Some of the more interesting news and rumors from the past week:
- D'Angelo has pled not guilty to soliciting a prostitute in New York.
- Chris Brown is begging people to get his new single played on the radio.
- Raheem DeVaughn's new album debuted at No. 9 this week.
- Monica and her fiance, Rodney "Rocko" Hill, have split up.
- Ex Dramatics lead singer Ron Banks has been laid to rest.
- Lloyd has left Murder Inc. for Interscope Records.
- Mary J. Blige plans on writing a memoir.
- Don't sleep on Nikki & Rich.
R&B News N Rumors: 3/15/10 Edition originally appeared on About.com R & B on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 12:52:04.
A few days ago yours truly blogged about the song 
March is Women's History Month, so periodically over the next few weeks, we'll be posting profiles on the About R&B/Soul site of some of the great women in R&B and Soul music history. Profiled today is the legendary Patti LaBelle. Patti's professional musical career dates back to the early 1960s when she was a member of girl group the Bluebelles. But it wasn't until the mid-1970s that she became a superstar when the song "Lady Marmalade" became a huge hit for the Bluebelles (after they changed their name to Labelle). After Labelle broke up, she went on to achieve solo stardom in the 1980s and early '90s. For more about her life and times, click the link below for the 
One of the things I really love about being a music critic is the ability to expose people to great music that they might not otherwise hear. And that's the case with modern-retro Soul act Nikki & Rich. The duo consists of Nikki Leonti, a California-born pastor's daughter who grew up singing in church; and Rich Velonskis (aka Rich Skillz), a Queens, NY-born hip-hop/R&B producer who got his start spinning in New York City clubs. I can't begin to tell you how impressed - and surprised - I was when I first heard their music, particularly the song "Cat and Mouse," a sassy doo-wop meets hip-hop joint about the courtship games that couples sometimes play. The song will be on their upcoming debut album which is due out later this year, but for now you can stream it by clicking the link below. And check back here on Friday, when I'll post another song from the album for your listening pleasure.
If you've taken a look at the official About.com list of R&B/Soul releases for March 2010, then you know that 
On his third studio album, neo-Soul singer 
As recently as a year ago, you could count on there being around 10 new R&B/Soul albums coming out in a given month. But these days, due to the economy, label mergers and other factors, it's a good month if there's more than five albums. There's six this month, and while that isn't a huge number, many of the artists themselves are huge names in the music business. Usher's Raymond Vs Raymond drops this month as does Mariah Carey's new remix album, Angel's Advocate, and Erykah Badu's New Amerykah Part Two, among others. For the full details, click the link below for the complete list of