album

Okay, I can admit when I'm wrong. When Jamie Kennedy and his pal Stu Stone tried to set the world of hip hop on fire with their sorta-reality show Jamie Kennedy's Blowin' Up, I didn't think they stood a chance in hell of ever getting a record deal. I figured the show would be essentially be a comedic look at two mediocre rappers trying to seem legit, and I guess that's what it was, but it also got Kennedy and Stone the deal they wanted all along. On July 11, Reprise/Warmer Bros. Records and Kennedy's own label Jkss will release an album from the first-time rappers, which will feature guest rappers Ice-T, E-40, Paul Wall, and Kardinall Offishall. If you like your rap light and fluffy, this is probably the album for you. I'm not sure if anything can beat Kennedy's tribute to Bob Saget (link NSFW), though.

Minds out of the gutters, kids. Michael Bolton's new album, Bolton Swings Sinatra, features the voice of his fiance and Desperate Housewives co-star, Nicolette Sheridan. She joined him to sing The Second Time Around, a very appropriate song considering the couple is dating for the second time (they dated for a few years in the early 1990s and then reuited last year). Bolton said Sheridan was scared to death to sing and that she is very self-conscious about her voice, even though he says it's great. Bolton said Sheridan sang in a "breathy" way to accompany the voice track he'd already laid down.

The Andy Milonakis Show is currently in its second season on MTV2,  but a lot of us knew about Andy before he was on television, when he used to create little skits on his Web cam and ad lib his own rap songs over on the Angry Naked Pat site. When I spoke to Andy a few years ago he said he was interested in making an album of comedy rap songs, and it looks like the first song has been "leaked" (but not really) and you can hear it by clicking here. It's called "Me No Like Hollywood Douche Bags," and Andy uses the song to state with great clarity his dislike of douche bags from Hollywood. I assume douche bags from Sacramento are okay, though. The song is mildly amusing until he seems to run out of ideas and just starts saying "suck my ***k" a lot. I think this could be turned into a funny video, but as an audio file only it's a bit of a let down, even if I do agree with the sentiment. 

Just when I was convinced that American Idol season one hanger-on Nikki McKibbon had dropped off the face of the earth... Presto! She appears (looking a little like Shirley Manson, don't ya think?).

Nikki, number one on my list of American Idol contestants who stayed on the show too long, has a new single and... DVD? Her single isn't online yet, but her record company promises that it will be here soon. Nikki announces her new record deal on her personal website. Sounds like it's going to be a rock album. I know I bash her as hanging on too long, but she sounds so positive about her new album, that I can't help but hope for the best for her.

[Via Pop Candy]

Teddy Geiger, also known as 'Wayne' on the unfortunately-cancelled Love Monkey, has a new CD that is streaming on AOL Music. You remember Teddy, right? He was like John Mayer, except without all the weird facial expressions. During one episode, he and Tom Cavanagh shot his video to the song, "For You I Will", which is on his new album. I listened to it and it actually made me a little bit sad because I liked Love Monkey and I wish it would return. Oh well. Hopefully it'll make a star out of this kid.

[Via EW]

Kiefer Sutherland has an interesting playlist up on iTunes. While most artists include songs that inspire them, he is using his playlist as a platform to promote bands that use his L.A. recording studio, called Ironworks. The studio is kinda nifty, because it holds all 28 Gibson guitars that Kiefer has collected over the years, and they are available for use by the bands.

While some people may consider his playlist shameless self promotion, I think it's a great way to learn about new music. Maybe that's because I happen to like the little snippets that I heard. Plus, he has also included some well-known performers such as Marvin Gaye, U2, and Sarah McLachlan.

Britney's hubby Kevin Federline told Blender recently that if his career as a crappy rap artist doesn't pan out that he'll probably turn to stripping.

Lucky for you I just finished work on my time machine and visited the future. As it turns out, Mr. Federline will in fact become a stripper. Here's what I saw during his first night at the Boom Boom Club:

Finally. A reason to watch the American Idol results show. Tonight, Bo Bice makes a special appearance on the show that made him famous last year. He'll perform his new single, The Real Thing (no, it's not a Diet Coke ad). Bo's album of the same title is nearing platinum, with 550,000 copies sold. The video reached No. 1 this week on MTV's TRL. Will he wear shoes? Maybe. A shirt made by his grandmother? Probably. Will he call someone "cat"? Certainly.

After Bo's performance, four contestants will be booted off the show and we will finally have our Top 12 Finalists.

Check this out. Taylor Hicks, the grey-haired singer who is my favorite contestant so far this season on American Idol, released a CD earlier this month. It's not in wide circulation. In fact, I don't think he even has a recording deal of any kind, it appears he just made the album on his own. It's called Under the Radar. Heh. Not any more, pal.

The NPR station in Homewood, Alabama has downloads of three of his original songs and also an interview with Taylor that includes some of his music. It's all pretty terrific, actually. Since it's a mixture of Blues and Soul music, now I'm a little concerned about how well Taylor is going to do on disco night.

*A lot of you have asked how to buy the album. Go here. (beware: the website is super slow because so many people want the album!) I am trying to verify the phone number listed in comments but so far I'm only getting a busy signal.

[Via Pop Candy]

Even when he played Aidan on Sex and the City, John Corbett has always been a little bit country. That's why he gave up acting in 2005, headed to Nashville, and grew out his chops. He spent the last year writing and composing songs for a country album with guitarist/friend Tara Novick. Now he has a self-titled album and a video, which you can see on AOL. The video is for a song called Good to Go, and it features your usual country stuff: hay bales, horses, tractors, and dirt. Oh yeah, and it also has a few cameos by Bo Derek, John's real-life girlfriend. You can hear samples of all the songs on his debut album over at his official website. Corbett isn't signed on with a record label because he didn't like their recommendation of waiting a year to create a "marketing strategy" for his album. It's his first album, but it's also a life-long dream for him, so he probably wanted to start the country music part of his life as soon as possible. Even if you don't like the style of music, you've got to admire the guy for walking away from it all to pursue his dream.

[Via Pop Candy]

Proving that she really does have a one-word vocabulary, Paris Hilton told reporters that her upcoming album is "hot". I believe that's also how she described Brazillian men, her t-shirt, her dog, and just about everything else under the sun. So... there's your benchmark.

Paris is prepared for a barrage of criticism when her album finally comes out (it was supposed to be in August but now there's no official date), but she says she sounds good and people will be surprised. You know what would surprise me? If she just drifted off into obscurity.