B13 Peer Review

The nominees for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards were announced on Wednesday (December 5) with Fun., Frank Ocean, Mumford & Sons, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) leading the way with six nods apiece. Below is a list of the major nominees for the Grammys, being held Feb. 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Album Of The Year: "El Camino" -- The Black Keys "Some Nights" -- FUN. "Babel" -- Mumford & Sons "Channel Orange" -- Frank Ocean "Blunderbuss" -- Jack White Record Of The Year: "Lonely Boy" -- The Black Keys "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" -- Kelly Clarkson "We Are Young" -- FUN. Featuring Janelle Monáe "Somebody That I Used To Know" -- Gotye Featuring Kimbra "Thinkin Bout You" -- Frank Ocean "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" -- Taylor Swift Best New Artist: Alabama Shakes FUN. Hunter Hayes

Also With Six Nods: Mumford & Sons, Jay-Z and Kanye West ... Lumineers, Hunter Hayes Among Best New Artist Hopefuls by David Greenwald and Marc Schneider  |   December 05, 2012 11:20 EST T here's a rock pileup at the top of the 2013 Grammy Award nominations. The 55th annual ceremony announced its nominees in Nashville on Wednesday night during a primetime concert special, with fun., Mumford & Sons and Dan Auerbach -- nominated with the Black Keys and solo in the Producer of the Year category -- making a strong showing for the genre with six nominations each. Jay-Z, Kanye West and R&B breakthrough Frank Ocean also earned six nominations, with Fun.'s and Ocean's including the double coup of Album of the Year and Best New Artist. GRAMMY NOMINATIONS:   Get a List of Major Nominees The Album of the Year category, dominated in recent years by divas and hip-hop acts, will be full of guitars (and a banjo): Mumford & Sons' "Babel"

New single "Woman's World" was released last month, and previews the singer's first album in 12 years. C her 's next studio album, her first since 2001's "Living Proof," is due out in late March 2013.  The targeted release date was confirmed by Livia Tortella, Warner Bros. Records Co-President/COO, on the red carpet at Billboard's 2012 Women in Music event on Friday (Nov. 30). According to Tortella, Cher's forthcoming full-length is among a full slate of early 2013 album releases from the label, including new efforts from  Josh Groban ,  Michael Buble ,  Goo Goo Dolls  and  Avenged Sevenfold .  Last month, Cher previewed her long-in-the-works album by releasing a new dance single, "Woman's World," online. The clip of the official track has earned 395,000 YouTube views since its release two weeks ago. On  Twitter , the veteran pop star described the new album as "Eclectic! Lots of dance, but none [are] SAME KI

by  STEVEN J. HOROWITZ posted  December 05, 2012 at 8:40AM PST Snoop Lion plans to release the soundtrack accompaniment to his documentary. Snoop Lion aka Snoop Dogg has announced a partnership with RCA Records to release the soundtrack to his upcoming documentary  Reincarnated . The reggae and dancehall-influenced album, releasing in Spring 2013, will be executive produced by  Diplo  and the Major Lazer production team. The soundtrack is documented in the film, which was named an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival.  Reincarnated  follows his trip to Jamica and how the culture affected him. "Major Lazer and I had a special opportunity to focus on recording  Reincarnated  from top-to-bottom with no interruptions in Jamaica," said the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg. "From my time spent with the people and in the streets, these songs are based on peace, love, and the struggle. ‘Here Comes The King’ is a taste of what&

Reports say October's Very Own record label has inked deal with WBR. Drake 's dedicated fanbase isn't the only crew exhibiting love these days; the folks at Warner Bros. Records want in on the action too. Looks like Drizzy will be inking his October's Very Own with WBR in a deal that is expected to be announced officially Wednesday (December 5). A source  confirmed  with  Billboard  that the Young Money stand-out will be putting on his CEO cap in a surprising move which now finds him branching outside of the Young Money/Cash Money family. So far, Drake has done well branding his OVO imprint with a  popular blog where he has been dropping posts and original music since 2008. In recent years, the  Take Care  MC has expanded the OVO brand way past the web with an annual festival in his native Toronto and a brand of tees and sweatshirts which mostly features the label's unmistakable black and gold owl logo. Drizzy will still remain as a solo artist on

Alicia Keys takes a #1 spot on her new label, and some interesting numbers. Ghostface Killah & Sheek Louch wave the Wu-Block flag into the Top 100, as Krizz Kaliko lights up the charts for a second time. In addition to a new #1 on the R&B/Pop side of things, two veteran releases hit the Top 200, as well as another re-packaging of an earlier 2012 album, for the second straight week. Alicia Keys'  fifth album,  Girl On Fire , sold over 150,000 units in its first week. This is Keys' first release since J Records, where she was the flagship artist, merged into RCA. In addition to a  Nicki Minaj  featured appearance, Keys collaborated with husband  Swizz Beatz  and Dr. Dre on this effort. The long-discussed  Wu-Tang Clan & D-Block  collaboration, by way of  Ghostface Killah  and  Sheek Louch  sold nearly 9,000 first-week copies. The eOne release featured the three active members of  D-Block/The LOX , as well as seven original Wu members.  Krizz

Gunplay gives his two cents on 50 Cent and French Montana's feud. Over the past few weeks, a beef has been brewing between one of New York's most established emcees  50 Cent  and one of the city's next up-and-coming artists French Montana . Now, in a recent interview with  Global Grind , Fif's former sparring partner  Gunplay  speaks on their feud. Live from house arrest, the MMG rapper weighed in on the two artists' recent beef. He explained that while French is his friend, he doesn't care about the two rappers' beef, saying that, "where [French] eats, I don't shit." by  SEAN RYON posted  December 05, 2012 "Listen, I don't give a flying fuck about them niggas," he said. "I don't care if they fight each other, I don't care. i don't even see 'em; they're nothing to me - nobody is really, I don't see nobody. I see right through all these cunts - there's nothing. I don't care

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. Katt Williams Slaps Target Employee IN THE FACE - Watch More Celebrity Videos or Subscribe Katt Williams wasn't done after leading cops on a bizarre three-wheeled chase through Sacramento -- because moments later, he slapped a Target employee IN THE FACE for no apparent reason ... and complementary footage is from you guessed it; TMZ of the face-to-hand contact. What did the 5 fingers say to the face? Ask the guy who got PIMP SLAPPED by  Katt Williams . Katt  wasn't done after leading cops on a crazy  three-wheeled chase  through Sacramento on Sunday -- because moments later, he hit up a Target ... where he belted an employee IN THE FACE ... and TMZ has footage of the face-to-hand contact. There's no audio, so we can't tell what the argument is about -- but by the looks of the employee's body language before the wallop (placing his hand on his chest) the guy wasn't looking for a fight.

by  STEVEN J. HOROWITZ posted  December 02, 2012 at 1:02PM PST  |  C omment Below A pair of amateur rappers kidnapped a producer after he tried to back out of a $50,000 deal. Two aspiring rappers kidnapped and extorted a record producer in New York City, New York. According to  Gothamist , 33-year-old  Ryan Mixon  and 28-year-old  Andres Lozano scheduled a meeting with producer John Fontein, son of bigwig broker Andrew Fontein, at the Pera Soho in Greenwich Village on Thursday night. After agreeing on a $50,000 deal, Fontein tried to back out of the deal and the two rappers kidnapped him at gunpoint. Ryan Mixon (second from left) and Andres Lozano (far right), via NY Daily News Mixon and Lozano took him to the Fifth Ave Apple Store where he was forced to buy $3,800 in products and warranties, telling him that he had better make good on the deal or they would kill both his girlfriend and family. They let him go, and Fontein headed straight to the cops the ne