On January 21st prepare you life to be amazed as Beyoncé will be singing "The Star Spangled Banner" at this years Inauguration. USA Today reports that the diva along with Kelly Clarkson and James Taylor will grace our Capital steps with performances at Barack Obama’s public inauguration. Taylor will be sing a rendition of “America The Beautiful” and Clarkson will sing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee,” which was famously sung by Aretha Franklin who’s hat stole the spotlight. 

Because I love you guys so much just get your life to Beyoncé's "At Last" preformance from 2009

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.

Well, for starters let me just say TOTALLY wasn't expecting this! On Sunday night our boy Kanye West was preforming a show at Revel in Atlantic City, and midway through performing "Lost In The World" Mr. West stopped the music to shout out his baby momma (his words, not mine) Kim Kardashian. Later confirming the new was Kim’s sisters Khole and Kourtney Kardashian. Looks like little Blue Ivy Carter is about to have another playmate. Kim is said to be 12 week along in her pregnancy. Congrats to KIMYE!

TIBS UPDATE: Added video of Kanye's announcement below.

So I was doing some updates and I saw Srirchana’s Top Five Hip-Hop Holiday Songs, and thought to myself the world needs a rundown on some of R&B’s greatest holiday songs. So here is just a small list of some of R&B’s take on the holiday season.

Mariah Carey "All I Want For Christmas Is You (Extra Festive Version)

So are you guys really suspired I started off with Mariah? Lord knows I love Mariah Carey and this week the diva’s "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is currently #25 this week on Billboard Hot 100! 18 years later and Mariah is still breaking records!

Destiny's Child "8 Days Of Christmas"

I love Destiny’s Child and this song still knocks! Funny thing about this song is the lyrics, which is so ratchet if you pay attention to what they’re asking for.

Boyz II Men "Let It Snow"

Gosh do you not melt when you hear this? Boyz II Men had hits for days!

Donny Hathaway "This Christmas"

I’m sorry but if your parents never played you this during childhood then you haven’t lived. This is such a classic and Donny Hathaway was just so talented!

Jackson 5 "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"

I loved this song growing up! That and my mother forced it on be since she was a huge Michael Jackson fan. Well I hope you guys enjoyed these. I wanted to share more but had to keep the number limited. Hope everyone has a great holiday and be safe!

As February gets inches closer more and more information about Beyoncé’s return starts to popup. What you’re looking at above is the first image from Beyoncé’s multi-year campaign with Pepsi. Read more below from NY Times:

“In an expansion of the recent marketing experiments that have brought PepsiCo ever closer to the music industry, the company has embarked on a hybrid project with Beyoncé that will include standard advertising like commercials as well as a multimillion-dollar fund to support the singer’s chosen creative projects.

“Pepsi embraces creativity and understands that artists evolve,” Beyoncé said in a statement. “As a businesswoman, this allows me to work with a lifestyle brand with no compromise and without sacrificing my creativity.”

The campaign will coincide with a blitz of promotion for her next album, which has no title or release date so far but is expected in 2013. Sometime after she performs at the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 3 (also sponsored by Pepsi), Beyoncé will appear in a new TV ad — her fifth for the soft drink since 2002 — and her face will be on a limited-edition line of soda cans.”

This deal is reportedly worth $50 million dollars yes $50 million dollars! Gotta love Beyoncé's work hustle because this deal is bomb! Check out Beyoncé’s special edition can available early next year. BTW The picture above will be used as a life-size cardboard cutout in stores, so if you should totally send it my way lol.

As you know LeBron James was recently honored with Sports Illustrated Sportsman of The Year Award. LeBron who had a great last season received the NBA leagues MVP, NBA Championship, Finals MVP, and an Olympic gold medal all in one year. So it was only right he was honored with Sportsman of The Year right? In attendance to support King James was fiancée Savannah Brinson, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Mike Krzyzeweski.

LeBron also tweeted the pic below, “My 2 mentors in Life! K & Jay.”

Congrats to LeBron on this great honor!!

Today honestly couldn’t get any better then this because Beyoncé aka King Bey will indeed be releasing new music. Long time collaborator The-Dream recently spoke to Billboard to share:

"Definitely. She's got her stuff going. She took the summer to start recording, and now she's in a place where she's ready to start gearing up to reveal her plan. She's already gearing up to get ready to put stuff out. I'm sure there will probably be a couple records you hear before the Super Bowl gets here."

Looks like Beyoncé will be heading the Madonna route to launch her next album. Madonna released her single “Give Me All Your Luvin” two days before her Super Bowl performance and less then two months later she released her album MDNA, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 359,000 copies sold. Beyoncé is making sure this go round that both she and her brand will be absolutely impossible to ignore.

I seriously need to buy tickets to see the Brooklyn Nets play because your pretty much guaranteed to see the Carters their. Last night Beyoncé and Jay-Z watched the Brooklyn Nets smash the New York Knicks. In just four months Beyoncé will be returning to the music scene on February 3rd to preform during the halftime show at the Super Bowl. Then kick over to February 16th we can catch her HBO documentary airing.

Also rumor has it that Beyoncé will be debuting a new single during the Superbowl halftime show. I could see this being very much true since this would be one of the highest platforms any artist to debut a new single. Seriously do you know how many people watch the Super Bowl? Knowing Beyoncé she’s going to reap all the benefits from this launch into her next album.

I wonder what they were talking about here because the look Beyoncé is giving Jay-Z in this picture is priceless.

 
“HBO has a history of pushing every boundary with class and authenticity,” said Beyoncé. “Some of my favorite shows are on HBO, so I am excited that my film will be part of its bold programming. This film was so personal to me, it had to have the right home." - Beyonce

Refusing interviews from Oprah and a very mystic personal life, Beyonce will be opening up in her HBO documentary film deburing on February 16^th.  Director and Executive Producer, Beyonce will grant access to her private life and delve into her own personal struggles, childhood, and motherhood.