Drake Will Perform at NHL All-Star Game

Drake, the hip-hop pride of Toronto, will perform at the 2012 NHL All-Star Game, which will be held in Ottawa, Ontario on Sunday, January 29th. The rapper will be joined by New York singer-rapper Outasight and “The Voice” winner Javier Colon at the star-studded hockey event at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

Drake is set to perform during the second intermission, while Outasight will perform his breakout single, “Tonight is the Night,” during the player introductions. Colon and longtime Ottowa Senators anthem singer Lyndon Slewidge will handle the U.S. and Canadian national anthems, respectively.

Rihanna and Chris Brown Rumored to Be Hooking Up

Rumor has it that Rihanna and Chris Brown are keeping a secret relationship. A new report suggests that the pop star and singer/rapper, who ended their relationship after Brown assaulted Rihanna in early 2009, have been privately hooking up for nearly a year.

According to Us Weekly, multiple sources have confirmed that the pair have been casually meeting up, even though Brown is currently dating model Karrueche Tran. “They can’t get enough of each other. I don’t see it ending well,” says one industry source quoted for the piece.

However, a rep for Brown tells Us, “He and Rihanna are just friends… He’s not cheating.” A rep for Rihanna did not comment for the story.

A court order that forbid Brown from coming within 50 yards of Rihanna was lifted last February, and in May, the pair began following each other on Twitter. “Its f—in twitter, not the alter [sic]! calm down,” Rihanna told upset fans at the time.

Earlier this month, Brown’s manager told Billboard that the singer would not be doing interviews in the near future, instead opting “to concentrate on performing and recording” after scoring his first No. 1 album, “F.A.M.E.,” last year.

Rihanna Reveals “Talk That Talk” as Next Single

Rihanna is getting ready to release the third single from her sixth studio album, “Talk That Talk.” On Tuesday night (Jan. 10), the pop singer revealed to her Twitter followers that the album’s title track will be the next track from the disc to impact radio.

“#TALKthatTALK love u guys! Been missin u,” Rihanna wrote on Twitter, attaching a black-and-white image of herself crouching against a wall in what is presumably the single artwork. “Talk That Talk” was produced by Stargate, who previously did “Only Girl (In The World)” and “What’s My Name?” for Rihanna, and features Jay-Z.

Rihanna Goes Solo in “You Da One” Video

In Rihanna’s latest music video for her new single, “You Da One,” the superstar pop artist performs completely on her own. Although the song may be meant for someone, Rihanna appears to sing to no one but herself in the video.

The video was directed by Melina Matsoukas, who also directed Rihanna’s provocative, “We Found Love” video.

Unlike her “We Found Love” video, the “You Da One” clip has no real story. Instead, it is a series of glamour shots and artsy finishes, ranging from the lyrics of the song floating across the screen in a variety of fonts to Ri’s mouth (including her previously teased grill) flashing across the screen. The pop star mugs it up for the camera, allowing the track to shine.

The singer channels everyone from 1960s fashion icon and Andy Warhol muse Twiggy to “A Clockwork Orange” leading man Alex DeLarge for the many looks of the video, which include platinum cropped wigs, suspenders, bowler hats and body-hugging catsuits. Dancing and slinking around the giant warehouse setting, Rihanna doesn’t seem to be performing for anyone but the camera.

The video’s auteur, Matsoukas, had glowing words for the video on Twitter. “This sh– is pretty punk and irreverent,” she wrote. “This bitch @rihanna can pull off anything … Even on negative sleep …” Ri’s response? Simply an “XOXO.”

Rihanna Finds Milestone with “We Found Love”

Rihanna’s single “We Found Love” stayed on top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on Thursday for the 8th straight week, making it the singer’s longest-running No. 1 single of her career.

The singer’s single overtook Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” which stayed at No. 1 for seven weeks earlier this year, and beat her previous top-selling singles, 2007′s “Umbrella” and 2010′s “Love The Way You Lie” featuring Eminem.

“We Found Love” is the lead single from Rihanna’s sixth studio album “Talk That Talk,” and the singer will wrap her last concert on her “Loud” tour in London on Thursday.

Rihanna Releases “You Da One” Video Teaser

As “We Found Love” continues to heat up the charts, superstar Rihanna is getting ready to release her second Talk That Talk single, “You Da One,” by giving fans a behind-the-scenes teaser for the music video.

In the two-minute montage, fans get several glimpses at a blond-bobbed Rihanna with a fitted gold grill and a slew of outfit changes. For one of her ensembles, the pop titan dons a gold chain necklace and midriff-baring two-piece as she grinds up against a checkered wall with life-size playing cards nearby. Another scene finds the singer in a white tank top and tattered jean shorts, swinging a cane in between two brick buildings.

“We’re in London town!” the chart-topper tells the cameraman while the Dr. Luke-produced track plays in the background. “We tried to shoot our first setup outside, but it started to rain really, really hard. Then it stopped after we had to switch setups. … I’m running on one hour of sleep. I’m not even going to remember this tomorrow. My eyes are burning a little bit.”

Fans can also expect to be kept in the loop about the video for “Take Care,” Rihanna’s collabo with Drake. About the video, Drake said, “I want to make it perfect — the best video I’ve done to date — so I’m just taking my time.”

Lady Gaga Tops Forbes List of Highest Earning Women

Lady Gaga crushed her female musician competitors in 2011, at the top of a list of highest earning women with an estimated $90 million in income, according to a Forbes.com survey.

Gaga made more than double her nearest rival, country/pop artist Taylor Swift, thanks to multiple endorsement deals and an estimated $1.3 million nightly gross ticket sales from her concert tour.

Swift earned about $45 million, thanks to her hit album “Speak Now”, perfume line, and other deals, just ahead of “Teenage Dream” singer Katy Perry with $44 million.

Forbes.com drew up its list from data on pre-tax income compiled through record sales, touring data and interviews with music lawyers, managers and concert promoters.

Beyonce’s 2011 income dipped to an estimated $35 million, mostly because of her relatively small amount of touring this year, but her new album “4″, fashion line, and two fragrances helped to put her in 4th place.

Rihanna rounded out the top 5, earning an estimated $29 million from sales of her album “Loud”, and endorsements from cosmetics company CoverGirl.

Rihanna Expects New Album to “Change Music”

Rihanna had great success with Grammy-nominated Loud, and is looking to change music with her sixth full-length album, Talk That Talk.

Def Jam’s VP of A&R, Bu Thiam, talked about how the next album with Rihanna needs to do no less than “change music.”

“My job as an A&R is to always bring her different records that are hit records but doesn’t sound like anything she’s done in the past,” Thiam said. “Her whole thing is, ‘How can we be different? How can we change music? How can we go from having a great album like Loud and still come with a better album and keep pushing and keep hitting the bar?’ The good thing about Rihanna,” he said, “is that she doesn’t want to be in the same realm as anybody else. She wants to be in a zone where when you think of Rihanna, you think of new, you think of different.”

“Different” meant bringing well-known DJ Calvin Harris into the creative process. Producer Harris collaborated with the singer on her tracks, “Where Have You Been” and “We Found Love,” giving Rihanna the 11th #1 single of her career.

The growing popularity of DJ culture in pop music helped get Harris involved with the album, but the Rihanna’s desire to create a new sound was ultimately what made it happen. “It’s a different sound and that’s what she wanted to go with,” Thiam said. “She wanted to change music. I have to salute her for taking a chance ’cause most artists wouldn’t have done that.”

Justin Bieber Grows Up and Wants Adult Approach on Next Album

For his upcoming albums, Justin Bieber has said he wants his career to move in the similar direction that Justin Timberlake took after he broke away from *N Sync. As did Timberlake, Bieber wants to take a more adult approach for his future projects.

Bieber’s longtime vocal producer, Kuk Harrell, says, “It’s really important that it’s the proper transition because (…) now we’re watching him grow up,” said Harrell, who also worked with Rihanna on her latest album. “We can’t just throw him into the adult game right away. It has to be the proper transition. There’s a record in between.” Harrell continues, “That’s why I think this Christmas album was really important, because it gave everybody the opportunity to hear him, see him and get used to his voice changing,” he said. “When his proper album comes out, everybody’s going to really be looking at [him vocally].”

With the fine details of his next album being kept quiet, Bieber will release his video for “All I Want for Christmas,” co-starring Mariah Carey, on Wednesday.

Producer Bangladesh Says Rihanna’s “Cockiness” is Perfect For Her

Pop superstar Rihanna’s latest album Talk That Talk is unquestionably packed with overtly sex-ridden tracks, but the super sexed-up “Cockiness (Love It)” takes the cake.

On “Cockiness,” Rihanna is unabashedly vocal about expressing enjoying the way in which her man loves her. The song’s producer, Bangladesh, claims that after the song developed the tomboy swagger and strong sexual innuendo, Rihanna was the obvious choice to record the track. Bangladesh says, “I was like, ‘That’s dope. That’s Rihanna all day.’ They sent the song back, and I finished producing it. … She loved it, and that’s what it was.”

Bangladesh joins a who’s who of A-list producers on the album, including vocal producer Kuk Harrell, The-Dream, StarGate, Calvin Harris and Dr. Luke, who produced the album’s second single, “You Da One.”

The song, “Cockiness” is one of many on Rihanna’s newest album that carries a strong sexual subject. The singer revealed on Twitter that she’s already hard at work on the video for “You Da One.”

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