The Chemical Brothers have lined up a tour in support of their latest album, Come With Us, marking the British duo's first Stateside jaunt in two-and-a-half years. The seven-date trek begins April 15 in Washington, D.C., and heads Westward to wrap on April 27 at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California. ... "Rub You the Right Way," "My, My, My" and 15 other Johnny Gill hits comprise his Ultimate Collection, due March 26. New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain," which Gill sang after replacing Bobby Brown in the group, is also included. ...

Get your earplugs — Motörhead and Morbid Angel are touring together this spring. The first date is April 11 in Dallas and the journey runs through May 18 in Anaheim, California. ... Victoria Beckham, a.k.a. Posh Spice of Spice Girls fame, is expecting a second child in September, according to Reuters. Son Brooklyn Joseph Beckham was born in March 1999. ... Soulfly have bumped the release date of their third album from May 21 to June 25. ...

Slayer guitarist Kerry King makes a guest appearance on the title track of Hatebreed's Perseverance, which comes out March 26. ... K's Choice, the Belgium band behind the 1996 single "Not an Addict," will release their fourth album, Almost Happy, April 23. ... 10, the 10th mix album from drum'n'bass producer DB, is due March 19. The follow-up to The Secret Art of Science includes tracks from Goldie and Optical. ...

02.21.02

Toya, the "I Do!!" songstress out of the Nelly/St. Lunatics camp, will shoot a video for her next single, "No Matta What (Party All Night)," at the end of the month. ... Elsewhere in protégé news, Tina Novak, the first artist She'kspere signed to his own Spere Records label, will release Been Around the World on April 23. ... Goo Goo Dolls have set an April 9 release date for Gutterflower, their proper follow-up to 1998's Dizzy Up the Girl. The album's first single, "Here Is Gone," will be released to radio and video outlets in early March. ...

The soundtrack to "The Scorpion King," which includes tracks from Godsmack, P.O.D., Hoobastank and Nickelback, among others, can now be sampled online at scorpionkingmusic.com. The LP is scheduled for release on March 26 ... Also due March 26 is a live album documenting last year's Pledge of Allegiance Tour. The disc features multiple tracks by System of a Down ("Chop Suey!," "Bounce," "Toxicity"), Slipknot ("People = Sh--," "The Heretic Anthem," "New Abortion") and Mudvayne ("Under My Skin," "Pharmaecopia"), and cuts by No One and American Head Charge. ... Having recently opened for Creed, Tantric are gearing up for a headlining tour with Mesh and Daysleeper opening. The stint will begin in Philadelphia on March 10 and end in San Francisco on April 7. ...

  Eels will release their fifth album, Souljacker, on March 12 and support the LP with a tour that begins March 16 in Austin, Texas, and runs through April 10 in Los Angeles. ... British buzz band Starsailor will launch a two-week club tour February 28 in Toronto. The trek, supporting the January release Love Is Here, wraps up March 16 in Dallas, one night after the band performs with Neil Finn, Ed Harcourt and Actual Tigers at South by Southwest. ... Belle and Sebastian are packing up their kilts and hitting the road. The Scottish darlings will kick off the U.S. leg of their bi-continental tour on April 28 at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California, and hit Austin, Philly, Boston, New York, Detroit and Chicago before wrapping up in Atlanta on May 13. ...

Everclear frontman Art Alexakis will kick off a 16-date solo tour March 21 in Detroit. Alexakis is also producing an album for Flipp, the singer said on Everclear's official Web site. ... Electronic music veterans Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin and Erick Morillo will headline Destination - NYC, an all-night concert at the South Street Seaport in New York City on March 2. Three days later, Cox will DJ and sign copies of his latest mix album, Global, at the Virgin Megastore in NYC's Union Square at 6 p.m. ...

One of these things just doesn't belong — Bonnie Raitt, Rick James, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, the Doobie Brothers, War and No Doubt are scheduled to perform at the 20th annual SunFest in West Palm Beach, Florida. The art and music festival takes place May 1-5 (visit www.sunfest.com for more information). ... "Final Rinse," a film featuring Sebastian Bach and Joey Ramone, will be screened in Los Angeles on February 22 and 26. The movie also features performance footage by the Last Hard Men — a group featuring Bach, the Breeders' Kelley Deal and Jimmy Flemion of the Frogs — plus Biohazard, the Dictators, Slaughter and others.

• The Chemical Brothers
• Johnny Gill
• Motörhead
• Soulfly
• Slayer

Fresh from their stint at the Lane Bryant lingerie show, Kiss will represent all that rocks and rolls during the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City on Sunday. The band will perform "Rock and Roll All Nite" in full costume as the very personification of rock and roll during a showcase spotlighting popular American musical genres. ... Toya, the "I Do!!" songstress out of the Nelly/St. Lunatics camp, will shoot a video for her next single, "No Matta What (Party All Night)," at the end of the month. ... Elsewhere in protégé land, Tina Novak, the first artist She'kspere signed to his own Spere Records label, will release Been Around the World on April 23. ... Goo Goo Dolls have set an April 9 release date for Gutterflower, their proper follow-up to 1998's Dizzy Up the Girl. The album's first single, "Here Is Gone," will be released to radio and video outlets in early March. ...

The soundtrack to "The Scorpion King," which includes tracks from Godsmack, P.O.D., Hoobastank and Nickelback, among others, can now be sampled online at scorpionkingmusic.com. The LP is scheduled for release on March 26 ... A live album documenting last year's Pledge of Allegiance Tour will be released March 26. The disc features multiple tracks by System of a Down ("Chop Suey!," "Bounce," "Toxicity"), Slipknot ("People = Sh--," "The Heretic Anthem," "New Abortion") and Mudvayne ("Under My Skin," "Pharmaecopia"), and cuts by No One and American Head Charge. ... Having recently opened for Creed, Tantric are gearing up for a headlining tour with Mesh and Daysleeper opening. The stint will begin in Philadelphia on March 10 and end in San Francisco on April 7. ...

Eels will release their fifth album, Souljacker, on March 12 and support the LP with a tour that begins March 16 in Austin, Texas, and runs through April 10 in Los Angeles. ... British buzz band Starsailor will launch a two-week club tour February 28 in Toronto. The trek, supporting the January release Love Is Here, wraps up March 16 in Dallas, one night after the band performs with Neil Finn, Ed Harcourt and Actual Tigers at South by Southwest. ... Belle and Sebastian are packing up their kilts and hitting the road. The Scottish darlings will kick off the U.S. leg of their bi-continental tour on April 28 at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California, and hit Austin, Philly, Boston, New York, Detroit and Chicago before wrapping up in Atlanta on May 13. ...

A backyard birthday barbecue band gets burned when burglars carry off two electric guitars — just another day in the courtroom of Judge Joe Brown? Not when the missing axes belong to the irrepressible Ike Turner, who will appear on Friday's program seeking payback. ... Everclear frontman Art Alexakis will kick off a 16-date solo tour March 21 in Detroit. Alexakis is also producing an album for Flipp, the singer said on Everclear's official Web site. ... Electronic music veterans Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin and Erick Morillo will headline Destination - NYC, an all-night concert at the South Street Seaport in New York City on March 2. Three days later, Cox will DJ and sign copies of his latest mix album, Global, at the Virgin Megastore in NYC's Union Square at 6 p.m. ...

One of these things just doesn't belong — Bonnie Raitt, Rick James, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, the Doobie Brothers, War and No Doubt are scheduled to perform at the 20th annual SunFest in West Palm Beach, Florida. The art and music festival takes place May 1-5 (visit www.sunfest.com for more information). ... "Final Rinse," a film featuring Sebastian Bach and Joey Ramone, will be screened in Los Angeles on February 22 and 26. The movie also features performance footage by the Last Hard Men — a group featuring Bach, the Breeders' Kelley Deal and Jimmy Flemion of the Frogs — plus Biohazard, the Dictators, Slaughter and others. ...

02.20.02

Almost a year after he revealed he was making "sexier" songs, we'll get to see how much of a love daddy Wyclef Jean really is when he releases his third solo album, Masquerade, on June 18. ... Q-Tip and Spike Lee have been hard at work shooting what will be a 12- to 15-minute short film/video for Tip's second solo album, Kamaal the Abstract, due April 23. Filming began in December and will resume shortly. ... Beck will perform two shows in the Los Angeles area this week to warm up for his February 26 Recording Artists Coalition benefit with Eddie Vedder and Mike Ness. Beck's official Web site, www.beck.com, is giving away five pairs of tickets to each of the gigs in San Juan Capistrano (February 21) and Hollywood (February 24). ...

Ginuwine joined P. Diddy as the mogul shot the sequel to his "I Need a Girl" remix video this weekend in Miami with director Benny Boom. It will be the second release from Diddy's P. Diddy and the Family Present: This Is the Remix, which is now set to drop May 7. ... No Doubt's Adrian Young and his wife welcomed a son, Mason James Young, into their lives on February 16. The Mohawked drummer, dressed in hospital attire at Thursday's Love Rocks concert, said he had been in the hospital with his newborn son all week and was going to bring him home after their show. ...

He can plant a house, he can build a tree: A cover of Nirvana's "Breed" is among the nuggets featured on roots rocker Steve Earle's rarities collection, Side Tracks, due April 9. The LP also features Earle's new single, "Some Dreams," which will be featured in the Dennis Quaid movie "The Rookie." ... Rancid's Tim Armstrong and New Found Glory's Jordan Pundik provide guest vocals on a track tentatively titled "Don't Leave Her" on the debut album from Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge's side project, Boxcar Racer. Blink bassist Mark Hoppus also sings on the record. ... Chaos Comics will launch a Static-X comic book series in July. In other Static-X news, the band announced they will hold meet-and-greets with their fans on the remaining dates of their current tour. ...

"Scratch," a turntablism documentary from director Doug Pray ("Hype!"), will be screened to hip-hop audiences before Dilated Peoples take the stage each night on their upcoming tour, which kicks off March 5 in San Francisco and is running through the Winter Music Conference in Miami later in the month. Turntablists GrandWizzard Theodore, Z-Trip and Jazzy Jay are scheduled for all of the dates, while Mix Master Mike, DJ Swamp, DJ Craze and Q-Bert will perform in various cities. ... Back and Forth, the first full-length studio album from English DJ Tall Paul, will feature the hit club single "Precious Heart," which samples INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart." The album is due April 23.

• Kiss
• Godsmack
• Toya
• eels
• Wyclef Jean

Toya
Photo: Arista

Here are the clues: the artist is from St. Louis, sometimes uses delivery that mixes singing and rapping, and currently has the sixth-best-selling single in the country.

Nelly's your final answer, right? Wrong. A cutie from the Louie has popped up, and her name is Toya.

"Now that Nelly has done his thing, there's a magnifying glass on St. Louis," Toya said of the multiplatinum MC she often refers to as a big brother. "So I definitively have to give respect and props to Nelly and the [St.] Lunatics for opening the door up. Now I'm just trying to do my share of representing for the ladies." These days Toya, whose self-titled debut will drop August 7, has been putting it down hard for the ladies with her unabashed musical enticement of a six-foot, light-skinned, braided-up dream thug on "I Do!!" The singer co-wrote the song with one of her managers and was inspired to pen the lyrics after seeing male model Sean Newman (who happens to be the former beau of Toya's Arista labelmate, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes) in the video for Kandi's "Don't Think I'm Not." "I got a chance to meet him at a party about two months ago," Toya said. "I walked up to him, and I was like, 'I wrote a song about you.' I think he thought it was just a line or something, but I was like, 'No, I'm for real. You'll hear it.'" Newman, along with a few other people, has since heard the tune. And while the cut's crackling synthesizers, chimes and bass have people shaking it fast, the words have been stirring up more attention than the beat.

"There's a lot of St. Louis slang in the song," said Toya, who classifies her music as a mixture of R&B and hip-hop called "Rop." "I say, 'He's got a hickey in his pocket.' Everybody thinks it's X-rated or something, and I'm like, 'Y'all, the song is totally PG.' It means he's got money in his pocket. Another term I use is 'He's an iced-out balla.' It can mean material stuff, but my definition wasn't material stuff. It's more like if you think you've got it going on, you have that self-confidence, then you're iced-out in my book." Eighteen years ago, Toya's mom knew her baby was going to grow up to be a frosty playa. She had so much confidence in her little one that she wanted to name her after one of music's royal family — Toya Rodriguez's first name is short for LaToya, as in LaToya Jackson.

"My mother was either going to name me Janet, Rebbie or LaToya," said the singer, whose parents are black and Hispanic. "I'm glad it was LaToya." Toya was indoctrinated into the St. Lunatics extended family in December when she met Nelly's manager Courtney Benson at a studio where she was trying to cop some beats to start working on a demo.

"I went in there and sung for him, and he was like, 'OK, do you have a demo?'" Toya said. Living by her "fake it 'til you make it" credo, she lied and spent the next three days going from her classes at St. Louis University, to work, to the studio, where she recorded until 6 a.m. Not only did her 72 hours of work overdrive turn into a production deal with Hard to Hit Entertainment the next week, but Arista CEO Antonio "LA" Reid brought her to his label in January and made her project a top priority.

Reid, the album's executive producer, showed his clout by calling on beatsmiths such as Soulshock & Karlin and Dallas Austin. Meanwhile, Nelly and his fellow St. Lunatic Murphy Lee have also recorded for Toya.

"I don't have the year or two years to get that buzz going, so I have to work 10 times harder," Toya said. "I told my management and my record company whatever it takes for the world to know who I am, I'm willing to do. Everything's falling into place."

• Toya