Raphael Saadiq
Photo: Beyond Records

Producer and songwriter Raphael Saadiq is getting ready to expose himself.

Though known for performing with Tony! Toni! Toné! and Lucy Pearl, next month he'll be on his own for the first time when he releases "Be Here," the lead single from his debut solo album, Instant Vintage (May 28).

The groove-laden, sensual R&B song features murky beats, a funky rhythm and sultry vocals by Saadiq and ladies' man D'Angelo.

"It's talking about your girl," Saadiq explained from his studio in North Hollywood. "Maybe she's out of town or maybe you just bought an apartment and you're trying to convince her to move with you. But it's saying, 'You should be here. You don't need to be across town. You should be with me.' That's something I've experienced from being on the road touring or traveling, but I think it's something every man can understand. Like, you could be in the military like those cats over in Afghanistan now. They probably all wish their wives and girlfriend could be with them."

This weekend, Saadiq will make his directorial debut shooting the video for "Be Here" with D'Angelo. The clip will be filmed in and around Saadiq's studio, Blakeslee Recording Company, and on location in Los Angeles. It'll feature shots of the two crooners pining away for their girlfriends while a bevy of beauties flocks around them.

"There are gonna be a lot of girls hanging outside this old, beat-up apartment, and we're just kind of ignoring them, waiting there for our girls to show up," said Saadiq, who will be filmed eating alone, doing dishes and gazing longingly at a picture of his girl. D'Angelo will be depicted in a similarly melancholy light, distractedly channel surfing and talking on his cell phone.

"Our girls never really show up until the end of the video," said Saadiq. " It's gonna be shot really artsy and kinda funky. It ain't gonna be your typical bootie-shakin' video, but there's gonna be some booty in it."

Saadiq and D'Angelo will reconvene later in the year to help produce D'Angelo's next album. Saadiq is also planning to do some production work on Justin Timberlake's solo disc and has recently worked with Kelly Price and TLC, whose T-Boz guests on the Instant Vintage track "Different Times."

• Raphael Saadiq
• D'Angelo
• Lucy Pearl
• Tony! Toni! Toné!
• *NSYNC

Pharrell Williams
Photo: MTV

Like his childhood friend Timbaland, Pharrell Williams wants to do more than simply make hit records. The flamboyant half of production stars the Neptunes, and songwriter responsible for the Britney Spears hit "I'm a Slave 4 U," would like to inject more variety into rhythm & blues.

"I want you to raise your awareness and listen to this R&B," Pharrell forewarned fans Tuesday. "When I tell you I'm gonna reshape it, I'ma get rid of this Range Rover R&B and all this 'platinum' and 'Bentleys' talk. There's so much more to black life and culture than the materialistic portion that seems to consume all the lyrical content on the radio. I want to offer our difference and perspective, and I promise we're gonna make people move and feel R&B again."

Joe, Eric Benét, Kelly Price and Faith are among the R&B acts Williams and his partner, Chad Hugo, have worked with recently. Mary J. Blige and Usher serve as conduits for the 'Tunes' soulful R&B revival on the tracks "Steal Away" and "U Don't Have to Call," respectively.

On the Mary J. song, which Pharrell co-wrote with the singer, she and Williams sing to one another about leaving the high-pressure world behind for a romantic rendezvous. Usher sings Williams-penned lyrics on his track, which finds the crooner distracting himself from problems with his girlfriend by partying on his own.

Williams said watching Britney debut "I'm a Slave 4 U" at MTV's Video Music Awards made him feel like a star.

"It wasn't just our production," Williams said of the Neptunes-produced track. "Those were my lyrics and everything. I didn't care if she flopped at the show, that was my moment. I didn't care if everybody in the place hated it. We made it. Pop-wise, what little girl doesn't know Britney Spears?"

The Neptunes also knocked out two tracks recently for the upcoming Limp Bizkit remix album.

"Fred [Durst] laid new vocals and I sang 'Nookie' like Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin. It's really crazy. I did that and 'N 2 Gether Now.'"

• N.E.R.D.
• Britney Spears
• Mary J. Blige
• Usher
• Joe

Destiny's Child
Photo: Columbia

After celebrating the Fourth of July, Destiny's Child, the Roots, Jill Scott and Joe will be among the artists heading to the Big Easy to perform at the seventh annual Essence Music Festival, slated for July 5-7 in New Orleans.

Kelly Price, Carl Thomas, Yolanda Adams, Bilal, Teena Marie, Jeffrey Osborne, Patti Austin and comedian Steve Harvey will also appear at the 2001 edition of the R&B, hip-hop, rap and jazz fest, according to an announcement made Friday (February 16) by Essence magazine.

Essence performances will be staged at both the Louisiana Superdome and the nearby Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The latter is also the site of the Empowerment Seminar series, which will showcase various African-American scholars, artists and business and social leaders.

Organizers are still hammering out a night-by-night schedule and lineup for the 2001 Essence Music Festival. They said they would likely add several more headlining acts in the next few weeks.

Tickets for the Essence fest are available via Ticketmaster, and more information about the concert can be found at www.essence.com.

• Destiny's Child
• The Roots
• Jill Scott
• Joe
• Kelly Price

SANTA MONICA, California — With temperatures in the 70s, the weather outside was anything but frightful, but Christmas was definitely in the air at the Civic Auditorium on Monday for the taping of Soul Train's holiday special.

R&B stars past and present — including Smokey Robinson, Brian McKnight, Kelly Price, Yolanda Adams, Peabo Bryson, Jeffrey Osborne, Vanessa L. Williams — and Lou Rawls, via tape — contributed their favorite Christmas tunes for a crowd of about 5,000. "The Soul Train Christmas Starfest" will be syndicated nationally this holiday season.

Price, who performed "The Christmas Song," said she is working on a holiday inspired album to be released next year that will include some collaborations "you couldn't guess if you tried."

"I'm going to Nashville to do some writing," she said. "Country is still one of the purest forms of music out there."

Price said the album will include a duet with a "major female country star" on a tune Price has written, "Mary's Song."

Meanwhile, Williams, who brought down the house with "What Child Is This", said she too has some holiday-themed career moves planned, including a TV movie in which she will play a female version of Ebenezer Scrooge.

• Brian McKnight
• Kelly Price

Kelly Price will be pulling double duty when she pays a visit to Phoenix on Monday night, as she's been tapped to perform at both the WNBA All-Star Game as well as a MLB contest between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Seattle Mariners.

Price, whose newest LP, "Mirror Mirror," has sold 245,000 copies since its release in late June, will first head to America West Arena to appear and sing at the WNBA matchup of Eastern and Western Conference players. The game tips off at 8 p.m. (ET) and will be televised on ESPN.

For more from Price, check out the MTV News Online feature,

• Kelly Price

• Kelly Price

Kelly Price will take to a New York stage for the first time in over a year to perform an eight-song set for selected guests at the Hudson Theater on June 14.

The R&B singer will be previewing tracks from her upcoming album, "Mirror Mirror," which is now due out on June 27, as well as performing songs from her platinum debut, "Soul Of A Woman."

Price will be joined by Gerald Levert and K-Ci Hailey as well as other, yet-to-be-announced guests at the concert which, in keeping with Price's commitment to cancer awareness, will be a smoke-free event.

Cancer has been a recurrent theme in Kelly Price's life over the last year. Price's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, which is now in remission; Price's mother-in-law passed from breast cancer in the fall of 1999. Proceeds from sales of the singer's last single, "Love Sets You Free," are being donated to the TJ Martell Foundation for cancer research (see ).

Price is dedicating "Mirror Mirror" to her family. As we previously reported, the singer wrote the lion's share of the album's tracks and co-executive produced it along with R. Kelly (see "Kelly Price Wraps New LP With R. Kelly's Help").

The album's next single will be a cover of the Shirley Murdock song "As We Lay."

• Kelly Price

Kelly Price has just finished recording the final track for her new album, "Mirror Mirror," which will be released via Def Jam's R&B imprint, Def Soul, on June 6.