Singer, songwriter, reality star, and entrepreneur, Kandi Burrus certainly wears many hats.

Indeed, in more recent years The Real Housewives of Atlanta staple has had her hands in a number of pots – stirring them all with equal ferocity.

It appears, though, that the Grammy winning ‘No Scrubs’ writer is refocussing on her musical efforts.

This week saw Burruss debut a snippet of new song ‘Let Them Love’. For fans of ‘Housewives’, the cut very much plays into Kandi’s current “storyline” on the show (see: Todd, Mama Joyce) – a fact which us wondering if this is smart or tacky.

In any case, set for release on January 21st (via her own imprint, Kandi Koated Entertainment), you can get a taste of what the talented star is serving up below.

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Soul-filled singer Angel is back.

The British-bred talent has unwrapped the video for new single ‘Us’.

Hard at work on his sophomore album, the Island/Universal artist has rolled out the track as the project’s lead single.

Having warmed up the masses with the still-infectious ‘Wonderful’, does the Londoner’s latest effort pack as potent a punch? You be the judge after the jump…

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Ashanti certainly embodies the title of her long-delayed new album ‘Braveheart’.

For, despite the endless push-back’s causing interest to evaporate, the Grammy winner continues to play on – this week shooting the video for the LP’s latest “lead single” ‘I Got It (ft. Rick Ross)’. 

At this point, the whole project just feels like “struggle”, as we wonder why she continues to repeat the pattern of randomly throwing a song on iTunes, rarely/never sending them to radio, and then shooting a  video months later. It really doesn’t take a genius to understand that such practice will likely never allow momentum to sustain.

Again, the independent route is not for everyone. We’ve been saying this for the longest, but the ‘Baby’ singer would have been much better off pairing her independent hustle with a major label to benefit from the best of both worlds. She clearly needs the infrastructure of a bigger entity. Because, at this stage, ‘Braveheart’ has been handled so shockingly on her watch that she’d be better off releasing it as a free mixtape.

Anyway, enough of the ranting, peep more pics from the shoot below…

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Danity Kane are back!

Dawn, Aubrey, Shannon, and Aundrea have unwrapped the first new song from their comeback recording sessions.

Titled ‘Bye Baby’, the track (which is being branded a new song versus “single”) awaits after the jump…

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March 2nd is when it all goes down!  The 2014 Academy Awards saw their coveted nominations unveiled today and, much to the delight of the cast/crew of ’12 Years A Slave’, ‘Gravity’, and ‘American Hustle’, the odds of winning seem mostly in their favor.

For, ‘American Hustle’ saw its name listed 10 times afront the tally – giving them the most nods this year.  ‘Slave’ and ‘Gravity’ follow with 9 each.  As many use the Golden Globes as precursors for who will win at the Oscars, it’s safe to say that ‘Slave’ – which walked away with the Globes top honor of ‘Best Drama’ – is atop people’s list for ‘Best Picture’ this year.

We’ll find out on March 2nd. Until then, get into the list below:

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“Dallas Buyers Club” Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” Stephen Prouty
“The Lone Ranger” Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“The Book Thief” John Williams
“Gravity” Steven Price
“Her” William Butler and Owen Pallett
“Philomena” Alexandre Desplat
“Saving Mr. Banks” Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Alone Yet Not Alone” from “Alone Yet Not Alone”
Music by Bruce Broughton; Lyric by Dennis Spiegel
“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams
“Let It Go” from “Frozen”
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
“The Moon Song” from “Her”
Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze
“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson

Achievement in production design
“American Hustle” Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler
“Gravity” Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard
“The Great Gatsby” Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn
“Her” Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena
“12 Years a Slave” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker

Best animated short film
“Feral” Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden
“Get a Horse!” Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim
“Mr. Hublot” Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares
“Possessions” Shuhei Morita
“Room on the Broom” Max Lang and Jan Lachauer

Best live action short film
“Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)” Esteban Crespo
“Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)” Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
“Helium” Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson
“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)” Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari
“The Voorman Problem” Mark Gill and Baldwin Li

Achievement in sound editing
“All Is Lost” Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
“Captain Phillips” Oliver Tarney
“Gravity” Glenn Freemantle
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Brent Burge
“Lone Survivor” Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing
“Captain Phillips” Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro
“Gravity” Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
“Inside Llewyn Davis” Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
“Lone Survivor” Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

Achievement in visual effects
“Gravity” Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
“Iron Man 3” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick
“The Lone Ranger” Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier
“Star Trek Into Darkness” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton

Best documentary short subject
“CaveDigger” Jeffrey Karoff
“Facing Fear” Jason Cohen
“Karama Has No Walls” Sara Ishaq
“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life” Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall” Edgar Barens

Achievement in film editing
“American Hustle” Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
“Captain Phillips” Christopher Rouse
“Dallas Buyers Club” John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
“12 Years a Slave” Joe Walker

Achievement in cinematography
“The Grandmaster” Philippe Le Sourd
“Gravity” Emmanuel Lubezki
“Inside Llewyn Davis” Bruno Delbonnel
“Nebraska” Phedon Papamichael
“Prisoners” Roger A. Deakins

Achievement in costume design
“American Hustle” Michael Wilkinson
“The Grandmaster” William Chang Suk Ping
“The Great Gatsby” Catherine Martin
“The Invisible Woman” Michael O’Connor
“12 Years a Slave” Patricia Norris

Best Supporting Actor
Michael Fassbender – “12 Years a Slave”
Bradley Cooper – “American Hustle”
Barkhad Abdi – “Captain Phillips”
Jared Leto – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Jonah Hill – “wolf Of Wall STreet”

Best Supporting Actress
Lupita Nyong’o – “12 Years a Slave”
Jennifer Lawrence – “American Hustle”
Julia Roberts – “August: Osage County”
June Squibb – “Nebraska”
Sally Hawkins “Blue Jasmine”

Best Adapted Screenplay
John Ridley – “12 Years a Slave”
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater – “Before Midnight”
Billy Ray – “Captain Phillips”
Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope – “Philomena”
Terence Winter – “The Wolf of Wall Street”

Best Original Screenplay
Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell – “American Hustle”
Woody Allen – “Blue Jasmine”
Spike Jonze – “Her”
Bob Nelson – “Nebraska”
“Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Animated Feature
“The Croods” Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco and Kristine Belson
“Despicable Me 2” Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri
“Ernest & Celestine” Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner
“Frozen” Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho
“The Wind Rises” Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki

Best Documentary Feature
“20 Feet From Stardom”
“The Act of Killing”
“The Square”
“Cutie And The Boxer”
“Dirty Wars”

Best Foreign Language Film
“The Broken Circle Breakdown”
“The Great Beauty”
“The Hunt”
“The Missing Picture”
“Omar”

Best Director
Steve McQueen – “12 Years a Slave”
David O. Russell – “American Hustle”
Alfonso Cuaron – “Gravity”
Martin Scorsese – “The Wolf Of Wall Street”
Alexander Payne – “Nebraska”

Best Actress
Amy Adams – “American Hustle”
Cate Blanchett – “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock – “Gravity”
Judi Dench – “Philomena”
Meryl Streep – “August: Osage County”

Best Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor – “12 Years a Slave”
Christian Bale – “American Hustle”
Leonardo DiCaprio – “The Wolf Of Wall STreet”
Matthew McConaughey – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Bruce Dern – “Nebraska”

Best Picture
“12 Years a Slave”
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Philomena”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”

Your thoughts?

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Today marks what would’ve been Urban pop songstress Aaliyah‘s 35th birthday.  Introduced as R&B ringleader R. Kelly‘s protege at the young age of 14, the New York native precedented an R&B teen movement, leading the way for fellow female divas-in-training Brandy and Monica to share chart success.  By the time she reached sweet 17 the ‘Hot Like Fire’ singer’s rise to prominence was imminent as she turned up the heat in her videos and on the charts.  With then-little-known super-producer team Timbaland and Missy Elliott at the helm lacing the accompaniment for her angelic falsetto, Aaliyah found herself in a league of her own with substance, sass, and style.

Just two multi-platinum albums, a host of hit singles, and the respect of her peers, the millennium’s end saw the ‘Journey to the Past’ singer’s journey really just beginning as, at the ripe age of 21, she’d already more accomplished than many musicians achieve their whole careers.  And, after an extended break, the pressure was on to see if the singer could match her 90s success.

Enter ‘Aaliyah’ – her self-titled 3rd album.  Preceded by the #1 single ‘Try Again’, the singer was about to do just that in a whole new way.  ‘At her best’ indeed; sophisticated lyrics, ‘grown woman’ sexy, while staying true to her signature sound, the new millennium was introduced to a new Aaliyah.  And, fans’ embrace was immediately evident.

With the album’s lead single ‘We Need A Resolution’ making a splash on the charts and its successor ‘More Than A Woman’ completed and ready for take off, Aaliyah thought to make a splash herself and took off to the Bahamas to shoot the visual for island-groove ‘Rock the Boat’.  Joined by BET’s ‘Access Granted’, the usually private starlet let fans into see the makings of what was sure to be her next hit on the charts…

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Tomorrow (January 17th) brings with it the release of Kevin Hart and Ice Cube‘s new comedy, ‘Ride Along’.

The hilarious movie, which also stars Tika Sumpter, sees fast-talking security guard Ben (Hart) join his cop brother-in-law James (Cube) on a 24-hour patrol of Atlanta in order to prove himself worthy of marrying Angela, James’ sister.

That Grape Juice caught up with Hart and Cube to discuss the movie, their musical tastes, Beyonce, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, and more.

Peep our boy Patrick‘s interview with the Hollywood stars above…

Your thoughts?

The ladies of Little Mix up their Urban in an edgy new shoot for Fault.

Jesy, Leigh Anne, Jade, and Perrie style and profile in the latest issue of the fashion magazine.

The premium promo spot comes ahead of the quad releasing their sophomore effort ‘Salute’ in the US.

Speaking with That Grape Juice last Winter, the group revealed that they are tweaking the project (which was released in November in the UK) for its Stateside arrival.

Pending then, peep more pics below…

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For many, Nicole Scherzinger is a hitmaker in waiting. Hence it’s oh so fitting that the former Pussycat Doll has called on one of the industry’s top hit vendors to craft her second solo album.

Taking to Instagram today, the stage blazer and Sony Music’s latest signee shared the shot above of herself in the studio with Tricky Stewart with the following caption:

Studio making #magic w/@trickystewart@mr_joshstewart @jackson_stewart__

An industry titan, Stewart has produced smashes for the likes of Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, and Mary J. Blige. Can he cook up a winner for The X Factor UK judge? Time will tell!

Your thoughts?

Having swept through the industry with hurricane like ferocity last month, Beyonce is back on her brand hustle.

The megastar glimmers glamour and gold in the newly released commercial for her latest fragrance ‘RISE’.

Available worldwide next month, the scent follows the singer’s record-breaking first effort ‘Heat’ – which continues to melt the competition.

Peep pics below and the Jake Nava directed TV spot itself after the jump…

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Christina Aguilera just keeps winning.

The Pop diva has cause for celebration today, for her multimedia juggernaut VEVO have awarded her 2012 video for ‘Your Body’ their coveted “Certified” honor.

Details after the jump…

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