Days after her upbeat love song ‘Va Va Voom’ two stepped even closer to Platinum, Nicki Minaj releases the artwork for her forthcoming fragrance, ‘Minajesty‘!
Shot by David LaChapelle last month and preceding the arrival of her third studio album, the new scent will hit stores on September 15th- just in time to reap all the rewards the forthcoming Holiday season has to offer!
The Pop titan continues to titilate and tease her new album ‘ARTPOP’, today unwrapping (quite literally) another skin-baring promo shot.
Revealed exactly one week before comeback single ‘Applause’ thunders on the airwaves, the edgy snap sees Mother Monster posing in front of an array of her favourite accessory – wigs.
While prior promos have left us scratching our heads as to what exactly we were looking at, this one seems to make at least a spec of sense. For, when placed in order of their reveals, it would appear the slightly more put together and glammed up look here points to a gradual build up (perhaps nude to “normal” GaGa?)
Of course, given the artist at hand, there’s every chance there is no outright theme at all and she’s just being GaGa for the sake of. Either way, we’re loving the intrigue. We just hope we love the material too.
While performers may deny it fervently, they well and truly are in direct competition with each other.
An obvious sentiment? Perhaps.
However, with many of today’s acts sharing one other’s ‘casual audience’, it’s oft in the interest of these acts to create the illusion of mutual support at face value, while their teams forge plans to see their act outperform the other on the back end.
A little dramatic on our end? Well, tell that to Katy Perry– the Pop Princess whose inked an exciting new deal with Clear Channel to ensure her new single ‘Roar’ dominates US radio!
Easily one of the worst kept, yet most exciting reunions in recent memory, Danity Kane‘s comeback appears to be one press release away from “confirmed”.
All Summer long, the ladies have teased their re-grouping; from studio shots, to convenient lunches, members Dawn Richard, Aundrea Fimbres, Shannon Bex, and Aubrey O’Day are clearly cooking up something.
And while most of the Platinum outfit, who will reportedly rebrand as a four-piece (after it was confirmed that D.Woods will not rejoin them), have remained relatively tight-lipped about the project, their most spoken member O’Day is continuing to drop the biggest of hints.
Ever eager to keep her recently relit fire burning for her next era, Brandy continues to rock many a venue across the globe with a stage show that now readies to storm Atlanta next month.
Miley Cyrus has ample cause to celebrate today; for, her first single as a re-branded artist, ‘We Can’t Stop’, has become her first chart-topper on the Official UK Singles Chart.
Flip the hood for more on the twerk-friendly star’s latest feat…
As Emeli Sande and Adele continue to fly the flag for Brit-Pop in the USA, their predecessor Joss Stone took fresh aim at the market with her independently released ‘The Soul Sessions Vol.2‘.
Welcoming modest numbers upon release, the project saw her cover a number of soul classics released between the 60s and 80s, one of which being The Dells’ 1971 release ‘The Love We Had (Stays On My Mind)’.
Needless to say, the release of its video marks very good news for fans of the contralto, who- at least in our opinion- is only the right deal away from reclaiming her seat at Adult Contemporary’s winning table.
Three years after he was arrested for attempt solicit an undercover female officer, ‘Your Precious Love’ performer D’Angelo has cancelled a string of US performances, citing a ‘medical emergency’ as his cause for doing so.
This week’s From The Vault pick was released in 2001 and is quite literally what “Urban-Pop dreams” are made of. We present you Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On?’ by ensemble cast Artists Against AIDS Worldwide.
The project, which consisted of numerous remixes of the Pop-Culture landmark (each time featuring different vocalists), was helmed in a bid to raise funds for AIDS programs in Africa and other poverty-stricken territories. Though recorded prior the 9/11 tragedy, the track was released in October 2001 and saw 50% of its profit also going to the United Way’s 9/11 fund (with the half going to the AIDS relief effort).
Featuring an All-Star line-up of 2001’s finest acts, two radio versions made the rounds. Both produced by Bono and Jermaine Dupri, they saw acts such as Destiny’s Child, Britney Spears, Usher, *N’SYNC, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Nelly, Ja Rule, Jennifer Lopez, Lil Kim, Nas, Wyclef Jean, TLC, Nelly Furtado, Backstreet Boys, Diddy, Gwen Stefani, Mary J.Blige, Eve and Monica to name but a few, trade verses and lines. Marvin’s daughter, Nona Gaye, is also featured aptly singing the “father, father” line.
Without any promotion, the song managed to peak at #27 in the US and an impressive #6 on the UK charts.
The videos, cooked up courtesy of Jake Scott, depict the artists as they remove “labelled” blindfolds from their eyes, symbolizing how society is blinded by prejudice and how we need to open our eyes… which ties in perfectly with the original message of the masterpiece of a track that is ‘What’s Going On?‘
It’s happenings like this one that make “Pop” (in the broader sense) one of the most exciting genres in mainstream music. In addition to being a tremendous initiative to raise awareness about AIDS and give back to the American Red Cross, it had the huge selling point of featuring all the top artists of that time on a single track – in similar fashion as Bob Geldof‘s Band Aid and Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie‘s USA For Africa – providing the genre’s enthusiasts with a glimpse of what their favorites acts would sound like together, also serving up some odd pairings that, somehow, “work”.
Great track for a great cause!
With this gem being recorded over a decade ago and the industry constantly changing, we’d like to know…
Is your ‘fave’ still relevant?
Bonus: Peep the video for JD’s R&B remix after the jump…
While all three have roots in varying musical territories, this week sees them share common ground on the UK’s Official Charts, thanks to support afforded to them by the nation’s public.
Mary Mary pose it up with Chaka Khan & Fantasia in Las Vegas at last night’s “Hoodie Awards”
Ever keen to broaden our musical scope, recent months have seen That Grape Juice venture into a number of new musical landscapes including, most recently, gospel.
Tuck in below for the latest news on Donald Lawrence, Joshua Rogers, American Idol‘s Mandisa, Michelle Williams, Ashmont Hill, and newcomers Tobbi & Tommi…