Melanie Fiona has released her debut album The Bridge in Canada on June 30th. The album features her debut single “Give It To Me Right” along with 11 solid tracks consist of r&b/ soul defining a deeper meaning of the “The Bridge”. She worked with various producers and executives including Steve Rifkind, Future Cut, Vada Nobles, J. Phoenix, Affiliate, Peter Wade, Salaam Remi and Supa Dups. Just like every other artists, Melanie has come a long way from battling with labels to change her sound to dealing with a “certain image”. I can not express how happy I am for Melanie and I have been a huge supporter of hers since I was six years old.

In 2008, Melanie who didn’t have a single or an album, opened for Kanye West during his European Tour. She gained a lot of attention in Europe making her first single “Give It To Me Right” earned a spot on the Top 10 charts in Italy, Croatia, Greece and Slovenia. That’s an amazing accomplishment. She is currently working on with Questlove of the Roots on a mixtape The Bridge – Remixed Live which should be released soon.

Be make sure to support Melanie Fiona!!!! Go to the nearest HMV and grab the CD. The album is amazing and it’s only $10. Peep another track which may potentially be her next single – Bang Bang.

Track Listing:

1. Give It To Me Right
2. Bang Bang
3. Monday Morning
4. Please Don’t Go (Cry Baby)
5. Ay Yo
6. Walk On By
7. You Stop My Heart
8. Johnny
9. Sad Songs
10. Priceless
11. It Kills Me
12. Teach Him

Also – FLOW 93.5 will be hosting an exclusive showcase and release party for Miss Melanie Fiona at the Mod Club on Today – July 2nd. This will be her first performance with a LIVE band in Toronto following the release of her album The Bridge. The U.S. will be releasing The Bridge on August 18th.

Peep the details below.

FLOW SHOW & RELEASE PARTY with MELANIE FIONA

Date: Thursday July 2, 2009

Time: Doors open at 7:00pm/Performance 9:00pm

Location: MOD Club (722 College St)

*Free event, open to the public
*19+ event

A few days ago, Empire aka The Fifth Letter Fam released a sampler for their upcoming album Get It. The sampler features 5 tracks with major productions from Big Sproxx, Amir, Y-Not, Rich Kidd and many more. Last night, I got the chance to finally listen to 10mins sampler which gives a small taste of what’s to come from their album.They really brought the HEAT on this one which compliments the production!! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Remember Hip Hop is NOT Dead – it lives in the NORTH! (Real Talks) Empire Get It will be available this summer via HHC AKA HIPHOPCANADA DIGITAL/E1/A.W.O.L. Music Inc.

1. Boom and Pound (First single) (Prod. Big Sproxx)
2. Co-Sign (Prod. Amir)
3. One Thing Wrong (Prod. Y-Not)
4. S.A.R.S. (Prod. Big Sproxx)
5. Run Up In Da Spot (Prod. Rich Kidd)

Download: Empire Album Sampler for “Get It”

Brooklyn meets Toronto seems to be a story that happens every often. Now you got, Rapper Torae & Producer Marco Polo joining forces releasing their album Double Barrel yesterday through DuckDown Records. Double Barrel pays homage to the New York’s mid 90′s rap scene with the likes of Gangstarr and Wu Tang who were holding it down back then.  This album is definitely a CLASSIC so you need to add it your your collection. Peep the track listing below and check out party crasher.

Track List

1) Intro ft DJ Premier
2) Double Barrel ft DJ Revolution
3) Party Crashers
4) Smoke ft Lil Fame of M.O.P. & Rock of Heltah Skeltah
5) Lifetime ft DJ Revolution
6) But Wait
7) Rah Rah Sh*t
8) Danger
9) Stomp (ft. Guilty Simpson)
10) Coney Island
11) World Play
12) Hold Up (ft. Masta Ace & Sean Price)
13) Get It
**Bonus Track – Crashing Down (ft. Saukrates & S-Roc)

Buy Double Barrel Today!!! out in stores now!

[Marco_Polo___Torae_-_Party_Crashers.mp3]

Download – Marco & Torae “Party Crashers”

Busta Rhymes’ eighth studio album Back On My B.S. is FINALLY in stores TODAY. With constant push backs and being dropped from Aftermath, that didn’t stop Busta Rhymes to continue making music and letting people know that he is still on his B.S.

Back On My B.S. is very impressive as I personally didn’t think that the album would be worth listening to. WRONG! With singles like “Arab Money,” “Hustlas Anthem” and “Respect My Conglomerate”, Busta promised an album full of bangers and that’s what he did. The intro “Wheel Of Fortune” starts with an opera theme that breaks into a traditional Bussa Buss hip hop track including some yelling. The album is filled with a lot of juicy and high energy tracks like “Give Em What They Askin’ For,” “Kill Dem,” “Decisions” featuring John Legend, Common and Mary J. Blige, “World Go Round” featuring Estelle and “Sugar” featuring Jelly Roll. Busta continued to work with some of the industry’ hottest artists including John Legend, Estelle, Ron Browz, Lil Wayne, T-Pain, Common, Mary J Blige and many more. So you can only expect pure greatness if you are working with those artists. I know there was some word about Kardinal Offishall being on the album as well as many other artists, I guess he didn’t make the cut. I will be looking for the unreleased tracks that were potentially suppose to be on the album. It was nice to hear the Pharrell’s production on  “Kill Dem” since I haven’t heard a “Neptunes” track in a while. “Kill Dem” caught my ears with speaking patois (speaking jamaican) on the whole track! This is a sound that Canadian have been trying to create, and Busta Rhymes KILLED it! “Sugar” is a ladies tunes while Busta finds a clever to seduce a lady.

Overall, the album deserves at least one listen and you will not be disappointed. It’s a MUST! Go to the stores NOW & go grab Busta Rhymes Back On My B.S. Peep my one favorite track on the album – “Sugar” featuring Jelly Roll.

With constant push back and struggling image and lead singles, Ciara’s long overdue third album Fantasy Ride hits stores tomorrow (May 5th). With singles like “Never Ever” featuring Yung Joc and “Love, Sex & Magic” featuring Justin Timberlake, Super C brought out her alter ego and took it up a notch displaying more of a softer yet sexier side. However, the collaborations featured on this album was an immediate fail. She continues to work with the same artists like Ludacris, Missy Elloit, Chris Brown and so on. I would of love to hear Ciara collaborate with Snoop Dogg, Lloyd, Ron Browz or maybe even Busta Rhymes.

Fantasy Ride supports many promising tracks with dance-driven, booty popping beats and slow 80′s r&b inspired tracks. “Like A Surgeon” is stamped and benchmarked with influences from the late great Aaliyah and Ginuwine. I know I will be hearing this track on an upcoming DJLissaMonet‘s mixtape. On the other hand, the track featuring Chris Brown “Turntables” is B-A-N-A-N-A-S. It’s a shame with all the drama that Chris Brown is dealing with, this track could of been a potential single. Joints to look out for: “Ciara to the Stage,”  “Like A Surgeon,” “Work” featuring Missy Elliott, “Turntables” featuring Chris Brown,

Overall, Ciara - Fantasy Ride is a good listen. I am a bit disappointed that Zomba didn’t do a better job of promoting and getting everyone excited about this project. Maybe picking better collaborations for the next album should be looked at carefully. Check out the Ciara “Turntables” featuring Chris Brown track below (Special thanks to 5starhiphop.com for the track) and read the tracklisting.

Also, how many records do you think Ciara will sell in the U.S.? Canada? Check back next Wednesday with the Soundscan results.

Taken from Wikipedia

Standard edition

1. “Ciara to the Stage” (Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, Blade, Rodney Richard, Jasper Cameron) – 3:45
2. “Love Sex Magic” (featuring Justin Timberlake) (The Y’s) – 3:40
3. “High Price” (featuring Ludacris) (Tricky Stewart, Terius “The-Dream” Nash, Kuk Harrell) – 4:02
4. “Turntables” (featuring Chris Brown) (Nate “Danja” Hills, Marcella “Ms. Lago” Araica, The Clutch) – 4:31
5. “Like a Surgeon” (Tricky Stewart, The-Dream) – 4:27
6. “Never Ever” (featuring Young Jeezy) (Jamal “Polow da Don” Jones, Esther Dean, Elvis Williams) – 4:32
7. “Lover’s Thing” (featuring The-Dream) (Carlos “LOS” McKinney, The-Dream, Kuk Harrell) – 3:27
8. “Work” (featuring Missy Elliott) (Danja, M. Araica) – 4:05
9. “Pucker Up” (Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins) – 3:52
10. “G Is for Girl (A-Z)” (The Y’s, The Clutch) – 3:37
11. “Keep Dancin’ on Me” (Tricky Stewart, The-Dream, Kuk Harrell) – 3:33
12. “Tell Me What Your Name Is” (Luke “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Benny Blanco) – 3:38
13. “I Don’t Remember” (Polow da Don, Shaffer “Ne-Yo” Smith, J. Cameron) – 3:47

Limited deluxe edition

1. “Echo” (Danja, The Clutch) – 3:38
2. “I’m On” (DropZone) – 3:56
3. DVD with exclusive video content.

   I. Behind the scenes at: Photoshoot, Rehearsals, Recording Studio

   II. The Making of: Go Girl, Love Sex Magic, Never Ever

   III. Music Videos: Love Sex Magic, Never Ever, Go Girl

Today is a BIG day for Kardinal Offishall as his first major album Not 4 Sale is out in stores today. Guest appearannces by Akon, T-Pain, Rihanna, Estelle, The Dream and many more.

Last week I wrote an article about the album as I attended the listening party at Cartel (498 Queen St. W) in Toronto – click here to read the review. Kardinal has come a very long way fromfrom signing with Warner/Chappell Music Canada to MCA Records and now with Geffen Records. Akon firmly believed in Kardinal’s vision on striving for his success as an International artist. Kardy has toured all across the North America and Europe to promote his album and in hopes that audience and fans can reach out to support his music. This is just a start for Kardinal Offishall and Canadian Hip Hop. This destination is achievable to all Canadian artists with the proper record label help and support. He is indeed Canada’s Ambassdor for the Canadian urban music scene and it is just a start. Many more to come out of this great country of Canada. Question is who got next?!?!

The official third single is “Numba 1 (Tide is High) featuring Rihanna. Look out for the music video in the near future. Also, look out for Kardinal Offishall as he promote the release of this album.

Be sure to go to the nearest HMV, Best Buy, Future Shop, Circuit City, iTunes or where ever you buy CDs in order to get Kardinal Offishall ‘Not 4 Sale’. Please support this album. I will have the Soundscan updates next Wednesady at 12:01AM.

Some tracks featured on the album:

“Dangerous” feat. Akon
“Set It Off” feat. The Clipse
“Gimme Some” feat. The Dream
“Numba 1 (Tide is High)” feat. Rihanna

http://www.iamnot4sale.com
http://www.myspace.com/kardinaloffishall

The Clipse are back in action with their new mixtape Re-Up Gang. Many who are huge fans The Clipse know that they released a mixtape called We Got It 4 Cheap, Volume 2 two years ago. They gained major buzz towards the release of their last album Hell Hath No Fury.i have good some good reviews about this mixtape.Unfortunately I haven’t listen to it yet, but I am popping this into my Zune Player right now as we speak.

Be sure to look out for their upcoming album Till The Casket Drops out Winter 2008. We are still waiting for the official single for this release.

Tracklisting
01. Re-Up Gang Intro
02. Million Dollar Corner
03. Street Money
04. Fast Life
05. My Life’s The Shit
06. Bring It Back
07. Emotionless
08. We Know
09. Money
10. Been Thru So Much
11. Still Got It For Cheap
12. Show You How To Hustle

Download The Clipse Presents Re-Up Gang – Re-Up Gang  here Get It while it’s HOT!!!

Click below for the password

www.rapgodfathers.com

Nas’ highly anticipated and controversial album Untitled is out in store TODAY!! I am estimating that Nas will sell over 250,000 copies during in his week in the United States. This album has been getting some exceptional reviews from AllHipHop, XXL, VIbe and HipHopDX. Some people are already labelling the album a classic and . Click the links below to see the review

• AllHipHop link
• Entertainment Weekly (B+) link
• HipHopDX link
• PopMatters link
• SputnikMusic link
• 411mania link
• XXL Mag link

As part of Nas’ promo for the album, he did a bunch interviews including 106 & Park (which was filmed yesterday – don’t get it twisted. Below is a 16 minute Nas ALIFE Performance part of DJ Green Lantern TV.

Photos from 106 & Park