*EDITED* USHER'S 'HERE I STAND' PROMOTIONAL PICS + NEW ALBUM COVER ART: USHER'S 'HERE I STAND.'

I have edited and bumped this post (originally posted 4.18.2008 @ 6:01 AM) to add three HQ promotional photos of Usher because I tire at the notion of making a brand new post about him. Thanks to Ericka, the Admin over on USHERFOREVER.COM for supplying me with these pics. Click them to view their full image.

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What you see below is the cover of Usher's new album Here I Stand. I'm pretty sure the license tag on the car in the photo has some significance to it, but right about now, I'm too lazy to go out and figure what it is. Moving on. Now, if you're wondering about the title, just let me inform you that there's a track on the album of the same name...this song is also the song dude wrote for Tameka (as well as performed for her) at their wedding. So, at least to me, it sounds like this album is more of a dedication to her than anything else. And ain't nobody, especially me, trying to hear all that. She already got the man, so what does she need my money for--to maintain her weekly luxuries? I truly think not! Therefore and thus and such, I'll wait on the bootleg copy of Usher's album to hit my local flea market or hair salon. Yeah, I said it! Besides, the last time I brought an Usher album was on 8707, literally. Anyhoo, look for his second single to be Moving Mountains. He's also the featured cover story for Vibe magazine's May 2008 issue.

Peep the pic below. And am I the only person wondering what the business is with his top lip?! Looks like it belongs on one of Jim Henson's Muppets.

ETA: I've just been told that the license plate in the photo is in honor of his first born son: CINCO (Usher V) and 11.26 (the day his son was born). Nice! Thanks carmen and 'anonymous' for that tidbit...although I'm still waiting for someone to tell me why his upper lip looks the way it does!

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FOXY FLEES FROM PRISON. NEXT STOP? TO THE CHURCH HOUSE. + PIRISON RELEASE PICS.

Foxy has left the (prison) building. And just like any other typical freed inmate, the first place she wants to go is to the church house. To God be the glory. After serving a grueling eight months behind bars...mostly in solitary confinement because she couldn't seem to act right, the 29-year-old Brooklyn rapper finally saw the light of day when she was released from the Rose M. Singer facility at Rikers Island around 12 noon before being greeted by a swarm of photographers and fans. Outside waiting were a fleet of luxury cars: three Rolls Royce Phantoms, a Mercedes Maybach and two Cadillac Escalades. "I feel good," she said to the crowd. "I'm back home." Brown, wearing a brown leather blazer, a gold cross, blue jeans, and a brown Fendi head scarf cried as she hugged friends. She even singled out a couple people, saying, "These are my two number one fans. They are like family." After the teary reunion, Brown's entourage went to LaGuardia Inn so the rapper could talk to the press. "My family never missed a visit in eight months, ever. I cried coming out. I didn't cry coming in. There's a big difference. I believe that God put me there for a reason, Incarceration is serious," she told Access Hollywood. Adding that the first place she wanted to go after her "learning experience" was church. "He got me through," she said.

Later Friday Brown was spotted buying a pocketbook and two pairs of shoes at a store called Signature in Harlem near the Apollo Theater, where she was again mobbed by fans and photographers. Well, I hope she's satisfied. She got the media circus she craved for and them some. Now, if she can learn how to keep her hands (and BlackBerry) to herself and her big mouth shut she won't have to go through this again. But hold up: she's due in court next month on charges that she assaulted her neighbor. The court date had been postponed dude to the rappers incarceration.
PEEP PICS OF FOXY'S PRISON RELEASE. SHE KILLING WITH THE BABY HAIR & CORAL LIPSTICK, AIN'T SHE?

To watch the video of her release, CLICK HERE.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY AFTER THE JUMP!

The rapper, born Inga Marchand, was sentenced to a year in prison last September for violating the terms of her probation stemming from an altercation over payment for a manicure with two employees at a New York nail salon in 2004. While on probation, she was arrested twice last year, for throwing her BlackBerry at a neighbor, and for scuffling with an employee at a beauty-supply store in Florida. Even behind bars, Foxy managed to find trouble. In October she served 76 days in isolation after getting into a scuffle with another inmate and refusing a drug test.

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RAY J. SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING BOBBY'S BITCHING REMARKS ABOUT HIM.

Ever wondered what it sounds like to read two men going at each other's throat like a couple of bitch-made females? If not, then here it is. Brandy's baby brother Ray J., has responded to the snide-ass remarks Bobby Brown has made about him regarding his relationship with Whitney Houston. Ray J. who has dated Whitney in the past says he doesn't appreciate Bobby calling him a 'little man' in his new book, Being Bobby Brown: The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But... And although he says he has nothing personal against Whit's ex-hubby, he'd appreciate it if old dude would stop dwelling on the negative about his marriage to Houston. Ray told In Touch magazine, "I think what Bobby's saying in his book is just ridiculous. He should really go back in and pray and figure out what he should do on the positive tip." Of Brown's height jibes, Ray J. says, "We're the same height, Bobby, come on!"

Also, Ray J. denies his new song Boyfriend is about his relationship with Houston and his feelings about Brown. He adds, "I don't want anybody to think I'm taking any shots at Bobby personally and spilling out my relationship or my sex life with Whitney-I would never do nothing like that. I don't kiss and tell, I don't exploit other people's business and I don't think it's cool that Bobby's doing that!"
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RAVEN SYMONE REVEALS WHY SHE INSIST ON STAYING TRUE TO HER IMAGE; ALSO CANCELS UPCOMING PROMOTIONAL TOUR.

"I have to stay true to who I am. I am not going to sing about sex, drugs and violence, that's just not who I am...When I look in the mirror and see how voluptuously fabulous I am, I can't even worry about it. My conflict in life is just making sure I remember I'm beautiful just the way I am, no matter what size I am. I am just fabulous."


--Child star-turned-entertainment mogul Raven Symone to Jet magazine on why she refuses to change for fame and why she insist on staying true to her music and staying true to her image by being comfortable with her size.

In related news, the 22-year-old actress/singer/producer has canceled her cross-country "Pajama Party" tour. Originally slated to kick off in late April (and run through mid-July), the star has decided to postpone her upcoming tour due to 'unforeseen circumstances' and apologizes to her fans for any inconvenience this may have caused. Ticket refunds will be available from the original point of purchase. How this will affect her new self-titled album (which will be released April 29th) sales remains to be seen. The announcement of the tour cancellation has tween Raven fans in an uproar to say the least. Members on one of the actress's fan sites are threatening to return their That's So Raven and Cosby Show DVD sets, they're so mad. Bless their hearts. While some fans feel Raven scrapped the tour because she grew tired of entertaining her young audience and that she now prefers to hang out with adults her own age, others have demanded the star step forth and explain the real reason as to why she backed out. Well, I say this: as long as you're getting a refund for your ticket, the 'unforeseen circumstances' reason should suffice.

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IN TODAY'S 'THIS N!GGAH, HERE' NEWS: SINGER AKON AIN'T NO EX-CON.

It's bad enough when the color of your damn lips are darker than the color on your damn nose. But it's just damn near sad when a person wants to be so accepted by the hip-hop industry that they'd take it upon themselves to make up a fake criminal past to do so. And that's just what 35-year-old convict wanna-be Akon did. Mmm-mmm-mmm. The singer is not the gangster rapper he says he is, having only served several weeks in jail rather than the years he's claimed, the Smoking Gun reports. The Web site conducted an investigation into his claims of having done three years of hard jail time in the late 1990s for his role as the "ringleader of a notorious car theft operation" and found that instead, he was arrested in 1998 for driving a stolen car in Georgia and served five months in jail before the charges were dropped.
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