Catch Di Riddim - JamaicaObserver.com

Saturday, November 21, 2009 9:16 PM

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Catch Di Riddim

by Kevin Jackson Observer Writer

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Rihanna previews new album with Russian Roulette
Rihanna is back on the charts with the radio hit Russian Roulette. The song is a preview to her upcoming album Rated R, for which her record label Def Jam has set a November 23 release date.

The song was written by Rihanna and Ne Yo and produced by Ne Yo along with Chuck Harmony. It debuted at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 last week, but it finds better luck on the R&B Hip Hop Singles chart, debuting in the number 62 spot.

Rated R is Rihanna's fourth album to date. It is the follow- up to her 2007 set Good Girl Gone Bad which spawned five US Billboard Hot 100 top ten hits including three number one singles.

Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers. She subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for then-label head Jay-Z.

In 2005 she released her debut studio album, Music of the Sun, which peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200 and featured the Billboard Hot 100 hit single Pon de Replay. Less than a year later, she released her second studio album, A Girl Like Me (2006), which peaked within the top five of the Billboard albums chart, and produced her first US number one hit single, SOS, as well as Billboard Hot 100 top ten entries Unfaithful and Break It Off (which featured Sean Paul).

Rihanna has sold over 12 million albums, worldwide in her four-year career and has received several accolades, including the 2007 World Music Awards for World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artiste and Female Entertainer of the Year, as well as the 2008 American Music Awards for Favourite Soul/R&B Female
Artiste and Favourite Pop/Rock Female Artiste.
Rihanna also serves as one of Barbados' honorary cultural ambassadors.

20 years later, Bust A Move is back on Billboard

It was in 1989 that Marvin Young, better known as Young MC, dented the Billboard Hot 100 at number seven with the crossover hip hop anthem Bust A Move. Now 20 years later, the track - which was featured on Young's debut album Stone Cold Rhymin - is back on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Bust A Move has been updated by the Glee Cast featuring Matthew Morrison. It made its debut on the Billboard chart at number 93.

A quick update on Young MC, the rapper returned to the spotlight in 2006 by appearing on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club. He currently lives in Arizona and still does concerts. One of the most recent high-profile concerts Young MC was a part of was WKTU New York's Beatstock.
Young MC released his most recent album Adrenaline Flow in 2007.

This Is It becomes a radio hit

Despite not being released commercially as a single, Michael Jackson's latest radio hit, This is it, has already begun to pop up on several charts stateside and in Europe.

In the US, This is It climbs to number 25 on Billboard's R&B Hip Hop Singles chart, giving Jackson his first charting title on that listing since One More Chance peaked at number 40 in 2004.

This is It is number 56 on the Canada Hot 100; number 35 on the Dutch Singles; number ten in Japan; number one on UK Radio Airplay; and number 18 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary tally.

The single is taken from Jackson's sixth posthumous compilation album, This Is It, which accompanies the Sony Pictures motion picture release Michael Jackson's This Is It.

Paul Anka, who co-wrote the song, has stated in sections of the media that the song was recorded in 1983 for a duet intended between him and Jackson on his album Walk a Fine Line under the original title of I Never Heard.

The song was later included in Sa-Fire's 1991 album I Wasn't Born Yesterday. The demo of the song was recorded in Anka's studio in California, however, only Jackson is credited writing the song in the booklet of the this album.

Million Dollar Bill gives Houston a number one dance hit

Whitney Houston's Million Dollar Bill has been crowned the new number one track on Billboard's Dance Music Club Play chart.

This is Houston's first chart- topping single on the Dance chart since Try it On My Own spent a week on top in 2003.

To date, Houston has scored 13 number one titles on the Dance Music Club play chart.

The list includes I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), So Emotional, Love Will Save the Day, I'm Every Woman, Queen of the Night, It's Not Right, But it's Okay; My Love is Your Love, I Learned From the Best, Whatchulookinat, Heartbeak Hotel, and Love That Man.

Caribbean entertainment updates

. R&B singer Tevin Campbell will perform in Barbados for the first time on November 14. Campbell - who chalked up a string of hits in the 1990's, with tunes like Round and Round, I'm Ready, Always in My Heart, Brown Eyed Girl and Don't Say Goodbye - was discovered by Quincy Jones.

. The annual Martinique Jazz festival will take place from November 26 to December 6. The festival, which dates back to 1983, has long provided a showcase for local and international artistes to share their talents with a lively and appreciative crowd of music lovers from all corners of the globe. Among the international artistes scheduled to perform are Elizabeth Kontomanou (France), the Kenny Barron Trio (USA) and Lionel Loueke (Bénin/USA). A highlight of the event will be the performance of steel pan master, Andy Narell (USA), who will team with calypso legend, Relator (Trinidad) to perform innovative "PanJazz" selections from their new album, University of Calypso.

. Trinidadian soca artiste Trini Jacobs - who has collaborated with the likes of Beenie Man, Machel Montano, Tanto Metro and Sizzla - has released a new album called Love Around the Clock.

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that gospel singer Jenieve Hibbert Bailey is the daughter of veteran reggae artiste Toots Hibbert?

Before venturing into gospel music, Jenieve and her sisters Leba and Melanie achieved some success on the British Black Echoes chart as a secular group calling themselves 54-46. The group signed with the Mango label and scored hits with covers of Ooh Boy and Never Get to Heaven, which spent five weeks at number one on the RJR Top 40 charts in 1990.

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