by Danitha Jones

Emerging hip-hop duo Chiddy Bang, consisting of rapper Chiddy and producer Xaphoon, are set to digitally release The Preview on October 12th. The eight-track album is the prequel to the group’s debut album, The Swelly Life.

“The main purpose of this release is to give our fans some new music while we finish recording our debut album, The Swelly Life. It’s called The Preview because it gives listeners a glimpse of what’s to come on The Swelly Life,” Xaphoon explains.

The former Drexel University students gained popularity in 2008 with the release of their debut mixtape, The Swelly Express. After signing with Parlaphone/Virgin Records, Chiddy Bang experienced success via the release of the MGMT (“Kids”) sampled single “Opposite Of Adults.”

Recorded over the last six months, The Preview contains co-production from Pharell (“The Good Life”) and a feature from Q-Tip (“Here We Go”).

The Swelly Life is set for release in early 2011.

Tracklisting as follows:

The Good Life (co-produced by Pharrell)

Truth

Opposite Of Adults

Here We Go (ft Q-Tip)

All Things Go

Nothing On We

Bad Boy (ft Darwin Deez)

Old Ways

Veteran Chicago rapper Common revisits his musical past on May 25th with the release of Go! Common Classics. The 13-song opus is a retrospective of some of Common’s most popular songs from the past decade, including the fabled Ice Cube diss track, “The Bitch In Yoo.”

Go! Common Classics consists of songs from Common’s MCA/Geffen albums Like Water For Chocolate (“The Light”); Electric Circus (“Come Close” featuring Mary J. Blige); Be (“The Corner” featuring The Last Poets, “Testify,” and “Go!”); Finding Forever (“The People,” “Southside” featuring Kanye West, “I Want You,” and “Drivin’ Me Wild” featuring Lily Allen); and Universal Mind Control (“Universal Mind Control”).

In addition, Go! Common Classics includes a new Queen Latifah featured track, “Next Time (Just Right Version),” from the upcoming movie Just Wright, which co-stars Common and Latifah, and hits screens Friday May 14th. Despite Common’s major motion picture activities, he is expected to release an album later this year. 

  Track Listing:

  1. The Light

  2. Universal Mind Control (UMC)

  3. Next Time (Just Wright Version) featuring Queen Latifah

  4. Go!

  5. Come Close featuring Mary J. Blige

  6. I Want You

  7. The Corner featuring The Last Poets

  8. Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop) Erykah Badu featuring Common

  9. Testify

  10. The People

  11. Drivin’ Me Wild featuring Lily Allen

  12. Southside featuring Kanye West

  13. The B**** In Yoo

In honor of the legendary pop icon, Michael Jackson, who died tragically on June 25th, Universal Motown Records is releasing Michael Jackson: The Remix Suite on October 20th.

The project is a tribute CD comprised of a collection of top producers commissioned to remix 12 of their favorite songs from the Jackson 5’s catalogue during the Motown era, including popular tunes by the group such as “ABC and “Dancing Machine,” as well as more obscure records like “Maria” and “Skywriter.”

“It’s no secret that Michael Jackson’s phenomenal talent inspired countless entertainers,” says Universal Motown President Sylvia Rhone. “But his music also inspired many of today’s finest producers. That’s why we thought it would be exciting to invite them to put their own unique spin on his work.”

Enlisted on the project are top-notch producers such as Akon, Polow (Da Don), The Neptunes, Stargate, Dallas Austin, Salaam Remi, and Mark Hoppus (Blink-182), just to name a few.

“We jumped at the opportunity to be involved with this project because Michael is a legend who influenced our entire career and redefined the world of music,” says Pharrell Williams (of The Neptunes), who remixed “Never Can Say Goodbye.”

Producer Salaam Remi, who has worked with Nas, The Fugees, and Amy Winehouse (amongst others), remixed the classic “ABC” by adding a reggae vibe to the song. Commenting on the new version, Remi says he “imagined the Jackson’s taking a trip to Jamaica in the early ’70s with a Jamaican band playing behind them.”

For Polow (Da Don), the challenge he faced in re-creating “Dancing Machine” was “to mix what the Jacksons had done in 1974 with today’s music to create something new that sounds just as good now as it did back in the day.”

The release of Michael Jackson: The Remix Suite follows the model of Universal Motown’s bi-weekly four-part digital suite series, which started online on August 25th until it ended on October 6th.