Adele, Beyonce and Chris Brown all up for NAACP Awards

A number of R&B and hip-hop world royalty are among the nominees for this year’s NAACP Image Awards.

Anthony Hamilton, Bruno Mars, Cee Lo Green, Chris Brown and Common will vie for the title of Outstanding Male Artist at the 43rd annual ceremony, while the women’s category includes Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Ledisi and Mary J. Blige.

In the Outstanding Album category, Beyonce’s “4″ faces Brown’s “Fame,” Hudson’s “I Remember Me,” Lupe Fiasco’s “Lasers” and Scott’s “The Light of the Sun.”

While the awards traditionally celebrate “the accomplishments of people of color,” the unstoppable Adele earned Outstanding Song and Music Video nods for single “Someone Like You.”

Among the non-musical categories, upcoming Grammy Awards host LL Cool J scored a nod for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for his role on “NCIS: Los Angeles.”

Ashanti’s Back In The Studio Recording New Album

Ashanti released a photo of her back in the studio recording her new album.

The R&B singer is reportedly working with Cool & Dre, LT Hutton, Dr. Dre, Game, Carvin & Ivan, Common, Darkchild and Tank on her upcoming LP.

‘Go! Common Classics’ To Be Released May 25th

There is nothing ordinary about acclaimed rapper Common, as the first retrospective of the most successful span of his career to date proves. Compiled with Common’s participation, Go! Common Classics (Geffen/UMe), to be released May 25, 2010, gathers 11 of his most popular tracks from the past decade on MCA/Geffen plus the rare 1996 battle record “The B**** In Yoo” and a new song, “Next Time (Just Right Version)” featuring Queen Latifah, from the film Just Wright, starring Common and Latifah, and scheduled to hit screens May 14.