Bad Boy Records’ Notorious: Music From And Inspired By The Original Motion Picture has made a remarkable chart entry, arriving on the Billboard 200 at #4, with sales of 43,000 – the week’s top debut. What’s more, the musical companion to the blockbuster Fox Searchlight motion picture has arrived at #1 on the “Top Rap Albums” tally, and #2 on both the “Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” and “Top Digital Albums” charts.

Notorious has also proven a true cinematic event, grossing

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A special series of online podcasts featuring rare and intimate conversations with the label’s legends, producers, songwriters and singers, are now available at www.classic.motown.com. The podcasts are also available on iTunes.

These exclusive podcasts are just part of a year-long celebration of Motown’s 50th and its lasting legacy, which included the Dec. 9 release of Motown: The Complete No. 1’s, a 10-CD box set in the shape of the label’s famed “Hitsville U.S.A.” birthplace

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DETROIT – Aretha Franklin did more than sing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” at President Barack Obama’s inauguration. She also came bearing gifts.

Her spokeswoman, Gwendolyn Quinn, says Franklin gave Obama a collection of 17 sermons by her late father, prominent Detroit minister the Rev. C.L. Franklin.

Quinn says the 66-year-old singer also gave Obama a biography of her father and a Bible “engraved with a personal message.”

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Linkin Park has never been the type of band to let their fans sit and wait between albums empty handed. They constantly want their fans enjoy new and previously unreleased LP, and again, while LP fans worldwide wait for the band to follow-up their last smash hit, 2007’s ‘Minutes to Midnight,’ the band has come through, this time in the form of their second live CD/DVD to date, ‘Road to Revolution.’ Their first was 2003’s ‘Live in Texas.’

‘Road to Revolution’ was both recorded

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The art of compiling an album is a hard one to master; even harder by a collective renowned the world over for their mixing rather than studio skills with first class guests onboard, travelling across genres. Not so for Berlin-based Jazzanova, who deliver 12 wonderful co-arranged / co-written tracks on this latest offering.

They artfully place different styles in a perfectly balanced narrative, never falling into predictable patterns,

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R&B singer Kelis is expecting her first child with her hip-hop star husband Nas, according to tabloid reports.

The Milkshake hit-maker, 29, married 35-year-old Nas in January 2005, and insiders say she is already showing signs of a baby bump.

A source tells Us Weekly magazine, “It’s all they are talking about. She is carrying hip-hop royalty. They are so excited.”

A spokesperson for the couple had no comment.

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British singer Estelle is adamant she will never be romantically involved with Kanye West - because it would be like dating her brother.

The pair teamed up for last year’s hit single American Boy, which has earned them two Grammy Award nominations at the upcoming ceremony in February.

And Estelle has brushed off rumors that her relationship with the hip-hop star is more than a professional one - because a romance between them will never happen.

She tells

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Rapper Kanye West is overwhelmed by his huge fan base - insisting he’d love “less fans” so he can focus on making music which will please his core followers.

The hip-hop star is determined to please all his fans, but insists he struggles to deal with the “responsibility” that comes with being a superstar. And the Stronger hit-maker wishes he had a smaller following who were dedicated to his music, rather than people buying his records because he’s at the top of his game.

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Los Angeles (E! Online) – Was there any doubt that fans would remember 2008 as the year of the Caped Crusader and his gnarliest nemesis yet?

The Dark Knight went five for five and was named Favorite Movie at the 35th annual People's Choice Awards, which returned to its usual star-studdedness Wednesday after an '08 broadcast held at the height of the actor-supported Hollywood writers' strike.

The serious

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Linkin Park is a band that just keeps on giving. Having just released their second live CD/DVD ‘Road to Revolution,’ a few weeks prior, the band deemed it necessary to drop another record for their fans, this time an eight song collection from their LP Underground fan club, entitled ‘Songs From the Underground.’

They might be some time away from releasing their fourth full length studio album, but ‘Songs from the Underground’ more than suffices as filler for the fans in the

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