Darien Brockington's name is an ancient Persian word meaning "He who upholds the good." Darien believes that his name is the embodiment of his purpose in life and is the essence of the music he creates. As Darien puts it, "I'm trying to create music that can be played throughout the ages."

Tiffany Affair delivers a fresh young urban pop sound that is hip enough to appeal to both urban and Top 40 audiences. The first single, "Start A Fire," which was produced by Stargate, the Norwegian production duo responsible for Ne-Yo’s smash hit "So Sick," features the group’s soulful R&B vocals, driving rhythmic production, and edgy hip-hop flavor, thanks to a guest rap by Jazze Pha protégé Jody Breeze.

Thirteen years into her career Mary J. Blige is still the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. She was anointed the title even before her boundary-breaking, genre-making debut smash "What's the 411?" dropped in 1992 and now on the heels of the success of her new album, The Breakthrough, Mary J. Blige announces a summer headlining tour featuring opening acts Jaheim and Latoya. Interested in tickets? Get them here.

There's not a whole lot of new releases this week since it's almost the holidays. But there are some noteable albums hitting shelves this week from artists such as Beck, Cypress Hill, Daddy Yankee, Fuel, Lamb of God, Snoop Dogg and Youngbloodz. Check out this list of noteworthy releases (many with reviews) for Tuesday, December 13th, 2005...