Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda") has finished a biopic of legendary jazz artist "Miles Davis," Cheadle hired the Oscar-nominated screenwriting and producing duo, Chris Wilkinson and Steve Rivele ("Nixon").

After movies like Will Smith playing Muhammad Ali, and Jamie Foxx making us believe the Ray Charles role, its only in due time til the Miles Davis story is made to be seen, in Don's words, whether's it comes out today, tomorrow, or 10 years from now his story will always make an impact.

Nick Ashford, from the songwriting husband and wife team "Ashford & Simpson, has died at the age of 70. In recent months he had undergone radiation treatment for throat cancer,he died August 22, in a New York City hospital. Among the songs Ashford & Simpson penned are “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, “You’re All I Need To Get By” and “Reach Out And Touch Somebody’s Hand.

”He is survived by his wife and two daughters, in unrelated news they were given writing credit on the late jazz singer Amy Winehouse's 2007 CD Back to Black for the single "Tears Dry On Their Own". The track is based on a sample of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 1967 Motown classic hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

Did Amy Winehouse die from trying to save her life? Her father Mitch Winehouse says the troubled singer may have suffered an overdose from a powerful anti-anxiety drug and suffered a seizure during detox."Everything Amy did, she did to excess," Winehouse said at a taping of Anderson Cooper's show Anderson, which debuts Monday. "She drank to excess and did detox to excess."The final cause of death will be determined after an official inquest.Mitch Winehouse said previously that no illegal drugs were found in his daughter's system after she died at age 27 in July. source: People.com

Chicago soul singer Syl Johnson is saying that his song, sound, and likeness was used on one of the songs on Kanye West’s new album “Watch the Throne,” without his permission. Johnson claims one of the songs on the deluxe edition of the album, Kanye’s “The Joy,” uses vocals from his classic track “Different Strokes” without getting the proper clearance for the sample.

Johnson added that he was particularly surprised that West didn’t reach out to him, since his daughter Syleena Johnson was an acquaintance of West and sang the vocals for “All Fall’s Down” from West’s debut album “The College Dropout.”

Erykah Badu – best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her peculiar, intellectual musical style and fashion sense – opens up on her 1997 debut project “Baduizm”. In a recent interview with Fuse, the American hip hop artist shared her experiences while recording the highly acclaimed debut album.

The acclaimed Queen of Neo-Soulplaced her successful hip hop material in context. During the interview, she explained that her African roots played a huge part of shaping her musical career. She reveals: “If the headwrap was my trademark, the drums, African drums, were my soundtrack. I never really thought about a lot of the things people labeled my lyrics for music as. ’94 to ’97, I was at a really interesting place in my life. I was embracing, very much, my culture, my African heritage, which is one part of me,” she said. “Africa has always been a staple in my household and in my life. The drums mean an awful lot to me. It’s just who I was at the time, and I wanted to be completely who I was when I did what I did.” [source prohiphop.com]

Chaka Khan just won temporary custody of her 10-year-old granddaughter because the child's parents are drug addicts -- this according to legal docs obtained by TMZ. Chaka filed a petition for appointment of guardianship last week -- claiming she has already "assumed on a day-to-day basis the role of the child's parent fulfilling both the child's physical and psychological needs for care and affection."

Chaka claims the child's mother -- who lives in the same house -- is incapable of caring for the girl because of a "heavy involvement in drugs." Chaka's sister Tammy McCrary -- who was also awarded custody -- filed an additional statement in the petition, claiming Chaka's son "also uses and abuses drugs and other illegal substances."