Wednesday, May 7th 2008

The Best You Never Heard: Diva Edition

We’re doing things a little differently with this week’s instalment of ‘The Best You Never Heard’. Little known gems by Beyonce, Whitney, Janet and Mariah all feature in this special Diva Edition. Have any suggestions for future instalments? Drop me an email at sam@thatgrapejuice.net

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Beyonce – Back Up

The Darkchild produced ‘Back Up’ served as a bonus track on select versions Beyonce’s sophomore LP ‘B’Day’. One of the best club-destined cuts the singer has done to-date IMO, I was initially surprised why it was left off the album – after all, it was better than most of the album’s material. However considering its thumping bass-line, and ‘in your face’ lyrics, the song didn’t really fit the overall Tina Turner-esque sound of record. Still, one hell of song.

Listen: Back Up

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Whitney Houston – Love That Man

Lifted from Whitney’s 2002 effort ‘Just Whitney’, ‘Love That Man’ is one of several great tracks on the criminally underrated album. Somewhat echoing the Pop-inspired sound of some Whitney’s 80′s hits, the track’s light, easy-on-the-ear appeal is just right for the rapidly approaching summer period.

Listen: Love That Man

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Janet Jackson – RollWitChu

It would appear Janet’s 2006 ’20 Y.O’ project wasn’t just marred by poor single choices; judging by the fact ‘RollWitChu’ was reduced to a Japanese-only bonus track, it seems the choosing of album tracks was also mishandled. The Jermaine Dupri produced cut, with its lush harmonies and trademark ‘knock’, is arguably one of Janet’s most solid slower offerings in years.

Listen: RollWitChu

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Mariah Carey – Bringing On The Heartbreak

Despite achieving Platinum success, Mariah Carey’s 2002 Def Jam debut ‘Charmbracelet’ (ironically the start of her return to prominence) largely went ignored by the masses. Though released in the US (to little response), ‘Bringing On The Heartbreak’ never hit this side of the globe. Unfortunate as Mimi’s take on the Def Leppard original, is awesome. Well composed and inclusive of ‘The Voice’ we used to know and love, this is hands-down one of my favourite Mariah tracks from recent years.

Listen: Bringing On The Heartbreak

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Your thoughts: Hit(s) or Miss(es)?

Posted By: Sam

23 Comments

Wednesday, May 7th 2008

Estelle & John Legend Perform On Ellen

UK songstress Estelle appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this past Monday. Joined by John Legend, she performed ‘Come Over’ as well as her smash ‘American Boy’. I really enjoyed their showing.

Estelle’s sophomore LP ‘Shine’ is out now both here in the UK and in the US.

What do you think of the performance?

Posted By: Sam

2 Comments

Wednesday, May 7th 2008

Cherish – ‘Amnesia’ Video

With Cherish’s new LP ‘The Truth’ due next Tuesday (May 13th), the video for the album’s 2nd single ‘Amnesia’ premiered on BET yesterday. I guess it serves its purpose, however, having heard the album in its entirety, there are many a single that could have been chosen over this. Making the situation worse is the fact that the label are doing an appalling job of promoting the project. Best of luck to them – they’re going to need it.

What do you think of the video?

Posted By: Sam

13 Comments

Tuesday, May 6th 2008

Behind The Scenes: Rihanna & Maroon 5′s ‘If I Never See Your Face Again’ Video

As reported, Rihanna has joined forces with Maroon 5 to release ‘If I Never See Your Face Again’ which will feature on the re-release of both of their most recent LP’s. Check out the behind the scenes look at the video:

Say what you want about Rihanna, but the camera really loves her; she looked stunning. Be on the lookout for the video anytime from now.

Your thoughts?

Posted By: Sam

3 Comments

Tuesday, May 6th 2008

Competition: Alicia Keys Tour Give-Away! – Week 2 Winners

Thanks all those who entered the Week 2 of our ‘Alicia Keys Tour Give-Away’.

The correct answer to the question:

What is Alicia’s real name ?

a) Alicia Augello-Cook

The winners, who are listed below, win a pair of tickets each to their selected date (email confirmation has also been sent out):

* Dallas, Texas: Nokia Theatre – May 14th 2008 – Winner:

Pedro Aguilera

* New Orleans, Louisiana: New Orleans Arena – May 22nd 2008 – Winner

Jordan Lewis

Congratulations to the winners! Stay tuned for the final (Week 3) instalment of the competition, which will be posted tomorrow.

Posted By: Sam

Kelly Rowland Performs ‘Work’ On Le Grand Journal

R&B star Kelly Rowland is really doing her thing over here in Europe. ‘Work’ is still soaring up the charts in some countries, one of which is France, where the singer stopped by Le Grand Journal to perform the song today:

Great performance; from the energy, to the crowd interaction to the weave slinging lol. Kelly has really been on her A-Game consistently with these recent batch of performances. ‘Ms. Kelly: Deluxe’ hits stores in Europe on May 12th.

What do you think of the performance?

Posted By: Sam

17 Comments

Tuesday, May 6th 2008

Christina: "I Would Never Work With Timbaland"

Pop star Christina recently spoke on the direction of her fourth studio album (due in the Fall), insisting that the LP would not follow trends:

“This record is going to be very different from my previous record ‘Back To Basics.’ I’m working with a lot of different people so it’s a little hard for me to really go for a specific theme this time around, but I can assure you that it’s going to be a very very interesting record. Am I nervous? Of course but I’m also very excited. I never like to play it safe so it’s always a little risky to release a record that doesn’t sound like everything else out there. I mean, I love Timbaland’s music for example but I would never work with people like that because everyone else is doing it already” {Source}

It’s great to see Christina not jumping on the Timbaland bandwagon. Granted he’s undeniably one today’s top hit makers, his ‘sound’ is becoming increasingly dated IMO. I’m kinda hoping Christina keeps pushing boundaries, yet also sticks with a tried and tested direction; as that ‘Back To Basics’ record, though not the pits, was certainly several steps back from the solidness that was ‘Stripped’.

Any thoughts?

Posted By: Sam

7 Comments

Tuesday, May 6th 2008

Olivia Speaks Out

Former G-Unit vixen Olivia recently sat down with Carlos King to discuss a number issues including her highly publicized split from the rap collective, her new album, romance and more. Check it out:

It was good to see her give a little clarity to the situation. Here’s hoping she’s found the right label that will handle her project correctly, as the list of producers featured on the record are pretty impressive (Bryan Michael Cox, Darkchild, Missy Elliott etc).

Any thoughts?

Posted By: Sam

4 Comments

Tuesday, May 6th 2008

Chris Brown Covers Ebony

R&B teen star Chris Brown features on the cover of the latest issue of Ebony magazine. The pic along with the article tag-line (‘Chris Brown On Women, Sex & Music’), definitely show he’s of age now.

What do you think of the video?