It’s beyond me why this took so long, but Alicia Keys has announced her new single from her album, Girl On Fire, “Tears Always Win.” The song was helped put together by Jeff Bhasker and Bruno Mars. After releasing videos for “New Day” and “The Fire We Make (featuring Maxwell)” Keys keeps the momentum going with yet another release.
So far since its release Girl On Fire has only sold 669k. If Alicia plays her cards right I’m sure she can push the album to platinum status. Personally Alicia should have never dissed “New Day” for “Girl On Fire,” because “Tears Always Win” would have be a great follow up. Hopefully everything works out because Girl On Fire is an amazing album! You can listen to “Tears Always Win” below:
Looks like the NFL is pulling out all the stops for this years Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans as far as the entertainment is concerned. Alicia Keys has now been booked to perform this year’s national anthem according to the Associated Press. Keys is set to kick off the Super Bowl festivities with “The Star Spangled Banner” February 3rd. Alicia officially joins the club of her superstar peers such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Beyoncé all of whom have had the most memorable renditions of the famous anthem.
As you know Beyoncé along with Destiny’s Child will serve as this year’s Super Bowl Halftime entertainment. Official confirmation of Alicia Keys Super Bowl performance will be announced within the coming days from now. Still praised as the best rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” check out the late great Whitney Houston below:
I told you guys 2013 is the year R&B is making a comeback! Alicia Keys has hinted over the last few months that a tour was coming and she kept true to her word. The talented diva has enlisted Miguel to support her on her new tour “Set The World On Fire.” The will support her amazing album Girl On Fire. Check the tour dates below to see if she’s hitting your city up! Tickets go on sale January 18th at 10 am EST.
“Set the World On Fire” Tour Dates:
March 7 – Seattle, WA – WAMU Theatre
March 8 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
March 10 – Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena
March 12 – Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center
March 13 – San Diego, CA – Valley View Casino
March 15 – Las Vegas, NV – Mandalay Bay Center
March 17 – Dallas, TX – Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
March 18 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
March 21 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Arena
March 23 – Miami, FL – American Airlines Arena
March 24 – Tampa, FL – Tampa Bay Time Forum
March 27 – Southaven, MS – Landers Center
March 29 – Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena
March 30 – Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Coliseum
April 2 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
April 3 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
April 5 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclay’s Center
April 6 – Mashantucket, MA – MGM Grand at Foxwoods
April 10 – Boston, MA – Agganis Arena
April 11 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
April 13 – Atlantic City, NJ – Mark G. Etess Arena
I would be lying if I said I had high hops for R&B in 2012, but to my surprise I was proven wrong about all the doubts I had for the dying genre. R&B music made its much-needed mark in 2012. With releases from Miguel, Frank Ocean, Keyshia Cole, Brandy, and Alicia Keys all dropped albums that gave new hope to R&B fans all around the world like myself. Rather then jump ship like most R&B artist have done to try to stay relevant with Pop releases and subpar material, which most failed to chart. These artist stuck true to their roots and released quality material. It’s now 2013 and there are some very highly anticipated album dropping this year from both R&B and Hip-Hop acts. So which R&B acts are the ones to watch this year? Well, I'll gladly give you a run down.
Kicking off our list is none other than Tamar Braxton. For those unaware of who Tamar is she is the youngest sister of Toni Braxton if you didn’t put the connection together by their last names. On February 12, Braxton will be releasing her second studio album titled Love and War in over 10 years. Lead by lead single "Love and War," which debuted at number 57 on Billboard Hot 100. I expect this album to a very solid effort from her since she has a very strong roster of songwriters and producers behind her. Plus her husband is Vincent Herbert who manages Lady Gaga.
Chris Brown! Our boy Chris is now working on the follow-up to his album Fortune, which came and went on the charts. His new album is currently still titled Carpe Diem. As of right now its unclear who he is working with and who’s on it, but he has said that fans should expect to hear new music from him this year. Personally I think Brown needs to just take a nice break from the music scene. Dropping generic dance styled songs with auto-tune just isn’t cutting it anymore. Chris needs live life and allow himself to grow into the talented artist I know he can be. His album F.A.M.E. was a solid body of work and the right direction so I hope he continues to show growth from that album to this new one.
Yes, there is a God because Maxwell has confirmed his anticipated follow up to his last album Blacksummers’ night. Maxwell’s new album is titled SUMMERS’ and is set for a winter debut. Saying I'm excited about this album would be an understatement. Maxwell is a tremendously talented artist and one of the reasons why neo soul became so popular. Maxwell recently collaborated for the first time in his career with Alicia Keys on “Fire We Make” off her album Girl On Fire. With his runs, riffs, tone, and passionate singing (melts) I’m looking forward to this album.
This spring the legendary icon and vocal gymnast that is Mariah Carey will be releasing her 14th studio album. Yes, her 14th album, which is far more then most artist have today (unless your Rihanna who drops one every season of the year) and have album been certified diamond, platinum, and one gold. Last summer Mariah dropped her buzz single “Triumphant (Get‘ Em),” which featured Meek Mill and Rick Ross. In a recent interview with YouKnowIGotSoul, Bryan Michael Cox shared that along with Jermaine Dupri they have a total of 10 songs recorded with Mariah. I assume Mariah will release her 1st single once American Idol kicks off January 16th at 8pm on FOX. Get that free promo girl!
Let me just say you don’t book the Super Bowl halftime show and sign a 50 million dollar deal with Pepsi to contribute to your album budget and not have something under your sleeve. I’m convinced Beyonce has a massive 1st single on her hands because she is pulling out all the stops for her return. King Bey has enlisted Hit-Boy, Kanye West, Miguel, The-Dream, Pharrell, Ne-Yo and Ryan Tedder to contribute to her upcoming 5th studio album. Beyonce’s untitled documentary with HBO will reportedly feature footage of her recording the album, which will air February 16th. I’ll just say this now I believe Beyonce will just completely own the music scene this year. This women is about to breath life back into the game I tell you! Expect to see Beyonce’s album drop around the spring with a single set to debut before Super Bowl.
