Official: Kelly Rowland Leaves Columbia Records (Statement)
Following yesterday’s revelation that Kelly Rowland had been supposedly dropped by Columbia Records, both Rowland, 28, and Columbia have issued a joint press release. They confirmed that they fact that they have severed ties, yet stressing that it was a mutual decision – one, which if read between the lines, looks as if it was instigated by Rowland. Light is also shed on the future of Destiny’s Child, who are signed with Columbia: 
NEW YORK, March 31 /PRNewswire/ — The Grammy-winning R&B/pop superstar Kelly Rowland will no longer be recording with Columbia Records as a solo artist, it was officially announced today by the label.
Rowland, a founding member of Destiny’s Child, the world’s top-selling female group, will continue her relationship with Columbia Records in her ongoing role in the iconic ensemble.
“Because Columbia Records has been my home base as an artist for more than a decade, the decision to move out on my own required a lot of soul-searching,” said Kelly Rowland. “As a solo artist, I felt the need to explore new directions, new challenges, and new freedoms outside my comfort zone and my friends and family at Columbia have been incredibly understanding about my evolution. I want to thank everyone at Columbia for the love and support they’ve shown and I will never forget how many good times we’ve had over the years.”
“Kelly Rowland is one of our finest contemporary artists and a musical force to be reckoned with,” said Rob Stringer, CEO, Columbia/Epic Label Music Group. “It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with Kelly and we will continue our working relationship with her under the Destiny’s Child moniker. The decision for Kelly to seek other opportunities for her solo career was agreed upon mutually, and any reports to the contrary are false.” {Source}
It’s good to see all has been cleared up. Three things are very evident from this statement; 1) Kelly clearly knows she’s worth more than what her solo success to-date shows   2) She is taking her career by the horns and making the moves to steer it in the direction she so deserves IMO – up! 3) Another Destiny’s Child project of some sort is pretty much a certainty. 
Your thoughts? 


After a lengthy hiatus from the music scene, R&B singer Ginuwine is back with ‘Last Chance’, the first release from his forthcoming LP ‘A Man’s Thoughts’ (due June 2nd). The video for the Bryan Michael Cox song, which sees Lisa Raye and Tyrese make cameos, isn’t bad at all. My only gripe is that the choreography scenes come across kinda ‘1999’. Still a decent effort. 
What do you think of the song / video?

Grammy and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson made an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres Show recently to talk about her tour with Robin Thicke which starts today, her engagement to former I Love New York 2 contestant David Otunga, her new album and more. Jennifer also performed current single ‘If This Isn’t Love’, which you can watch below:


Great interview an great performance. 

Your thoughts?

For those who haven’t been able to keep up with the latest season of Making The Band 4, peep the vid above to see the drama that has been ensuing among the members of Day26. This is quickly looking to be Da Band / Danity Kane all over again. SMH…
Speaking of Danity Kane, let me first apologise for taking a short while to drop the D. Woods and Dawn interviews. They will both be ready to post no later than tomorrow (meaning anytime from now!). As I’m sure our loyal readers will know, That Grape Juice prides ourselves on serving up the very best interviews from your favourite Urban artist. Hence, unfortunately, sometimes it’s a case of if it’s not ready to roll out, it’s not ready. That said, the interviews will be ready to post quicker than you can say ‘Sam, the man, the Kelly Rowland stan’. Thanks for being so patient…I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading them.
Your thoughts?
Kelly Rowland Dropped By Columbia Records
Reports are pouring in on the information highway that Kelly Rowland has been dropped by Columbia Records, her recording home since the start of her career. Check out the report below:
Former Destiny’S Child star Kelly Rowland has reportedly been dropped by her record label, just two months after firing her manager, former bandmate Beyonce Knowles’ dad.
Despite the fact her first two solo albums sold more than four million copies, British tabloid News of The World reports the Dilemma singer has been dumped by bosses at Columbia (applies to the US and all other countries), because they fear she is “no longer commercially viable”. 
Rowland shot to fame in Destiny’s Child in 1997 and released her first solo album, Simply Deep, in 2002. The album sold over three million copies worldwide.
The 28 year old started 2009 by splitting from longtime manager Mathew Knowles. {Source}
Wow! I guess this really does mean all ties are severed with her and the Music World / Columbia labels. Say what you will but I see this being a good thing for Ms. Kelly; a fresh start elsewhere and a definite break-away from the camp she’s been a part of for pretty much the whole of her career. I’m more than sure many a label will be knocking at her door (that’s if she’s not signed elsewhere already), looking to turn her into the next big thing. How this all plays out in the months ahead will be very interesting. For the time being, official word is that Kelly is currently recording her new Project Runway-type TV show for Bravo in the States.
Your thoughts?

What do you think Kelly’s next move should be?


Where should Kelly sign?

As Kelly Rowland continues work on her 3rd solo album, her collaboration with renown French DJ David Guetta has surfaced. The track, ‘Love Takes Over’, is very much a Dance cut, which is a departure from the sound we’re used to hearing Kelly feature on. That said, while the song (and the genre generally) is a bit too ‘busy’ IMO, Kelly’s vocals sound great and she’s ‘singing singing’ like we know she can. Here’s hoping we hear more of this kind of delivery with her next LP.
Hit or Miss?
LeToya's 'Lady Love' Pushed Back; New Single Lined Up
After being serially delayed due to internal label re-structuring, LeToya Luckett’s sophomore LP  ‘Lady Love’ had been finally set for a May 19th release date. However, it has been confirmed that the album has been pushed back once again and will now arrive in stores on June 16th, avoiding a chart battle with Eminem (who is releasing ‘Relapse’ on May 19th) and giving way for the release of another single. 
Luckett, 28, has gone on record to confirm that the Tank produced ‘Regret’ will be the follow-up to ‘Not Anymore’ (which isn’t exactly setting the charts alight). Word has it the song is the business. I guess we’ll know in time…
Your thoughts?
Britney, Justin To Join Jackson At Comeback Shows?
According to reports, Michael Jackson may be joined by some familiar faces at his comeback shows at London’s 02:

Michael Jackson has reportedly asked Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake to join him on stage for some of the dates at his sell-out O2 concerts.

The star is said to be concerned that the performances could lose their “wow factor” due to the length of his 50-date residency, thelondonpaper reports.

An insider said: “Michael knows that stretching out all those shows and keeping it fresh is going to be hard, and one way to do this is to collaborate with some other big stars that he admires.

“The idea would be for them to do five dates each with him. As well as Britney and Justin, he’s in talks with producer Timbaland about doing some of the dates too.” {Source}

This is by no means far fetched, as Michael has taken to the stage with both in the past. That said, Beyonce and Kanye West, both of who will be in the country around the time, are much more exciting prospects IMO.

Any thoughts?

As the Pussycat Dolls ready the re-release of their ‘Doll Domination (2.0)’ LP (due April 14th), after the original tanked, a new cut from the set has surfaced called ‘Painted Windows’. Though produced by the often-stellar Darkchild (‘Feedback’,’When I Grow Up’ etc), this Euro-Pop cut is, to put it bluntly, crap. That said, the the girls do get brownie points with this as Melody can actually be heard singing something other than ‘oohh’ and ‘aahh’, it’s just a shame the song couldn’t be better.
Hit or Miss?

Hot on the promo trail for her ‘In A Perfect World…’ LP, Keri Hilson performed smash ‘Turnin’ Me On’ with Lil’ Wayne on Jimmy Kimmel last night.  She also performed ‘Energy’, which you can view below. Pretty good performances, though I’m eager to see her perform more cuts from her awesome album.
What do you think of the performance?
Megastar Beyonce kicked off her much anticipated ‘I Am…Tour’ last night in Rexall Place in Edmonton, Canada. Interestingly enough, there was a no-media rule enforced, meaning there will not be any professional pics from the show. Some reviewers are saying the fact such a small, remote town was used as the opening city was for no other reason than to do a ‘paid dress rehearsal’ of the show which is set to roll into big cities such as London, Paris and US territories later this Spring / Summer.  Anyway, enough of my rambling LOL, reviews thus far have given the show great feedback. Peep vids from the show below (quality isn’t great, but best as of now) {Links updated!}:






Cracking stuff. You already know That Grape Juice will be in the house when Bouncy rolls into London come May.

Your thoughts?
Madonna To Adopt Another African Baby
According to reports, pop superstar and recent divorcee Madonna is set to adopt another child from African country Malawi:
Madonna has reportedly filed adoption papers for a second child ahead of a new visit to Malawi.
An official at the welfare department has confirmed that the pop superstar has formally applied to adopt another child from the country, The AP reports.
A second anonymous source claimed that Madonna would travel to Malawi this weekend and have an adoption case heard by a court as soon as Monday.
Madonna adopted David Banda from Malawi in 2006 and has long been rumoured to want another child from the country to be his brother or sister. {Source}
This, I’m sure, will have her critics sounding off again…
Your thoughts?
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