Akon looks for fresh start on new CD (AP)

AP - Akon's explosive rise to the top of the music charts was fueled by feel-good songs and naughty grooves — but his criminal past was always an underlying part of his success. His breakthrough album was titled "Konvicted," his music company is called Konvict, and the clank of prison bars are often heard in his music.

U2 scrap Rick Rubin tracks on new album (Yahoo! Music)

Folk music, civil rights legend Odetta dies at 77 (AP)

AP - Odetta's monumental voice rang out in August 1963 when she sang "I'm on My Way" at the historic March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Brandy breaks 4-year recording hiatus (Reuters)

Reuters - You can't blame Brandy for being a little nervous stepping back into the recording studio. Four years have elapsed since the release of the R&B/pop singer's fourth album, "Afrodisiac." And it has been just two years since her headline-making car accident in which another driver died.