[Hot Video Alert] Kevin Rudolf - Don't Give Up

"Don't Give Up" is the latest offering from American rock-singer/songwriter/producer Kevin Rudolf.  Released April 17th, "Don't Give Up" was written by Rudolf and serves as the first single off his upcoming third album, due out this summer via Cash Money/Universal Republic Records.  If I'm being honest, I wasn't even sure Kevin Rudolf was still around, at least not as a solo act.  The last I heard from him was his 2008 hit single, "Let It Rock," featuring rapper Lil' Wayne.  That single turned out to be Rudolf's biggest hit to date, peaking at an impressive #5 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, not to mention #3 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and #5 in the UK.  

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In Case You Missed It...Music Video Round Up

SO you all know I LOVE music videos. Turns out I missed a s%@t load of them during my brief hiatus, so instead of going through them one by one...I decided to post them all at once, starting with the oldest. Here we go!

I HEART The Wanted. My favorite new UK boy band. "Gold Forever" is a dance-pop gem from their forthcoming sophomore album. Written and produced by Steve Mac and co-written by Wayne Hector and Claude Kelly the song was the official 2011 Comic Relief Charity single. The single debuted at #3 on the UK Singles chart, going on to become the band's third top-ten hit. Featuring remixes by Steve Smart & Westfunk, and Moto Blanco the single is destined to be a dance club hit as well. The fun video premiered in early March and was filmed on the same set as The King's Speech. Check out the boys and their cute clown noses above. Darling!  Look out for single #2, "Lightning," written by another favorite of mine, Mr. Ed Drewett.

"Gone" (AKA Dilemma Pt. 2) is the latest single from U.S. rapper Nelly's 5.0 album. "Gone" was written by Eric Goody II, Cornell Haynes, Earl Hood, Rico Love and Jim Jonsin (and produced by the latter two). In the Marc Klasfeld-directed video, Kelly Rowland reprises her role as Nelly's love interest, a role she first played in the video for his 2002 hit single, "Dilemma." While not as catchy as "Dilemma" it's nice to see Kelly and Nelly back together again. To date, the song has peaked at #59 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

"I'll Take Care Of You" is the latest single to be lifted off of American Soul artist Gil Scott-Heron's new album, We're New Here. We're New Here is actually a remixed album, produced by Jamie xx (of The xx). Scott-Heron's album was called I'm New Here, and is predominantly a blues and spoken-word album, like many of Scott-Heron's previous albums. Jamie xx seems to infuse electronic-elements into the original material seamlessly. The emotional, beautiful video for "I'll Take Care Of You" was directed by JJ Medina and AG Rojas and follows the story of an extraordinary young woman, single mother and boxer - Nisa Rodriguez. Playing like a mini movie, this stunning video shows the day-in-the-life of Rodriguez. Definitely worth a look.

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Hot Video Alert: Alesha Dixon feat. Jay Sean - Every Little Part Of Me

"Every Little Part Of Me" might very well be the best song off of Alesha Dixon's new album, The Entertainer. Produced by Slick & Magic and written by Michael Hannides, Anthony Hannides, Alan Sampson and Jay Sean, this up-tempo electro-pop/R&B single is as catchy as anything out right now by Taio Cruz. Jay Sean is the perfect addition to an already near perfect slice of pop heaven and Dixon is a vision in the clip (BELOW).

The Entertainer was released in November on Asylum/Atlantic Records, where it peaked at #84. The song fared slightly better on the UK R&B charts where it was a Top 20 hit, peaking at #16. I have to say that Dixon's plans for U.S. domination aren't looking too good right now. While lead single, "Drummer Boy" did alright, debuting at #15 on the UK Singles chart, follow up single "Radio" was a disappointment, coming in at #46. Here's hoping "Every Little Part Of Me" improves upon it's predecssor when it's released on February 27th. Backed by remixes from Steve Smart & WestFunk, Culture Shock, Mike Deliquent Project and Self Taught Beats, it looks like Dixon is hoping for a club hit at the very least. Check out two of the mixes HERE and HERE.

Check out Alesha on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube

Musical Amuse-bouche: A Little Bit of Everything...

During my blogging "hiatus" I've saved a lot of emails, press releases, Tweets and MySpace blogs about artists that I LOVE...knowing that one day I will be inspired to blog about it. Now that I'm back on the blogging bandwagon, here's a little musical "Amuse-bouche" - undoubtedly the first of many.

Jay Sean

Jay Sean and Diane Warren Collaborate: According to Jay Sean via Twitter, Diane Warren (Cher, Celine Dion, Toni Braxton) just penned a new song for the up and coming UK R&B/popstar. Per Sean, "she just wrote me a SMASH." - via Twitter

Little Dragon

Little Dragon - "A New" (Clay Moon Remix): Little Dragon is a band from Sweden that I really need to give another shot. I saw them in concert recently with V.V. Brown opening, but left before the end of the set. This remix is trippy...but in a good way. Check it out HERE. - via Twitter

• Clay Aiken to Release a Standards Album: Good God. Clay Aiken is back with an album of standards. Out on June 1st, Tried And True features Aiken crooning classics like "Moon River," "Mack The Knife" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." Check out the creepy cover art HERE. - via Chart Rigger

• Sophie Ellis-Bextor's New Single Failing To Impact Charts: Poor Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Looks like UK radio stations aren't playing Sophie's new SMASH single, "Bittersweet." Pity! It's such a gorgeous song (produced by the incomparable Freemasons). Accompanied by a beautiful video, I'm not sure what the deal is. Hopefully things pick up when the single is physically released on May 3rd. - via Sophierazzi

Fefe Dobson

New Fefe Dobson Album due out May 14th: Well THIS has been a long time coming! Fefe Dobson's long-awaited second album (now called Joy) will be released on May 14th. This will be Dobson's first new album in 7 years (after Sunday Love was scrapped and Dobson was dropped by Island Records). Now RE-SIGNED to Island Records, Joy will be released with help from 21 Music, her manager's label. Check out the video for "I Want You." - via Music Fascination

• Geri Halliwell Back In The Studio: Former Spice Girl and UN Goodwill Ambassador Geri Halliwell is reportedly BACK in the studio and making new music. If this is true, this would be her first album since 2005's chart failure, Passion. The album stalled on the UK charts at 41 while both singles fared a little better with "Ride It" peaking at 4 and "Desire" peaking at 22. It will be interesting to see what direction Halliwell goes with her fourth album. - via Daily Mirror

• Kelis' Production Team Release Flesh Tone Mixtape: There's a new mixtape floating around the internet, courtesy of DJ Replay from FreeSchool, the production team that's been working with Kelis on her forthcoming electro-dance album Flesh Tone. The 25 + minute mixtape features snippets of new material as well as remixes and mashups of past songs including "Milkshake," "Bossy," "Get Along With You" and "Caught Out There." Check it out! - via MixCrate

Lisa Scinta

YouTube Sensation Lisa Scinta Covers the Hits: A co-worker introduced me to this talented singer who has a YouTube channel FILLED with covers of all the latest pop/R&B jams. My favorites? Check out her covers of Drake's "Best I Ever Had", Iyaz's "Replay," Jason Derulo's "Whatcha Say" Train's "Hey, Soul Sister," The Script'sBreakeven" and "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. - via Lisa Scinta.com

• New MGMT Video - "Flash Delirium" (Uncensored): Check out this video for MGMT's new song "Flash Delirium." While the band isn't releasing traditional singles with their new album, Congratulations, looks like they are still promoting the album using the tradition methods...AKA music videos. - via MGMT VEVO

Michelle Branch

Michelle Branch Explains Album Delay and Talks Timbaland Collaboration: I LOVE Michelle Branch. When I heard that The Wreckers were taking a break while both she and Jessica Harp work on their solo careers, I was excited. Country, typically speaking, isn't my cup of tea. Of course, Branch's solo album is expected to have a country influence but that's fine. I'll deal. The Prophet Blog referred to a blog post (which I cannot find any more) in which Branch explains the internal label turmoil over at Warner Nashville. Branch assures her fans that the label is still VERY supportive of her new material. "There's light at the end of the tunnel" she says. She closes by hinting at a "super exciting" bit of news, which she revealed via Twitter the next day. "Just got home from the studio with Timbaland." Um...hot? Doubt this is for the new album but can't wait to hear this collaboration! - via The Prophet Blog

• After Split with Epic, Jennifer Lopez Joins Island/Def Jam Family: With Jennifer Lopez already in the midst of promoting her forthcoming 7th studio album, Love? her split with Sony's Epic Records in February came as a bit of a shock. Initial reports were saying that Love? was being scrapped altogether but Lopez maintained that the album was on its way. Now, Lopez herself has confirmed signing with L.A. Reid's Island Def Jam label. With the lackluster chart performance of both "Fresh Out The Oven" and "Louboutins," it will be interesting to see where Def Jam takes Lopez and her new album. - via HitFix

Katie Perry

Katy Perry's Sophomore Set will be a "Summer Record": Love her or hate her, Katy Perry is someone to talk about. Katy's follow up to her Grammy-nominated "One of the Boys" is due out this summer and according to Perry at the Kids' Choice Awards - "It's a summer record." Talking about what fans can expect from the album, she says "It's roller-skating! It's 90's! It's Ace of Base! It's Cyndi Lauper." This album sounds potentially VERY hot. Collaborating with the likes of Greg Wells, Guy Sigsworth, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Rivers Cuomo, this could be one of the most anticipated albums of the summer! - via MTV

Nadine Coyle

Nadine Coyle Signs Label Deal with Geffen Records: According to sources, Girls Aloud's Nadine Coyle has inked a deal with Geffen Records. This is exciting news, as there have been rumors swirling about that Coyle was having difficulty nailing a label deal. Coyle has been had at work making her debut solo album, recording with producers William Orbit, Mike Elizondo , Toby Gad, Guy Chambers, Steve Booker, Desmond Child and Tony Kanal. She's also written material with Lucie Silvas, Kyle Cook (from Matchbox 20) and J Remy. - via Digital Spy

Rihanna & Jay Sean Celebrate Cash Money Records in London

Rihanna & Jay Sean

U.S. hip-hop label Cash Money Records partied it up across the pond on November 27th, hosting a lavish party at The Royal Exchange in London. Nearly 500 people attended this exclusive event, including Rihanna, Jay Sean, Birdman, Ice T, JLS, Alexandra Burke, Alesha Dixon, Jamelia, Craig David, The Saturdays and many more. The who's who crowd of music industry talent was celebrating Cash Money Record's first ever party outside of the States.

Birdman, Alexandra Burke & Jay Sean

Cristal was flowing all night long (9:00 PM - 3:00 AM) thanks to Cash Money co-founders Bryan "Birdman" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams. The bash reportedly cost a whopping $170,000 and everyone in attendance certainly dressed for a show. Birdman, Slim and Jay Sean (the most successful male UK R&B artist in US chart history) all arrived in matching Rolls Royce Phantoms. HOT!

Birdman, Alesha Dixon & Jay Sean

Jay Sean played a special live performance of his number one single, "Down" as a thank you for the UK's support of Cash Money Records. This sounds like one HOT party.

The Saturdays & JLS

Massive Album Art Update - Part 2

Here's part two of my "Massive Album Artwork" update. The artwork comes from a variety of sources including Popjustice, Coverlandia and official major label resources.

The Best of Enya is the Irish singer's 4th best of set, the last one being 2002's Only Time - The Collection boxed set. Due out on November 16th, the album will be available in both a standard version as well as a deluxe CD/DVD version. While the album doesn't contain any new tracks, however "Aníron," from The Lord Of The Rings will appear for the first time on an Enya album. While I don't identify as an Enya fan per se, I do appreciate the beautiful and ethereal quality to her voice. While her stage presence leaves something to be desired (she's very shy and awkward, from what I've seen) she has a beautiful voice. I also love this artwork. I love the way her red dress pops against the black background.

I'm surprised that All Or Nothing is going to be British singer Jay Sean's debut U.S. album. Maybe this is because I've been more intently focused on the UK music scene and I've seen quite a few singles released over the past couple of years. Due out on November 23rd, All Or Nothing features Sean's hit single "Down," featuring U.S. rapper Lil' Wayne, hitting the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart. The album will be released on Universal Music Group's Super Monday, with all of the label's higher profile albums being released on the Monday before the holiday to take advantage of the start of the busy shopping season. Jay Sean has seen success in both the UK and in the Asian markets, but has yet to tackle the U.S. music scene. With a successful first single in the bag, this seems like the perfect time for Sean to launch his career in the States. "Do You Remember," the second U.S. single was released to radio on October 10th and features guest appearances from Lil Jon and Sean Paul.

John Mayer's 4th studio album, Battle Studies and will be released on November 17th, a follow up to 2006's 2X Platinum Continuum. First single "Who Says" was released on October 13th and so far has peaked at #26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart. I really like "Who Says" and am excited for Battle Studies. It's apparently a sonic departure from his last album, being described as a "fresh style of song writing." This should be interesting.I love Mayer's look on the album cover...B&W...well styled...sexy.

29 year old British singer Katherine Jenkins isn't your average pop star. In fact, she's not really a pop star at all. Jenkins is a chart-topping, award-winning mezzo-soprano, hitting the top of the UK album charts and winning two consecutive Classical BRIT Awards. Impressive! "Believe" is believed to be the lead single off of Jenkins' forthcoming best of compilation, due out October 26th. It also happens to be the title of the CD, which can be pre-ordered on Jenkins' own website. The album also features "Bring Me To Life," which has been remixed by Almighty. Beautiful girl, beautiful voice - it's hard to believe that at just 29, she already has 7 albums under her belt. Impressive indeed.

As I mentioned before, Katy Perry is getting ready to release her first live album, an MTV Unplugged album no less. I love the cover artwork, a photo still from her live performance. Perry looks stunning in pink. With a smile on her face and a guitar in her hands, Katy Perry looks like she's in her element. The album is due out on November 17th.

This is the artwork from American Idol Season 8 winner, Kris Allen's debut album. The set is due out on November 17th and features collaborations with Claude Kelly, David Hodges, Salaam Remi, Joe King of The Fray, Toby Gad, Alex Band of The Calling, Dan Wilson of Semisonic, Lindy Robbins, Chris Daughtry and Mat Kearney. PHEW! Now that's quite a list! Allen released his debut single on September 21st (digitally on September 25th), "Live Like We're Dying," which was originally done by Irish band, The Script. If the single is indicative of the sound Allen is going for, I think it's going to be a strong album. What's more...how cute does Kris Allen look on the covers? *DROOL*

To capitalize on the MASSIVE success of Lady Gaga's debut album, The Fame, she's releasing The Fame Monster, due out on November 24th. In addition to material originally included on the previous release of The Fame, The Fame Monster includes 8 new tracks. According to an interview in Rolling Stone Magazine, Gaga said that "originally [my label] wanted me to put out three songs and now it's much more than that, it's a new album's worth of material." 4 of the new tracks are produced by RedOne ("Bad Romance," "Alejandro," "Monster," "So Happy I Could Die"), while Fernando Garibay ("Dancing In The Dark"), Rodney "Dark Child" Jerkins ("Telephone"), Teddy Riley ("Teeth") and Ron Fair ("Speechless") produced one track each. Lady Gaga wrote all of the songs, including lead single "Bad Romance," due to be released on October 19th. This is one release that I'll have NO problem purchasing. I am also loving the artwork for the album. So different than anything I've seen Gaga wearing before. Very interesting. I think of the two, I prefer the blond Gaga. The dark haired photo reminds me too much of an early Shakira.

I'm not really too sure what I think about Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester's debut solo single, "Somebody To Love." While it's got the electro-pop production and features silky smooth vocals by one of my favorites, Robin Thicke, the song just lack energy from it's leading lady. Meester seems to fade into the background here. Produced by Mike Caren and Oligee (Flo-Rida, Cobra Starship), the single was released on October 14th and serves as the lead single from Meester's as yet untitled debut album. A video for the single is due out sometime this month, followed by a UK release sometime in December. I expected more out of this single, especially considering how much I enjoyed her featured vocal in the Cobra Starship track, "Good Girls Go Bad." I'm still choosing to remain optimistic about her debut album, due out sometime this Fall.

"Trouble Is A Friend" is the second single off of Australian singer Lenka's debut self-titled album, released in September of 2008. Lenka's first single was "The Show," in June, followed in August by "Trouble Is A Friend." The newest single will be "We Will Not Grow Old." The talented Aussie singer/songwriter and actress first gained U.S. attention when her song "The Show" appeared in an Old Navy commercial. Two of her songs, including "Trouble Is A Friend" were featured in the U.S. TV show Grey's Anatomy as well as the American reboot of 90210. I love what I've heard so far out of Lenka and look forward to hearing a great deal more.

"Who'd Have Known" will be the 5th (4th in the UK) single off of Lily Allen's hit album, It's Not Me, It's You and I couldn't be happier. "Who'd Have Known" has always been one of my favorite album tracks. It was written by Allen and Greg Kurstin, and samples Take That's single "Shine." The single is due for a release on November 23rd, preceded by the video which portrays Allen as an obsessed Elton John groupie. Brilliant! I love this video. Lily is hilarious. She and Elton John are apparently friends in real life, despite media reports saying the opposite. I also quite enjoy this single artwork, although it does stray away from Allen's posing around some gigantic numbers and letters, as she had in the artwork for her previous singles. Allen looks beautiful and sounds beautiful.

Lola (AKA Jennifer Lopez) has a hot new single "Fresh Out Of The Oven." Yep - that's the title. "Fresh Out Of The Oven" featuring Pitbull, produced by The Neptunes will NOT be on Lopez's forthcoming album, Love? due out January 25, 2010 in the UK and January 26th in the U.S. This single is a "buzz single," being released strictly for promotional purposes. Lopez's label confirms that Lopez is NOT adopting a new persona, saying "Lola is just for this song....She hasn't become Sasha Fierce. There won't be anything to do with Lola on her Love? album." While I'm confused as to why this song won't be featured on the upcoming album, which has been described as a return to Lopez's dance/pop roots - it's certainly doing it's job creating a buzz. I'm pumped for some new Lopez. Anything beats 2007's Brave bomb.

Malice In Wonderland is Snoop Dogg's 10th studio album. Wow. That's quite a career! Due to be released on December 8th, 2009, the album was produced by Dr. Dre, Nottz, DJ Quik, The Neptunes, The-Dream, and more. Expect guest appearances by The Game, The-Dream, R. Kelly, Kid Cudi, Soulja Boy - just to name a few. First single, "Gangsta Luv" was produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart. I'm loving this album artwork. It's a dark and sexy cartoon. To be honest, I'd rather not see Snoop Dogg's mug on another album cover.

This is the "new" posthumous single from Michael Jackson, off of his This Is It compilation album due out on October 26th. The album promotes the motion picture release, Michael Jackson's This Is It - a film chronicling what was going to be his big comeback tour. While originally tauted as a new single, information recently came to light, revealing that Paul Anka co-wrote the song with Jackson in 1983. Sa-Fire later included the song on her 1991 album, back when it was called "I Never Heard." While the single was released to radio only on October 12th, it impressively debuted at #43 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song itself isn't really anything impressive, but it's "new" to most of us so naturally people are going to love it, especially with it being so soon after Jackson's death.

"I Wish" is the second single from English electro-pop group Mini Viva, due out November 30th. Produced by Xenomania, managed by Simon Fuller and signed to Geffen Records UK - Mini Viva consists of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love. Debut single "Left My Heart In Tokyo," was released on September 6th and in my opinion is a total club stomper. While I haven't yet heard any snippets of their second single, I'm really excited. I've been following producer/remixer Cahill's tweets and he's been talking about working on the new single. I can only imagine with Cahill on the remix, that it's going to be a smash. No release date has been set yet for Mini Viva's debut album, but I imagine that it will be early next year.

As I previously mentioned in another post, Norah Jones released her new single, "Chasing Pirates" on October 13th. The single is definitely different than anything Jones has done before and that's totally a good thing. I'm really excited for her forthcoming album, The Fall, due out November 17th. The artwork is nothing new...in fact it's practically identical to her album artwork. The single artwork includes a different pose and a few more dogs. Go download this single now on iTunes!