Grammy-winning dancehall reggae star Shabba Ranks has...

Grammy-winning dancehall reggae star Shabba Ranks has decided not to do any more interviews in the wake of the furor over allegedly anti-gay remarks. Comments he made about not condoning homosexuality resulted in “The Tonight Show” canceling a scheduled appearance by Ranks last month. . . .

Patti Scialfa’s debut album--which has been in the works since before her husband (Bruce Springsteen) recorded his 1992 pair of albums--is finally nearing completion and may be released this summer, with a tour likely to follow. The album was written entirely by Scialfa and produced by Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell. . . .

An expected summer tour by Nirvana will be previewed with an April 9 concert in San Francisco benefiting rape victims in war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina. L7 is also on the benefit bill. . . . Emmylou Harris’ first album for Elektra/Asylum Records--after two decades on Warner Bros.--is due in early summer. . . .

Finally there’s what appears to be a firm release date for Bell Biv DeVoe’s oft-delayed “Hootie Mack” album: June 8. Advance tapes of the album went out to the press last week. A tour is also in the works. . . .

Hard-core female rap group Bytches With Problems’ second album, originally slated for this spring, has been moved to a summer release. There have been reports that Columbia Records was considering dropping the group due to concern over explicit content, but a label representative says the schedule change was made merely to avoid conflict with the label’s other hard-core female rap act, BOSS, whose debut album--reportedly a real shocker--is due out April 13. . . .

Parrothead alert: Jimmy Buffett’s got a new album, “Before the Beach,” coming May 11. . . . Terence Trent D’Arby hasn’t lost his love of long titles and serious concepts. His new album, due May 11, is titled “Symphony or Damn (Exploring the Tension Inside the Sweetness)” and is broken down into “Reflection” and “Introspection” sides. And how’s this for a title? The first track is “Welcome to My Monasteryo/Drop at My Head.” . . .

With “The Bill Cosby Show” finished, actress Raven Symone, who played his little daughter, has turned her attention to starting a rap career. She has an album coming out at the end of May. . . . Tony! Toni! Tone! recorded their “Sons of Soul” album, due June 1, in Trinidad. . . . L.A. raver Daven the Mad Hatter has switched from promoter to performer. Daven, for the past few years one of the top promoters of underground rave events, has just finished recording an album, “One Place Called Peace,” and is reportedly in negotiation with several major labels. He’s put together an elaborate stage show with 10 dancers and two rappers and is beginning a tour this week. . . .

The 4AD label will release its three This Mortal Coil albums this week for the first time in the U.S. The albums, with performances by vocalists including Cocteau Twin Elizabeth Fraser and former Pixie Kim Deal, will be part of a boxed set that also features a disc of original versions of songs by the likes of Tim Buckley, Alex Chilton, the Byrds and Talking Heads that were covered by This Mortal Coil.