Whitney Houston and Ray J were snapped getting pretty ‘close’ when leaving the Villa Lounge in Los Angeles, California this past weekend. This has, is and will continue to be the random-est of pairings IMO. Each to their own, I guess…

What do you think of the pics?

Review in a bit…

In the meanwhile…

What do you think of the video?

Rapper Nelly has been chosen to front Diddy’s latest campaign for Sean John’s new underwear range:

“I have been a big fan of Diddy and the Sean John clothing line for years,” Nelly told [said]. “So, when they asked me to work with them, it was a real honor. I hope my fans will enjoy this campaign as much as I did shooting it.”

Sean “Diddy” Combs, founder of Sean John, hopes Nelly’s involvement will help boost Sean John’s earnings, which are pegged at about $525 million annually.

“I have known Nelly for many years and I really admire his work. To me, Nelly is the quintessential definition of the Sean John man,” Combs elaborated. “He has the attitude, the swagger, and most of all the physique that our customers can both aspire and relate to. And let’s be honest, all of the ladies out there are going to be thanking us for this campaign.” {Source}

Interesting lol…more power to him.

Your thoughts?

This new track from TLC’s T-Boz surfaced earlier today. It’s currently unknown whether ‘You Got Me Open’ is from her forthcoming Universal/SRC debut. For her sake I hope not; it’s not that the song is bad, it’s just that such material simply isn’t good enough to be able to stand a chance of competing in the contemporary music industry. I must say though, that, as with Chilli, I’m kinda perplexed as to why each didn’t strike while the iron was hot (during the height of TLC’s popularity)to drop solo records. I mean, is there actually still an audience for them?

Your thoughts?

I actually intended to make this post at the start of the month….anyway….

With the first half of the year having served up major releases from the likes of Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Usher etc, the second half looks set to be even bigger. The following are just some of the artists whose new projects are slated to drop in the second half of this year:

• Jennifer Hudson
• Ciara
• Beyonce
• T.I.
• Ne-Yo
• Whitney Houston
• Solange
• R. Kelly
• Brandy
• T-Pain
• Michelle Williams
• 50 Cent
• Keyshia Cole
• Keri Hilson
• Teairra Mari
• Monica

That Grape Juice wants to know whose releases you’re looking forward to most. Who do you think will succeed? Who do you think won’t (aka flop)? Drop your thoughts in the comments section…

Your thoughts?

In the latest issue of Sister 2 Sister, Michelle Williams reveals for the first time the heartache of her broken engagement in 2004. Check out the report via Contact Music below:

Former DESTINY’S CHILD star MICHELLE WILLIAMS is keen to make sure her next romance is for real – after a broken engagement left her upset about the time and money she’d spent on it.

The singer picked up last-minute plane flights so she could be with her unnamed fiance during breaks in her Destiny’s Child schedule and, at one point, racked up a $10,000 (GBP5,000) cell phone bill just chatting to her man while she was on tour.

Williams also spent a lot of time planning a dream wedding and moving house only for her romance dreams to be left in tatters when her fiance began to get cold feet.

Eventually, the singer called off the engagement and she and her one-time fiance mutually agreed to split, leaving her to pick up the pieces of a broken dream and counting the emotional and financial cost of her failed romance.

She says, “Relationships get very expensive… You try to fly on the red-eye (overnight plane) home, you try to spend time (with him).

“When I was overseas, I racked up a $10,000 cell phone bill.”But Williams insists the experience won’t put her off getting married: “I’m not weary of it at all. I do believe there is a particular gentleman out there for me who will come when I least expect it.”

It really goes to show that one can never be too sure of what’s happening behind all the glitz and glamor this industry propagates. I mean, if my time-line serves me correct, Michelle’s (broken) engagement would have fallen within Destiny’s Child’s last stint and most of us were nonethewiser. Interesting…

Your thoughts?

Great song, even better video.

Your thoughts?

Hip-Hop veteran LL Cool J performed his brand new single ‘Baby’ along with The Dream on So You Think You Can Dance this week. Great song, great performance.

‘Baby’ is featured on LL’s 12th studio album ‘Exit 13 – due September 9th.

What do you think of the performance?

With Bow Wow set to release his seventh studio album ‘Pedigree’ in the coming months, the video for the LP’s first single ‘Marco Polo’ made its debut today. Featuring Soulja Boy, both the song and video get the ‘blah’ treatment from me; Bow’s gonna have to up his game if he’s looking for any notable kind of success with this record. Yawn…

What do you think of the song / video?