Mariah Carey has shot not one, but two new videos so far for her upcoming album, The Emancipation of Mimi. Both "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together" were shot in Los Angeles by director Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour," "Red Dragon"), who last worked with Carey in 1999 on her "Heartbreaker" clip. "It's Like That" has a Vegas casino story line, while in "We Belong Together" Carey races to the altar in her very own wedding dress, a Vera Wang number she wore back in 1993 when she married Tommy Mottola. The videos feature cameos by Jermaine Dupri (who produced both tracks), Eric Roberts and Jay-Z, among others. ...

A recording engineer who worked on Ray Charles' Grammy-winning Genius Loves Company has sued the singer's estate and record label for breach of contract, claiming that he was denied the appropriate credit on the album, according to one of his lawyers. Mark Fleming's attorneys filed the suit on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, just three days before Charles' final recording won eight Grammys, three of which Fleming's suit suggests he should have shared. ... Wyclef Jean and Chaka Khan will headline the sixth annual concert to benefit Children Uniting Nations, a Los Angeles mentoring program for foster children. The benefit and black-tie gala, which will be held on Oscar night (February 27), also includes a formal dinner and a live auction. "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul will serve as the master of ceremonies; guests expected to attend include Jamie Foxx and Paris Hilton. More information can be found at www.ChildrenUnitingNations.org. ...

Bride-to-be Kelly Rowland graces the cover of the April/ May issue of Modern Bride, and in the accompanying cover story she talks candidly about her relationship with Dallas Cowboy Roy Williams, whom she'll marry later this year. Among the revelations in the article is that Williams wanted to help plan the wedding, a task from which most men run. "He really put me in my place," Rowland said, "he was like, 'You're making all of the decisions, where do I come in?' " The Destiny's Child singer also jokes about the proposal: Apparently her man got down on one knee and asked, "Would you do me the honor of being my husband -- I mean wife?!" ... Former "American Idol" contestant Kimberley Locke has gotten engaged to her high school sweetheart, whom she's dated, on and off, for 10 years. The pair have not yet set a date for the wedding. Meanwhile, Locke is working on her sophomore album, which is scheduled to be released by the end of 2005. ...

Grandiose Swedish rockers the Soundtrack of Our Lives are bringing their aural assault to North America for a spring tour. The trek, in support of their upcoming album Origins Volume 1 (March 15), starts March 11 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and runs until April 6 in Vancouver, British Columbia. ... Sweater-nerds rejoice: Vancouver power-pop rockers the New Pornographers will wrap up the recording of their third album in March. Appearing on the LP, due in late summer, are usual suspects Neko Case and Destroyer's Dan Bejar. ...

Missing-in-action trip-pop chanteuse Esthero will finally come out of hibernation this spring. Wikked Lil' Girls, her first album since 1998's Breath From Another, features Andre 3000, Sean Lennon and Cee-Lo. ... It's been a while since we've heard from Geoff Wilkinson, the man behind the jazz-sampling one-hit wonder Us3. Well, Wilkinson is back with his first stateside Us3 album in seven years, Questions (April 26), which ditches his trademark jazz sampling for live music and vocals from South Africa's Mpho. As a reminder of the good old days, though, the album will feature two new remixes of Us3's biggest hit, "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)." ...

Two U.K. newspapers, the Sunday Times and The Sun, have agreed to pay Yusuf Islam (the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens) "substantial damages," after both alleged that Islam supported terrorism. According to a post on his Web site, in addition to paying damages, both newspapers also published apologies, stating that "Mr. Islam is not, and never has been, involved in or supported terrorism." The British-born Islam made headlines in September when he was removed from a flight because U.S. officials said his name appeared on a "no-fly list." ...

Dance rockers Bloc Party are planning their first North American invasion. The British quartet, whose debut album, Silent Alarm, drops March 22, will mount a 19-date tour that will kick off in New York on February 20, make a stop off at South by Southwest in March and then wrap up April 30 at Coachella. The band's singer, Kele Okereke, can also be heard on the track "Believe," which appears on the new Chemical Brothers album, Push the Button. ... Currently on tour with the Secret Machines and the Moving Units, Los Angeles noise-pop trio Autolux will tackle 13 dates in March and April with Ambulance LTD and then join the Raveonettes for 21 dates in May and June. ...

02.14.2005

Kevin Federline -- a.k.a. Mr. Britney Spears -- shows he's a real romantic in a cover story in the March issue of Details (his more famous wife also takes part). ([article id="1496925"]Click for photos from[/article] Details.) In it, we discover he likes to use the word "ass" a lot, Spears sometimes uses the odd phrase "motherchucker," and she thinks Rolling Stone and Us Weekly publisher Jann Wenner is a "big old fat man." The couple also insist their love is for real. "That's why I married him, because he's not a shallow mother----er Hollywood actor guy," Spears said. "She's f---ing proud of me," Federline boasted. "I could be sitting at home doing nothing. I could be playing video games." Speaking of doing nothing, Federline said that he's giving up dancing as a job because "I've done it, dude." Instead, he hopes to start a clothing company called Pair a Dice, because the couple have matching dice tattoos. "I want to do some cool casual stuff, like jeans and T-shirts and sweat suits," he told the magazine. "And then I also want to hit the flip side -- high-end, classy stuff, too." ... Meanwhile, the BBC has restricted the airing of the steamy ad for Britney's Curious perfume until after 7:30 p.m., according to a spokesperson for the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre. Less racy edits of the commercial -- which features a scantily clad Spears fantasizing about the man in the hotel room next door -- can air before the restricted time. ...

Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman and others will reprise their film roles from the upcoming "Batman Begins" in the video game of the same name. Due June 17, the game challenges players to step into the shadows of Gotham City's perilous criminal underworld as DC Comics' legendary Dark Knight, played by Bale, and use fear as their ultimate weapon. ... R&B singer D'Angelo's court date has been pushed back once again. The Grammy-winning artist was scheduled to be arraigned on charges of drunk driving and drug possession last Friday, but the date has been postponed to April 13. The charges stem from a January 9 incident in which D'Angelo was stopped for a traffic violation near his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. At the stop, his car was searched and officers found substances believed to be cocaine and marijuana. ...

Slim Thug's major-label debut, Already Platinum, has been pushed back to March. The Houston MC has decided to return to the studio to record new material after songs from the original version of the album were leaked. No word yet on an exact release date. ... Pete Rock, Rupee and Doug E. Fresh will lead a host of hip-hoppers at the Rap for Relief tsunami benefit concert at New York's B.B. King's Blues Club on February 22. Other acts scheduled to perform include Rahzel, Buckshot, J-Live, the High & Mighty, C-Rayz Walz and Sean Price. All proceeds from the concert will go to the Red Cross. Tickets are $20 in advance and extra donations will be accepted at the club that night. ...

Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle might have killer pipes and a tattoo that prominently displays the f-word, but one thing she doesn't have anymore is a drummer. In a post on TheDistillers.com, Andy Granelli -- who played drums on the Distillers' most recent record, 2003's Coral Fang -- wrote that he was leaving the group to devote more time to his other band, Darker My Love. "I am writing in to say that I have officially quit the Distillers," Granelli said. "I started Darker My Love ... as an outlet for us to play exactly what we wanted to, without compromise. So I feel now it is my time to go back to that." A spokesperson for the band had no information on who would be replacing Granelli. ... Vanessa Williams will show some love for her country when she sings the national anthem at NASCAR's Daytona 500 on Sunday. The singer will also take part in a tribute to America, during which she will sing "America the Beautiful." Joining her in the tribute will be Brian Wilson, Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik, and Clint Black. ...

With the biggest awards show in the film industry less than two weeks away, "The Aviator" took home the top honor of Best Film at England's equivalent of the Oscars. The Howard Hughes biopic also garnered the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award for Cate Blanchett, and several technical awards at the British Academy of Film and Television Awards on Saturday. Jamie Foxx won Best Actor for "Ray," while "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" won Orange Film of the Year, the only award chosen by the general public. ... The Clash's Joe Strummer, who died in 2002 of a heart attack, was honored on Saturday with a train named for him in the U.K., according to The Associated Press. The Strummer train, dedicated on Saturday at a railway station in Bristol, joins a long list of trains that have been named after famous people for the last 200 years in England. ...

Falling short of your daily recommended dose of 1950s biker-flick-inspired rock and roll? Well, you're in luck. Because on May 3, retro Danish rockers the Raveonettes will drop Pretty in Black, the follow-up to their 2003 album, Chain Gang of Love. The first single from the new record is "Love in a Trashcan." ...