Bark + Bite

Miguel, Leah LaBelle, Marcus Canty and more headline J&R Musicfest

Last Friday (August 24^th) Epic Records took over New York City’s J&R Records store for day two of J&R’s annual Musicfest.

Some of Epic Records newest talent including Leah Labelle, Deon Young and X Factor’s Marcus Canty were on hand to showcase some of their new material. The show also included headlining performances from Ryan Leslie and Miguel.

Harlem native and up and coming R&B artist Deon Young who is currently grabbing attention with his cover of J. Cole and Missy Elliot’s "Nobody’s Perfect", hit the stage opening the show promoting his latest mixtape "Forever Young", with a live performance of tracks from the tape including his latest hit ‘Party Life’.

Frank Ocean and Rihanna set to hit the VMAs stage

The 2012 VMAs just got a major boost of star power with the news that Rihanna and Frank Ocean are officially on board as performers for the awards show, which is set to air live on MTV on Sept. 6., according to MTV.com

It was obvious that Frank was going to make this move once he was showered with nominations and word went out that he was canceling his stint as an opening act for Coldplay.

This move, if pulled off well, will help catapult Frank ever further into the spotlight. We can't wait to see what he comes up with his biggest televised performance to date.

It's hard to say what Rihanna will perform since promotion for Talk That Talk seems to have winded down. Maybe she'll pull off a spectacular medley? There's no way she won't perform her VMA-nominated single "We Found Love." Hopefully, whatever surprises she has in store for us have nothing to do with Chris Brown.

Been there, done that. Don't wanna see that movie again.

Nicki Minaj bosses up in her madhouse for "I Am Your Leader" video

If Nicki Minaj were Pee Wee Herman, this, ladies and gentlemen, is what her funhouse would look like.

Part-Halloween and part-carnival circus, Nicki's new video for "I Am Your Leader" mixes Nicki's love for Crayola colored wigs, monster faces and high fashion and throws in some hefty breast meat from a topless Rick Ross.

Are you ready?

Watch the video for Nicki Minaj's new video below

Top 10 Songs in the US

1 TAYLOR SWIFT / WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER
- That crossover fever is in full effect. Nashville who? Memphis what?

2 FLO RIDA / WHISTLE
- At this rate, Flo Rida is on track to catch up to Rihanna and Katy Perry in no time.

3 ELLIE GOULDING / LIGHTS
- This groovin' jam is like Mega Man meets Soul Train.

4 CARLY RAE JEPSEN / CALL ME MAYBE
- Carly Rae gets so hot and bothered easily: "Your skin was showing." Guess who'll be having her bachelorette party at Chippendale's?

5 KATY PERRY / WIDE AWAKE
- Katy Perry's name can probably sell cans of tuna, given her winning streak. Chicken of the Sea: Teenage Dream edition has a nice ring to it.

6 FUN. / SOME NIGHTS
- Anyone else getting "Bohemian Rhaspody" vibes from this intro?

7 MAROON 5 FEAT WIZ KHALIFA / PAYPHONE
- Maybe Adam needs to look into fireproofing his bridges in the future. Just saying.

8  JUSTIN BIEBER FEAT BIG SEAN / AS LONG AS YOU LOVE ME
- Who knew that dubstep and teenage heartache went well together like pancakes and syrup?

9 MAROON 5 / ONE MORE NIGHT
- Between this and No Doubt's single, it's nice to hear reggae pop from white folks again.

10 DAVID GUETTA FEAT SIA / TITANIUM
- Is the door open for Sia to break into the U.S. market now?

SOURCE: Billboard Hot 100

Brandy can't believe her good luck on "Wildest Dreams"

Mature, classic R&B, thy name is Brandy.

If the crunk, trunk-rattling stylings of Brandy's "Put It Down" turned you off, please give B-Rocka's new track "Wildest Dreams" a spin.

We don't know how she did it, but Brandy traveled into a time machine and went back to the '90s to give us a slice of something so heavenly that it sounds like it'd be right at home on her debut album.

But there's a difference here in the delivery. Her voice is noticeably raspier, for one. And two, the lyrics are way too deep for her younger self to tackle.

"You’ve been in my dreams, before now / I couldn’t figure out the reasons, I kept asking God why / And now I’m receiving an abundance of love and I get it / But never could imagine it," Brandy croons.

Listen to that new Brandy joint below

Leona Lewis bubbles and brews with Childish Gambino on "Trouble"

After her last single, "Collide," a blatant attempt at the dance-pop trend, Leona Lewis has decided to return to what she does best: moody, heartbreak music.

"Trouble," her new single even references "bleeding," you know, just like her breakout hit "Bleeding Love." It also sports a feature from hipster rapper/actor Donald Glover, who brings his angry nerd rap/shouting-at-you-so-you-can-take-me-seriously thing to Leona's track.

But hats off to Leona, the gloomy track is totally in her wheelhouse and it works. Her voice goes from angelic to wounded without effort and the lyrics, penned by Emeli Sande, speak eloquently about a complicated relationship that is fraught with the emotional thorns of a dozen roses.

"I told you never to get used to me / I still wake when you fall asleep / I'm a whole lot of trouble / We're in a whole lot of trouble," Leona sings.

Listen to Leona's new single below

Top 10 Songs in the US

1 FLO RIDA / WHISTLE
- Um, maybe it's time we surrender to this Flo Rida reign. For real, he's about to start racking up more #1s than Jay-Z.

2 ELLIE GOULDING / LIGHTS
- So does Ellie Goulding have any plans to leverage this single into some actual visibility?

3 CARLY RAE JEPSEN / CALL ME MAYBE
- This song had to be written by Swedes cause that "before you came into my life, I missed you so bad" bit only makes sense to Muzzy.

4 KATY PERRY / WIDE AWAKE
- Good morning to you too, Katy.

5 MAROON 5 FEAT WIZ KHALIFA / PAYPHONE
- Just hang up already.

6 GOTYE FEAT KIMBRA / SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW
- Something tells us that Facebook status changes provoke violent reactions in Gotye.

7 DAVID GUETTA FEAT SIA / TITANIUM
- This is the perfect way to wrap up the TTT era.

8 FUN. / SOME NIGHTS
- Folk pop is taking over. Get your renaissance festival on.

9 PHILLIP PHILLIPS / HOME
- Still haven't built up the f**ks to give about this song.

10 RIHANNA / WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN
- He's in the Djibouti feeding orphans, okay, Rihanna? Now stop asking.

SOURCE: Billboard Hot 100

Brandy swags out in the long-awaited "Put It Down" video

Don't ever, never count B-Rocka down for the count. While Human may not have done what it should've, Brandy is fighting back with all that she's got with this new era.

"Put It Down" is cannonball of a shot at the industry. Brandy is coming heavy and she's put in work to impress folks with her comeback. The video for "Put It Down" does good job of giving us flashes of nostalgia (Hello "I Wanna Be Down" braids) along with doses of the new Brandy.

And the new Brandy, to use a bit of a cliched term, is fierce. Brandy pats her weave and two-steps like a boss all throughout the video. The swagger is so serious.

Check out Brandy's new video below