The MOBOs’ Nomination List And Protests

Gay rights group Outrage! has asked the BBC to drop coverage of this year’s MOBOs unless two nominees for Best Reggae Artist are left out.

Outrage! has accused Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel of recording homophobic lyrics, although Vybz Kartel recently issued a statement saying that’s all in the past.

Acts like Norah Jones Jamie Cullum, Denys Baptiste, KebMo and Amy Winehouse who are all up for the Best Jazz Act. Estelle, Wiley, Alicia Keys, Brandy, 2Play, Ludacris, Outkast and more are up for various other nominations at the MOBOs. See the full list below.Best RnB act

Alicia Keys
Beyonce
Brandy
Lemar
Usher

Best hip hop act

G-Unit
Jay-Z
Kanye West
Outkast
Twista

Best video

Jamelia – See It In A Boy’s Eyes
Jay-Z – 99 Problems
Kanye West – All Falls Down
Kelis – Milkshake
Ludacris – Stand Up
Usher – Yeah

Best jazz act

Amy Winehouse
Denys Baptiste
Jamie Cullum
KebMo
Norah Jones

Best reggae single

Elephant Man – Jook Gal
Sean Paul – Like Glue
Toots and The Maytals – True Love
Vybz Kartel – Picture This

Best producer

Kanye West
R Kelly
Timbaland
The Neptunes
Wiley

Best world music act in association with

Angelique Kidjo – Sony
Bebel Gilberto – Atlantic
Cesaria Evora – BMG France
Youssou N’Dour – Atlantic
Daara J – Wrasse

Best collaboration

2Play ft. Raghav and Jucxi – So Confused
Brandy and Kanye West – Talk About Our Love
Marques Houston and Joe Budden – Clubbin’
Twista and Kanye West – Slow Jamz
Usher and Ludacris – Yeah

Best single in association with

Jamelia – Thank You – Parlophone
Kanye West – All Falls Down – Roc-A-Fella
Mario Winans – I Don’t Wanna Know – Bad Boy
Outkast – Hey Ya! – Arista/BMG
Usher – Burn – Arista/BMG

Best album

Alicia Keys – The Diary Of Alicia Keys
Jay-Z – Black Album
Joss Stone – Soul Sessions
Kanye West – College Dropout
Outkast -Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Usher – Confessions

Best UK radio DJ

Ace and Invisible – 1Xtra
Gilles Peterson – Radio One
Jigs – Choice FM
Semtex – 1Xtra
Shortee Blitz and Big Ted – Kiss 100
Spoony – Radio One
Steve Sutherland – Galaxy
Tim Westwood – Radio One
Trevor Nelson – Radio One
Zane Lowe – Radio One

Best UK club DJ

Manny Norte
Matt White
Panjabi Hit Squad
Shortee Blitz
Steve Sutherland
Rampage
Westwood

UK act of the year

Amy Winehouse
Dizzee Rascal
Jamelia
Lemar
Joss Stone
The Streets

Best UK newcomer

Estelle
Gemma Fox
Shystie
Taz
Wiley

Best ringtone

Black Eyed Peas – Where Is The Love?
Eamon – F*** You
Mario Winans – I Don’t Wanna Know
Outkast – Hey Ya!
Usher – Yeah

Best gospel act

Fred Hammond
Michelle Williams
Siani
Raymond & Co

Outstanding achievement – to be announced

Lifetime achievement – to be announced

The awards, hosted by Pharrell Williams, will be held this Thursday, September 30 and highlights will be screened on BBC 1 on October 6.

Norah Jones Goes Platinum

Norah Jones has done it again. Her sophomore album, the brilliant Feels Like Home has hit the quadruple-platinum mark, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Since its April release this year, the half Caucasian/half Indian soultress’ album has shipped four million copies to US retailers, and that’s not counting the other millions she has sold all over the world.

The album includes the hit Sunrise. The RIAA also recently certified Norah Jones’ Grammy-winning debut, Come Away With Me, to nine times platinum.

What a feat!

Norah Jones To Break All Records Again?

Norah Jones will be releasing her first single off her new record entitled “Sunrise” real soon and the excitement’s been building.

The music industry and countless fans are looking at her 10th February US release of “Feels Like Home” as the first potential smash of 2004.

“We expect the new album to be the No. 1 seller for Sam Goody in its first week,” says Donna Beadle, spokeswoman for Sam Goody parent Musicland.

Indeed, anticipation for her sophomore Blue Note album is running extremely high after the success of 2002’s “Come Away With Me,” which swept last year’s Grammy Awards.

By the time the Grammy frenzy rolled around, Jones had learned how to handle the ever-present spotlight, but not before contemplating walking away, she reveals in one of her first interviews about the new album.

“I did, at one point in May 2002, feel too much weight,” the Indian/Caucasian beauty said. “I let people know I had a limit and there were just certain things we don’t want to do, like not have so much work without a few days off. And I thought, ‘If this is how it’s going to be, I don’t want to do this.'”I’m really thankful that I know what my limits are and that I can exercise my right to say no.”

That attitude should serve her well this time around. Jones admits to getting uptight about the project, but only when someone asks her how much pressure she feels. “Every single person and their mama asks me that,” the 24-year-old singer says.

Though it’s unrealistic to expect “Feels Like Home” to match the stratospheric sales of “Come Away With Me,” Blue Note executives know that even stellar sales could be viewed as disappointing if they don’t reach the same high watermark.

“I think it’s crazy to say it will sell more than 18 million,” Blue Note president/CEO Bruce Lundvall adds.

Crazy, maybe, but that’s the benchmark set by Jones’ first album, “Come Away With Me.” It sold 18 million units worldwide, according to her label.

Good luck, Norah.

Norah Jones On The Cover Of Vanity Fair

Norah Jones graces the cover of the November 2003 music issue of Vanity Fair.

Also shown on the cover are Willie Nelson, Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Anthony Kiedas, Lucinda Williams and others.

The issue, which Norahs’ fans are grabbing like hotcakes is available at newstands now so get a copy real quickly.

See the Vanity Fair cover at this this link

In the meantime, Norah contributes a verse to one song on the latest release from hip-hop group Outkast. The song is entitled ‘Take Off Your Cool’ from their album ‘Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.’

Edinburgh’s MTV EMA May See Kylie, Norah Jones And More Appearing

Scotland’s Edinburgh has officially been named as the host of one of the world’s biggest and most talked about showbiz events.

This year’s MTV Europe Music Awards will be held at the Ocean Terminal in Leith, Edinburgh.

Press details have been coming in that state Kylie Minogue will be penciled in to perform at the awards. Other artistes performing or showing up will be revealed in due course but as it stands now, insiders say that possiblities include Norah Jones, Madonna, Kelis, Girls Aloud, Emma Bunton, One True Voice, Evanescence and Will Young, among a whole list of others.

The event will take place in November this year and is expected to attract thousands of visitors, in the process placing Scotland firmly in the international spotlight.

First Minister Jack McConnell said “This is a fantastic opportunity, not just for the city, but for Scotland, to show the world why we are a major force in hosting top class events.”

Norah Jones Becomes A Best Selling Artist

A lot of music fans came away with Norah Jones’ Grammy-sweeping album, the sensational must-have ‘Come Away With Me’ last week, giving the CD a record post-award sales spike, industry tracker Nielsen Soundscan says.

The album surged to the top of US pop album charts, selling 621,000 copies in the week of 2nd of March, up 477,000 copies from the prior week.

The latest sales week reflected consumer activity immediately following the Grammy Awards, which were held in Madison Square Garden on 23rd of February.

Both Blue Note, the EMI Group jazz label that is home to Norah Jones, and Nielsen Soundscan said the spike in sales represented the biggest Grammy boost since Soundscan began tracking US retail record sales in 1991 and possibly the biggest ever.

“The numbers prove what we’ve known all along. Norah Jones is a very special and talented artist and we are thrilled that the Grammys have exposed her work to a whole new audience,” said David Munns, EMI Recorded Music North America Chairman and Chief executive officer.

Global sales for ‘Come Away With Me’ are well past the 9 million mark, making the 23 year old daughter of famed Indian musician, Ravi Shankar one of the best selling artists of 2002-2003, EMI said.

Norah Jones, Eminem and More In The new Grammy Nominees CD

Vanessa Carlton, Eminem and Norah Jones are among the artists featured on the 2003 Grammy Nominees CD, due out in all good music outlets on the 11th of February.

The ninth edition of the CD series honours many of this year’s Grammy-nominated artists and songs in several major categories.

The 19 tracks on the CD represent select nominees from the record of the year, album of the year, best new artist, best female pop vocal performance, best male pop vocal performance, and best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal categories.

The Recording Academy teamed up with Warner Music Group for the release, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the CD will benefit music-related charities, including the Academy’s MusiCares Foundation and the Grammy Foundation.

Robbie Williams Loves Everything About Norah Jones

Norah Jones threw some 3,000 Singaporeans a truly magnificent concert last week and everybody realised just how cool and down to earth she is, including Robbie Williams who flew into Singapore especially early just so he can attend her gig. He was in town for the MTV Asia Awards 2003.

He said “She’s awesome. I just love everything about her. That voice… My gosh! In essence, she is simply a breath of fresh air in the music industry.”

Norah Jones To Do More Gigs In Singapore Again

Norah Jones will be coming down to Singapore again – this time for a full concert! And it’s all because of popular demand!

The talented 23 year old singer and pianist was in town last month for the taping of MTV Asia Sessions at the Victoria Concert Hall. She will be here again to perform at Raffles City Convention Center on the 23rd of January 2003, at 8 pm.

Tickets are priced at S$49, S$89 and S$149. Pre-bookings are available now by calling the hotline number 6549 7060 or email concerts@m2us.com. Counter sales information are still unavailable at the moment.

Norah Jones is also scheduled to perform in Hong Kong before coming down to Singapore but details have yet to be confirmed.

Norah Jones On Not Being 100% Jazz

MTV spoke with the Miss India-pretty Norah Jones recently and they asked her what she thought describing her as a jazz artist?

She said “Frankly, I don’t care what people think. I’m on Blue Note Records, which is a huge jazz label, and I got introduced to them when I was primarily more of a jazz artist. I sang jazz standards. That’s all I did.”

“But as we were making our record, I started writing songs and getting into other things. The record didn’t turn out to be much of a jazz record and I know that and they know that. And I don’t claim to be a jazz artist anymore and I don’t claim it to be a jazz record. But people do call it that because of Blue Note I think.”

“It’s not accurate but it doesn’t matter. It’s just music. It shouldn’t be that big a deal. I know true jazz fans don’t like it because they’re like, “No, that’s not jazz,” but whatever. I agree so. Others call me the next Sarah McLachlan. Really, it’s not a big deal. I don’t get upset. If people think that’s jazz, they don’t know… they should listen to Miles Davis and stuff.”