘One Of Those Nights’

Juicy J is fishing for another hit, so he follows the formula laid out by his Taylor Gang affiliate Wiz Khalifa. Similar to “Remember You,” The Weeknd takes center stage on “One of Those Nights” and attracts trippy, indie-leaning ears to the “Bands A Make Her Dance” rapper.

Meanwhile, someone deemed it appropriate for Kendrick Lamar to remix Emeli Sandé’s “Next To Me.” Unsurprisingly, the praised rapper ruined the brilliant tune with not one, but two verses. Read More →

Emeli Sandé Dominates 2013 BRIT Awards

Last evening, the 2013 BRIT Awards were held at London’s O2 Arena. My favorite UK import, Emeli Sandé, was the highlight of the evening. She brought home two awards–British Female Solo Artist and Album of the Year.

“This is an album I wrote because I didn’t have the confidence to say these things in person,” said the “very unlikely pop star” when accepting the best album award. “For me, that so many people have connected with this album and found strength in these words makes me feel incredible and it doesn’t make me feel as lonely.”

Sandé also performed “Clown” and “Next to Me,” both from her highly acclaimed debut, Our Version of Events.

Go below for a full list of the winners, red carpet photos and very low-quality performance footage. Read More →

L.A. Reid Honored At Clive Davis’ Pre-Grammy Gala

Epic Records chairman and CEO L.A. Reid was honored at Clive Davis & The Recording Academy’s 2013 Pre-Grammy Gala and Salute to Industry Icons last night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.

Clive paid tribute to Whitney Houston, who tragically passed in the very hotel a year prior, by sharing a rare video of his mentee singing “All the Man That I Need” during a tribute concert for the troops. “She was the greatest contemporary singer of our lifetime,” Davis said. He extended an invitation to Whitney’s mother Cissy Houston, but she deemed the gesture “obscene” and refused to attend. Read More →