NEW MUSIC: MONICA DUAL FIRST SINGLES

After months and months (wait years and years) Monica and J Records have finally found the "single" and have come to terms on the release of a new Monica album due out in March 2010. Via twitter, Monica has announced plans of a dual lead single release. The first single "Once In a Lifetime" is a mid tempo track with heavy synths with a very trendy feel which leads me to believe it will be a commercial hit. The other lead single "Love All Over Me" is a beautifully melodic ballad produced by longtime Monica contributor Jermaine Dupri that is reminiscent of Monica from her classic early days. Both songs are amazing (although i prefer "Love All Over Me"), and I really hope fans and the music public alike send these records to number one on the charts.

If you have been keeping up with the Monica show on BET, J Records had seemed to be giving Monica a really hard time. Watching the show, it seemed like Monica was not being treated like a priority act at all. They only want her album to be a measly ten tracks, and it seems like they only want a three single release. Perhaps the release of two lead singles, simultaneously, means the label will release five or six singles pending albums sales and reception. In addition, according to the show, the song "Betcha" and some Ne-Yo track were heavy contenders for the lead single treatment. Although, all the Monica tracks were on the show and on-line are decent, I would just release all of Monica's tracks separately, beginning with "Once In a Lifetime," because Monica's sound is not so varied that she needs to do a dual release unless one song were super uptempo and the other song were super demure, or very pop versus very soulful in other words where each song caters to two different musical audience. J Records must know the same audience is going to enjoy all of her singles so it makes no sense. If anything, Monica is just going to be competing with herself for impressions on radio. Nonetheless, I hope this dual release just means there will be several Monica singles and they give this album the red carpet treatment in terms of promotion and marketing for longevity because I am a firm believer that great albums can produce a strong number of singles (ie. Michael and Janet Jackson albums with six and seven single releases).