Drake Slams Universal

From Billboard.com:

Drake, who recently unleashed two new songs onto the Internet, slammed his label's parent company, Universal, for ordering that the songs be removed from his blog and other sites that have posted them.

"Universal needs to stop taking my f--king songs down" the Young Money artist tweeted. "I am doing this for the people not for your label."

The original versions of the two songs, "Marvins Room" and "Trust Issues," are no longer available from his site, although "Chopped up not slopped up" remixes can be streamed. The songs are reminiscent of both his debut EP/mixtape, "So Far Gone," and tracks by Drake-endorsed Toronto outfit The Weeknd.

Drake also announced in the blog posting that he'll be releasing an official new single next month, and that his second full-length "Take Care" will be released on October 24, which is also his birthday.

At presstime Universal reps had not responded to Billboard.biz's request for comment.

JoJo On Her New Album and Drake Remake

From Billboard.com:

A week after Drake released the emotional track "Marvin's Room" on his October's Very Own website, singer/songwriter JoJo whipped out a female version, titled "Marvin's Room (Can't Do Better)."

"I was drawn by the boldness and honesty of Drake's lyrics," says JoJo. "If something speaks to me, I get the itch to take a stab at it."

This latest itch also signals a rebirth for Joanna "JoJo" Levesque. When her third album, "Jumping Trains," arrives this fall, fans will encounter a more mature JoJo-both sonically and lyrically-than when she launched her career seven years ago. It's a style JoJo sums up as "pop with an anger management problem."

JoJo has been fighting for a musical makeover behind the scenes during the last few years. When then-label Blackground Records refused to release her from a seven-album contract, the 20-year-old expressed her frustration on YouTube. On October 12, 2009, JoJo finally reached a deal with Blackground to have "Jumping Trains" distributed by Interscope.

Then, in 2010, JoJo took matters into her own hands and released a mixtape "Can't Take That Away From Me." Her friskier voice turned heads, specifically on the sensational track "In the Dark."

JoJo recalls, "I got feedback that said, 'Wow, she's taking it too far. I hope JoJo doesn't follow the path [where artists] exploit their sexuality or curse.' But that's not my intention. My intention is to be transparent and truthful. Art imitates life, and that's what I allow it to do."

For "Jumping Trains," JoJo is collaborating with well-established producers like Danja and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and newcomers such as the Messengers and Da Internz.

"With this album, I've taken what's been going on in my life and dropped that into each song," says JoJo. "I want people to feel because that's what we all want. It's quite transparent for what I was going through."

'Marvin's Room' by Drake

"Another piece of the story" as Drake has posted on his October's Very Own blog is the reference to this new low-key track titled Marvin's Room. Just last month he posted another track titled Dreams Money Can Buy. Drake has also let it be known that a new single will be released next month while his new album, Take Care, will be released on October 24th.

Get Marvin's Room | More music by Drake