NEWS NOTES:

David Byrne’s first album as a solo artist since 1981, “Rei Momo,” is due in early October. (The title is Portuguese for carnival king .) The album is said to be Latin pop in the same way that Talking Heads’ “Remain in Light” album was African pop. Byrne is set to begin his first solo tour next month in Japan. He is slated to play the Pantages Theatre on Oct. 11-12. . . . Aerosmith’s upcoming “Pump” album includes several socially conscious songs, including “Monkey on My Back” (about the band members’ past drug problems), “Janie’s Got a Gun” (about incest), and “Voodoo Medicine Man” (about the sorry state of the world). But the first single is more traditional Aerosmith fare: “Love in an Elevator.”

We all know that rap is hot, but are you ready for the first rap opera? The Fat Boys, whose biggest hits have been loopy remakes of “Wipe Out” and “The Twist,” have completed work on “On and On,” a 13-song opus about a night in New York. The album is due next month. . . . And on the same track, are you ready for a white female teen rapper? Tairrie B is set to have the first release on MCA-distributed Comptown Records, a new label owned by red-hot rapper Eazy-E.

Brian Wilson is slated to sing background vocals on two songs on an upcoming album by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who won an Oscar last year for collaborating on the score of “The Last Emperor.” Sakamoto plans to return the favor by guesting on one song from Wilson’s second solo album, tentatively set for release in February. . . . Wang Chung’s Jack Hughes is writing music for William Friedkin’s upcoming horror movie, “The Guardian.” Wang Chung previously wrote the music for Friedkin’s “To Live and Die in L.A.”