The purported cover sleeve of Toronto MC Drake and his producer Noah "40" Shebib's posthumous Aaliyah album has surfaced online.

Barry Hankerson, the late R&B singer's uncle, former manager and CEO of her label Blackground Records, tweeted the cover art along with new details about the release on Wednesday (August 29).

"Aaliyah posthumous 2013 16 unreleased tracks produced by @Drake @OVO40 Enough said #TeamAaliyah RT," he added in a series of tweets.

The cover art features a black and white photo of Aaliyah and her two monograms of her signature "A" logo.

Confusion has surrounded the project since Drake posted the Shebib-produced song "Enough Said" on his blog earlier this month. Aaliyah's brother has denied the family is involved in the release and frequent collaborators Timbaland and Missy Elliott were initially rumoured to be on board but a rep for Elliott later denied the claim.

In an interview with MuchMusic, Drake said that he and Shebib were executive producing the album and insisted that Aaliyah's family, management and label are supporting the project.

(via Idolator)

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Director Spike Lee's documentary about the making of Michael Jackson's 1987 album Bad had its world premiereat the Venice Film Festival on Friday (August 31).

Released to coincide with the landmark pop album's 25th anniversary re-issue, Bad 25, the film is Lee's "love letter" to the late King of Pop. In a press conference , the director told reporters the film was a chance to focus on Jackson's music, rather than the scandals that plagued his image.

"I think that for too many years we've concentrated on stuff about Michael Jackson that has nothing to do with the music. This is a time to concentrate on the music, on the genius of Michael Jackson," he said. "It was a chance to appreciate his creative process."

The film features home video footage shot by Jackson himself as well his collaboraters during rehearsals and interviews with Martin Scorsese, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, L.A. Reid and Kanye West.

"We all are blessed with the final work, but it's rare that you get to see how something is put together," Lee added. We just see the final product. We don't see the blood, sweat and tears, all the work that goes into how the masters work."

U.S. television network ABC has picked up the television rights to the film, which will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. The Bad 25 re-issue is due out on September 18.

(via Reuters)

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Randy Jackson has reportedly been downgraded from judge to "mentor" on American Idol.

TMZ reports that the singer and producer (above, right) will be replaced by Nicki Minaj, though the eccentric rapper's deal is apparently "99% done" and "still not a sure thing just yet."

Citing anonymous sources, the celebrity gossip site states that some execs for the long-running Fox singing competition series feel Jackson is not suited to the mentor role but they need him because "he's the glue that helps keep the show together."

The move has reportedly angered new judge Mariah Carey, who is co-managed by Jackson. "We're told the honchos are keenly aware Mariah Carey isn't a fan of Minaj and doesn't want her at the table," the site says. "A fact producers LOVE because they think the conflict and tension will be good for the show."

Earlier this year, Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler and pop star Jennifer Lopez departed the judging panel after two seasons.

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A behind-the-scenes video of Lady Gaga's cover shoot for the September 2012 issue of Vogue magazine has revealed how much airbrushing was required to give the pop star an extremely tiny waist.

In the image, shot by photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot, the "Born This Way" singer is looking lanky and svelte in a purple Marc Jacobs dress. However, the video footage is decidely less flattering. In addition to shrinking her figure, it shows how much the re-touchers altered her skin tone and pumped up the dress.

In a recent blog post on her website, the star admitted to "massive struggles with my body image" in the past year.

Watch Gaga's Vogue cover shoot video here.

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The hip-hop world is mourning the death of influential manager Chris Lighty, who was found dead in his Bronx, New York home on Thursday (August 30). He was 44.

As the founder of Violator Entertainment, Lighty was an integral force behind the careers of several hip-hop and R&B artists including 50 Cent, Diddy, Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes, Diamond D, LL Cool J, Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip, Maxwell, Ja Rule and many more.

The New York Daily News reports that Lighty shot himself in the head on Thursday morning after a heated argument with his estranged wife. Law enforcement sources told the paper that the music exec had a financially difficult year.

As news of his death spread, several MCs took to Twitter to share condolences.

"Chris Lighty U taught me 2 B Fearless!" tweeted Missy Elliott. "U help build So many Artist Careers! This is such a sad time 4 all the lives u touched"

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The Pussy Riot saga has taken a violent turn. The Guardian reports that two Russian women were found stabbed to death in Kazan, Russia with the words 'Free Pussy Riot' scrawled in blood on a wall.

The deaths have prompted Kremlin supporters to claim that the jailed feminist punk band has ignited a dangerous radicalism in Russia though one investigator has said the bloody slogan could be a red herring and that the culprit could be trying to mislead authorities into believing the Pussy Riot supporters are responsible.

Police believe the 76-year-old and 38-year-old victims were killed over the weekend.

On August 17, Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were sentenced to two years in prison on charges of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" after they staged a performance criticizing President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral. The case has divided the Russian public and made headlines around the world.

"What happened in Kazan is horrible. Pussy Riot was always for nonviolent protest," said the band's lawyer Nikolai Polozov. "This incident is either a horrendous provocation or [the work of] a psychopath."

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British-Irish boy band One Direction have revealed the cover sleeve and release date for their second album, Take Me Home.

The nostalgic cover shot (above) features the boys clamouring around a vintage British red telephone booth. Due out on November 13 and will be preceded by the single "Live While We're Young," which will hit the radio on September 24.

The album will feature collaborations with producers and songwriters such as Rami Yacoub & Carl Falk and Savan Kotecha, Ed Sheeran and McFly’s Tom Fletcher, as well as "input" from pop hitmakers Dr. Luke, Shellback and Toby Gad, according to a press release.

Next year, the band will embark on an arena tour of North America that will include four Canadian shows Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

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2 Chainz has teamed up with Kanye West and director Andreas Nilsson to create an oddball music video for the club banger "Birthday Song."

The clip serves up a hefty helping of booty-shaped cake, creepy clowns, deadpan humour and of course, plenty of well-endowed party guests. The Atlanta MC, who recently released his debut album Based on a T.R.U. Story was initially at odds with the director's vision for the video but the two eventually found common ground.

"It's very trippy," 2 Chainz said in an interview with MTV. "I actually let Kanye's director shoot it... and we were on the phone going over the treatment. I was just being conceptual. It's called 'Birthday Song,' so what do you think [of]? I think cake, balloons, candles, normal birthday stuff, but this guy just goes up the street, turns left and just keeps going left. He's telling me something like, 'I think it'd be nice if we put a cupcake on a girl's butt and shoot it off in fast motion, then blow up the cupcake.' So I said, 'Bro, come back home, come back!' "

Watch the video for "Birthday Song" here and check MSN's interview with 2 Chainz here.

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The Rolling Stones may play two concerts in November to mark their 50th anniversary.

An unnamed source told Billboard that the rock icons are planning two shows at London's O2 Arena and two at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The source added that Richard Branson and Australian promoter Paul Dainty are promoting the gigs and the band will be paid $25 million for all four concerts.

In other Stones news, the group announced that Crossfire Hurricane, a career-spanning documentary directed by Brett Morgan, will be released theatrically in the United Kingdom in October and premiere in the United States on HBO later in the year.

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Reclusive rock star David Bowie made a rare public statement earlier this week to deny reports that he's co-curating a forthcoming exhibition of his costumes at London's Victoria & Albert Museum.

In response to a Guardian article that stated Bowie is directly involved in the show, which will open in 2013, the star took to his Facebook page and posted his first public statement in two years:

"Contrary to recently published reports relating to the announcement by the V&A of an upcoming David Bowie Exhibition, I am not a co-curator and did not participate in any decisions relating to the exhibition," the 65-year-old wrote. "The David Bowie Archive gave unprecedented access to the V&A and museum's curators have made all curatorial and design choices."

He added: "A close friend of mine tells me that I am neither 'devastated,' 'heartbroken' nor 'uncontrollably furious' by this news item.

London's Mirror newspaper reports that Bowie is unhappy with the curarotorial decisions and fears the exhibition will come off as a vanity project.

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