UK MUSIC NEWS: JAY-Z TO APPEAR ON RADIO 1 TONIGHT

For all you Jay-Z fans out there, the “mighty Hov” will appear on the Zane Lowe Radio 1 show  – live tonight (July 21st) at 7pm. As I type the red carpet is being laid out for the great man himself down at Radio 1 HQ,  and Zane has his fawning game ready and on lock! Anyway Jay will talk about his highly anticipated new album Blue Print 3, and his latest entertainment venture Roc Nation, amongst other things…..

VIDEO: LIL KIM AND CYNDI LAUPER SING ‘TIME AFTER TIME’ AT NELSON MANDELA’S BIRTHDAY BASH

RAPPER Lil Kim and singer Cyndi Lauper both sang Cyndi’s classic 80s hit Time After Time, at Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday bash concert in New York City this past weekend. I had to stop watching soon after Kim joined in. Was dueting with Lil Kim Cyndi’s idea??? I mean… WHY??????????????????? Poor Nelson. He flew all the way from South Africa and had to sit through that mess. It’s a disgrace! [Thanks Mishal]

FORMER VIBE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DANYEL SMITH TALKS ABOUT THE NOW DEFUNCT PUBLICATION

Former Vibe Magazine Editor-in-Chief Danyel Smith sits down with radio personality Angela Yee and talks about the demise of Vibe. Click here to listen. Who allowed her husband/former XXL Magazine Editor-in-Chief/RapRadar.com Editor-in-Chief Elliott Wilson in to the studio? Somebody should have told him to SHUT UP!!!! This interview would have been a lot more in-depth had he not been there!

UK MUSIC NEWS: TINCHY STYDER GIVEN PUBLISHING DEAL TO SOURCE NEW TALENT

According to Digital Spy, Tinchy Stryder has been given a publishing deal to source new talent by record executives. The Number One singer’s first signings are producers Dirty Danger and Nathan Retro. Stryder, whose real name is Kwasi Danquah, said: “My music comes first but discovering new talent is really important to me and something I can see myself getting more into. “I can definitely see myself as the next Simon Cowell.” Stryder’s new album Catch 22 is released on August 17. []

SICK NE-YO LEAVES STAGE IN TEARS

Via Newsbeat There are doubts about whether Ne-Yo will be able to perform at his three remaining UK shows after he was taken ill and left the stage in tears during a gig in Manchester. The R&B singer, who was performing at the MEN Arena in Manchester on Thursday, was crying after struggling to sing on stage for over half an hour. He told fans he had never not completed a show before but couldn’t continue with his performance. Ne-Yo is meant []

UK NEWS: ALESHA DIXON SET TO FILM DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ABSENT FATHERS

Singer and TV personality (she will appear on Celebrity Strictly Come Dancing as a regular judge) Alesha Dixon has announced that she plans on making a “hard hitting” documentary about absent fathers. Dixon will be fronting this documentary so it will basically shine the spotlight on young women from within the black community who are possibly unemployed, struggling to raise at least three children by the themselves somewhere deep in South London, because their ‘road man’ baby fathers just got up one day, left, and never returned. Then the spotlight will focus on the black man who will end up []

NEW MUSIC: RAKIM – ‘HOLY ARE YOU’

The ‘God MC’ otherwise known as the legendary wordsmith Rakim, has dropped his new single Holy Are You, taken off of his long awaited new album The Seventh Seal. The album will drop on the 28th September 2009. [Thanks Cookie] Listen to Holy Are You. Your thoughts please. Hit or Miss?