By: Alex Templar - MSTv Correspondent

We thought it was too good to be true.  But, isn't it always the way? You get someone all hyped up on a possibility, then "bam," Destiny's Child ain't reuniting during the Superbowl half-time show!  Damn, damn, damn!!!

Ok, our "Florida Evans" moment is over, but it still doesn't make us as fans feel any better.  However, even though the ladies aren't kicking off the reunion tour during halftime, their hot new single "Nuclear" is still out there; with a new album soon to follow.

I'm sure all the numerous fans were hoping; like we were, that Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle had put their differences behind themselves and had eyes on a brighter future. All the possibilities hinged on the basis' of Beyoncé's posted Instagrams promoting her halftime concert.  But, it looked really bleak when Michelle Williams shot down all the reunion rumors by saying the reports just were "not true."

The entire fever began last week when several reports rose aligating  Michelle and Kelly would hit the stage with Beyoncé for Feb 3rd's Superbowl halftime show.  The rumor was that this was the trio's first step towards a very public reunion where they were poised to perform a medley of their greatest hits.  To this, Williams continues to deny this being the case.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," she said. "But we did record a song with each other before the holidays."  That single, "Nuclear," is their 1st new recording together in eight years and off their new album Love Songs. 

But even though Michelle Williams has flat our denied the reunion gossip, Kelly Rowland took a slightly different take on the matter when asked about it by the media.

"I love the Super Bowl," she stated, "but I love my sister [Beyoncé] more, so of course I'll be watching."

Well, with all this confusing news now in the light, are you guys as bummed as we are?  I mean, Beyonce' is cool (I'm a Kelly fan myself) but are you disappointed Destiny's Child won't be sharing the stage?  Or better yet, do you even care?

Reprinted from: John Wirt - Music writer for The Advocate
January 24, 2013

Keller Williams calls his solo act his day job. By means of his Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro looping units, he transforms himself and his instruments into a one-man band in real time.

Williams also moonlights with bluegrass band the Travelin’ McCourys; members of the Grateful Dead; his reggae-funk band, Kdubalicious, and his recently launched soul-funk project, More Than a Little.

Like so many others, Williams started his career as a singer-guitarist on a bar stool performing other people’s songs.

“The idea from the beginning, since I was a kid, was to be in bands, share that camaraderie and make music with humans,” the traveling Williams said from Little Rock, Ark.

But Williams, for many years, could not afford to pay humans to be his band. Even so, he rejected the option of working with an invisible band by means of pre-recorded tracks.

“I wanted to create samples more organically and do it on the fly,” he explained.

So Williams began making loops, recording sounds on stage that can be played back repeatedly and seamlessly blended into his live performance.

“I got lucky,” he said. “Once I brought the bass into the loops, it really started to change. People started dancing and listening, buying tickets and coming to shows.”

Williams’ success as a one-man band made having a band unnecessary.

“I could actually afford humans, but it was already working as a solo act,” he said. “There wasn’t a need to fix something that wasn’t broken.”

In addition to his three synced Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro looping units, Williams’ conventional instruments include a Fender Precision bass, a Gibson Chet Atkins guitar fitted with a synthesizer pickup and a Martin acoustic guitar.

Working without a band leaves Williams free to perform any song he wants, whenever he wants.

He heard all kinds of music in Fredericksburg, from D.C.’s go-go music — a Latin-spiced funk style popularized by Trouble Funk and Chuck Brown — to Virginia’s traditional bluegrass. And he was especially fond of the Grateful Dead.

“The Grateful Dead had this incredible mix of an Americana kind of bluegrass and country music with a psychedelic tinge,” he said.

Even when he’s working with the Travelin’ McCourys, a group he considers bluegrass royalty, Williams follows the Grateful Dead’s lead in improvisation and genre-blending.

“We do some reggae and fun stuff like that,” he said. “In my solo show, I definitely do different genres. I love so many types of music and I don’t want to play one specific genre. I could have a slight touch of attention deficit disorder as well, but I have not been officially been diagnosed.”

 By: Conner Mitchell - MSTv Correspondent
additional info by: BBC Newsbeat

In the summer of 2011, Louisiana's Mikky Ekko arrived on his own in London. He frequently got lost, felt miserable and was lonely.

During that time, he wrote a song called "Stay."

Eighteen months later, the single has become a UK top 10 hit after it was recorded by Rihanna. "She sounds amazing on it," says Ekko. "I think it's really brave to sound so vulnerable on a record like that."

He's still not sure exactly how the duet came about but says Rihanna was the one to champion the song.

"I will say that's one of the most intense experiences of my life, having to get the track finished for her record.

"It was a total madhouse, they're moving at a million miles a minute and she's at the centre of that hurricane. The way her people work is really inspiring."

The trip to London, last year, was the 27-year-old's first to the UK. It was the summer of the English riots and the weather was balmy. 

He says some of those solitary moments he had in the city lent themselves to create some "really beautiful songs".  These songs and images will be released on his debut album. (for an example of his incredible sound, check out his video: "Feels like the End" below)

Since those simple beginnings, Ekko began his professional music career by posting his solo material online. With his first single, "We Must Be Killers" accumulating over 100,000 views on Youtube, notice to his talents began in earnest.

The video for his second official single, "Feels Like the End"(above), was uploaded to YouTube on September 25, 2012, with Ekko's third single, "Pull Me Down", released on October 30, 2012. The trax was remixed by Ryan Hemsworth and was featured on Rihanna's album, Unapologetic, on the track "Stay" which he wrote and later became a single.  All in all, not a bad way to end up for a Louisiana preacher's son.

But when asked to describe his sound amid his growing success, in five words though, he thinks about it, remains silent, before saying "sounds like me, I suppose". Five words exactly.  That's very Louisiana...

By:  Alex Templer - MSTv Correspondent

No, the ladies have not broken up, despite Beyonce's and Kelly's solo star power. The trio still reigns together, so listen to the proof and enjoy this all-new single from Destiny's Child!

With the ladies finally recording in the studio together, (a first since 2004!!) its been announced that Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams will hit the stage with Beyoncé during the Super Bowl halftime show.

2012 brought the hungry public a greatest-hits compilation: Playlist: The Very Best of Destiny's Child.  But, with their last performance together being the 2006 NBA all-star game, we expect 2013 to confirm the title of their 2004 studio album, Destiny Fulfilled and keep the ladies together, for a while at least.

Their new single, "Nuclear" was produced by Pharrell Williams and "Love Songs" will go on sale Jan. 29.  The album, Love Songs promises to be full of the group's signature power ballads and soulful, romantic music. Even Kelly Rowland's solo tune "Heaven" made the final cut.

Can you wait two weeks for the love of, "Love Songs"?  If you're like us, probably not.  But, these ladies are used to teasing their fans with just enough to keep us turned on, right??

By: Alex Templar - MSTv Correspondant

Youtube success story and teen girl heartthrob, Justin Bieber,  will be performing at the New Orleans Arena on 1/15.  The little "uber-kid: has been involved in a fair amount of non-music drama, since his discovery in 2007, to rival even the most jaded of hard-partying rock musicians.  One has to ask, will his visit to the "Big Easy" add yet another headline to his already impressive resume of antics?

Let's take a look at some of the mayhem the "Bieb" has been involved in:: a paparazzi photographer killed while pursuing Bieber’s white Ferrari (Bieber was not in it); caught on video throwing up onstage. 

He was hit with a paternity suit, which was dropped and was sued for claims that he’s liable for hearing loss a fan incurred at one of his concerts.  Plus the most recent scandal, photos of young Justin allegedly smoking marijuana..  My word, a teenaged pop idol in the practice of smoking cannabis? Shocker!!!  What ever will his fans think of this behaviour??? 
Actually, who cares what he does?  He's 18, is a "star" for the most part and if he pushes the envelope too much, we can always deport him!!  (Oh yeah, about that - -he's Canadian.  In case you didn't know.)

Bieber’s adulthood was announced in July 2012, via his second Rolling Stone cover (emblazoned with the text “Hot, Ready, Legal") He’ll also be releasing his album “Believe” this year.  Early reviews of it have critics seeming to agree that the young star is transitioning nicely into musical adulthood - exploring R&B leanings with a hint of grown-up sauciness on songs like the lead single “Boyfriend.”  (Check it out below)

Reprinted from:
By: Alison Fensterstock, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Public access television in New Orleans has long been a platform for the city’s hip-hop and R&B scene. Shows like “Phat Phat N’All That” and its long-running antecedent “All Good In The Hood” (which now airs in three states) featured big-name national performers coming through New Orleans, as well as early performances and interviews with local artists – many of whom would go on to make their mark nationally – like the Hot Boys and Mystikal.

Host and producer Nicole Perry, with her NOA-TV program “Talk To Me New Orleans,” continues the tradition of spotlighting local rappers and R&B and soul singers - while also casting a wider net, bringing community leaders, business owners and activists onto her talk show.

On Jan. 9, Perry and others behind “Talk To Me New Orleans” will host the Viewer’s Choice Awards at Tipitina’s, honoring some of her favorite guests of the past few years and other players in the local cultural community.

Several years ago, “All Good In The Hood” producers John and Glenda Robert themselves hosted a one-off awards show honoring pioneers in the bounce scene, and have been recently seeking sponsors for another. The three-year-old New Orleans Underground Hip-Hop Awards clearly has found a niche, identifying and celebrating mixtape releases, promoters, DJs, producers, music videos and local contemporary R&B, bounce and hip-hop performers individually. The urban music-focused shows complement other longstanding local music awards events, such as Gambit’s springtime Big Easy Awards and Offbeat’s Best of the Beat (coming up Jan. 18 at Generations Hall) whose umbrellas are broader, and seek to encompass the entire New Orleans music scene.

Viewer’s Choice Awards will be given in the expected categories for performers, Perry said, but also for “business owners and community activists that work for the city all year,” she said. “This is our way of giving back.”

She appeared on season 3 of HBO’s Treme, and has an upcoming set of gigs at the SXSW music conference in Austin in March 2013. At the third annual New Orleans Underground Hip-Hop Awards, Blakk was nominated for best bounce artist.

By:  BBC WorldNews

Rapper Jay-Z is working on the soundtrack for the upcoming film The Great Gatsby, says his producer.

Made by Romeo & Juliet and Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann, the movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire.

The Bullitts, real name Jeymes Samuel, tweeted the news on Sunday 30 December.

He wrote: "Jay-Z and myself have been working tirelessly on the score for the upcoming #CLASSIC The Great Gatsby! It is too DOPE for words!"

One of the trailers for the film already suggested that Jay-Z would be working on the soundtrack as it featured his collaboration with Kanye West, No Church in the Wild.