MUSIC                        

DAVID E. TALBERT LAUNCHES NEW SHOW … 'LOVE ON LAY-A-WAY' Starring Deborah Cox, Mel Jackson Martha Wash and Lenny Williams Packed with comedy, inspiration and unforgettable vocal performances Love on Lay-A-Way, the latest jewel in David E. Talbert's crown as America's most loved and prolific urban theater playwrights, opens Tuesday, February 11, at the Murphy Fine Arts Center in Baltimore. The show will tour across the country through June 2003 visiting cities such as New York, Miami, Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, New Orleans and Atlanta.

CARIBBEAN PULSE HITS THE BILLBOARD CHARTS WITH JUNIOR GONG California-based reggae group Caribbean Pulse, has slammed into four Billboard charts with a hot collaboration song, that they recorded with Grammy winner Damian "Junior Gong" Marley. The song is titled "Jah is My Rock" and was produced by Fabian Cooke.

HIP-HOP SUMMIT ACTION NETWORK ANNOUNCES "CAMPAIGN FOR RESPECT" Pepsi Boycott Announced at Press Conference. At a press conference Wednesday in New York City, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) called upon the hip-hop community to massively join the "Campaign For Respect," a national mobilization effort to challenge the "cultural disrespect" of Ludacris and hip-hop culture by Pepsi.

PEPSI ABOUT GET ROLLED ON ... There's a boycott brewing. Where's Bill O'Reilly now? By Davey D [ www.DaveyD.com ] Last year [August 2002] a big controversy occurred when Pepsi, the soft drink came under fire for hiring rap star Ludacris to be a spokesperson. Ultra-right wing, conservative talk show host Bill O'Reilly of Fox Television went on TV and the radio and had a field day blasting the soft drink company for what he deemed to be a bad moral decision.

702 ROCKS THE MIC ONCE AGAIN ON A SHOOTING 'STAR' After a three-year hiatus the party starters, show stoppers promise to deliver a new sound for heads to nod to, group member Irish Grinstead describes STAR, the newest album as, “a fresh twist on R&B; and hip hop. It’s not really pop, at the same time it’s not too hip hop, it’s right in between to where I can see a Busta Rhymes listening to the album as well as a Britney Spears.”

NEW VIDEO FROM "THE UNIT FEATURING QUEEN LATIFAH" CD FEATURING THE APOSOULS AND QUEEN LATIFAH Flavor Unit Records wraps up shooting today their second video with the Aposouls and Queen Latifah in Newark, New Jersey, which is the home for both. The single "Whooh" will impact radio nationally February 2003. This single was well accepted by one of the Nations toughest crowds, The Apollo.

PATTI LABELLE RECORDS DUET WITH SINGER / SONGWRITER TERRY STEELE On Day By Day, his long-anticipated solo debut on JTS Records, Terry Steele takes stock of his incredible catalogue and puts his own unique vocal stamp on several of his best known songs.

GOSPEL NEWS                        

GOSPEL EUR: Dorothy Norwood on BET On Sunday, February 9, at 10:30 EST, Gospel Legend Dorothy Norwood who is also a 2003 "Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album" Grammy Nominee will be the featured artist on BET's "Lift Every Voice.

THE HOLLYWOOD GOSPEL INSIDER AWARDS: Rolls out the Red Carpet. Diane Blackmon of the "Hollywood Gospel Insider Music Awards Ceremony & Brunch" will be rolling out the red carpet and search lights on February 15 and 16.