Queen B! No Promotion!

Call her a queen!!!!!! The Queen has arrived, and that an amazing weekend it was for Beyoncé! Surprising her fans with a new album, self entitled, Beyoncé, and also announcing more tour dates in the UK and Ireland! Beyoncé is on the rise, and much hate has also come her way. Being compared to Rhianna, and other Pop/R&B stars, Beyoncé has crushed the scene in my opinion, and many critics before me. Releasing an album at the stroke of midnight, and not promoting it at all, shook everyone up, and made one of the biggest frenzies that social media has seen in a while! The 14 track visual album, is exclusively available on iTunes, has sold a record of 430,000 albums the first day! If meeting the 600,000 albums in its first week, Beyoncé will definitely hold the best week ever in sales, with the record at that standing or above. (SeeTimes Entertainment Article Here).

What made Beyoncé make an album, and not let fans know anything about it? If many remember watching the remarkable HBO special from Beyoncé, “Life is but a Dream”, Beyoncé dove into many things that she believed music was about. She even at one point said that many artists are not making music anymore, that they are simply putting singles out, and not caring about their fans, and what the music may mean to them. Very powerful words were spoken in the documentary that she had done, and she gave us insight to the beginning to what she was working on. We had no idea what she was doing at that time, but judging from the numbers and the haters, she definitely will go down in history as the “Best Singer Alive”, just as her husband Jay-Z.

Although the album has not been released to stores yet, the numbers speak volumes, I guess we will have to wait until we see what Billboard has in store for us after the first week!.....Stay Tuned!

Preview visuals

Manager to Record Label CEO, Yandy Smith

Many know Ms. Yandy Smith as being from the hit sensation television show called “Love & Hip Hop New York”, but many do not know her hustle and grind to get to where she is at currently. She is a respectable woman in the music industry, and is constantly on the go with her two children, one biological, and one step-son, who is the son of her incarcerated fiancé Mandeecees (to see more about Mandeecees (click here to learn about Mandeecees). Ms. Smith has a lot on her plate, but it is nothing when it comes to her first love, and that is managing artist, and playing the role of a strong single mother.

Within recent years of Love & Hip Hop being a hit sensation, many of us have watched YS grow into a loving, supporting, and strong woman. From her fallout with Jim Jones when managing him, to her being the star of Love & Hip Hop and partnering with Mona Scott to produce the show. We, all women across America, and fans of the show wonder what drives YS to continue to do such time consuming things with two young children in her household, and how she even does it! I, myself, as being a single mother, a full-time student and employee, am tired from reading her story, but there is something about her passion and drive that just keeps her going.
In a recent interview with Tract Her Trail Her, YS says that “When I had a baby I realized that the whole sitting in the studio, or going to the club getting DJs to play my records just wasn’t going to be my thing” (read exclusive interview here). Just like most mothers, they want to spend more time with their children, and do more with them. You are being accountable as a mother, and I believe that YS is looking at her children’s best interest, instead of just her own.

As well as her natural ability to spot talent, YS is not alone in the starting of this business, she also has her partner and manager of many artist for years, Rich Dollaz, who is also a main feature from LHHNY. He has the natural ability to spot talent, as YS reports to Madam Noire. These two together are the new hit sensation in my opinion. You have many artist who have been on the search for good managers and record labels to be apart of, and with the new year ringing in, this has came just in time. YS and Dollaz plan on having a national tour to scout and launch their new record label, and are looking for serious people who have serious talent. To turn from a simple artist manager, into a woman building a record label, is why I admire Ms. Yandy Smith. Her hustle is real, and her grind and support of herself is what sets her apart from many. She is what drives the force of many of us African American women, who want to be apart of the music industry. The New Cassette Tape has not seen the rest of Ms. Yandy Smith, Stay Tuned.