Check out songstress Toni Braxton on the set of the video for brand new single ‘Yesterday’. At 43, she’s snatching wigs off many a chick with how great here. Stunning..

The Billy Woodruff directed clip is set to also feature R&B singer Trey Songz, who appears on the track’s remix.

What do you think of the pics?

That Grape Juice faithful!

It feels so great to have That Grape Juice V.2.0 up and running – moreso the fact that the vast majority of you are loving it, as evidenced by your comments in our welcome post, along with the countless emails and text messages I received when it went live. The concept was conceived little under a year ago, with the actual design being worked on over the last couple of months.

Designed and programmed by the immensely talented Dustin Gary (with additional work from Tobbie and Lukau), the idea here was to make the site visually encapsulate all that the name ‘That Grape Juice’ lends itself to. Hence gone  was the dark colours (and MJ background lol) and in came what you see now.

As well as the design, I want to take the opportunity to shine a light on two of the new sections that are now live at your favourite site and mine:

About That Grape Juice

Ever wondered how the name of the site came about? Or perhaps you want to know a little more about Sam and co? New to the site, and want to know about our history? Click here to go to our ‘About That Grape Juice’ section.

Celebrity Shout-Outs

Your favourite stars know where to keep it locked!  Click here to check out this section to see who and who support That Grape Juice!

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I kid you not when I say there is so so much you can expect from That Grape Juice in the days, weeks and months ahead. Let’s just say, we’ve been cooking up a whole lot behind the scenes during the ‘slow-days’ of recent months! Without hesitation I can say, though, that you can expect much more daily posts, exclusive competitions and awesome interviews (you know how we do!).

That said, we are always eager to hear from you all – ‘the That Grape Juice drinkers’, as someone said to me the other day lol. What would you like to see on That Grape Juice i.e. new features? The return of particular older ones that you really liked? Increased coverage of certain artists? Etc. We want to hear from you! Hit up the comments section below with your thoughts and suggestions.

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A tad off-topic, I’d really like to thank the following for their support in getting the new site up and running in one way or the other (queue award speech lol): God (all day, everyday!), my mother and father, my beautiful sisters, Dustin, Tobbie, Lukau, Sean, Kwame, Leon, Jonelle, Antoine, Clifford, Hilario, Joanne A, Alistar, Glynn, Trent, Sandra D, Jamell, Dare, Nathan, Jade, Seye Iizsik and Courtney over at Crushlabs. Thank you.

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Your suggestions?

Your thoughts?

Watched the show already? Hit or Miss?

Controversial star Chris Brown made his stage comeback, his first since the ‘incident’ 8 months ago, at Power 105.1’s Powerhouse 09 concert in New Jersey. Peep Chris’ performances of brand new single ‘I Can Transform Ya’, as well as ‘Take You Down’ below (apologies about the crappy video quality):

Say what you wish about him, but the boy sure knows how to put on a show! After watching these, as well as the positive reception Chris’ new material has been receiving, it appears he has been given another lifeline. It’ll be interesting to see the first week sales of his 3rd studio album ‘Graffiti’ (due December 15th) – which more or less will be arriving in the allocated release window it was given pre-ChRihanna-gate. Anyway…

What do you think of the performances?

A long list of celebrities (from A to Z-list) came out the simultaneous premieres of Michael Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ which were held in various cities around the world. Venues included New York, Los Angeles, London and a several others. Peep the action below:

Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, and Marlon Jackson (from left to right) were there looking rather sharp I must say.

Jermaine Jackson and his wife on the other hand…At least his outfit distracts us from that hair. Can’t miss out on some camera time can you Jermaine?

Jennifer Lopez rocked the carpet in this stunning black number. Is it me or aren’t a lot of the women in the game wearing black lately?

Will Smith was the life of the party as usual. Gotta love this guy!

Former ‘American Idol’ judge Paula Abdul made it to the event as well (clearly without the help of a stylist).

Finally, we have Vivica A. Fox, who was also wearing black (see what I mean!), looked sexy in this little (and tight) number.

What do you think of the looks?

UK media darling Cheryl Cole stopped by T4 over the weekend to perform her record-breaking #1 ‘Fight For This Love’, which has become the year’s fastest selling single (if you are thinking ‘WTF?’, trust me you are not alone).

As much as I’ve played the cynic when it comes to Cheryl’s talent (or lack of), it’s hard to deny a hot performance when I see one. Questionable vocals aside, I really enjoyed this one, with the song becoming quite the grower. What Ms. Cole lacks in vocal ability, she appears to make up with her all-round fierceness. That said, it’ll be interesting to see what how she fares with her future releases once the X-Factor ends, as reviews of her debut LP ‘Three Words’ have been almost unanimously atrocious. Ouch.

What do you think of the performance?

*Pinned: Normal posts resume below!*

Welcome to the new and improved That Grape Juice!

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y!!!

While, I’ll be giving you guys a much more detailed account of what’s to come shortly, let me take this opportunity to introduce you to That Grape Juice’s new resident Assistant Reporter….Trent! By no means your typical run-of-the-mill contributor, Trent – to put it simply – encapsulates everything That Grape Juice has become over the last 2 years – opinionated, reliable, professional, but above all entertaining! He’s a LAMB too, which should be interesting LOL LOL. Check out Trent’s introductory post below!

In the meanwhile, let us know what you think about our hot new design!

Your thoughts?

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, That Grape Juice would like to present to you….. me… Trent!

I reside in the sunny (and HOT) twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago (that’s in the Caribbean by the way). I’m a Communications major in my final year at university and I’m in love with the field of Entertainment Journalism. That passion for writing is what lead me to the blog-o-sphere (yeah, I made that word up. Copyright!) and eventually to this incredible site.

I know I can bring a whole new perspective to the site and take things to a whole other level. So how about a tall glass of “grape juice” with a hot plate of Trini cuisine?!  I can’t wait to get to know each and every one of you!

Peep the official album cover for Rihanna’s 4th studio album ‘Rated R’. Pretty much standard-fare and expected, granted the album’s title. The cover was shot by noted photographer Ellen von Unwerth.

One can only hope the record itself, due November 23rd, serves up better material than its first single, the lukewarmly received ‘Russian Roulette’, and follow-up single ‘The Wait Is Ova’ – which isn’t sounding like anything to scream about. As one of those who firmly believe Ms. Fenty’s success is a testament to nothing more than the power of the dollar (see: stylists, paid radio play, media-flooding), ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ was a fluke IMO. Hence, I’m rather cynical about the chances of this record sounding like anything other than a dying alley cat hollering over hot beats. That said, believe it or not, I’d love to be proven wrong.

What do you think of the cover?

Hip-Hip innovator Missy Elliot has been hard at work on her upcoming album ‘Block Party’ for quite some time and one of the tracks from the project has surfaced. Produced by The Neptunes, ‘Put It On Ya’ features Chris Brown’s close friend and defender, Teyana Taylor.

Missy always stands out from everybody else on the radio and this song is a testament to that. Although far too long to even be considered as a single (a possible album filler perhaps?), the track is high energy from beginning to end. My main concern is that if this comes on in the club, I’m gonna have to be fully hydrated before I hit the dance floor because this is going to work me over. I’m certainly eager to hear Missy’s album and the longer it takes, the more impatient I get!

Hit Or Miss?

Check out Mya’s performance on Monday’s episode of ABC’s ‘Dancing With The Stars’ where she performed the ‘Jitterbug’. This has gone on long enough! They just need to announce her as the winner and let the others compete for second place. You better get it Mya!

Your thoughts?

R&B crooner Mario stopped by Good Morning New York today to perform new single ‘Thinkin’ of You’, as well as his hit ‘Break Up’.

We’re definitely supporters of Mario around these sides, however this live showing was just not cutting it. Lazy, sloppy and distinctly run-of-the-mill, this performance didn’t at all convey the fact (IMO) that Mario is one of the premier male R&B vocalists on the scene at present.

I was going to go off on one about how awful his label’s promotion and all-round handling of his project has been (did you know Mario dropped his album last week? My point exactly) However, on second thought, performances like this (aka ‘so-so’ / ‘doing it for the sake of it’ ones), while seeming quite harmless, are what separates your ‘typical R&B singer’ from the Usher’s and co. Surely, if an artist is undeniably doing the damn thing, the label has no choice but to pay attention. Having to admittedly eat a bit of humble pie on this one (as some of my favourites are guilty of the same thing), being successful in today’s industry really is a two way street: the artists need to do their part x100, and the label will more times than not hold up their end of the deal. Perhaps the days of hollering about ‘such and such got crappy promo’ need to end. That said, some labels are taking the p*ss (see: Amerie / Def Jam).

Wow, really off-topic there. In any case…

Your thoughts?