Mariah's 'Obsessed' NOT First Single - Apparently
With Mariah Carey’s ‘Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel’ project in disarray, it’s seemingly been put down to her network of close media contacts to ‘clean-up’ the mess that is rapidly becoming this album. Former Fox News reporter, Roger Friedman, who is in Mimi’s extended PR team, has gone on record to supposedly explain what’s going on behind the scenes with Mariah’s LP:
Mariah Carey—despite idiotic postings elsewhere—is gearing up for her big new CD release.
Mariah feels so strongly about “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” that she’s even re-hired the PR powerhouse that made her second-stage career such a success. She’s back with Cindi Berger of PMK HBH. It was Berger who made her “Emancipation of Mimi” the biggest hit of Mariah’s career. Smart move.
Of course, that means both Mariah and Whitney Houston are now being repped by the same PR company. PMK’s Kristen Foster is handling Whitney with my old pal, Jill Fritzo.
“Memoirs” was scheduled for an August 25th release, then moved to September 15th. Now it’s set for September 29th. If the regular Grammy deadline had been in place—September 30th—Mariah would have made it. But the unfortunate early deadline of August 31st cut her off. So she has some slack time to get “Memoirs” just right.
The first single from Mariah’s CD will not be “Obsessed”—that was just a summer trifle, and it was a lot of fun. The real first official single is said to be a powerhouse ballad along the lines of “Vision of Love.” {Source}
Oh Mariah. I do find it hilarious that the oh-so-used explanation for a single under-performing – ‘oh, it was a buzz single’ – is being used here. Besides, Mariah herself, as well as her label, radio programmers etc have all acknowledged ‘Obsessed’ as the first single. I can guarantee, had the song did what it was supposed to on the charts (aka been a massive hit, instead of a barely moderate one), they would have been trumpeting it as the record’s first single. SMH…
For a brief moment I got excited at the prospect of a qualitative single from Mariah – as Friedman alludes to, instead of the cookie-cutter trash she’s been putting out as of late (something she is so above making). Then I remembered how I’ve been punk’d by Mimi with everything she’s done post-Emancipation, hence my decision to be pleasantly surprised when she does deliver the hotness. At this point, though, I wouldn’t bet much on that happening.
Randomness: Is it me or is Mariah kinda dropping albums (so close together) for the sake of it now? I mean it’s not as if she’s in Janet Jackson’s predicament, where her last releases were slept on – and perhaps feels she needs to prove something. This I ask as Post-Emancipation Mariah seems to be releasing material very quickly – yet bringing nothing new to the table and consistently serving up rubbish material.
Tidbit: Check out this preview of Mimi’s ‘Memoirs’ from the UK’s Sun paper. Things are not looking good 🙁
Your thoughts?

Fantasia sat down with CNN this week to discuss what she’s been up to since she’s been out of the spotlight for the last year. An interesting watch, one in which she opens up about having tumours in her throat and going back to school. More power to her!
Your thoughts?

R&B star Keri Hilson recently performed a set for Walmart Soundcheck online concert series. Check out her performances of new US single ‘Slow Dance’ (which I’m hearing was minimalist due to the more explicit nature of her usual live performances of the song), new UK single ‘Energy’ as well as album cut ‘Alienated’.

Pretty good….
What do you think of Keri’s performances?
This week’s classic From The Vault video is Mary J. Blige’s 2005 international smash ‘Be Without’. A return to form for the future Hall-of-Famer, the song serves as one of those that sound as fresh today as it did when it was first released – IMO one her all-time best. It’s not often singers who have been in the industry for so long manage to add to their list of career-defining hits so late into their career, something I feel really is a testament to just how great both this song and Mary J are. Enjoy:



Your thoughts?

Peep this preview of D. Woods’ video for debut single ‘Legalize Me’. Still on her Independent circuit grind, I’m must say I’m quite impressed with D for this one.
Your thoughts?

Interview coming faster than you can say ‘Sam, the man, the Kelly Rowland stan!’

Your thoughts?
JoJo - 'Forever In My Life'
As JoJo’s battle with her label Blackground rages on over the release of her ‘All I Want Is Everything’ album, a new cut presumed to be for the recording sessions for the LP has surfaced. ‘Forever In My Life’ is mid-tempo R&B/Pop fusion, with a great vocal performance turned in by the 18 year old. That said, there’s not much to scream about with this one. Album track, at best.
Hit or Miss?

Listen: Whitney's 'I Look To You' LP (Preview)
Amazon UK have put a preview of the full version of Whitney Houston’s hotly anticipated new album ‘I Look To You’ up moments ago. Click the link below to listen and let That Grape Juice know what you think…
Update: That Grape Juice are particularly liking the sound of ‘Worth It’ (fiyah!!!), ‘For The Lovers’ and ‘I Got You’ – of the tracks we’d yet to have heard before today.
Hit(s) or Miss(es)?
Jade Ewen - 'Punching Out'
While UK siren Jade Ewen currently preps the promotional push for her official first single ‘My Man’, the follow-up single ‘Punching Out’ surfaced today. Said to also serve as the name of her debut album, ‘Punching Out’ is an anthemic R&B/Pop cut, much in the vein of Beyonce’s ‘Irreplaceable’. I like.
Hit or Miss?

After the lukewarm performance of ‘Obsessed’ and the numerous pushbacks of new album ‘Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel’, things don’t look to be getting any better for Mariah Carey. The 39 year old singer has cancelled ALL of her upcoming promotional appearances amid speculation that the album has been delayed – again. Peep the report via Mariah Daily:
Mariah has cancelled her appearance on the TODAY show which was previously scheduled for August 28, 2009 and will be replaced by Miley Cyrus, NBC has announced today.
This is one of many recent postponements and cancellations of recently scheduled events: VH1 Storytellers, Clear Channel Tribeca show, Receiving Walk of Fame Hollywood Star, The Today Show and the MTV Video Music Awards.
Mariah’s management and record label are unwilling to divulge any information regarding the cancelled events but we suspect the reason is another postponement of Mariah’s new album release date. It appears to be that Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel will not be released on September 15, 2009, but at a later, currently unknown date.
Call me a ‘hater’ and sure some of you will (it’s all love lol), but it’s vividly clear to see that things are going belly-up with Mariah’s project. Whether she and her team will be able to salvage the situation and deliver a smash hit album will be interesting to see. Yet it’s worth saying that numerous sources close to That Grape Juice were not at all impressed with what they heard at the London listening session for ‘Memoirs’. Oh, Mariah…
Your thoughts?
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