Maxwell performs at Madison Square Garden in New York on Monday
Photo: Roger Kisby/ Getty Images

NEW YORK — One of the great comeback artists of 2008 hit his hometown's biggest stage on Monday night when Brooklyn native Maxwell wowed the crowd at Madison Square Garden. Chrisette Michele and Chicago-native-turned-Brooklynite Common were the opening acts.

Taking the stage after a brief set from Chrisette Michele, Common laced his performance with hip-hop cap-tipping as he started doing a piece of Q-Tip's "Breathe and Stop" before transitioning into his own "Go." Later in the show he performed his and Erykah Badu's "Love of My Life" solo, during which he briefly covered some hip-hop standards such as Boogie Down Productions' "The Bridge Is Over," the Fugees' "Ready or Not," Kanye West's "Jesus Walks," Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" and Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang."

	Maxwell Makes Madison Square Garden Swoon

"The People" and the "The Light" came next. Keeping with his hip-hop motif, Com freestyled off the dome: "I'm not Drake, but I'm successful/ I'm not Lil Wayne but I'll f--- a lady cop," he rapped. "We ain't with no drama/ I said 'F--- Bush,' so we voted for Obama."

Common's finale was "Universal Rhyme Control," during which he popped and locked.

The homecoming for headliner Maxwell was sweet: The Garden went completely dark for a few seconds as the chorus from Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" warmed up the arena.

Max walked out in a dark three-piece suit. The singer started his set on the main stage, but later took to a runway that split into a Y-shaped fork. He had a giant video screen behind him that broke into four smaller screens and later into two ones.

"Even though she pays me no attention/ All I wanna show is my affection/ Lose myself inside her ebony," he sang during "Sumthin' Sumthin'." "She ain't even checking me," he continued, dropping to his knees to add drama. On cue, women in the audience started screaming.

Dance splits followed, and then Max dragged the mic stand onto the runway. He faked walking back to the main stage, then ran down the left side of the runway, slapping hands, then did the same down the right side.

The tempo slowed down for the soulful "Lifetime." "Sometimes you just wanna smack your boss in the face," he improvised. "But you gotta put food on your table ... Brooklyn, stand up!"

The lyrical seductions continued on "Bad Habits" (from his recent chart-topping BLACKsummers'night LP) and one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the night, "Fortunate."

It looked like Maxwell might actually drop a few real tears at one point in the night. He started assessing the moment.

"I'm from Brooklyn, New York," he told the crowd. "My family is from the West Indies: My mother is from Haiti and my father is Puerto Rican. Things like this are not are supposed to happen to us," he said about headlining the Garden. "I'm gonna sing this song with all my heart and if you could help me, I would be so happy."

He then went into "This Woman's Work," which was written by Kate Bush but has become one of Maxwell's signature songs.

After his recent hit "Pretty Wings," Max played with the audience a little.

"Y'all didn't hear what happened?" he asked. "Are y'all playing with me?" He then told then what happened.

"It happened the moment when you were revealed," he sang with no beat, going into "Ascension." " 'Cause you were a dream that you should not have been/ A fantasy real ..."

"You gave me this beating, baby," he continued as the audience sang along, at times letting them take the lead. "This rhythm inside/ And you made me feel good and feel nice and feel loved/ Give me paradise."

The band then started the song over, with the beat this time. After the song concluded, someone threw a pair of panties onstage.

"I have [bodily fluids] all over my forehead!" Max joked.

Getting more serious, he said, "I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be a New Yorker in New York tonight."

• Maxwell Makes Madison Square Garden Swoon

• Maxwell
• Common
• Chrisette Michele

Fabolous' <i>Loso's Way</i>
Photo: Def Jam

Fabolous will have his way with the Billboard 200 charts next week, when his latest, Loso's Way, snags the top spot in a quiet week of album sales. According to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan, the Brooklyn MC will easily nab the top spot as the only debut in the top 10, with sales of almost 99,000.

The rest of the heap will remain largely unchanged, with Daughtry's sophomore effort, Leave This Town, resting comfortably again at #2 (62,000), a resurgent Maxwell hanging onto the #3 spot with BLACKsummers'night (55,000), followed by the Now That's What I Call Music! 31 compilation (#4, 53,000) and the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) (#5, 49,000). While most of the usual suspects in the top 10 suffered either double-digit declines from the previous week or marginal losses/gains, band of brothers (and cousin) Kings of Leon continue their upward march with Only by the Night, which saw a 21 percent increase in sales to 47,000 and will move up two spots to #6.

The Hannah Montana 3 soundtrack settles in at #7 (41,000), trailed by Demi Lovato's Here We Go Again (39,000), which shed 64 percent of its business in week two. Taylor Swift's Fearless comes in at #9 with 38,000, and Lady Gaga's Fame, which holds tight at #10 (27,000).

Just outside the top, Ashley Tisdale's Guilty Pleasure debuts at #12 (25,000), while Kristinia DeBarge musters an initial bow down at #23 with her debut, Exposed (17,000). After a disappointing #7 entry last week, former "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks' second album, Battlefield, took a serious hit in week two (18,000), dropping down to #21 and shedding 63 percent of its first-week sales.

While Fab can celebrate his #1 debut in the top 200, over on the Comprehensive Albums chart, he'll have to settle for being #2, as Michael Jackson's Number Ones once again leads the overall sales parade with sales of 114,000 in a top five still dominated by three of the late pop star's albums, including Essential Michael Jackson (#3, 69,000) and the iconic Thriller (#5, 59,000).

The top 10 should remain relatively settled next week, as no major releases are slated to hit the charts.

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• Fabolous
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• Maxwell
• Daughtry

Maxwell (file)
Photo: Mike Coppola/ FilmMagic

NEWARK, New Jersey — Maxwell is back like he never left. His album sales for BLACKsummers'night proved that no matter how long you're gone, loyal fans will always be waiting.

Max stopped off at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's Prudential Hall on Wednesday night, and he brought his two main weapons: that soulfully rich voice and sex appeal. Yeah, sex appeal. Even the most heterosexual man has to admit that Max has it. The women eat up every second of Max's elegant wooing, and he drives the ladies wild with his natural charisma.

After Chrisette Michele opened, Maxwell came out in sunglasses, accompanied by his booming band. He started things off with a classic: "Get to Know Ya." He stood at the mic singing, standing in an open stance. He took his glasses off, and ladies started to scream as if he had stripped down.

The lights faded to black and came back on, as Max dropped down to a squat and started clapping his hands. The music turned into "Sumthin' Sumthin'." As he sang, he went into a one-legged split, Jackie Wilson-style.

"Lifetime" came next. The singer did a series of splits as the record came to an end.

The Brooklyn native then thanked all his supporters for staying down and coming back to him upon his return. "Y'all let me go away and live a life," he said. "All I ever wanted was to make music people enjoy."

After "This Woman's Work" and "Pretty Wings," women started coming down from the back rows and lining up in front of the stage to give him bouquets of roses and hopefully get a hug. One lady even threw a pair of panties onstage. He later addressed the fellas, calling his concert the "greatest setup ever."

"If you can't get yourself some a-- after this show right here," Maxwell laughed. "I was looking out from the beginning. Some people wanna hate, but I been setting you up from the beginning."

"Fortunate" and " ... 'Til the Cops Come Knockin' " followed. He stuck mostly to his catalog of hits. Guess the material from the new album will wait for the next tour.

"Ascension" closed the concert. He started the record a cappella, and the fans helped on the chorus.

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports. And send your own concert pics, videos and reviews to Your.MTV.com.

• Maxwell

Daughtry
Photo: Michael Caulfield/ Getty Images

Being #1 is nothing new to Chris Daughtry. Debuting there is. Back in 2006, his band's self-titled debut went to the top of the Billboard charts in its ninth week of release. The follow-up, Leave This Town, didn't bother waiting that long: It will bow at #1 right out of the gate.

Town sold more than 269,000 copies to land atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, according to numbers provided by Nielsen SoundScan, giving the former "American Idol" contestant another line on his already impressive résumé.

Daughtry's first album was the fastest-selling rock debut in SoundScan history, placing five consecutive singles in the top five of the Adult Top 40 radio charts and selling more than 7 million copies worldwide. Sales of that debut also shot up more than 46 percent this week, as it moved from #100 all the way up to #65.

But back inside the top 10, Daughtry more than doubled the sales of his closest competitor, Maxwell, whose BLACKsummers'night slipped to #2 with sales of more than 103,000 copies. The latest "Hannah Montana" soundtrack is next at #3, selling about 73,000 copies, followed by the Now That's What I Call Music! 31 compilation (69,000) and the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. (54,000).

Following those albums is a trio of new releases. Debuting at #6 is Horehound, the debut from Jack White's skuzzy new supergroup the Dead Weather. Horehound sold nearly 51,000 copies, giving White his sixth top 10 album. Joe's Signature debuts at #7, with sales of nearly 49,000 copies, and motormouthed rapper Twista debuts at #8, selling more than 45,000 copies of his Category F5 album.

The rest of the top 10 is rounded out by Taylor Swift's Fearless (#9, 37,000) and the Kings of Leon's Only by the Night (33,000).

Other debuts on next week's chart include Christian pop trio PureNRG's The Real Thing at #20, rockers August Burns Red (#24) and Owl City (#27) and the soundtrack to "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" at #29. And at #50 is another former "Idol" contestant, Brooke White, whose High Hopes & Heartbreak sold nearly 10,000 copies.

• Daughtry
• Maxwell

Maxwell's <i>BLACKsummers'night</i>
Photo: Columbia

It's a rough month to release a new album, because no matter how many units you move, the figure will likely pale in comparison to the massive posthumous numbers being put up by Michael Jackson. That's the case again next week, when the top four Jackson albums on the Top Pop Catalog chart will easily best the figures posted by the leaders on the Top 200 current album chart.

While Jackson and Jackson 5 albums hold the top 12 spots on the Catalog chart, the current albums chart is topped by soul smoothie Maxwell, who has broken an eight-year hiatus with the first of a planned trilogy of albums, BLACKsummers'night, which debuts at #1 on sales of 316,000, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan.

The #2 slot is filled by the chart debut of the Hannah Montana 3 soundtrack, which moved 137,000 copies, followed by last week's #1, the Now 31 pop compilation (101,000), and the #4 debut from pop punkers All Time Low, whose Nothing Personal rang up 63,000 in sales.

The rest of the top 10 features the usual suspects: Black Eyed Peas' E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) (#5, 63,000), Brad Paisley's American Saturday Night (#6, 44,000), Rob Thomas' Cradlesong (#7, 41,000), Taylor Swift's Fearless (#8, 36,000), Eminem's Relapse (#9, 34,000) and the Jonas Brothers' Lines Vines & Trying Times (#10, 34,000).

After a solid #4 debut last week, indie darlings Wilco's Wilco (The Album) shed 66 percent of business to drop to #11 (34,000). R&B singer Jeremih suffered a similar swoon (51 percent), as his self-titled debut moves down nine spots to #15 in its second week on the charts.

Los Angeles good-time rap duo LMFAO hit #33 in the chart debut for their Party Rock (11,000) album of, well, party anthems, while longtime Americana act Son Volt shuffle into the #44 spot with their glum latest, American Central Dust (10,000).

And that's about all the chart action worth talking about until next week, when Daughtry return with their second album and Jack White's latest side project, the Dead Weather, hit the charts with their debut.

• Maxwell
• All Time Low
• Eminem
• Taylor Swift
• Rob Thomas

Maxwell
Photo: Columbia

Who says loyalty in the music industry is dead? Maxwell's fans are proving that they will stay down. Despite being gone from the scene for almost a decade, the Brooklyn native was able to see his new album, BLACKsummers'night — the first installment of a planned trilogy — go to #1 on the Billboard albums chart.

Now despite getting love for his music, that doesn't mean that plenty of fans were not disappointed by the soul man's extra-long hiatus. He says he was enjoying life away from music and going through experiences that helped inspire the lyrics for the new opus.

"I don't know why and when and how," Maxwell told MTV News recently in New York about making his music. "I just know when I know."

Max also said he didn't want to be away for this long, but had to put himself first.

"It does break my heart," he said about making his fans wait. "I want the people who love what I do, or listen to what I do to have that comfort and security of having a record every [certain] amount of years. But when I look at someone I really admire like Sade, she's been out of the game for nine years. And I know that this new record is amazing that she's about to put out, because you have a life that you can connect with that music. A lot of times when you see people putting out these records, they're not writing these records. You have somebody saying, 'This is what your life feels like to me.' So I think that the people who listen to the music and who are disappointed [by my absence], they need to take in consideration that life has to be lived in order to create those things they really want to be so good. I know when it doesn't sound good, those same people will tell you that you messed up. For those who have been disappointed, I just want them to understand that's the gist [of what has taken so long] basically."

Was it worth the wait? Fans voted with their wallets over the past few days.

• Maxwell

Maxwell
Photo: Brad Barket/ Getty Images

Celebrity Favorites

Maxwell, you made us wait a little too long for your set during the Essence Music Festival last week, but it's all good. We're definitely eager to hear that BLACKsummers'night LP. Max was in his hometown of NYC on Monday night, hanging out with Fabolous and Nas and celebrating the release of his new record. Another Big Apple giant who loved Max's music was none other than the Notorious B.I.G.

"He was Brooklyn, a smooth-ass dude, B.I.G. definitely f---ed with him," Lil' Cease told us about Biggie's love for Max. "His music was dope, and me and Big supported it."

Man. Can you imagine a Biggie/Maxwell collaboration? We asked the singer what it would have sounded like.

"Wow. Wow. It's hard, because I'm from Brooklyn and [Biggie's] from Brooklyn," Maxwell said. "When Ready to Die was out, his first album was out. He's just the god of it all. I don't know what [our collaboration] would have sounded like. It distresses me more than I could know what it could sound like."

Maxwell also said him and Big could have taken it to the club or got smoothed out.

"It could be both, man," he said. "We're both Geminis, so I guess we would probably have more than one record, maybe. It's all about multiplicity for us. But he's sorely missed, though. I think people made it too real. Now people have a better understanding of what the lines are. The lines aren't too blurred in between the guy onstage and the person who's on the street. It's just sad he's not around for us to have known what those records would have sounded like."

When it comes to who Maxwell listens to now, he says he's a fan of MGMT and Radiohead.

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

We're going to keep things in BK. Maino, you did it. You put that album out, homie. Surprisingly, Main is the first new artist from New York to release an album on a major label in quite some time. Let's hope this continues. We recently went out to the set of his video for "A Million Bucks" featuring Swizz Beatz. The Bed-Stuy moneymaker told us he's down with Swizz Beatz outside of music as well as on track.

"Swizz is my friend," Main said. "First and foremost. It ain't even just about music with him. He extended his hand on numerous things. This is not the first time we been in the lab together; this is just probably the best. It's a great time for me. I gave them 'Hi Hater,' the 'Hi Hater' remix, then we came back with 'All of the Above.' Now we just gonna continue to make powerful music. It's been a long time since they seen a new, New York artist get this far."

The scene we caught Maino filming was a part in the video where he pulled a heist on an off-track-betting type of establishment and took some of that money they made from horse races. He and his crew took the money back to the 'hood and had some fun giving it away.

"The concept, you see Maino with 'A Million Bucks featuring Swizz Beatz.' From the outside, it may look like it's just a song about getting money or having fun," he said. "[The video] is kinda like the opposite of it. When I heard the song, [Swizz] had the hook already on there. It was like, 'I might give away a million bucks.' I was like, 'Swizz, I ain't got a million bucks.' He was like, 'I do!' I thought of a way to put me in a situation without saying, 'I actually got a million dollars.' I'm basically, 'I wanna give back to the 'hood. It's hot in the 'hood. You got feds in the 'hood. I'mma come back to the 'hood and give back to the 'hood. I'mma come bring some sunshine.' "

Main said other than Swizz, the only cameos he was concerned about in his video were those from the locals.

"I don't do it for them," Maino said about the people from the neighborhood. "I do it for these people. They here every day. They live here. It's more important for them to be in the video than it is for the so-called celebrities to be in the video."

For other artists featured in Mixtape Monday, check out Mixtape Mondays Headlines.

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• Maxwell
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• Maino

Photo: Donna Ward/FilmMagic

NEW YORK — Maxwell said you can't just go up to a pregnant woman and say, "Blue eyes, red hair and a girl." Well, the same is true for the neo-soul singer's music.

"The way I make good music, it's not about what's expected of me," he said recently after a Manhattan reception for his upcoming CD. "It's hard to make good music when you're thinking about what somebody wants you to do."

So he didn't think about what the fans or his record label wanted. As we say in the 'hood, Max did him. It's been eight years since he released his last album.

"It was a lot easier than I thought it would be," he said about his prolonged vacation. "It was a lot easier than I thought it was to enjoy. [My career] started when I was 21. I don't want to complain about my life, because I don't want to sound crazy to a person that's living a life. I've been blessed. But the common things people take for granted, I never had for a long stretch, such as going out on the train."

Max was one of R&B's leading men when he first hit the scene, and considering how young he was and what he accomplished in such a short time span (his debut was released in 1996), he seemed destined to be one of the all-time greats. But with his career still in its prime, he chilled for close to a decade.

"I feel like I've relished these few years, where I got to kick it, where I got to meet girls who didn't know who I was, where they would be like, 'What's your name?' " he said. "Knowing you're appreciated for you as a person was something that was very easy to be into for a while.

"What tends to happen when records are coming out and all the things that come around you, you're never sure [how genuine people are]," he added. "I'm very insecure, and I want to know people appreciate real things. You want to know somebody's around you not because of what you could offer or who you are."

Max seems to have put his insecurities aside for now. He just released the single "Pretty Wings" from the album Black, the first in his trilogy of LPs to be released over the next three years.

"I wanted to be like, 'I like how this sounds,' " he said of his pressure-free recording process this time around. " 'I don't care if people buy it or not. It makes me feel good.' "

• Maxwell Takes It Back To The Beginning

• Maxwell

Maxwell
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — You think it's been a long time since Eminem dropped an album? Shoot, the last time Maxwell put out an LP, Kanye West wasn't even that well known as a producer, let alone a rapper. 50 Cent was an unsigned artist just heating up the streets with mixtapes. T.I. was just known in the trap.

Now was released eight years ago. That was then.

Today, Maxwell seems so relaxed and even more humble than the admittedly shy singer (shy offstage, that is) has ever been. He's sorry if he disappointed fans who have been waiting almost a decade for one of the most soulful and popular singers of the '90s to put out new material. Max, who was 23 when he introduced the world to his classic debut Urban Hang Suite in 1996, says his time off was spent living and enjoying life.

On Tuesday night at the Sony building, Maxwell reintroduced himself. He's releasing three albums over three years called Black, Summer's and Night. Don't be confused: It's a trilogy.

"Three sides of my crazy personality," Maxwell explained of the albums. "Black is dark. Summer's is the lighter side. That album is more of a gospel side — not in the traditional sense, but more like Deepak Chopra meets that minister or that pastor down in the South somewhere. The Night album is ... the ultimate love record.

"I always wanted to do this," he continued. "This was a plan for about six years, and we worked all those songs out. I'm excited to see how people take each record and how they experience each record."

The first single from Black is "Pretty Wings," which Max described as "a bittersweet love song about meeting the right girl at the wrong time."

So what are some of the other songs like? "We got 'Bad Habits,' which is about being addicted to a girl, being addicted to a relationship that's not good for you. But it feels so good that it can't be wrong.

"It's the paradox, the dichotomy that propels me," he said about his inspiration. "I love the polar-opposite things. We live that every day. The double standards. We have that in our lives every day. One thing's good for one but not good for the other. Those are the things that inspire me and the records. At the same time, I don't like to tell people what it all means. I want you to find your own meaning in what I do. It makes it more special to me when I know that. For the many letters I've gotten, people telling me, 'Your song was at my wedding.' It doesn't matter what I thought at the point [of writing the song]. At that point, your bride was walking down the aisle, and I was singing. That, to me, is like, 'Wow.' "

Black is due in July, while Summer's and Night are scheduled for release in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

• Maxwell

Ashanti
Photo: Jason Campbell

It seems like Ashanti's been nominated for just about every music award this year, and she might have the chance to add even more trophies to her mantle soon. The Murder Inc. princess was at the head of the pack when the list of nominees for the Soul Train Awards were announced Tuesday morning (February 4) in Beverly Hills.

The singer is up for Best R&B/ Soul Single - Female, Best R&B/Soul Album - Female and R&B/Soul or Rap Album of the Year. And while Ashanti's props probably don't come as a shock to most, people may be surprised to see who she's running neck and neck with for nominations: newcomer Amerie.

Amerie is against Ashanti in the female-only soul categories and will square off against Heather Headley, Nappy Roots and Tweet for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist.

Other notable nominees include Maxwell's "This Woman's Work," Musiq's "Dontchange," Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You" and Usher's "U Don't Have to Call," which are all up for Best R&B/Soul Single - Male. 

Busta Rhymes' "Pass the Courvoisier Pt. 2," Missy Elliott's "Work It," Nelly and Kelly Rowland's "Dilemma" and 50 Cent's "Wanksta" are all nominated for the Michael Jackson Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video.

While 50 Cent did get love from the folks at Soul Train, the man who signed him to a record contract didn't. Eminem isn't up for any awards this year, despite having the biggest hip-hop album of 2002.

There will be no surprises for LL Cool J and Nelly, at least when they are handed one award. They have been named recipients of the 2003 Quincy Jones Award for Outstanding Career Achievements in the Field of Entertainment - Male (Dionne Warwick gets the female award) and the 2003 Sammy Davis Jr. Award for Entertainer of the Year, respectively.

The Soul Train Awards will air in syndication on March 1. Arsenio Hall and Queen Latifah will host.

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• Amerie
• 50 Cent
• Nappy Roots
• Justin Timberlake

Maxwell Makes Madison Square Garden Swoon

• Maxwell

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