From ridicule to full on condemnation, ‘Empire’ star Jussie Smollett has seen the general public go from an outpouring of support to an outpouring of outrage following his arrest for allegedly staging his highly publicized hate attack.

Ahead of his official trial (if it gets that far), the 36-year-old’s undoubtedly already been convicted in the “court of public opinion” – a truth his co-star, Terrence Howard, isn’t exactly fond of.  Howard, who plays Smollett’s father on the hit FOX series, recently took to Instagram to show support for the embattled actor and was met with a fiery backlash for doing so…

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If ever there was a Hall of Fame of twerk tunes, no song could ever match or outpace that of Juvenile‘s ‘Back That Azz Up.’

Today’s From The Vault pays tribute to the preeminent party starter – the undeniable, incomparable 1999 jam turned cultural phenomenon celebrated its 20th anniversary today.

Join us inside as we say “Happy Birthday”:

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Ja Rule once ruled the musical landscape with smash after smash. And while, his catalogue of classics can’t be denied, the mess that was his Halftime show at the Milwaukee Bucks game can’t be either.

Find out why Rule was forced to bark at critics below….

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Lizzo is continuing her global ascend.

The exciting star’s latest stop was the BBC Radio Radio 1 Live Lounge in London.

Backed by a full band, the singer put a fresh spin on her viral smash ‘Juice.’

The funky jam is lifted from the Detroit native’s major label debut ‘Cuz I Love You,’ which arrives on April 19th via Atlantic Records.

Peep the performance below…

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Weeks ahead of joining the likes of B2K, Pretty Ricky, Mario, and more aboard the highly anticipated ‘Millennium Tour’ (which kicks off March 8), R&B crooner Lloyd is looking to introduce fans to his newest offerings as evidenced by the release of ‘Caramel.’

“Drippin’ in my bed / Yeah you know, what’s going through my head / I’m thinking ’bout, getting with you tonight / I’m thinking ’bout, wifing you up for life,” the 33-year-old croons over the latest release from his fifth studio album, ‘Tru’ (in stores now).

Tapping City Girls star Yung Miami to represent the group on the tune’s remix, hear the finished product inside:

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Just a month after confirming her new album is coming ‘this year’ (as we reported here), Kelly Rowland continues to tease the project (her first since 2013’s ‘Talk a Good Game’) in her various promotional outings.  The latest of such came via a stop by daytime talk show ‘The Real.’

There, she not only dished on her new partnership with Dove (click here to read more), stint portraying Empress of Soul Gladys Knight on BET series ‘American Soul’ (click here to read more), and new music, but she also spoke briefly on hopes of fulfilling her dream to portray Queen of Disco Donna Summer in a biographical film.

Did you miss the action when it first aired?  Hear this and more inside:

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Joining forces with K-Pop icons Lay Zhang and NCT 127, Miami dance machine Jason Derulo‘s tearing up the dance floor in the video  for “Let’s Shut Up & Dance,” the lead single from 7Six9 Entertainment’s four-song EP and box set inspired by and dedicated to King of Pop Michael Jackson.

Titled ‘The Greatest Dancer,’ the box set may not be due in stores until June 25 (the 10^th anniversary of Jackson’s untimely death), but Derulo’s getting the party started early with ‘Dance’ and its recently unveiled music video.

The Daniel Russell-directed clip features more than 50 dancers, was shot in locations around the world, and is a must see for all dance lovers.  It awaits inside:

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Despite a flawless kick off to her European ‘Nicki WRLD’ tour in Munich, Germany on Thursday (February 21) as we reported here, rap queen Nicki Minaj was royally derailed by a series of technical difficulties ahead of the trek’s second showing set to take place in Bratislava, Slovakia (February 22).

Pointing to the electrical issues at the venue, Minaj reported the site could not support many of the visual elements incorporated into her show and, as a result, would have to postpone it.  Taking to Instagram to issue a heartfelt apology, read her lengthy statement inside:

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Readers of That Grape Juice know what avid music lovers we are – especially of hits past.

So, as our retrospective features ‘From the Vault’ and ‘TGJ Replay’  allow us the chance to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday of one artist, our newest feature Chart Rewind – a variation of our current Retro Rewind assay – accedes salutes to an entire era of music history.

This week we’ll go on to relive the magic of Celine Dion‘s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ – one of the most successful singles of all time.  Penned by Will Jennings and Walter Afanasieff (most famous for co-writing some of Mariah Carey‘s greatest hits), the heart-tugging tune – selected to kick off the soundtrack to James Cameron‘s historical film, ‘Titanic’ – was an immediate hit.  Debuting at #1 on the Hot 100 this week in 1998, ‘Heart’ – despite spending only 2 weeks atop the tally – went on to amass sales and accolades over the following year rivaled only by the blockbuster success of Whitney Houston‘s ‘I Will Always Love You’ (from ‘The Bodyguard’ soundtrack) a few years prior….

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Ariana Grande‘s having the best month ever if you asked us.

Kicking the month off with a Grammy win, the singer followed up with a record breaking bounce to the top of the Billboard 200 (where she currently reigns with her latest effort, ‘thank u, next’) as well as record setting occupancy of the Billboard Hot 100 (click here to read more about that).

As fans await news on how the album fared with its second week of sales, Grande’s hoping to at least keep attention on the project’s latest single – ‘break up with your girlfriend (i’m bored)’ – by giving us a behind the scenes peek at the creation of its music video.

Curious to see how the Hannah Lux Davis-directed video came to be?  Look inside:
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Nicki Minaj‘s sold-out world tour kicked off in Germany this week and, much to the dismay of her keyboard happy naysayers, has been swarmed with stellar reviews and high praise.

I drove 5 hours to munich to see @NICKIMINAJ and I’m so happy I went ?????? #NickiWLRDTour pic.twitter.com/XJnrE0GpdJ

— Adel (@aydeeeel) February 23, 2019

Full story below…

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The alleged child rapist R. Kelly is set to rot in jail if he cannot produce 1 million dollars.

Full story below…

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