NEW YORK (Billboard) - Toni Braxton is being released from her current recording contract after just one album, sources told Billboard.

The Grammy Award-winning R&B singer's latest disc, 2005's "Libra," has sold 431,000 units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It marked her debut recording for Blackground/Universal Motown.

Braxton, who logged the majority of her hits during her tenure with LaFace/Arista, remains the resident headliner at the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas, a gig she began last August.

Reuters/Billboard

Libra was a good album.
I hope she gets picked up soon by someone who will get behind her.

she's washed up now pretty much. if she stops making those r&b songs with hip-hipesque beats to it and go back to her classic sound, then maybe she would sell more.

Toni Braxton sues her former manager


Updated Fri. Jan. 12 2007 8:51 PM ET

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Toni Braxton sued her former personal manager Friday, saying he owes her at least $10 million for maneuvering to have her abandon a long, lucrative relationship with her record company and jump to his own record label.


The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan accuses Barry Hankerson of putting his financial interests ahead of Braxton's and using fraud, deception and double-dealing to get her to leave Arista Records.


"Hankerson actively sought to destroy Braxton's relationship with Arista through underhanded `double-talk,' telling Braxton that Arista was not interested in working with her anymore, while telling Arista that Braxton no longer wanted to record for Arista," the lawsuit said.


There was no public telephone listing to reach Hankerson for comment Friday, and a telephone listing for his company, Blackground Records, was not in service.


In March 2003, Braxton ended the business relationship she had begun with Arista in 1991, when she signed a contract that led to her 1993 debut album, "Toni Braxton." That recording rose to No. 1 on the "Billboard 200" and sold more than 10 million albums worldwide.


Braxton received the Grammy Award for best new artist in 1993, and she won Grammys that year and the next for best female R&B vocal performance.


The singer said in the lawsuit that she hired Hankerson as her personal manager in late 1997 and a year later the singer negotiated a new five-album deal with Arista, receiving more than $20 million in advances on the records.


In 2002, the lawsuit said, Hankerson began trying to drive a wedge between Arista and Braxton by fabricating creative disputes over the selection of songs, producers and video directors.


A year later, Hankerson, a Manhattan resident, obtained a release for Braxton from any future recording obligations to Arista and convinced her to let him issue a press statement saying she was leaving Arista for Blackground Records, the lawsuit said.


He then duped Braxton into signing a multi-album deal with his label, only to deprive the singer of her rights under the recording agreement by failing to send her accounting statements and by lying about deals he had made, the lawsuit said.


Braxton said she tried to fire Hankerson as her personal manager but he responded by engaging in a vendetta against her, insisting he keep controlling her career and refusing to communicate with any of several personal managers she sought to employ, the lawsuit said.

If im not mistaken Blackground is run by Aaliyahs Uncle, who is a crook, basically. Also if a label is worried about someone selling 430,000 albums, then get ready for everyone to get dropped, makes no sense at all. Though it was a strong album, it had no real single and was not pushed at all. She is better off, since Universal/Motown is the WORST label out there. They have been sitting on the MYA cd since last August and now have pushed it back to possibly April-June of 2007, because they arent sure how to market her? This is why labels lose money, stop worying about Magazine covers,Video Budgets and shit like that, put the damn thing, send it to radio and hope for the best.

Yeah i just checked it out, Barry Hankerson is Aaliyahs uncle, this guy is a crook! He does have ties to Blackground records, either part ownership or stock or whatever. He basically was screwing around with Aaliyahs career too, before and after death. So im not surprised he did this to Toni. If u notice with Aaliyah she had 3 studio albums all with different labels, basically this was his doing, he had her moving place to place getting better deals, bigger cuts for him.
[Edited 1/13/07 9:12am]

Somebody's about to go to jail...

didn't Braxton file bankruptcy before? sounds to me like she needs to find reputable people to protect her.

I wouldnt be surprised if there was some connection between the deal going sour at Arista and her signing with Blackground Records, my guess is that the deal that Toni was let out of at Arista, probably was a big cashpayoff and Hankerson got tons of that money. I feel bad for Toni, not because she got dropped, because labels suck anyway, and selling 430,000 nowadays is fucking great, especially with no support, but i feel bad because she got screwed again, just as she got "her house" in order. Though i hear the Vegas shows made her some good money, i just hope none of that went to Hankerson. Toni u need to call Prince up and ask him how to clean house and run the show yourself.

sosgemini said:

I agree, im really curious why she went with Hankerson, this guy is a known crook. He caused so much issue after Aaliyah died over money and money he was owed, he basically was cast off by Aaliyahs brother who runs the estate now, since the brother was the only one that had Aaliyahs best interest. The thing is Toni needs to stop hiring people to protect her and do it herself or get someone close to her that has her back. Look at Jessica Simpson, one of her best friends runs most of her business, and this year though her album sold about 400,000 or so, she grossed over 30 million due to her other business ventures and investments. Toni needs a friend like that.

lastdecember said:

she should have listened to oprah, "sign your own checks".

The only songs of hers that I REALLY liked are the song from Boomerang(that was the shit) and Seven Whole Days.
[Edited 1/13/07 10:41am]

sosgemini said:

Exactly, i mean Toni is now 38, and she shouldnt be dealing with this kind of issue AGAIN in her career, and i look at other women around that same age, and none of them have those issues, Mariah 37 "house in order" she basically can write her own ticket at this point, Salma Hayek 40, Prodcuer,Writer, has a huge deal with ABC now, Paulina Rubio 36, has her own companies,sells worldwide,makes more money in a year than 20 top selling US artists put together. There are others but you get the point. Come on Toni!

lastdecember said:

Let us pray that JoJo and her mother doesn't get screw by Barry Hankerson. You know that she the current flagship artist for Blackground Record:


[Edited 1/13/07 12:09pm]

TonyVanDam said:

Considering she is doing songs with titles like "How To Touch A Girl", it's safe to say she's already screwed.

VoicesCarry said:

Oh shyt! JoJo is 16 and not even an adult yet. And already the industry is trying to convince this girl to take her clothes off. Her mother better take notice before her daughter becomes "Britney"!

VoicesCarry said:

How old is she?

RipHer2Shreds said:

JoJo is at age 16 & already released 2 career albums to date.

Considering her age, and the fact that she doesnt write her music, producers are supplied and all that, she probably isnt making very much at all. Im sure Mr. Hankersons bank account is doing better than hers.

lastdecember said:

At least JoJo brought a nice house in a rich neighborhood beforehand.

TonyVanDam said:

Dont be surprised if she has to sell it soon.

TonyVanDam said:

[Chorus:]
Do you know How to Touch a Girl?
If you want me so much, first I have to know:
Are you thoughtful and kind?
Do you care what's on my mind?
Or am I just for show?
You'll go far in this world
if you know How to Touch a Girl.

[Verse 2:]
I think I could like you, but I keep holding back,
'cause I can't seem to tell if you're fiction or fact.
Show me you can laugh, show me you can cry.
Show me who you really are, deep down inside.
Do you feel something happening? Could this be for real?
I don't know right now, but tonight we'll reveal:

[Chorus:]
Do you know How to Touch a Girl?
If you want me so much, first I have to know:
Are you thoughtful and kind?
Do you care what's on my mind?
Or am I just for show?
You'll go far in this world
if you know How to Touch a Girl.

[Bridge:]
Bring me some flowers,
Conversation for hours,
to see if we really connect,
and baby, if we do,
I'll be giving all my love to you!

[Chorus:]
Do you know How to Touch a Girl?
If you want me so much, first I have to know:
Are you thoughtful and kind?
Do you care what's on my mind?
Or am I just for show?
You'll go far in this world
if you know How to Touch a Girl...

u guys should really shouldnt take things so literally

Moonwalkbjrain said:

The only thing shocking about this song is the title!

love me some toni. bummer. i wish she were back on top, i think she could be with the right promo/material. "Libra" was uneven. Some great tracks, some booolshit.

Moonwalkbjrain said:

If you don't think they wrote that song title trying to appeal to the pedos, you're waaaaay too naive.

And then there's the Too Little Too Late video....
[Edited 1/13/07 14:34pm]

TonyVanDam said:

In JoJo's defense, the song is not sexual. It's not about physically touching a girl. It's about emotionally touching a girl. It's cute.


Smooches;)

.


though i love ms.Braxton and all,, BUT

seriously, she's become very monotonous that it got so tired and boring.

I hope she take some time off 2 do some thinking, get herself 2gether, find a creative session artist/producer she feels in the same page with musically, find an proper lable, and come out with a solid project.

MsMisha319 said:

I already notice that sometime ago. Thanks.

Toni screwed herself end of story. She ran to any camera she could to clown L.A. Reid when More than A Woman was flopping. It was all his fault he wasn't marketing her right. Nobody told her to release a single w/ Baby. Nobody told her to massage all over herself during Aaliyah's tribute video. And, nobody told her to sign to what has to be one of the worst labels. She left Arista when she could've stayed. How is Barry getting in between a relationship she's had w/ L.A. for years? She knows what kind of label Blackground is and if she didn't that's still her fault. How do you sign and committ your career to a label you haven't researched? Toni has no case w/ this at all. She needs to be a woman about hers and be more about business. And, I'm willing to bet she's going to try to get L.A. to sign her to IDJ.

I still think Libra was really good - not fantastic or earth shattering, just really enjoyable. I hope she finds her way back, I dig Toni...

"Blackground Records"... released? hell, being signed to "Blackground Records" is like not having a contract anyway, so what difference does it make?
[Edited 1/13/07 21:49pm]