Concert and News Update: Rock the Bells, Nas Changes Album Title, Miss Jackson

A little hip-hop and pop headed this way:

Rock The Bells
With A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, The Pharacyde, Mos Def,
De La Soul, Rakim, Method Man & Redman, Raekwon & Ghostface and more.
At the Tweeter Center
Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Tickets are $30.00, $40.00, $50.00, $75.00 and $100.00 4-pack lawn ticket special*
*plus $7.00 venue charge and applicable convenience fees per ticket
Tickets go on-sale Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 10:00 am

In related Nas news, after stirring up some buzz a few months back the rapper told MTV that he has backed off titling his new album the unexpurgated version of the "N" word. "[The title] kind of comes off as something that can be disrespectful," he told the network. "Our older black people can take it the wrong way. Some non-blacks can take it the wrong way, and it becomes a thing that becomes controversial in all the wrong ways. I accept that. I'm here to do music. I'm here to rap about what I feel and what makes sense to me." The album, now untitled, is due out in July.

So Janet Jackson tells Billboard she's going on tour, but damned if "Sound Effects" can find any information on her maddening website. Pollstar is no longer showing a local date but tickets go on sale for the tour June 7according to Billboard. When we have more intel we will share. It's been 7 years since Jackson toured and though her albums keep stiffing, we're betting the tour will do reasonably well.