All roads lead to September 7th for Janet Jackson.

As has been widely reported, the 51-year-old pop icon has spent the time since postponing her ‘Unbreakable’ tour not only tending to son Eissa (now 8 months old), but also reminding everybody that she is the still the reigning Queen of “snap back.”  Even fully clothed and covered, fans’ jaws dropped when they saw glimpses of the (once again) svelte singer behind the scenes recently at Kendrick Lamar‘s concert.

The rapid weight loss, according to her creative director, Gil Duldulao, is just the first of many surprises fans can expect on the trek – revamped as the ‘State of the World’ tour.  Details on the new choreography, staging, costumes, and more await inside:

(more…)

Funnyman Marlon Wayans and Essence Atkins have already proven their on-screen chemistry with the hilarious ‘Haunted House’ big screen franchise.  So, it should come as no surprise the duo was able to replicate that comic gold on ‘Marlon’ – NBC’s newest sitcom.

Bringing an “updated take” on the classic family comedy style by co-parenting his two children with his unreceptive ex-wife (Atkins), the show not only brought some serious laughs with its premiere last night (August 16), but also some big numbers.

See the details inside:

(more…)

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

So, just 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’re taking it back to ‘Lean Back’ – the sole #1 hit single from Terror Squad (led by Fat Joe & Remy Ma).  The second single from the group’s album, ‘True Story,’ ‘Lean’ was launched to radio early June 2004 and, just 8 weeks later, found itself perched atop the Hot 100 (where it was found this week that year). Knocking another of the year’s hip-hop anthems, rapper Juvenile‘s comeback single ‘Slow Motion,’ out of the top spot, ‘Lean’ eventually worked its way to Gold status.

Going on to become one of the ten most successful songs of the year, the bop’s topping of the charts was also unique in that a) every song in the top 10 that week in 2004 was by an artist of color and b) every act that topped the Hot 100 that year was a person (or people) of color.  Sigh…good times.

Relive them below:

(more…)

Justin Bieber and Bloodpop join fierce forces for ‘Friends’, now available to spin below.

It doesn’t have to end. And if it ends, can we be friends?

The song dropped following Bieber’s decision to step away from Pop’s courts to seek refuge in the arms of the lucrative Hillsong empire and as his manager Scooter Braun readies the arrival of an ‘American Idol’-style singing contest.

(more…)

As widely reported, Usher has been embroiled in a colossal scandal which alleges that he spread herpes via unprotected sex.

The R&B superstar has yet to make any formal statement. But it appears that he’ll be letting the music do the talking.

Jermaine Dupri shared shots of himself in the studio with the crooner, along with Bryan Michael Cox. 

Together, the trio carved out the sound and narrative for Ush’s most successful body of work – ‘Confessions.’ So, could they be cooking up something equally as big?

At this point, it’d certainly need to be to cut through the chaos.

It also appears that another frequent Usher collaborator is in the mix: Rico Love.

JD also posted a clip of him with the fellow hitmaker at the same time as the pic above…
(more…)

It’s wedding bells for LeToya Luckett!

The singer-actress got engaged last night and we have all the details about what went down, as well as who her beau is, below…

(more…)

Pink‘s efforts to pull the heat out of her rivalry with Christina Aguilera have been to no avail this week as their fans continue to clash online.

Why?

Aguilera’s supporters had hoped that she would receive this year’s Vanguard award from the MTV Video Music Awards and were crushed when they learned that Pink was to receive it.

Now, to ensure that the world understands why they detest her, Aguilera’s Fighters have clawed into the past to pull catty moments from their beef into the present.

(more…)

It’s been a year of peaks and troughs for Katy Perry and it looks like the bumps have yet to smooth all the way out.

Indeed, despite wins with her $25 million American Idol pay-packet and #1 album with ‘Witness,’ her popularity seems impaired, she’s slim on hits and even more starved of record sales.

Now, drama has struck her tour.

Dive below for details…

(more…)

The supermodel Winnie Harlow and the Beyonce-endorsed singer/songwriter Lyrica Anderson have clashed on Instagram after the latter criticised the former’s personality on the platform.

Full story below…

(more…)

Fergie is finally pushing forward with the release of her long awaited sophomore album ‘Double Dutchess.’ The cover of which she revealed moments ago.

Check it out above.

In the making for years, the campaign initially kicked off in 2014 with the infectious ‘La Love (La La).’ Since then, other singles have been issued sporadically – each enjoying questionable levels of success.

More recently, Fergie Ferg announced the formation of her own BMG housed record label Double Dutch Productions.

With the imprint set to release her project, she’s formally announced a pre-order. Details below…

(more…)

As reported here, Nicki Minaj is zooming to her next top 20 hit thanks to the Yo Gotti bop, ‘Rake It Up.’

Already hopping to #22 in just 6 weeks, the song’s promising ascent to the Hot 100’s upper fifth is all the more impressive given the absence of its official music video.  At the beginning of the month, the Harajuku Barbie assured her (growingly) impatient supporters the clip was “less than a week away.”  Fast forward two weeks later, no video.

To tide fans over, Minaj took to Twitter recently to unveil a behind the scenes look at the highly anticipated video.  There, viewers can catch a glimpse of what to expect from the visual in addition to its touted guest appearance by Blac Chyna.

See it below:

(more…)

Queen of Pop Madonna wasn’t quite prepared for the royal disappointment the setlist for her long-awaited ‘Rebel Heart’ tour live CD and DVD was going to be for diehard fans.

The pop icon, who celebrates her 59th birthday today (August 16th), thought she’d gift her fans with the official pre-order link and track list of the project, set to hit shelves a month from today (September 16th).  Her supporters, already upset the live CD and DVD were coming over a year-and-a-half (approximately 18 months) after the worldwide trek wrapped in Australia, became even more so when peeks at the track list saw fan favorite cuts ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,’ ‘Take A Bow,’ ‘Who’s That Girl,’ and even ‘Rebel Heart’ cut ‘Ghost Town’ absent.

After one read of the frustrations expressed on Twitter and Facebook, all we could say was…ouch!

(more…)