Holding true to our promise of keeping things fresh here at That Grape Juice (v.2.0 baby!), we bring you ‘Cover Star’. Completing our current feature-list (From The Vault, Original Articles etc), Cover Star will each week showcase regular folk’s rendition of your favourite tracks. Recent history has shown the web to be the place to discover new talent – talent which is undeniably out there in abundance. So what better way to give shine to undiscovered talent than on your favourite site and mine – That Grape Juice!

This week’s Cover Star is Jeremy Crooks (Prodi-J). The 18 year old Rocklin, California native turns in a solid rendition of Chris Brown‘s 2007 hit ‘Take You Down’. Check it out below:

Though a little rough around the edges, I really enjoyed Jeremy’s take on the song. Vocally, he sounded a little similar to Brown, yet his voice also boasts a raspiness which actually works. Great performance.

For more on Jeremy (who also dances…..really well!), check out his Youtube page

Your thoughts?

That Grape Juice is pleased to announce that we will be interviewing Grammy award winning R&B star Monica this coming Monday (February 22nd).

As is usual, if you have any questions for her, please drop them in the comments section below. Remember, only legitimate questions will be considered. Thanks!

Beyonce was spotted dancing up a storm in Trinidad and Tobago recently. The singer concluded her ‘I Am…’ world tour in Trinidad’s capital city, Port of Spain, and held the show’s after party at the infamous Zen nightclub. Beyonce joined the crowd and partied to what seems to be her favourite local song ‘Palance’ by Bionic Blaze and JW, which she also remixed during a tour performance of ‘Check On It’. The song recently won Trinidad and Tobago Carnival’s Road March title for being the most played song during the nation’s annual Parade of the Bands competition.

It looks like Beyonce, who is still in Trinidad, has joined the extensive list of celebrities, including Jay-Z, that have fallen in love with my country. Soca is one of the most fast-paced yet addictive genres of music. Add that to Trinidadians’ ability to party harder than any other culture in the world, and it’s a completely intoxicating combination. My country’s Carnival is the largest of it’s kind and has inspired similar events around the globe including the West Indian parade during New York’ Labour Day and London’s Notting Hill Carnival.

With Janet Jackson experimenting with Soca music on her new album, I have no doubt that Beyonce will do the same as she seems completely enticed by the flare of the genre. If you think that ‘Single Ladies’ was a fast song, “you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Sidebar: In case you’ve been wondering where I was all week, I was in the middle of Carnival!

Thoughts?

Jennifer Lopez made a guest appearance at the 60th Annual Sanremo Music Festival in Sanremo, Italy yesterday. Jenny from the block performed a medley of her biggest hits including ‘Jenny from the Block’, ‘Waiting for Tonight’, ‘Love Don’t Cost a Thing’, ‘Get Right’ and ‘Let’s Get Loud’. Lopez also did a rendition of ‘What Is Love’, a new song which is supposedly from her new album, ‘Love?’, which hits stores in April.

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Mariah Carey‘s ‘100%’, which was featured on the ‘Precious’ movie soundtrack, is also being used to promote the 2010 Winter Olympics and severs as the centre piece of the AT&T Team USA Soundtrack. The video for the Jermaine Dupri produced cut premièred a few moments ago. Check it out above…

Pretty standard peformance-esque video, with purposeful footage inter-woven. It does help that the song is one of the best things I’ve heard from Mariah in a long while, though (not that that’s saying a whole lot). Still, a good effort.

What do you think of the song / video?

During his stay here in the UK for the BRIT Awards this week, Hip-Hop star Jay-Z also made a stop at BBC’s Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. You can check out the hilarious interview above, as well as his performance of ‘On To The Next One’ after the jump…

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A new song from Janet Jackson has finally surfaced! The Darkchild-produced track, entitled ‘Heartbeat Love’, features Pitbull, Rock City and Trinidadian Soca titan Machel Montano. Jackson’s new album will be released later this year.

This song is amazing! It is completely different from anything that she has ever done before and will definitely stand out amongst everything else on radio today. For those of you who don’t know what Soca music is, it is a genre that comes from my country of Trinidad and Tobago and is hybrid of Calypso (which also comes from my nation) and Chutney. If Jackson wanted a worldly vibe to this album, then she certainly found it with this track. Montano is one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most successful artists because of his energy; something that he undoubtedly lends to Jackson on this record. Great stuff!

Hit or Miss?

Ludacris premiered the video for his new song ‘My Chick Bad’ today. The clip, which features Nicki Minaj, is actually the first of two videos for the single. The second installment will be a remixed version featuring Eve, Trina and Diamond. Ludacris’ 7th studio album, ‘Battle of the Sexes’, hits stores on March 9th.

While the video is far from ground-breaking, it serves the track well. Minaj’s Freddy costume was actually a nice (and hilarious) touch. The beat on the record is ridiculously good and it’s obvious why the chose this as the followup to ‘How Low’ which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Thoughts?

International star Kelly Rowland seems to be everywhere these days! It’s unsurprising, though, considering that her Universal Motown debut is but a months away from release (first single dropping in April…confirmed). The 29 year old performed at Las Vegas’s renown Haze Nightclub last night (February 18th). Event organisers also presented the Destiny’s Child alumni with a cake to commemorate her birthday (February 11th) and her recent Grammy win for ‘When Love Takes Over’.

Check out red carpet and performance pics below (Ms. Kelly pole danced!!)

Your thoughts?

Teen Pop star Justin Bieber has set the charts alight with hits such as ‘One Time’, ‘One Less Lonely Girl’, and ‘Baby (ft. Ludacris)’ – the video of which premièred a few moments ago on VEVO. Check out the Ray Kay directed clip above. Bieber’s friend and fellow Canadian Drake makes a cameo…

Good video!

Granted the 15 year old’s music doesn’t necessarily rock my world, I must give props where props are due; Bieber is vocally gifted (for his age) and is serving up material, which dually manages to appeal to his age range as well as older listeners (working with producers/writers such as The-Dream and Tricky Stewart). A great move by his label Island (who are backing him B-I-Gtime), as doing so will ensure his longevity.

Tidbit: Biber’s album ‘My World’ is being released rather interestingly as a two parter. The first half was released as an EP back in November last year, while the second half will be released on March 23rd.

What do you think of the song / video?

Singing sensation Alexandra Burke strut her stuff on the runway at last night’s ‘Fashion For Haiti’ event here in London. The 21 year old was one of many celebrities who participated in fund-raiser, which was organised by supermodel Naomi Campbell.

In other Burke news, she is set to film the video for new single ‘The Silence’ this weekend.

Check out more pics after the jump….

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The video for Timbaland‘s latest single ‘Carry Out’ has premiered. Featuring Justin Timberlake (whose absence from the music scene has been well noted), the song is one of the better cuts on the producer’s otherwise underwhelming ‘Shock Value 2’ LP. As for the Bryan Barber directed clip, it’s nothing to scream about, yet it serves purpose I guess.

What do you think of the video?