Anthony Talks "American Gangster" w/ UBG!

With the release of the highly anticipated DVD of American Gangster. UBG spoke with one of the soundtracks stars, Anthony Hamilton.

Aries (UBG): How did you get involved with the soundtrack to American Gangster?

Anthony Hamilton: Well they came to me because they wanted someone who could betray an old soul, but who had some new flavor. So they wanted to see what I could bring to the table for the soundtrack. Once we played them the song they loved it and thought it fit really well for the film. I really enjoyed the experience of working on the track.

Aries (UBG): Diane Warren has penned hits for almost everybody in popular music, how did you feel recording one of her songs for the film?

Anthony Hamilton: I felt honored! We had been wanting to work together for awhile actually and this project finally gave us that chance. I think we brought the element of the film to the soundtrack. It's one of my best songs, I hope to have the opportunity to work with her again in the future.

Aries (UBG): What did you think of the film, American Gangster?

Anthony Hamilton: I thought it was great! I loved it actually. It was nice to see a gangster film that showed it didn't need a lot of violence in order for it to be considered a gangster film. It's very entertaining and the actors did a great job.

Aries (UBG): When can Anthony Hamilton fans expect a new album?

Anthony Hamilton: We actually just pushed the release date back. It was going to drop around April, now we're looking at the first week in June, whatever Tuesday that falls on.

Check out the full interview, where Anthony discusses his new album, working with other artists, his up-coming tour and more! Monday on the NEW UrbanBridgez.com

UBG First: Brandy Music News!

For those Brandy fans anticipating something new from her, your wish has been granted! Brandy's first new single since her 2004 release Afrodisiac, will come via the soundtrack of the new Tyler Perry film - Meet The Browns. The soundtrack to the film will be in stores March 18th & will feature a brand new song from Brandy entitled "Dig This."

This new single is not to be mistaken with Brandy's up-coming album release, due this summer. No word if this song will even make the album. Other artists featured on the soundtrack include Kelly Rowland, Coko, Common & Angie Stone.

MARIAH CAREY ANNOUNCES E=MC²!!

Performer and songwriter Mariah Carey has set April 15th as the in-store date for the most eagerly anticipated album of the year, E=MC². The 11th studio album of her career, E=MC² is the follow-up to The Emancipation Of Mimi, Mariah’s worldwide 10 million selling #1 album, which generated three Grammy awards (including Best Contemporary R&B Album), 2 #1 singles and countless more industry honors during its 18-month stay on the charts.



The first single from E=MC² is “Touch My Body,” written and produced by Mariah Carey, C. “Tricky” Stewart, and The-Dream, and blasting out worldwide on February 12th. The video for “Touch My Body” was directed by feature filmmaker Brett Ratner - internet, cable and network premieres for the video will be announced in the weeks ahead.

In addition to C. “Tricky” Stewart and The-Dream, other guest producers joining Mariah on E=MC² will include Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Stargate, Will I Am, Bryan Michael Cox, Nate "Danjahandz" Hills and James Poyser. E=MC² is executive produced by Mariah Carey and Antonio “LA” Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group.


The Emancipation Of Mimi, released April 12, 2005, was an industry phenomenon for the mega-platinum award-winning superstar - Soundscan’s biggest-selling album of the year, bringing total sales of Mariah’s albums, singles and videos to more than 160 million worldwide, making her the most successful female recording artist in history. Mimi featured “We Belong Together” (winner of the Best Female R&B Vocal and Best R&B Song Grammys) and “Don’t Forget About Us,” Mariah’s 16th and 17th #1 career singles respectively. They tied one of the most enduring chart records in Billboard Hot 100 history, Elvis Presley’s 17 #1’s. Mariah is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 48 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958) with the potential to surpass the Beatles’ all-time high of 20 #1 hits.

FLO RIDA MAKES HISTORY AS “LOW (FEAT. T-PAIN)” HITS #1

“Low (Feat. T-Pain),” the blockbuster hit single from Poe Boy/Atlantic recording artist Flo Rida, has hit #1 on this week’s CHR/Top 40 national airplay chart. The track’s massive mainstream success is indeed momentous – “Low” is officially the first-ever debut single by a rap artist to reach the top spot in chart history, as well as only the fourth rap title to ascend to #1 since 2005.


Flo Rida – whose hugely anticipated debut album, “MAIL ON SUNDAY,” is set to street on March 18th – has instantly catapulted the upper ranks of hip-hop superstardom. Along with its CHR/Top 40 triumph, “Low” continues to light it up at Rhythmic outlets nationwide, maintaining the #1 airplay ranking for 8 uninterrupted weeks and counting. The track’s success marks the longest-reigning debut track from a male artist since Nelly’s classic “(Hot S**t) Country Grammar” held the top spot for 10 weeks in 2000.


The Carol City, FL native will celebrate the amazing accomplishment of “Low” with an eagerly awaited live performance on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, scheduled for tonight, February 6th (check local listings). In addition, Flo Rida will appear on MTV’s TRL on Wednesday, February 13th. Both appearances come in tandem with the single’s inclusion on this week’s Atlantic Records release, “STEP UP 2 THE STREETS – ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK,” the musical companion to the upcoming Touchstone Pictures dance film which debuts in theaters nationwide on February 14th.


The “Low” companion video is proving equally unstoppable, coming in this week as the #1 most-played clip on both BET and MTV. “Low” – which also topped the countdowns on BET’s 106 & Park and MTV’s TRL– is now in “Heavy” rotation at BET, “Big 10” rotation at MTV, “Elite 8” rotation at MTV2 (where it is the network’s #2 most-played video), “Summa Cum Laude” at mtvU, “Blazin’” at MTV Jams, a top 5 “Power” rotation smash at MTV Hits, and the #1 ranked clip on MTV.com. As if all that weren’t enough, “Low” is also a top 10 success on Fuse.
Flo Rida is also breaking big online, where he is currently MySpace’s #2-ranked Top Indie Artist, logging a remarkable 8.5 million total streams thus far at his www.myspace.com/officialflo page. At YouTube, the video for “Low” has received more than 6 million views via Flo’s official channel, www.youtube.com/user/officialflo.


Without question one of 2008’s most anticipated albums, “MAIL ON SUNDAY” sees Flo Rida teaming with some of today’s biggest hit makers, including Timbaland, The Runners, J.R. Rotem, and Atlanta’s DJ Montay, who produced “Low.” He’s also recruited a who’s who of A-list collaborators like Atlantic Records labelmate Trey Songz, Lil’ Wayne (who appears on the street savvy “Guns And Roses”), Yung Joc (featured on the raucous party anthem “Furniture”), and Timbaland, who shows up on the album’s second single, “Elevator.”
For more information about Flo Rida, visit www.officialflo.com, www.myspace.com/officialflo, www.youtube.com/officialflo, and http://florida.imeem.com.
For more information about Step Up 2 The Streets, visit www.myspace.com/stepupmovie and www.stepup2soundtrack.com

WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS CONTEST!

In support of the new film Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, UBG is giving away prize packs!

(2) Winners will win a full-sized poster, t-shirt, soundtrack CD, corkscrew and stress balls.

(1) Winner will win an Autographed signed poster by the cast!

Just email the following to contest@urbanbridgez.com....

Name, address, age and in the title include Roscoe Jenkins!

Winners be be notified on February 18th! Good Luck!!

American Gangster Give-Away!

American Gangster, the grippingly intense crime-thriller acclaimed by critics and audiences, shoots its way onto DVD February 19th! In support of the release, UBG is giving away copies!

(3) Winners will get the 2-discs set.

(1) Winner will get three disc set.

And one Grand Prize winner will get the...

Gangster Collection (Carlito's Way, Scarface and Casino)

Send your submissions to contest@urbanbridgez.com

Include your name, address, age and in the title include American Gangester!

Winners will be announced on February 18th! Good luck!

Check out the American Gangster widget!

http://www.americangangster.net/widget/

Diddy Declares 2008 "The Year of the Youth Vote"

Diddy issued a challenge to young voters everywhere to finish what they started in the 2004 election and make their voice heard by turning out in force and casting their ballots in the two dozen Democratic and Republican primaries taking place on Tuesday, February 5th.

More than any other group of voters, young people are most directly affected by the issues at stake in this election. From the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, to health care to the rising cost of a college education, young people need their voice to be heard, if there is going to be change on the critical issues.

“Thanks to your VOICE and your VOTE, the political candidates can no longer ignore your concerns about this country and your future. 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,” said Diddy. “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.”

According to CIRCLE, voters age 18-29 account for 21% of the voting eligible population account for 20% of registered voters in this election. There are 32 million Millennial voters in the United States, who are spreading out across the political parties and winning their vote will be crucial to both determining each parties’ presidential nominee and who will ultimately become the next President of the United States.

Diddy will be announcing Citizen Change’s plan of action for the 2008 election in the coming months.

J. Holiday's 'Back Of My Lac' DELUXE EDITION In-Stores February 5 | Releases brand new single!

What’s the best way to put a bow on a great year? How about taking home an RIAA gold certification for album sales of over 500,000 copies, and putting it in BACK OF MY LAC’, the much-praised debut smash by Music Line/Capitol Music Group vocalist and songwriter J. HOLIDAY.

The newly-certified album will be re-released on February 5, 2008 in a deluxe edition with three new songs, all three J. Holiday videos, and special behind-the-scenes material.

In yet another recognition of his breakthrough year, J. HOLIDAY is nominated as Outstanding New Artist in the 39th NAACP Image Awards, to be televised LIVE on February 14th, on the Fox network. Extending the ‘Holiday’ season right into 2008, the album’s second single and video “Suffocate” has burned through the Urban airplay Top 10 in the opening weeks of January to the No. 2 position. The video is the most-played clip on BET this week. J. Holiday is also featured vocalist on the major Top 25 Urban and Rhythmic airplay breaker, Fat Joe’s new Terror Squad/Imperial/Capitol Music Group single, “I Won’t Tell.” The Holiday cheers, so to speak, began last summer, with the release of J. Holiday’s extraordinary single, “Bed,” recently described by The New York Times as “arguably 2007’s signature slow-jam.”

“Bed” was Holiday’s first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and he was the first artist in a year to top that list with his debut charting song, when he began a four-week run at No. 1 on September 22. It was also a No. 5 entry on Billboard’s Hot 100 national singles chart. In early October, BACK OF MY LAC’ entered the Billboard Top 200 national album sales chart at No. 5. Praised for its warm, genuine romance and compelling, authentic autobiography, the album’s gold-level sales were also driven by “Suffocate,” which shot to Top 2 airplay in the Urban radio format and Top 15 in the Rhythmic/Crossover format. In the last Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart of 2007, both songs remained in the top 15.

The videos of J. Holiday have been featured in BET’s Top 10 Countdown for months on end, while MTV, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, VH-1 Soul, BETJ, and Mun2 are among the other cable video music outlets that played his clips in rotation. Holiday was also a Music Choice “Fresh Crops” featured artist, and a favorite on MTV’s TRL countdown, where he performed both of his singles in late December. “Bed” was co-written by The-Dream (credit: Rihanna’s “Umbrella”) with the song’s producer, Los Da Mystro (aka Carlos ‘L.O.S.’ McKinney, whose credits include Faith, Chris Brown, Whitney Houston, Usher). “Suffocate” was produced by “Tricky” Stewart and co-written by Stewart and The-Dream. Track producers on BACK OF MY LAC’ include hit maker Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins, McKinney, and Music Line’s Ciara and Teairra Mari.

Check out the new single: Sooner You Get To Love

Windows: http://capi001.edgeboss.net/wmedia/capi001/jholiday/backofmylac/audio/jholiday_sooner_you_get_to_love.asx?artistid=urbannewmedia

Real Player: http://capi001.edgeboss.net/real/capi001/jholiday/backofmylac/audio/jholiday_sooner_you_get_to_love.ram?artistid=urbannewmedia