R&B multi-platinum recording artist Ginuwine has a new route.

He’s the new Sexy Chocolate Milkman for a beverage called Adult Chocolate Milk, which is not like any chocolate milk you’ve ever had.

This stuff is a vodka-based drink that tastes exactly like chocolate milk, but is a whopping 40 proof. You will not want to dip cookies in this stuff.

You can find this yummy intoxicant in restaurants, bars and liquor stores in September in CA, AZ, NM, and NV, and nationally in 2011.

One wonders: A. If there is actually any real milk in this stuff and B. if it’s a good source of calcium.

Ginuwine will be on billboards on the Vegas Strip soon and there’s also a national TV commercial planned.

Of his billboard photo shoot — dressed up in an old-fashioned milkman white uniform with a cap, his black bow tie suggestively undone — he admits: “It was a blast, getting to dress up as a milkman for the day. I really got into character.”

Will the Sexy Chocolate Milkman give the Old Spice Guy a run for his marketing money?

Read more: http://www.myspace.com/ginuwine_fans/blog#ixzz0xYbU8cuR

Ginuwine, the multi-platinum R&B musician, had a chat with children and staff at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hudson County Thursday, telling them about staying out of trouble and surviving life’s struggles.

Ginuwine said he had several suicide attempts and a drug addiction following the loss of both his parents a decade ago. He overcame his problems, and said he is now sharing his story in hopes of aiding others.

“I wanted to do my part,” he said. “It is my duty to bring awareness to people in need.”

Legendary R&B singer Ginuwine has promised that he will now stop complaining about his issues with Timbaland.

He was recently in the news for accusing the super-producer of avoiding him.

But now even though Ginuwine isn’t that happy with Timbo, he still believes that he was a major help when he was launching his career.

Ginuwine told Honey Mag: “I don’t like feeling like a cry baby. I’m not gonna hound on it or keep saying anything about it because ultimately he is a great producer and [he] helped me start my career and that can never get taken away, but I wish what we had set out to do – that we had completed it.

“The business kind of separates you. You know I’m not gonna chase anybody but you’d like to think if you need somebody, they’d [be] there. And if you need me, I’m definitely here. I’m just the same old G.”

Despite a much-talked-about disagreement with former friend/producer Timbaland, Ginuwine is moving forward with plans to release his next album, tentatively titled “Elgin”.

A follow up to 2008s “A Man’s Thoughts” and the hit single “Last Chance,” Ginuwine’s forthcoming album already has a group of big names attached to it, including Diane Warren.

Tapping Warren and Kendrick Dean, Ginuwine’s “Elgin” is also being executive produced by Bryan Michael Cox (“Still Standing,” Monica).

In related news, Ginuwine continues to have a positive relationship with longtime friend/collaborator Missy Elliott, who appeared on his 2008 cut “Get Involved,” produced by Timbaland. It is unclear, at this point, whether or not Elliott will appear on “Elgin”.

Stay clicked to Singersroom for more on Ginuwine’s forthcoming release.

Before he was the nationally known, multi-platinum selling R&B singer Ginuwine, he was Elgin Baylor Lumpkin of Suitland and District Heights. Next week, he’ll be the headline performer at the 11th annual Harlem Renaissance Festival in Landover.

The man now known as Ginuwine graduated from what was then called Forestville High School, now Forestville Military Academy, and Prince George’s Community College. And those local ties are why he’s looking forward, and a bit anxious, about singing before the hometown crowd.

“I always feel great to be performing at home, because it’s home — I’m always a little scared,” he said. “Anybody who has followed me for the last 15 years knows that I love to give a good show.”

Ginuwine rose to fame in the mid-1990s with songs like “Pony” and “So Anxious.” His debut album “Ginuwine…the Bachelor,” sold more than 2 million copies, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. He said he always enjoyed performing locally but felt he had to step up his hometown performances.

Ginuwine said fans attending the festival will be treated to his catalog of hits as well as songs from his 1999 album, “A Man’s Thoughts.” He is currently recording his seventh album, “Elgin,” in St. Louis, Mo. He said the new album will show a more mature side with slow ballads instead of his trademark up-tempo songs.

“In the beginning it was all about fun,” he said. “But as you become seasoned in this business you realize it’s your livelihood. With age comes wisdom.”

He now lives in Upper Marlboro with his wife, Tonya Lumpkin, a former rapper known as Solé, and their four daughters. He said when he takes the stage at the festival this year it will be like a homecoming, and he is already excited about seeing the other acts lined up.

“I’m always interested in seeing entertainers,” he said.

Local talent

One of those other entertainers scheduled to perform is Wale, a rapper from Largo. Other musicians come from Prince George’s County, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Event planners said this year’s festival will be one of its largest for entertainers.

Alexis Revis Yeoman, event manager for the festival, said it was always hard attracting mainstream talent to the event because most acts wanted at least $30,000 to $45,000 to appear. She believes that they were able to get quality acts such as Ginuwine and Wale because they do not have to pay travel and lodging costs. Event organizers have a budget of $110,000, she said.

“Both of them are local, which we’ve never had before,” she said. “It makes it easier for us to have mainstream talent.”

The festival was started in 1999 by the Harlem Remembrance Foundation as a way to engage children in culture and the arts. Since then, the event has been a mainstay for Prince George’s County with 8,000 to 10,000 attendees annually. Each year, event organizers select a theme for the festival with this year having a community service theme.

“We get a good crowd all day long, especially if it’s a beautiful day,” Yeoman said.

She said this year’s event will feature three performances stages, one of which will be specifically for performances by Prince George’s County School students. The event will also continue with its community services theme by hosting discussions, including one titled, “How to see beyond me,” telling youth the importance of serving their community and country.

“We hope that it will inspire people to serve their country,” Yeoman said. “People should incorporate service into their everyday lives.”

There will also be a screening of the PBS film “For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots.” The film, Yeoman said, will show young African Americans the many ways they can serve their country while highlighting the contributions blacks made to the U.S. military.

To promote the event, there have been a series of concerts every Tuesday evening in April at Big Daddy’s Barbeque Restaurant in Lanham, where local acts set to appear at the festival have given a preview performance.

Sharon Thomas, of the jazz band The Sharon Thomas Experience, who is set to appear at the festival, said she was excited to play for the venue.

“[The festival is] fresh and new. Feels good. Like it’s going to be a new experience,” said Thomas, in her 50s, of Washington, D.C. “I really don’t know what to expect, but I am exciting to be there.”

Working in music, she said, has been a struggle since she left her full-time job as a Web developer about 15 years ago. But performing at the festival, she said, would give her group larger exposure. Thomas said audiences are always surprised that she is a female saxophonist and that she always has a few surprises in store for the audience. There will be dancing, she said, to compliment her smooth jazz-funk sound.

“Sometimes I bring people up [on stage] and let the play in the band. I like to engage the audience. I’m kind of like an interactive performer,” she said. “I heard that [the festival] was very well responded to. People really enjoy the music,” she said.

Her band, she said, has already performed with acts like Ginuwine, Brian McKnight and Parliament Funkadelic. She is already hoping to be invited back to the festival for next year’s event.

Komplex, 33, a Baltimore-based singer who is set to perform at the concert, said he is always thrilled by the chance to perform at the festival. He and his hip-hop/soul group, Fly Gypsy, have performed at the festival for the past few years and he is hosting the Harlem Knights preview event in Lanham.

“It’s a good look. Music and art is a very significant bridge between generations,” he said. “I get love here. I know how to work a crowd.”

E-mail Joshua Garner at jgarner@gazette.net.

IF YOU GO

Harlem Renaissance Festival

nWhen: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., May 1

Headliners: Ginuwine performs at 6 p.m.; Wale performs at 2 p.m.

Where: Columbia Park/Kentland Community Center, 2411 Pinebrook Ave., Landover

Admission: Free (bring lawn chairs and blankets)

Web site: www.pghrf.org/festival/home.html

In a recent interview with VIBE, R&B crooner Ginuwine hit out at former mentor Timbaland. The 39 year old expressed his displeasure at being shunned by the hitmaker when recording his most recent LP, ‘A Mans Thoughts’, which debuted at #9 on the Billboard 200 last June.

Some visitors will remember Ginuwine, along with Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and the late Aaliyah, were a clique of sorts back in the 90’s. Now, it appears relationships are fractured to say the least.

Check out what the former ‘Bachelor’ had to say about his ol’ pal after the jump…

“He really hasn’t been interested in working with me, so I can’t speak on the present,” Ginuwine tells VIBE of Timbaland. “But back in the days, it spoke for itself as far as him being the most sought after producer. Music was boring until he came out with that new sound. Back then, I would have described it as futuristic because it was something that had not been done and people jumped on it. If it wasn’t for him making that style as hot as it is, a lot of producers that’s out now maybe wouldn’t even be here.”

The singer adds that he’s still upset at Timbaland for not supporting him promotionally on his 2009 project, A Man’s Thoughts, despite producing a song for the album.

“Me and Tim were real close at one point. A lot of the times that I reached out, there were a bunch of excuses,” explains Ginuwine. “I begged and pleaded with him because I felt a certain way but I was like, is it just a bad vibe that I’m picking up on? Maybe I’m bugging out, I don’t know. But it came out to be true and I still feel like he owes me an apology for that. The reason I’m pissed off at him now is because of what he did. I would’ve been cool and not bothered him if he would’ve said, ‘Nah, I’m too busy,’ or gave me the lame excuse like he’s been giving me. But don’t do it and then not do what you’re supposed to do [to promote the song].”

While some have labeled Timbo a sell-out because of his recent work with pop stars like Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado, Ginuwine disagrees.

“I don’t know about the sold out thing. I think any smart businessman would go where the money is bigger, but I also feel like you don’t forget your roots either,” says Ginuwine. “You don’t alienate the people that helped you and started you out… What is it about me now that you just don’t like? And if it is something, say it. I can take truth. I can’t take that kind of stuff and right now I don’t really like him. I really don’t. That’s not being a man.”

Ginuwine is roughly 18 songs into his upcoming seventh album, Elgin, which he hopes to release this August. Producers include Bryan Michael Cox and Diane Warren.

Granted I’m sure there is more to the story than we’re hearing (one, which I’m pretty sure revolves around $$$), Ginuwine makes a potent point about remembering one’s roots. A brief look at Timbaland’s more recent work suggests an almost-outright move to strictly crossover acts (Timberlake, Katy Perry, Nelly Furtado) and less concentrated work in the Urban field.

Perhaps a page may need to be taken from fellow hitmaker Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins’ book; who manages to crank out hits for R&B, Pop, and even Gospel acts. Just a thought…

Randomness: Not taking anything away from ol’ Timbo’s achievements, but I find it oh-so baffling that he continues to command such high upfront fees (up to 6-figure sums for ONE song) despite not cranking out a monster hit in what feels like ages. Things that make you go hmm…

SOURCE

The same Ole G is back!

What’s up yall, its ya boy Ginuwine. First I want to thank you all for supporting my comeback album last year and making my single, “Last Chance” and huge hit. With that said things are looking even better for my new album, no matter what happens just remember, I’m still the same ole G! If you really know me, then you know my name is Ginuwine for a reason, I keep it 100. I have seen a lot and survived even more during my career as an R&B singer, from a fast rising star selling millions of records to going back into the studio for a big comeback.

I have worked with the best in the business from making hits with the legendary producer Static to more recently working with the talented Bryan Michael Cox who coincidently in the executive producer on my forthcoming album. I am in the studio putting the finishing touches on the new joints as we speak. Much like my earlier albums, this one is going to be one that I’m sure you all will love. I don’t want to give too much away at the moment but let’s just say it’s going to be hot! As I get new music and pictures I will make sure to share them with you guys. In the mean time as a tribute to my lady fans I’d like to dedicate my blog on Global Grind to you.

If really want to know, A Mans Thoughts…hit me up at twitter.com @ginuwine09

Get ready to Kiss and Tell when Ginuwine, Tank and Adina Howard bring their R&B tour Friday, May 7, to The Dow Event Center in Saginaw.

Ginuwine, whose string of Billboard hits includes “Pony” and “Differences,” ruled hip-hop soul in the 1990s. Tank, who scored a big break when he became Ginuwine’s back-up singer, climbed the charts himself with the likes of “Maybe I Deserve” and “Slowly.”

And Howard scored big in 1995 with “Freak Like Me.”
The show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets, on sale now at The Dow Event Center, 303 Johnson, and on Ticketmaster, cost $58, $52 and $46. For more information, call (989) 759-1330.