At the rate Rihanna, Kanye, and Paul McCartney are moving, it looks more like they’re ‘FourFiveSeconds’ to hitting #1 on the Hot 100 with their modern day pop-folk single.  Giving McCartney his first top 5 on the chart in 31 years, the song is slowly, but surely creeping to the top spot.

But, as the week has evidenced, such creep will be no easy feat.

As the tally’s refreshing shows, ‘Locked Out of Heaven’ hitmaker Bruno Mars appears to be locked in the #1 spot and has clocked yet another week on the chart’s perch with ‘Uptown Funk.’  In fact, reigning in lucky week number 7, the run gives him his longest reign at the top – besting his former longest reign ‘Heaven’ by 1 week.

Elsewhere, on album charts, it comes as no surprise that Drake‘s surprise album ‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late’ is #1 with over 535,000 united moved its inaugural week (495,000 of those are pure album sales).  To put this into context, Beyonce’s self-titled surprise moved 617,000 units in a little over 3 days, but could at least later boast physical copy sales in its tally.

Drake’s sales are expected to be relatively sustained over the next week but, unlike Bey, will not have any physical retailer as its considered a “mixtape.”  Furthermore, Drizzy’s reign atop the Billboard 200 enters him in history books as only the second hip hop act to see his first 4 albums debut at #1 (DMX is the first).

Enough chatter, tuck in below to see this week’s refreshed Hot 100 and Billboard 200 lists below:

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(Photo Credit:  Kevin Kneeland & Nicole Oriatti of K&N Media)

FOX’s wildly popular new show ‘Empire’ has breathed life anew into the career of television star Malik Yoba. Best known for leading the channel’s former flagship series ‘New York Undercover,’ fans of the hit 90’s show (and ‘Empire’ alike) were so sure that the veteran actor had been off TV’s radar since the show’s unceremonious end – a belief Yoba wholeheartedly shuns.

From memorable showings on Tyler Perry‘s ‘Why Did I Get Married’ movie franchise to at least 12 other showings across television, he’s been far from out of sight over the past two decades.  And, if our exclusive chat with the star is any indication, we should expect to see much more of him in the near future.

Tuck in below as Yoba dishes with TGJ editor Rashad on ‘Empire’s success, its critical backlashes (see: alleged “gay agenda,” poor representation of African Americans), and much more.

Never one to bite his tongue, it’s safe to say Malik Yoba made this a “must read”:

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Looks, as they say, can be deceiving.

Indeed, in an age where almost anyone can access the tools to turn an amateur painting into a Picasso, it should come as no surprise that said tools care oft used to do just that…deceive.

Today, the ‘Story of Beauty’ singer Beyonce has learned how true that is after photoshopped images of herself surfaced online, pulled from a L’Oreal campaign she shot in 2013.

The star can be seen sporting a “weathered” look in the snaps, allegedly leaked by a fan who gained access to them before the photoshopping process.

Fortunately, it’s now emerged that the alleged “real snaps” aren’t real at all, edited to make the star look for worse for wear, seeing her join a long list of celebrities to be hit by creative photoshop wizards.

The star is yet to respond to the surfacing of the falsified photos.

Peep more counterfeit (but hilarious) snaps of the entertainer below…

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Welcome back to TGJ Replay!

Designed much like our ‘Retro Rewind’ and ‘From the Vault’ features, ‘Replay’ is That Grape Juice‘s newest reflective segment to act as a written quest to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday. Unlike its retrospective predecessors, ‘Replay’ looks to dust off and showcase entire albums (and eras) from a library of pop and Urban pop music hits.

Now, as fans ready themselves for the muchly anticipated follow-up to R&B diva Kelly Rowland‘s ‘Talk A Good Game,’ we reflect on the album that really put her on the genre’s map by her lonesome – ‘Ms. Kelly.’

“‘I wrote a lot on this album and I’ve had a wonderful time recording it. It’s a feelgood record; very intimate. It’s a sneak peak into my mind and heart.  I listened to a lot of Whitney Houston for her vocals. I love her. I love Beyoncé’s voice, and I love Brandy. Those are three vocalists who inspire me. I love how different they are. I love how they take themselves to the next level.'” – Kelly Rowland, 2006

Join us as we flashback to 2007…

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With years of lending controversial ideas on racially charged topics (see:  Travyvon Martin, “absent black fathers,” and more), 71-year-old Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera has once again found himself in the line of Twitter fire for his assessment that hip hop has been “more damaging to black and brown people over the past 10 years” than the institution of racism itself.

Taking to HuffPost Live, Rivera – who lost the ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ crown this week to fellow journalist/former talk show host Leeza Gibbons – appears to have lost his mind as well when he argued, “Hip-hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years.”  Expounding, he asserted it’s impossible to “…find a youngster — a Puerto Rican from the South Bronx or a black kid from Harlem who has succeeded in life other than being the one-tenth of one-tenth of one percent that make it in the music business — that’s been a success in life walking around with his pants around his ass and with visible tattoos.”

His comments have incited a host of ongoing debates on social media, but as always, we turn to you – That Grape Juice readers – to ask:

Is Geraldo Rivera right?

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Being the most popular new television show on the air certainly comes as a double edged sword, just as FOX’s hit series ‘Empire.’

On one end, fans can’t get enough and tune in to the show in droves to watch the weekly antics of its main characters “Lucious Lyons” (Terrence Howard) and “Cookie” (Taraji P. Henson). On the other end, critics also tune in to scrutinize every “hot button” the show dares to press (see: alleged “gay agenda,” poor representation of African Americans, etc.).

Case in point?

Fans of the show are still griping over its unceremonious slam of President Barack Obama after one of its main characters branded him a “sellout.”  Weeks after the episode in questions, the “backlash” annoyed Henson to the point where she lent a fiery response to viewers:  ‘…I’m glad you mad. Do something about it.’

This, just a fans mistakenly went in on Black America’s favorite newscaster Don Lemon for saying he “hates” the show.   See what we mean inside:

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Big Sean calls on a little help from his friends Kanye West and John Legend to release the song ‘One Man Can Change the World‘, pulled from his forthcoming album ‘Dark Sky Paradise.‘

The song was written in honour of his grandmother, one of the first African-American female captains in World War 2, tributing her before the album’s February 24th due date.

How Legend and West add to the moving song?

Find out after the jump…

Your thoughts?

Let’s face it:  Madonna‘s ‘Living For Love’ is slowly, but surely, dying on pop charts.

The ‘Lucky Star’ singer, who’s notched five consecutive #1 albums since the turn of the century and a top ten single preceding four of those releases, may be seeing her luck run out as the tune has yet found footing inside the Billboard Hot 100.  This, despite a revolutionary rollout for the its official music video release and a much-talked about Grammy performance.

Then, as if it wasn’t already clinging to life, ‘Living for Love’ was dealt a crushing blow when reports surfaced indicating BBC Radio 1 blacklisted the tune for lacking “audience relevance” and “musical merit.”  Let us tell it, that’s just sugarcoat for “she’s too old and out of touch.”

Be that as it may, could the unceremonious exclusion be grounds for legal action?  Some stars seem to think yes. Tuck in below to hear their assessment and tell us if you agree:

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Hip Hop royal Drake continues to snap, cackle and pop at and on his critics this week, casting a OVO branded a shadow over his rivals with the release of his surprise mixtape ‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.’

For, the project has rocked the Billboard 200 with epic first week sales.

Good news below…

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For however you feel about Grammy-winning pop diva Rihanna and her reliable antics, one thing cannot be denied – the girl is a fashion icon.

Striking many-a-fierce pose that’s landed her stiletto to stiletto with some of the fashion industry’s top names, the songstress has seemingly upped her ante via her latest campaign, courtesy of a tribute to the late, great designer Alexander McQueen.

As reported here, Ri’s homage to McQueen inspired the spread found aboard AnOther magazine’s latest edition as snapped by famed photogs Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.  

We’ve already given you a glimpse at some of the action, but tuck in below to see more of the finished products:

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“…Chris Brown’s furs are just more of the same from him: ugly violence.”

Ouch!

The stinging quote above comes courtesy of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) after spotting regular fur offender/R&B bad boy Chris Brown at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.  Coupled with on-again-off-again girlfriend/Instagram model Karrueche Tran, the duo worked their way to #1 on the radical animal rights’ group’s shitlist when she took to Instagram to share a photo of them rocking fur coats while attending the Michael Costello show on Tuesday.

Never ones to bite their tongues, tuck below to see the organization’s thoughts on the lovebirds’ wardrobe choice and also read Brown’s fiery response:

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Ariana Grande is on a roll it seems as we’ve seen her name in headlines everyday this week for some reason or the other.

First, after headlining a slamming halftime show for the NBA All-Star Game this Sunday, the diva followed up with the premiere of the music video longtime fan favorite song ‘One Last Time,’ found aboard her #1 ‘My Everything’ album.

Later winning over new fans after the televised Stevie Wonder Grammy tribute saw her lend a stunning rendition of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”  alongside Babyface,  the night brought with it news that there is at least one group of people who definitely don’t fancy themselves #Arianators after the diva’s killer week – Aussie band Safia.

For, the indie group has caused quite the stir among the fan group after accusing their leader’s ‘One Last Time’ video of directly copying their ‘You Are the One’ visual – sparking quite the debate among fans.  Did you miss any of the action?  See it all below:

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