When Chris Rocks daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, “Daddy, how come I dont have good hair?” the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl’s head! Director Jeff Stilsons camera followed the funnyman, and the result is Good Hair, a wonderfully insightful and entertaining, yet remarkably serious, documentary about African American hair culture.An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, Good Hair visits hair salons and styling battles, scientific laboratories, and Indian temples to explore the way black hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of black people.
Celebrities such as Ice-T, Kerry Washington, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven Symoné, Maya Angelou, and Reverend Al Sharpton all candidly offer their stories and observations to Rock while he struggles with the task of figuring out how to respond to his daughters question. What he discovers is that black hair is a big business that doesnt always benefit the black community and little Lolas question might well be bigger than his ability to convince her that the stuff on top of her head is nowhere near as important as what is inside.
Recipient of A Special Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary
Check out the trailer and synopsis for comedian Chris Rock’s new docu-movie on ‘black’ hair. Looks real interesting:
Your thoughts?
Many of our UK visitors will be well-familiarised with The Noisettes, as the trio have been burning up the charts on this side of the pond for the last few months. Currently on tour in the US, the group are looking to make a splash Stateside and crack the US market.
Fronted by stunner Shingai Shonia, The Noisettes are not new to music scene, having already churned out one album prior to their current ‘Wild Young Hearts’. The latter, however, is the LP which saw them thrust into the commercial / charting territory.
With a sound best described as a Soul-meets Indie-meets Funk in a catchy coating, the London group are generating a serious buzz on an International level. See below their two biggest hits to-date ‘Don’t Upset the Rhythm’ (featured in ‘that’ Mazda advert) and current single ‘Never Forget You’. An awesome act you’ll be seeing more of on That Grape Juice. Enjoy:
Don’t Upset The Rhythm
Never Forget You
Your thoughts on The Noisettes?
Mariah Carey’s first ever televised performance of new single ‘Obsessed’ is set to hit screens on Wednesday’s episode of America’s Got Talent, however the full performance was captured by an audience member. While the quality of the video is far from perfect, it definitely gives a real feel of what to expect from Mariah’s promo performances of the song.
I must say I enjoyed this a whole lot more than I thought I would – not for obvious reasons though. Mariah’s attempts at dancing are hilarious. I mean come on, she looked so stiff dancing up on that stage LOL. You got to love her for trying though! More than anything, however, she actually sounded…kinda good. As one who is not big on the song in any way, shape or form, the live arrangement (with its added bells and whistles) worked pretty well.
That said, I’ll wait until Wednesday to see whether the performance across the same on television.
What do you think of the performance?
After almost a year-long hiatus, The Best You Never Heard returns this week featuring lesser known cuts by the Sugababes, Michelle Williams, Monica and Amerie. Do you have any suggestions for future instalments? Drop me an email at sam@thatgrapejuice.net
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Sugababes – My Love Is Pink
While everyone and their mum seems to have hopped aboard the Electro-Pop/R&B bandwagon recently, the Sugababes were ahead of the pack – as evidenced by their 2007 LP ‘Change’. Filled with dance-floor destined hits, the album also served up the Brian Higgins produced ‘My Love Is Pink’. This one can be best described as Electro-Pop with a slice of R&B and a dash of funk. Great track
Listen: My Love Is Pink
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Michelle Williams – Thank You
Lifted from Michelle Williams’ ‘Unexpected’ album from 2008, ‘Thank You’ continues to stand as one of my all-time favourites from the Destiny’s Child star. Though the bulk of the album had a vested interest in the Dance genre, it was this smooth, melodic, cleverly written R&B mid-tempo which struck a cord with me most (a sign, perhaps?). Michelle’s voice compliments the production beautifully and the song’s unique take on oft-engaged topic of ‘thank you for making me who I am’ was refreshing. Songs in the vein of this are what I’d personally love to hear from Michelle. You?
Listen: Thank You
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Monica – Hell No
Monica released her ‘Makings of Me’ album back in 2006, only for it to sell triple copper (you get the point) after the tanking of first single ‘Everytime The Beat Drops’. Unfortunately, this meant gems such as ‘Hell No’ went largely unnoticed. Produced by Brian-Michael Cox and featuring Twista, the song goes hard. In classic B.Cox fashion, the cut is a mid-tempo with that ‘knock’. What’s more, Monica, as with most of her offerings, sings the so much conviction that you FEEL what she’s singing – something oh-so-missing in many of today’s hits.
Listen: Hell No (ft. Twista)
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Amerie – Crazy Wonderful
The seemingly ever-underrated Amerie delivered IMO one the best and most consistent R&B efforts with her non-US released 3rd LP ‘Because I Love It’. Of the many stand-out tracks featured on the set, ‘Crazy Wonderful’ rears it’s single-worthy head that much higher than the rest. A whimsical slice of 80’s New-Wave greatness.
Listen: Crazy Wonderful
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Your thoughts: Hit(s) or Miss(es)?
Rapper Lil’ Wayne brought embattled singer Chris Brown out as a surprise guest during his set at ‘America’s Most Wanted Festival’ in Virginia. As well as performing his part on Weezy collabo ‘Every Girl’, Brown also gave an impromptu tribute to his idol the King of Pop Michael Jackson, who died in June (still cannot believe I just typed that…), moonwalking to ‘Billie Jean’, while Lil’ Wayne proclaimed him the new King of Pop.
I guess it kinda goes without saying that Wayne was probably sipping on that syrup when he spouted that line, because there is and never will be no other King of Pop. Yes, new talent will emerge and become great, but that title is for one and one only.
About Chris, it’s good to see him getting out there again on the music tip, something someone should really recommend to Rihanna – as opposed to the constant paparazzi shots of her parading up and down. As much as it may pain some to hear this, life goes on. Whether Chris reaches the dizzy-heights of success he was very much on the brink of pre-ChRihanna-gate remains to be seen, yet the fact he’s getting on with things is commendable.
Your thoughts?
This week’s classic From The Vault video is Notiorious B.I.G’s 1997 posthumous smash ‘Mo’ Money, Mo Problems’ featuring Puff Daddy, Mase and Kelly Price. Check it out:
Ahh…great song, great video. These were the days when Bad Boy really were on top; og how the times have changed, though.
Tidbit: Diddy’s dancing forever cracks me up LOL.
Your thoughts?
In news that hardly comes as a surprise considering the recent drama, reports are mounting that the Pussycat Dolls are offically over as a group:
Ashley Roberts has reportedly admitted that the Pussycat Dolls have “broken up”.
The singer/dancer has allegedly told fans outside a hotel in London that the girl group have split, reports the Daily Mail.
Ashley Roberts said: “This is the last time we’ll be in the UK as a band. We’ve broken up. We’re sorry.”
The group’s future has been in question for months as lead singer Nicole Scherzinger has reportedly planned to launch a solo career. {Source}
I’m guessing a formal announcement is imminent. That said, the writing really was on the wall for these girls as a group a long time ago. I mean folks just weren’t feeling the group dynamic (1 singer and the others nameless extras) this go round – and rightfully so. Having Nicole at the forefront ALL THE TIME, when an able and arguablly better vocalist in the form of Melody was doing a whole lot of nothing in the background was unjustiable. Also a mess is the fact the other chicks (whose names elude me) didn’t get a chance to shine or develop either. It’ll be real interesting to see how this one plays out…particularly Nicole’s solo project – which is what seems to be at the heart of the drama. In the meanwhile, check out a recent Twitter post from member Melody which heavily suggests the end is nigh for PCD:
Melody
‘You know when you realise someone or something you have been involved in or with for a long time is completely beneath you and needs to be over! Yeah.’
Ouch…wonder who she was referring to? Whatever the case, these are not the words applicable to the what their PR team will undoubtedly call an ‘amicable’ or ‘peaceful split’. Hmmm…
Your thoughts?
BET 106 & Park resident host Rocsi opened up to the audience yesterday about her battle with anorexia and almost killing herself. A very interesting and insightful watch.
Your thoughts / experiences?
Some the That Grape Juice faithful who visted the site yesterday would have noticed the brief posting about being able to preview LeToya’s new ‘Lady Love’ LP on Amazon. Well it turns out it was a glitch on Amazon’s part, so big that not only were folk able to preview the whole album…they were able to but it too!
Thankfully for LeToya, who we’re big supporters of here at That Grape Juice, the damage seems to be limited with little of anything floating around the net from the record. That said, the full version of ‘Lazy’ did ‘surface’. I’m really liking this one, it’s a mid-tempo with that ‘knock’.
Seemingly one of the few who got to preview the album, I’m kinda on the fence. Perhaps due to LeToya’s Destiny’s Child beginning, I have been itching for a bit more variety in terms of her tracks, most of which on this album seem very much to be mid-tempos about very similar topics. With LeToya evidently being able to do her thing on the uptempo tip (See: ‘All Eyes On Me’, ‘Tear The Club Up’, ‘I’m Good’), I’d definitely love to see her go down that route a bit more, for she’s risking being typecast as the soppy mid-tempo balladeer. Nonetheless, I’m still anticipating ‘Lady Love’ (due August 25th via Capitol/EMI).
Hit or Miss?
The very puclic spat between Mariah Carey and Eminem continues to escalate, with the Detroit rapper dropping a new diss track aimed at Mariah titled ‘The Warning’ today. In what is a very interesting listen, ol’ Marshall goes all the off on Mimi. I guess he didn’t like the ‘Obsessed’ video, eh?
{Reaches for my popcorn…}
Your thoughts?
Shakira debuted the video for her much hyped new single ‘She Wolf’ today. Put simply, this was very much a hit and miss affair…although it did kinda win me over in the end. While Shakira oozes sex appeal here and really brings the song to life via the clip’s performance, it’s her ‘trademark’ moves that left me both hot and cold. There really wasn’t any middle ground; she either nailed the at-times awesome choreography or looked like she was having a seizure. Really though, some of that choreography was hot steaming mess. I’m kinda on the fence about the song too; the production is fire, but the vocals and the fact that I can barely understand a word she’s singing is by no means hot.
That said, for the simple fact I’ve seen no one these days bring the ‘uniqueness’ Shakira does to her performance, both she and the video (overall) get a thumbs up from me.
What do you think of the video?
As Madonna gears up for the release of her Greatest Hits compilation ‘Celebration’ (due September 29th), the LP’s title track has surfaced. Produced by Dance hitmaker Paul Oakenfold, the track can quite frankly be summed up as ‘blah’. I say this not because the genre isn’t my usual forte, but simply due to the song sounding cheesy and dated. What’s more, with the lead singles from ol’ Madge’s more recent efforts ‘Hung Up’ and ‘4 Minutes’ being undeniable winners, I feel she dropped the ball with this one.
Hit or Miss?
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