Late 2012 may have seen R&B chanteuse Melanie Fiona rocking stages coast to coast alongside Mary J. Blige and D’Angelo aboard their hotly-selling tour, but the songstress is still about that ‘MF Life’ as evidenced by the long-awaited visual for the album’s latest single.
Indeed, after winning critical acclaim for her commercial set, the songstress is kicking off 2013 with a video for the Grammy nominated ‘Wrong Side Of A Love Song’ – a fan favorite from the album.
Enlisting the help of screen heartthrob Omari Hardwick (‘Sparkle’, ‘For Colored Girls’), our friends at Singersroom caught up with the beauty on set of the video. See all the action below:
As far British album sales went last year, Pop was most definitely the name of the game- it has emerged today.
For, figures released by Official Charts Company reveals that it was the ‘most purchased’ genre in 2012, helped in part by units moved by Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and ‘Our Version Of Events’.
Over the past two decades Gospel hitmaker Israel Houghton has seen his name blasted atop Billboard’s Gospel Charts for hits like ‘Again I Say Rejoice’, ‘Friend of God’, and the most recent #1 hit ‘It’s Not Over (When God Is In It)’.
In such time, the ‘New Breed’ captain has not only racked up 4 Grammy awards and a host of other accolades, but has become one of the genre’s frontrunners – with 2012 seeing him join fellow Gospel gents Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, and Marvin Sapp for the hotly-selling ‘King’s Men’ national tour.
But, despite his successes, the ‘Jesus At the Center’ maestro maintains that his family remains the center of his devotion as he still juggles the demands of being the worship leader for mega-pastor Joel Osteen‘s Lakewood Church (Houston, TX) with touring and recording.
Click below to read our candid interview with Houghton as he discusses this topic and many more, exclusively with That Grape Juice:
With the 2013 Grammy Awards now less than a month away, one would think Frank Ocean had enough to look forward to this year- following the birth of his debut album last year.
However, before he’s set to win big at the star studded event, tonight welcomed news that cements his status as one of the world’s fastest rising commercial acts…and the unassuming saviour of Contemporary R&B.
“You don’t have to love me, but you will respect me, cause I’m a boss!”
She was the first girl to scream on a track, she switched up the beat of the drum and brought all the boys to the yard: yeah we’re talking Kelis and her hit single ‘Bossy’. The 2006 release is this week’s From The Vault selection.
After branching out from the masterminds behind her first three LP’s – the Neptunes – Kelis mixed things up, and begun working with different producers and writers, including Bangladesh and the ever in-demand Sean Garrett. Together the trio cooked up this gem of track.
The 808-driven cut (like its housing album, ‘Kelis Was Here’) was a marked departure from Ms Rogers’ previous material, aiming for a more “contemporary” sound in a bid to capitalize on her previous worldwide smash ‘Milkshake’.
Released in Spring 2006 as the launching single from ‘Kelis Was Here’ album, ‘Bossy’ managed to chart inside both the US Hot 100 and Hot Hip-Hop/R&B tallies at #16 and #11 respectively. It failed to achieve the same feat in the UK where it peaked at #22 but got to the 18th position of the Australian chart.
Though not as successful as the aforementioned ‘Milksake’, it remains one of the artist’s most recognizable songs and wouldn’t sound out of place alongside some of today’s Urban hits such as Rihanna‘s ‘Pour It Up’ or Kendrick Lamar‘s ‘Swimming Pool (Drank)’.
For the video, director Mark Klasfeld made the former Mrs Nas embrace her inner glamour diva, and she can be seen enjoying a pool party with her posse as well as rocking a cocktail reception all the while displaying some high-fashion clothes including THATswimsuit. Put simply, the clip serves up edgy, tasteful, all the while looking like a magazine editorial.
With the Harlem-bred singer hard at work on her sixth album, the follow-up to 2010’s ‘Fleshtone’, we must admit that having loved her more electronic offerings, we’re praying she re-embraces, even for a few songs, the very musical style that brought her to our attention in the first place – hard-hitting R&B.
Either way it’s a given we’re in for a tasty treat whenever she’s ready to embark on the next phase in her career.
No stranger to controversy, Pop force Lady GaGa found herself embroiled in just that this week – courtesy of Kelly Osbourne. Random, we know.
The Fashion Police panelist took aim at the singer after allegedly being at the receiving end of nasty comments from the star’s fans online. This, presumably, following comments Osbourne made about GaGa on the hit E! show.
In a new interview with Fabulous magazine, Osbourne lamented:
“Lady Gaga’s fans are the worst. They’ve said I should kill myself, that they hope I get raped. I mean it’s crazy but I’ve had this all my life and I just try and ignore it.
I actually think she’s a good singer but she has the worst fans in the world and you have a responsibility to stop that. I think you do anyway.”
With Kelly’s quotes on the “Monsters” beginning to do the rounds, the ‘Bad Romance’ singer posted an open letter in response to the claims.
Her single ‘Diamonds‘ may be riding on Billboard’s R&B/Hip Hop chart, but Rihanna is already in the early stages of dethroning herself with its strip club ready follow up, ‘Pour It Up‘.
This week, it holds the record for being the Greatest Gainer on R&B/Hip Hop radio when it came in at #31 on the chart, though unlikely to rejuvenate US interest in its home, ‘Unapologetic’, which is now well on its way to leaving the iTunes 100.
However, it isn’t all bad news for the ‘Battleship’ actress. For, today saw the release of her very own commercial, shot to boost trade and tourism in her homeland of Barbados.
They’re the girls who keep the industry afloat with their catchy tunes and lucrative endeavors, and now- just hours into the New Year- Facebook has named its highest ranking ‘Global Top Female Divas’.
Compiled by counting the Facebook fans of each lady, the list goes some way to explain the ‘reach & pull’ of their individual brands when targeting consumers on the social network.
For Def Jam’s Rihanna, recent years have seen chart topping become just as organic as breathing- scoring a mind blowing 8 US #1 singles since April 15th 2008.
Now, just months after her own chart arrival, it seems her ROC sister Rita Ora is following suit with her debut album ‘ORA‘. For, in what we’d say solidifies Roc Nation‘s status as one of Pop’s better oiled machines, both starlets have made major gains on iTunes today.
An icon. A legend. One of the greatest voices to grace Pop music.
While the above can all be said of Mariah Carey, there’s no denying that her time at the top has come with its difficulties.
However, above all the trials and tribulations life has thrown at the ‘Triumphant’ diva since her chart arrival, none can compare to the horror that was Rihanna‘s cover of her Afanasieff produced, ‘Hero‘.
Both shocking and disturbing, Rihanna’s take on the song still darkens many a happy memory related to the song- even eight years after it happened.
However, as to ensure nobody feels left out, TGJ dedicates today’s edition of ‘Retro Rewind’ to the ghastly cover, hours after her talented rival Rita Ora wowed fans with a cover of Carey’s Christmas classic ‘All I Want For Christmas‘ here.
Christmas came early for Pop fashionista Rihanna last night, one month after the arrival of her new album ‘Unapologetic‘ and its mid tempo lead single, ‘Diamonds‘.
Want to know what the good news is? We’ve got you below….
After years of sluggish performances, 2012 brought with it a song Rihanna could actually sing well – ‘Diamonds’.
And while her solid live showings of the track have been welcome, nothing tops hearing an actual singer flow over the Benny Blanco helmed hit. Indeed, songwriter SIA proved this with her rendition last month and now Brandy does too.
Recorded recently backstage at a show, The Vocal Bible served up a sermon on how to sing your song better than you.
Notepads at the ready? Ms. Norwood’s brief-but-brilliant showing of ‘Diamonds’ awaits below…
