From a press release issued by Bad Boy:

According to a bulletin from his MySpace, Donnie will be appearing in San Francisco on March 6. He'll be at Glaskat Ultra Lounge at 520 4th Street. Doors open at 9:30 PM.

ClickZ has a story on Diddy's use of widgets to promote Ciroc vodka.

I realized that I forgot to mention in this post was that, in the UrbanBridgez.com interview, Cheri mentioned that she is planning to start working on a new album in March.


What? Why? I mean, I guess she has to do something, but couldn't she be promoting the current album? I guess, technically, it's been out since November, but it does seem kind of quick, no?

According to a bulletin/press release from Diddy's MySpace, "A Raisin in the Sun" was a big hit on Monday night.


Ed Bark speculates that Emmy glory may await the program.

Complex, UrbanBridgez.com and NobodySmiling.com have interviews with Cheri Dennis. Some snippets:


The album's intro is from 2001's "The Saga Continues...", titled "Incomplete (Interlude)".

In the interview with UrbanBridgez.com, she mentions that she hopes the next single will be "Showdown" and says:


Finally, from the NobodySmiling interview:

CTV.ca has an interview with Mike and Brian of Day 26.

Watch below for a faux news report where Diddy claims that Qwanell, in calling Dawn and Aubrey and knowing they would come when Donnie was talking with another girl, committed b****a**ness. Funny stuff.

This isn't really a surprise, but SOHH.com reports that Gerard Rechnitzer's attorney claims that Diddy's account of last February's incident between Combs and his client is "engulfed in fantasy".

Today, the physical version of "In and Out of Love" by Cheri Dennis has been released. You can pick it up on Amazon.com. Here's the tracklisting:

1. "Intro"
2. "I Love You" featuring Jim Jones and Yung Joc
3. "Portrait of Love" featuring Yung Joc and Gorilla Zoe
4. "Remind You"
5. "All I Wanna Do"
6. "Alright"
7. "In and Out of Love (Interlude)"
8. "Dropping Out of Love"
9. "Pretend"
10. "Spaced Out"
11. "Act Like You Know"
12. "Showdown"
13. "Ooh Ooh"
14. "Finally Made It (Interlude)"
15. "Caught Up"
16. "Waiting"

As we reported on Sunday, the Japanese version of the album will have two bonus tracks: "Freak" and "Ooh La La".

From the press release:

People reports that Diddy will be sending Sean John branded baby clothes to Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony for their new twins.

There will be no Making the Band 4 liveblog posted tonight. Sorry.

Finally, the night is here: the "A Raisin in the Sun" movie premieres tonight on ABC at 8:00 PM ET. I actually overlaps Making the Band 4, at 10:00 PM ET on MTV, because the movie is three hours long. I guess everyone with TiVo or a DVR, that can record a program and watch another, is alright. But, if you're like me, and you don't have those things, you have to pick one.

MTV reruns MTB 4 constantly, though, and I'm sure they'll be an encore showing of "A Raisin in the Sun" at some point.

Diddy spoke with the New York Daily News on his plans to focus on acting.


Via Metro.co.uk.

Baller Status has an interview with Michael Bivins, where he touches on Making the Band 4 and New Edition's time on Bad Boy.

Baller Status has a review, of sorts, of "Welcome to the Zoo". It features a new school rap fan and an old school rap fan talking about the album and Zoe. Suffice to say, not a good review for him.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Newswatch50.com reports on Diddy's attempt to move into a New York apartment building. While doing so, residents requested that he agree to a set of rules before he moved in, including no loud music or wild parties.

In an exclusive to Bad Boy Blog, the tracklisting for Danity Kane's upcoming sophmore album was given to us, along with the tracklistings for the iTunes and Target exclusive versions, by a source at the label. As with the "Day 26" tracklistings, this may not be the 100% finished product, but it should be pretty close.

Here's the tracklisting for the regular version:

1. "Bad Girl"
2. "Damaged"
3. "Pretty Boy"
4. "Strip Tease"
5. "Sucka For Love"
6. "Secret Place (Interlude)"
7. "Ecstasy"
8. "2 Of You"
9. "Lights Out"
10. "Picture This (Interlude)"
11. "Poetry"
12. "Key To My Heart"
13. "Flashback (Interlude)"
14. "Is Anybody Listening"
15. "Ain't Going"

The iTunes version is the same, except that it lists "Show Stopper" twice and "Damaged" three times. One of those extra mentions of "Damaged", I would figure to be the video for the song. But, what's the third mention and the two mentions of "Show Stopper"? Hard to say. It could be a remix or it could just be some sort of placeholder for the real bonus. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the Target exclusive version adds a new track, "Make Me Sick".

I was just sent the tracklisting for Day 26's self titled debut album, along with the tracklisting for the iTunes and Target exclusive versions, by a source at the label. These tracklistings may not be absolutely final, but they should be pretty close. Here is the regular version of the album:

1. "I'm The Reason"
2. "Got Me Going"
3. "In My Bed"
4. "Silly Love"
5. "Come With Me"
6. "Co Star"
7. "Come In (My Door's Open)"
8. "Are We In This Together"
9. "What It Feels Like"
10. "Since You've Been Gone"
11. "If It Wasn't For You"
12. "Don't Fight The Feeling"
13. "Ain't Going"
14. "Exclusive (No Excuses)"

The tracklisting given for the iTunes exclusive version is exactly the same, except that it features three mentions of "Got Me Going". Besides one of them being the actual track, I will take a reasonable guess here and say that one of those is the video for the song. What's the other one? Who knows, it could be some sort of remix or it could just be a placeholder for an iTunes exclusive track yet to be picked.

The tracklisting for the Target exclusive version is the same except that there is a new track called "Just Should've Told You".

Despite what Cheri Dennis told us and Billboard reported, it does not appear that the U.S. version of "In and Out of Love" will have any bonuses.

However, it looks as though there will be two bonus tracks on the Japanese release. According to cdjapan.co.jp, they will be "Freak" and "Ooh La La".

"Freak" was put out as a promotional single back in 2004, seemingly an attempt to generate some buzz behind Cheri to see if it would catch, leading to her album being released. It didn't. The track featured Babs and with Diddy all over it, it's easily one of my favorite Cheri Dennis songs. With Babs now off the label, you may see the no rap version, if this actually ends up being true.

"Ooh La La" was the opening song for Making the Band 2, Diddy's first foray into reality television. Back in 2006, it looked like this track would make her album. On her website, you could listen to a version featuring two verses from former Bad Boy rapper G. Dep. But, as "In and Out of Love" became a reality, it was stripped from the tracklist. Like Babs, G. Dep is no longer with the label. So, you could see a no rap version here, as well.

But, really, I think it's great that these two tracks are finally being released, certainly giving one an incentive to pick up the Japanese release of the album.

In a video blog, Dawn Richard talked about the video for "Damaged", the group's upcoming album and more. Watch below. She calls the video furturistic and a new look for Danity Kane, also mentioning that if you visit her page on iamonmtv.com, you can see some of the look from the video. I'm guessing it's this one, since that's the most recently posted picture.

Day 26 will be hosting a live chat on their MySpace page at 11:00 PM ET on Monday, after the next episode of Making the Band 4.

I hope they do it differently from how the Danity Kane chat was done, last Monday, because that was a mess. There is a certain way to do celebrity chats... you have to have a moderation who picks questions and, besides that, silence. Or, at least, silence in the room where Danity Kane is. Letting everyone post freely creates too many issues.

After the AP reports, I stayed up and watched Diddy on Letterman. He walked from the Bad Boy offices to the studio to tape Letterman (the studio is right across the street). On his way, he said, he had an epiphany that he would move to Hollywood and become a movie star. What that means, as far as the music business, is hard to say. But, I'd guess that he's simply planning to act more.

A majority of the portion featured light hearted discourse with Diddy joking around a lot. They did have an entertaining segment where Letterman read off rumors to see if they were true or not. Here they are:

Diddy is changing his name to Sean John. False.

He is in talks to buy a Formula 1 racing team. False.

He makes a habit of eating apple sauce every day. True.

His favorite form of recreation is his own mechanical bull. False.

He employs a full time barber. True.

He employs someone full time to mix his favorite drink. Sort of true. He said that whoever works for him (I'm guessing he was speaking of personal assistants) must be able to mix a drink. He corrected Letterman on the favorite drink, stating that his favorite was Ciroc and lemonade.

He suffers from a fear of clowns. False.

He takes a bubble bath every night. True.

To entertain, he once brought in a half dozen penguins. False.

He is prohibited from using the name Diddy in the UK. True. Diddy then went back and forth with Letterman asking, who is Diddy in the UK? And Diddy saying that that's what he's trying to find out. I

He once had sex for 30 straight hours. True.

He also shared that, as a kid, he never wanted a birthday cake - always an apple pie with candles. He loves apple pies and ice cream. Not a big cake fan.

Check out coverage of "A Raisin in the Sun" at the Los Angeles Times, Parade and USA TODAY.

Bad Boy is passing out a praise sheet for Sean Combs performance in the film. Here it is:

"Combs... reminds us he can act with fullhearted expressiveness. He holds his own with Rashad... Indeed, the whole production is a model of subtle adaptation." -Entertainment Weekly

"Combs embodies [Raisin's] spirit of striving"-USA Today

"You'll Never Look at Sean Same Way Again!" -The New York Post

"WHEN THIS WALTER [COMBS] SAYS HE'S 'A VOLCANO' YOU BELIEVE" -DENVER POST

"... Combs holds his own in his first major movie role." -O, The Oprah Magazine

"[Combs] turns in a heart breaking performance!"-Us Weekly (3.5 stars)

"...The performances are top drawer. That includes Combs." -The New York Post

"Sean Combs reveals his growth as an actor..." -The Orlando Sentinel

"Combs has Passion and Heart..." -Star Magazine (4 stars)

You can download "Nobody Gotta Know" by JC featuring Gorilla Zoe at JC's MySpace.

Cheri Dennis is featured in an issue of The Chronicles Magazine that will be available in the first week of March. She's also featured in the February/March issue of POC Magazine.

As part of a Block Ent./Bad Boy South and BET Rap City artist showcase, Gorilla Zoe will be performing at Karma Night Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 5.

HOT97.com will be hosting a live chat with Cheri Dennis on February 25.

Sean John will be showcased at HOT 97's Full Frontal Hip Hop Fashion Show & Concert '08 on March 20 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The show starts at 6:30 PM ET. Cheri Dennis will be performing. Tickets are on sale now.

The AP reports that, in an appearance on David Letterman set to air on Friday, Diddy says that he wants to move to Hollywood and act full time.

We'll see what actually is said when it airs. I don't think that it necessarily implies he'd quit music, but the "full time" part of it would make some believe that, I think. From talking to people that have been around him, Diddy just isn't someone you see quitting music. Earlier this month, I shot down reports of that very thing with a representative of his saying that it wasn't happening.

Songwriter Mary Brown commented on our entry about Day 26's album being pushed back.

In a Bad Boy Blog exclusive, she mentions a song she wrote for Danity Kane called "Bad Girl" which will feature Missy Elliott. You may remember from the Danity Kane and Day 26 conference call that the girls had been playing guest appearances close to the vest. So, Missy is the first one that we've heard.

Missy Elliott, Diddy and Bad Boy go way back, of course, with Diddy helping her in the early stages of her career. Missy also had a large influence over Total's second album, "Kima, Keisha & Pam," producing and appearing on the album's lead single, "Trippin'".

Listen/watch below.


Via Theo via AllHipHop.com.

GQ has released some behind the scenes video from Cassie's photoshoot for the March issue of GQ. Watch below.

Gorilla Zoe will be performing live at Tail Gators on 1804 South Plate Street in Kokomo, Indiana on February 23. Doors open at 9:00 PM. See the flier below.

Gorilla Zoe will be hosting the official pre-party for BET's Rip the Runway, along with BET VP Stephen Hill. It'll be at Runway on 28th street on February 20. See the flier below.

Chronicmagazine.com has a quick interview with Danity Kane.

From the press release:

AllHipHop.com was backstage at the Sean John Fashion Week show. Watch the video feature at their site.

Listen below.

News Blaze has a review of "A Raisin in the Sun".

Diddy's intro starts off with him plugging their sponsor, Sean John. He says that MTV hates when he plugs his brand, but he doesn't care because it's his show. He talks about how he kicked the guys out of the studio and how he wants to see them connect to the music with their soul and get back to the studio.

The guys are at vocal training with Ankh Ra. Michael Bivins drops in. He tells them to act like Puff is always in the room. If Puff flips out, they should look at it like, that's my business partner, am I doing what I need to do on my end? He tells them not to be the good TV group that breaks.

Willie and Donnie come to the studio and visit with Danity Kane. Donnie and Aubrey are hanging out. Dawn refers to them as Barbie and Ken. She's not real sure about it. Donnie talks, in private, how he wants to get to know her better, on a one on one basis, aside from the crazy party side. They make a date.

At night at the guy's hotel, the guys find out that Donnie's headed on a date and he tells them it's with Aubrey. They joke with him a bit. Robert asks him if he likes her and he says he's not sure, he wants to get to know her. Donnie leaves and walks over and picks her up. They walk to an Italian restaurant.

» Read More

Watch below.

Speaking to Vogue, Diddy praised the style sense of Sienna Miller, Naomi Campbell and Beyonce. Speaking about himself, he says, "I strive to resemble Frank Sinatra. He was effortlessly cool, always looking refined and maintaining complete class. He knew how to make a statement, without being loud."

They also have a Trade Secrets feature with him where he talks a little bit about how maintains his image and appearance. "... there's nothing more attractive than accomplishment; success is far more stylish than a pretty face," Combs said.

Brian Angel's MySpace links to his official site with promo tour dates. Just cities and dates right now.

Danity Kane will be having a live chat on their MySpace page at 11:00 PM ET, after Monday's episode of Making the Band 4.

TMZ has obtained a signed declaration by Diddy, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. While some people are spinning what he said to mean that he's saying that Gerard Rechnitzer, the alleged victim, ran into his fist; when you read the declaration, what Combs says isn't unreasonable. Here's the Cliff Notes version and Diddy's declaration to the court (again, this is what Diddy claims, not my own words - I'm just summarizing them):

On February 25, 2007 at around 2:15 AM, he was leaving The Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. A woman approached him from behind, stopping him and trying to strike up a conversation with him, consisting of small talk and what his plans were for the remainder of the night.

He says that he told her that he was returning back to his hotel, as he had been out late enough. As he was talking with her, a man he identifies as Gerard Rechnitzer, reached the area where they were. He appeared "intoxicated and agitated". Rechnitzer yelled that the woman was his girlfriend, which she then confirmed.

Diddy had two security guards with him, one of which had placed himself between Rechnitzer and Combs and the woman. As Rechnitzer appeared to want to be closer to his girlfriend, Diddy told the security guard to allow him to do so.

However, Rechnitzer was still "aggitated and upset" and he began to move toward Diddy. "... without warning, he lunged at me." Out of instinct, Combs stuck out of his hands (the hand was open and not closed in a fist) to prevent himself from being harmed.

He says that any contact between him and Rechnitzer was caused by Rechnitzer's unexpected motion, triggering an automatic response of Diddy putting a hand up to stop him. "I did not punch, slap, push or in any manner physically pursue Mr. Rechnitzer." After noting that any contact would have been minor, he says that Rechnitzer "did not fall to the ground, and did not make any sound or cry."

Via HHE.

MySpace Fashion followed Cassie as she went clothes shopping in NYC. They also did a quick interview with her. Watch below.

According to MySpace, Cassie is featured in the March issue of GQ Magazine.

Here is the cover for Danity Kane's sophomore effort, "Welcome to the Dollhouse".


I think this is a really nice cover and really, I like everything about it, except when you get to the faces of everyone but D. Woods. They all have kind of odd looks to me, but especially Shannon and Dawn stick out to me because they both look like they want to eat you. They don't look like happy campers. Maybe that's what they were going for. But, a very nice cover.

According to BET, Cherish and Yung Joc will be performing ("Killa", though they don't say it, it has to be) on 106 & Park on Friday.

Crain's New York Business.com has a quick interview with Bad Boy President Harve Pierre.

Check out Cheri Dennis interviews with Inside Black Hollywood and Power Moves Magazine as well as a video interview with TME TV.

Day 26's debut album has been pushed back two weeks to March 25.

Cheri Dennis will be performing at The Apple Store in NYC, on 103 Prince Street, at 8:00 PM on February 19.

Elephant Man has been pushed to April 8, while Cassie's sophmore album is slated for a May 20 release. As always, these dates should be taken tentatively, especially the Cassie one.

Diddy will be executive producing "Rip the Runway", a show that will feature live performances along side models on the runway.

It'll be hosted by rapper Nelly and Sean John spokesmodel Lauren London and, yes, Sean John will be participating in the event, which will air on BET on March 4 at 9:00 PM ET.

For the time being, send it to badboydemos [at] gmail [dot] com. Watch below for why.

I missed last night's episode of Making the Band 4. Luckily, I caught an encore presentation this afternoon and wrote up a liveblog as I was watching it.

To begin the episode, after Diddy has welcomed us to his world, the guys are in the studio, having a tough time harmonizing. Robert talks about how they only have five weeks and since they haven't worked together much, they don't have that chemistry.

Slam is working with the girls (specifically, Dawn and D. Woods are the ones that we see) and he's liking what he hears. Dawn explains that they can get their work done quicker than last time because of their familiarity with each other.

Diddy arrives at the studio, still on the crutches. He's here to listen to some tracks. First, "Silly Love" by Day 26. Brian is nervous because Diddy just sits there listening, not moving at all. He tells them to cut the chorus over, do the first chorus and the bridge better. He doesn't really like it as it is.

Donnie's "I Don't Care" gets the next listen. Diddy tells him to make it his own and to commit to the story - work on the finesse. Finally, Danity Kane's "Is Anybody Listening" plays and Diddy is bobbing his head. After he turns it off, he applauds. He complements them saying that it's almost there and they definitely sound like a group. The guys can learn from them, he says.

» Read More

Kam Williams has a great interview with Diddy, covering "A Raisin in the Sun", but also touching on other subjects. Well worth a read.

Here's a press release issued for Cheri Dennis' upcoming physical release of "In and Out of Love".

» Read More

It's hard to know how much to take away from this article at the Jamaican Observer. It says that Elephant Man recently recorded a song, "Girl Tonight", with Chris Brown. I'm guessing this is "Feel the Steam".

It also says that he just shot a video for "Gully Creeper", a song I've never heard of and a song that Google has barely heard of. So, we'll just have to keep an eye on that.

Associated Press fashion writer Samantha Critrchell has more on Diddy's return to Fashion Week.

Check these tracks out on the Day 26 MySpace.

Edit: Someone at Bad Boy told me that they didn't think this was an official MySpace, even though Willie posted that it was, in a bulletin from his MySpace.

From Jo Piazza:

I've been sitting on this news for a while now, but I can finally report that Babs is no longer on the Bad Boy roster. No other details are available, at this time.

Bad Boy has launched a new site. I want to be excited about this. I really do. There is no bigger Bad Boy fan than me, but I can't be excited about a site when details that should be taken care of, are not taken care of. I don't know why they can't get it 100% right, instead of getting it maybe 50% right. It sours the experience for any fan. And, honestly, it's embarrassing.

The site's not all bad. Like Bad Boy's previous sites, it looks nice. And it can work. And there are nice features that the site has. But, it's all ruined by the poor job that was done in adding and creating the content. Content is what makes the site. You can't launch a site with features that don't work and coming soon pages. You can't launch sites where substantial portions of content are wrong. I can't even begin to point out every single thing that is wrong, so I am just going to talk about a few things that jump out at me.

The search box does not do anything. Search for Diddy. Nothing. It's not functional. So, why is it one of the more prominent design features throughout the site? Why are store and merchandise both coming soon? Why is most of the news real old? Why didn't they concert the existing news items?

The large graphics that comprise the bulk of the upper part of the index page are nice. The menus on the left and right also have a nice appearance. The fact that they scroll and you can't manually scroll then - even though every item is on the screen at all times - is perhaps a little frustrating.

The artists pages are a litany of old videos, confusing entry points and incorrect information. Let's take a look at B5, for example. If you click them, you are taken to the video for "Hydrolics" and the start of a bio. So far, so good. Click to read more... where did the bio go?! You have to go to the bio page to read it. The page you see off the bad features a new section that is poorly formatted. Their music section shows an album called "Novo" by some other group named B5.

As if that wasn't bad enough, click on "Don't Talk, Just Listen". There are five watch links. Did B5 have five videos from that album? No, of course not. They had one. And that one, "Hydrolics," works. But, where do the other four go? They either go nowhere or they go to videos by other artists (check out the one for "In My Bedroom").

And these problems are not unique to the B5 page. They are all over other artist pages. Look at Gorilla Zoe's music page. He has one watch link. Well, OK, he's had more than one video, but hey... it must be to "Hood Figga", right? I mean, they have it showing on the site and in the multimedia section, right? Right? No. The watch link is "I Know" - a song without a video! And it links to the video for "I Know You See It" by Yung Joc. I suppose that's better than Elephant Man's page, which just has errors. Not even Diddy is immune.

On the index page, when you click on an artist, you are shown outdated videos. Why isn't it the latest video released or ... at least a video from their most recent album? Boyz N Da Hood has "Felonies", Cheri Dennis has "I Love You" (yes, it was from her album, but it was released a long time ago), Diddy has "Tell Me", Yung Joc has "1st Time"?!? Some artists don't have videos and that's fine, but if they don't have a video, get rid of the box and let the picture take up the whole screen. Mario Winans doesn't even have a bio, it just shows whatever you clicked last. So, if you click Jordan McCoy and then Mario, you read how he was on American Juniors.

All of the content on the site could use a good proofreading for grammar, format and consistency.

The multimedia section is actually pretty good - easily the best section of the whole site. They have most of the recent videos (no "I'm A G" or "Tryna Make a Jug") and an assortment of old ones. Of course, it should really be 100% up to date with the latest ones and a more comprehensive library of the older videos would be a nice bonus.

Suffice to say, this site should have never launched in this state. It should have been put through a heavy review, instead of trying to rush it out the door. There are so many things that are wrong, incorrect and, in general, not ideal. A disappointment.

Yung Joc has a Zazzle shop. Zazzle is a print on demand merchandise retailer. That means that you order it and they print it then - they don't have stock merchandise sitting in a warehouse. I actually ordered some iFroggy Network sticker's from them recently. Good stuff.

This could be a really cool thing for fans. I know I've been waiting for some cool Bad Boy t-shirts and apparel. Add some more artists and use some more elaborate and detailed graphics on the merchandise and you might have something pretty awesome!

Cheri Dennis will be at a pre-Valentine's day party at Mars 2112 (1633 Broadway in New York City). Limited advance tickets are available. Doors open at 11 PM.

Here's the press release:

Check out the video for Yung Joc's latest single, "I'm A G," featuring Bun B and Young Dro. It features cameos from Block and Big Duke. Bun B pays tribute to Pimp C throughout the video through an "R.I.P Pimp C" shirt.

Despite numerous reports, Sean "Diddy" Combs is not quitting music for acting, a representative for Combs told Bad Boy Blog.

Similar to the recent stories on a name change, it appears that something he said was taken and sensationalized a bit to mean something other than what he meant. He's quoted as saying, "Right now I'm transitioning from a recording artist to acting." He doesn't have to quit being a recording artist to transition into an actor. He can be both - and already is.

Personally, I doubted the story because, let's face it, Diddy loves music. I don't see him ever quitting it, really. And I hope he never does. But, to be sure, I reached out to one of his representatives who, again, confirmed to me that he is not quitting music.

Here is the cover that was shown on MTV the other day. I like it - has a nice, clean feel.

Readers of Bad Boy Blog are familar with Fox News' Roger Friedman. Friedman seems to take some sort of pleasure in taking inaccurate, unfounded shots at Bad Boy and the performance of the label. So, it's no shock when he says this:


Of course, I've already crushed that position.

But, here's the good part. Here is what he was speaking in reference to (i.e. what it would go nicely with):


Emphasis mine. Death Row owns a Biggie catalog? That's news to me. Friedman strikes again!

Janelle Monae will be performing at Lenny's Bar in Atlanta, GA on February 16. It's located at 486 Decatur Street and doors open at 9:00 PM. See the flier below.

Watch below.

Malcolm Venable reports:

Donnie has launched a YouTube channel. He has a few videos up. Producer Seven Aurelius is also featured heavily in them. A couple of the videos show him working on tracks (see below). One of the tracks is called "Get Off the Wall".

OK! has thoughts from Diddy on actor Heath Ledger, who recently died due to an accidental overdose of prescription medication.

It looks like the Bad Boy/Death Row disputes of the mid-90s have come full circle. The AP reports that the administrators of the bankruptcy estates of Death Row Records and Suge Knight want the court to allow them to sell Death Row's music related assets, including rights to works by 2Pac, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, off to the highest bidder. The article specifically notes that Warner Music Group is currently the suitor at the price of $25 million dollars.

Let's think about that for a moment. Warner Music Group owns Atlantic Records. Bad Boy is under the Atlantic umbrella. Death Row's assets and Bad Boy under the same company? Crazy!

Via ThugLifeArmy.com.

ABC News' reports on "A Raisin in the Sun."

The show starts with "This is a public service announcement." Diddy pops up and welcomes you back, saying it's time to get back in the studio and make some hits.

Day 26 is in the studio working on "Hold Me", produced by Kwame with Tiffany Starr assisting him. Kwame tells them he wants to incorporate everyone in the song. Mike records first, followed by Brian, who is told is raise his voice a bit. Q is next and he does well. Robert follows and he has a tough time.

We switch to Donnie, working with Battle Roy. He's having fun and everything seems to be going smoothly for him.

Over to the DK session, they are working on "Poetry", a song about one person in a relationship not being honest, according to Aundrea. Aubrey talks, in confessional, about how they know each other better now and know where each one of them fits in a given song. Aubrey is writing sticky notes saying "I Want Q", "I Need Q", "I Can't Live Without Q" and "I will Die If I Don't Do Q" and sticking them on Dawn's back.

Back to the Day 26 session, Willie is singing. Conrad Dimanche, Bad Boy's Senior Director of A&R at the time, comes in the studio. Robert says that it seems like they have songs written for Will's voice. He continues to have a tough time with the song and he's complaining to Brian about it being their third song and he hasn't "shined once" (so what?). He says that he isn't a "background a**". Ouch. Attitude.

Back at the guy's house, Will talks to Brian about Robert's attitude, saying that everyone can't lead every time, some people will be background and some people will be lead. He's going to play his role - this is a group, there are no solo artists.

» Read More

In a press release today, Diddy urged young voters to head to the polls on Super Tuesday (tomorrow) to let their voices be heard.

"Thanks to your voice and your vote, the political candidates can no longer ignore your concerns about this country and your future," Diddy said. "Young people are poised to continue the work that Citizen Change and other organizations started in 2004, when more than 20 million young people showed up at the polls and voted. In 2004, you waited in lines, you said enough was enough. And in 2008, you’ve inspired more young people get in the game."

"Change will only be real when young people across this country go to the polls on Super Tuesday and in November and stand up and have their votes counted. This election is already historic because of who is running in it. It will gain a greater place in history because of who is voting in it."

In the next few months, Diddy plans to announce what Citizen Change will be doing in 2008.

Just a reminder: we'll have a liveblog of episode two of the second season of Making the Band 4. The show starts tonight at 10:00 PM ET. Stop by and comment during and after the show!

Danity Kane came on first and talked a bit about this season of Making the Band 4. Not a whole lot. Aubrey said that Diddy's talk with her last episode was based on information that wasn't good. But, when TMZ sticks a camera in her face and she implies she's thinking of quitting the group, who's to blame? Anywho, they did a quick acappella of the "Damaged" chorus. Sounded good.

Then the Making the Band 4 guys came out to announce their band name, Day 26. They also showed the album cover. Their album will be self titled. Meanwhile, the title of the Danity Kane album will officially be "Welcome to the Dollhouse".

AllHipHop.com has an review of the "A Raisin in the Sun" movie.


Via Theo in the forums.

FishbowlNY reports from the New York casting call for Diddy's upcoming assistant show on VH1.

Last Sunday, I mentioned a blog post by mix engineer Ken Lewis, who said that the Making the Band 4 guys were now called 826 Boys. In the post, I cautioned that it should be taken as an unconfirmed rumor.

In an entry just past midnight, much earlier today, Lewis posts that they are now going by the name, "Day 26". ConcreteLoop.com confirms this, citing a radio interview. I like this name better.

And I believe that I have figured out the meaning of these names. Again, the first name we heard was 826 Boys. It didn't mean much to me. Now, we hear Day 26. Day 26 made me think of an actual day of the month. 826... 8/26... August 26. August 26, 2007 was the day when the band was made - when the guys were picked. August 26, 2007 is 8/26/07. 826. Day 26. Makes sense.

The New York Daily News has a nice write up on Diddy's return to Fashion Week, after a five year absence.

Watch below for the video. From what I have read, it may be a bonus on the Step Up 2 The Streets soundtrack.

The video version is a bit different from the version of the song that was circulated (it's in our audio player). The song in the video features a piano introduction from Ryan Leslie, who is featured throughout the video. Looking at the shots from the video and the trailer, I noticed you can also see him in the trailer at the 25 second mark, so this must have been shot a while ago.

Diddy has a channel on UVN TV, an internet television network from Ice Cube.

Right now, it seems to be repeating the Beats, Style & Flavor fall fashion showcase from 2006. It features performances from Cheri Dennis and Lyfe Jennings.

Via MMARingReport.com.

You can listen to the new Elephant Man single, "Feel the Steam" featuring Chris Brown, in our audio player to the right (scroll down a bit) on this page.

Back in August, we were the first to report on this track, that was added for the U.S. release of the album. At the time, Ele called it "Get You Wet". Later, the Jamaican Observer called it "Make Your Body Wet". Finally, we arrive at "Feel The Steam".

The time of the open casting call for models for the Sean John fashion show has been changed to start at 9:00 AM and end at 11:00 AM. It will be held on February 4 at 1710 Broadway in New York City.

Watch below for an interview with Janelle Monae as well as some performance footage from the Bad Boy R&B showcase (and then, after that, the raw interview footage in two parts), including an introduction from Diddy, who said that she is Wondaland/Bad Boy. He also said she is executive produced by Big Boi, so it would seem like her album will be executive produced by him (and, probably, Diddy).

In the interview, she mentioned that Big Boi discovered her when she was performing at Diddy's restaurant, Justin's, in Atlanta. She said that they plan to re-release Suite I of her four suite EP plan in stores, coupled with Suite II to make it a full album. They plan to shoot a video for a song called "Many Moons".

Check out this must watch (for fans) video of Diddy toasting Harve Pierre on his promotion to President of Bad Boy at the Bad Boy R&B spotlight. Harve gives a speech afterward. Some funny stuff. Also, Diddy describing his namesake drink. A Diddy is Ciroc and lemonade (it sounds like he said Simply Lemonade, but I'm not 100%).

Update: The call is from 9 AM - 11 AM.

The Sean John fashion show open casting call for black models will be held on February 4 at 1710 Broadway in New York City, from 9 to 11 AM.

Aubrey O'Day will be celebrating her birthday on February 8 at PURE Nightclub in Las Vegas.

Check out these pictures from Bad Boy's R&B showcase at Spotlight Live. Also, I've updated my initial post to reflect that Mario Winans performed, as well.