Monica Previews New Album At N.Y.C. Party

R&B songstress Monica hosted an exclusive listening session on Monday (April 22) for her forthcoming third album, which is due July 23. The singer previewed six songs from the forthcoming set at New York’s W Hotel. The first of the tracks, “All Eyez On Me,” features a sample of Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”–the “King of Pop” also provides some new adlibs on the cut, which was produced by Jackson’s Invincible cohort Rodney Jerkins

Monica also previewed “I Wrote This Song” and “Breaks My Heart,” both produced by Soulshock & Karlin, as well as “Ain’t Gonna Cry No More”–another Rodney Jerkins produced song–and “You Should’ve Known” and “If You Were The Girl,” which were produced by Jermaine Dupri, who recently scored a monster hit with Usher’s “U Got It Bad.”

Monica’s two previous outings, 1995’s Miss Thang, and 1998’s The Boy Is Mine, were each certified triple-platinum for sales of 3 million copies.

— Yves Erwin Salomon, New York