Talk about a slam dunk!

Self-proclaimed Queen of Rap Nicki Minaj took to a different kind of court to show off her latest array of hits – the basketball court.  Delivering a medley set similar to her Billboard Music Awards showing this year, Minaj kicked off her performance with a showing of ‘Realize’ with 2 Chainz. 

Next, the Harajuku Barbie strutted into ‘No Frauds,’ pop singer Katy Perry‘s ‘Swish Swish,’ and more.  See it below if you missed any of the show-stopping action:

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Katy Perry’s promo schedule has been relentless since the top of this year.  And, despite her efforts – which have seen her hit damn near every talk show, awards show, and concert festival between then and now – not exactly being reflected in the commercial performance of her latest album, ‘Witness,’ that certainly hasn’t stopped her from trying.

Her latest effort to try to sell the hit-absent project?  The famed Glastonbury festival.

Taking to a crowd of over 100,000, the ‘Bon Appetit’ beauty gave fans a taste of what they can expect on her forthcoming ‘Witness’ World Tour by performing her greatest hits (‘E.T.,’ ‘Dark Horse, ‘Teenage Dream,’ etc.) and some fan favorites from the new album.

Did you miss any of the action? It all awaits below:

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Rihanna, Bryson Tiller and DJ Khaled have nabbed a Top 5 debut with their smash hit single ‘Wild Thoughts’.

Though doing little to support sales of Khaled’s set ‘Grateful’, the song finds itself gliding to glory thanks to sales and streams generated by praise garnered by Rihanna’s performance in its visual.

Where it debuted? #4.

How? Pure sales of 89,000 units and 36.3 million streams!

Billboard adds:

“Thoughts,” from Khaled’s new album, Grateful, released Friday (June 23), and which samples Santana’s “Maria Maria,” a 10-week Hot 100 No. 1 (featuring The Product G&B) in 2000, marks Rihanna’s 31st top 10, the third-best total dating to the Hot 100’s Aug. 4, 1958, launch.

Wild.

Your thoughts?

The 21-year-old running back Ezekiel Elliott stands as the face of ESPN’s latest Body Issue this month, rocking the publication’s pages with a spread shot to showcase his personal and professional gains.

His interview and spread hits the net on July 5th and news stands two days later on the 7th and will arrive after his net worth rose to $12 million.

Watch below…

A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on Jun 26, 2017 at 9:15am PDT

ESPN Body Issue 2017 pic.twitter.com/pMSGIVBiRL

— Ezekiel Elliott (@EzekielElliott) June 26, 2017

Your thoughts?

Queen Bey is finally home!

Beyonce made headlines the world over when it was revealed that she had given birth to twins – believed to be a boy and girl – two weeks ago.

However, the singer’s stint in hospital was elongated due to what multiple sources cited as a “minor issue.”

Though unconfirmed, it was being suggested that the youngsters were recovering from jaundice – a common condition in newborns and one especially prevalent in twins.

Treatment requires the babies to be placed under intense lights to normalise their bilirubin levels.

Now, TMZ are confirming that mother and children are home – the latter being a sprawling estate in Malibu. It’s been reported that The Carters will stay at the $400,000 a month rental until August as they ready a move to a permanent new home.

Needless to say, the countdown is officially on to the twins’ unveiling.

With the world waiting with bated breath, could a reveal be timed to coincide with Jigga’s new album ‘4:44’ which lands this Friday?

Stay tuned.

Your thoughts?

Welcome to the latest TGJ Roundtable!

Over the years, That Grape Juice has established a distinguished voice that – whether loved or loathed – sparks discussion, debate, and on occasion drama!

Though comprised of seasoned writers who share a similar outlook on Urban Pop culture, the idiosyncrasies of the TGJ team members often lend for quite heated debates “behind the scenes” about the hottest topics.

Now, we give you a front row seat to the show. In a format similar to ‘The View’ or ‘The Real’, TGJ editors – Sam, David, Rashad, and Joe – get real in a very candid way.

Today’s roundtable topic asks each anchor their thoughts on the…

2017 BET Awards

Sam

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David

Last night’s show stood as the first since exec Stephen Hill‘s departure so I, like many, expected major changes to the spectacle.

On a positive front, Remy Ma’s win, the New Edition tribute and the focus on Urban music’s “new” wave of stars (see SZA) stood as three of the night’s many highlights for me.

That being said, there were a number of performances which felt more filler than they did thriller, lacking the trending-topic generating moments the likes of Ciara, Beyonce and Nicki Minaj have delivered in the past.

As for the Xscape reunion?

It was an awesome reminder of the group’s impact, talent (and on all tips) superiority over their predecessors, who arguably lack the vocal prowess and professional polish the group showcased – even with a few unfortunate hiccups from Kandi Burruss.

In short, I enjoyed the show but don’t think it was as good as last year’s.

A score out of 10? 6.

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Rashad

Easily the worst BET Awards to date.

First thing’s first:  Leslie Jones, girl, no.  Just no.   And, hopefully never again.  The new acts, while appreciated as it’s always cool to highlight up-and-coming talents, seemed awkwardly placed and scattered throughout the show as time-fillers. Trey Songz, Chris Brown, Xscape, Mary J. Blige, and Maxwell – the more seasoned acts – left a bit to be desired for varying reasons.

 If Bruno Mars was the bait to pull viewers having him kick off the show actually worked to its detriment because he set the bar way too high for the acts that followed. An overall boring affair, I, like Bruno, found there were times throughout it was hard to stay awake.  In fact, on the performance front, the only standouts besides him were the epic New Edition performance (which almost saved the show by its lonesome) and Tamar Braxton’s dramatic, yet engaging performance. It was just an overall miss, which is surprising given that the BET Awards ALWAYS bring it.

P.S. – While I cannot help but appreciate BET for paying homage to George Michael, a caucasian artist long praised in the Black community for his soulfulness, El Debarge was not the best pick for his tribute. There were literally times where Debarge’s voice sounded like he was saying “meow meow meow” or, dare I say it, sounded like someone was crumpling foil. No bueno.

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Joe

The BET Awards this year could have been renamed “the gift that keeps on giving.” Put simply, the ceremony was phenomenal.

First thing is first, you can never go wrong when you book Bruno Mars to kick-off a show.

I felt very elated seeing Solange and SZA finally getting the recognition they deserve; the girls felt, looked and were treated like rock stars.

On the throwback front, the uncles and aunties showed up and showed out! New Edition’s presence on the BET stage felt like the most natural thing and clearly the audience enjoyed, while the ladies of Xscape reminded the world that they weren’t flash in the pan or just reality TV celebrities but bonafide powerhouses. How refreshing seeing Kandi and Tiny celebrated for their tremendous talent once again.

Trey Songz forgettable performance was eclipsed by Chris Brown’s stellar showing, Khalid is really one to watch and that was made official at yesterday night’s event; and of course Maxwell remains the master of crooning.

A shout out to the creative directors who have blatantly upped the ante with the visuals and the staging. Long gone it seems are the days where rappers came armed with nothing but their hype man: Big Sean, French Montana, Kendrick Lamar, Future and Migos served vivid and edgy visuals.

The VMA’s ought to watch out: the BET Awards are slowly but surely becoming THE definitive music awards show ceremony for the millennials.

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Do you agree with our picks? Who was spot on? Let us know your thoughts on the latest TGJ Roundtable and your thoughts on the 2017 BET Awards.

Your thoughts?

[Photo credit: Getty]

After facing claims that he drugged and raped the Pop sensation Kesha, the producer Dr. Luke has decided to drop the defamation lawsuit he filed against her mother Pebe Sebert.

On Friday, much to the surprise of the feuding parties’ respective supporters, they “joined forces” to release the following statement:

Dr. Luke vigorously disputes and denies that he ever raped Kesha Sebert, and he is asserting claims of defamation in a New York court against Kesha Sebert for making statements to the contrary, which statements Dr. Luke adamantly maintains are false.

Pebe admits she has no firsthand personal knowledge of the events occurring on the night of the alleged rape. Pebe was not present that night. At that time, Pebe was in Nashville, and Kesha was in Los Angeles. The dispute between Kesha and Dr. Luke about the events of that night is the subject of the New York case, and will be decided in that case. Accordingly, all parties believe it is appropriate to dismiss this Tennessee case and focus their attention on the New York case.

Luke’s decision to pull the plug on this suit means that their legal battle has been reduced to their New York case.

Your thoughts?

Migos had a wild time at last night’s BET Awards.

Nabbing a gong for their smash hit ‘Bad & Boujee’, the Hip-Hop trio found themselves engaged in two brawls backstage at the star-studded ceremony.

One of them being with Joe Budden.

Here y’all go. This is the incident everyone is talking about with Joe Budden & Migos . #BETawards pic.twitter.com/46oGEeezSQ

— ashley.elena (@ElenaSizzler) June 26, 2017

The other? Chris Brown.

Brown and the group’s frontman Quavo have been feuding ever since the latter started dating the ‘Bite My Tongue’ singer’s ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran.

Migos & Chris Brown or Joe Budden were about to fight? #betawards pic.twitter.com/ZXFrQw3eHW

— Clint The Boxer (@ClintTheBoxer) June 26, 2017

What went down?

Sources claim Quavo was pushed by a member of the Chris clan prompting a member of Migos’ camp to jump in. Alas, he was punched. Then, slighted by the disrespect, Quavo’s group members followed Chris to his car and surrounded them.

The police were called but all parties were long gone from the scene by the time they arrived.

Your thoughts?

Queen of Hip Hop Soul Mary J. Blige gave her ex-husband, Kendu Isaacs, a royal dragging on tonight’s BET Awards.

Slamming Isaacs, who is also her former manager, for what she’s claimed are extramarital affairs and poor financial management, the Grammy-winner singer refused to mince words and let it all out for viewers of tonight’s ceremony before going into her latest single, ‘Love Yourself.’

As we reported here, it wasn’t long before Ken took to Instagram to offer a clap back for her choice words.  Now, just moments after his first post made its rounds, he’s singing a somewhat different tune.

See what we mean inside:

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The BET Awards 2017 certainly provided many a notable moment courtesy of the host of music stars who took to the stage.

Now, after show-stopping performances from Maxwell, Mary J. Blige, Bruno Mars, and more, see who walked away with the show’s biggest star – its coveted trophies!

A full winner’s list awaits below:

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Fresh from  a spirited performance at the 2017 BET Awards, Tamar Braxton has hatched the video for current single ‘My Man.’

Much more narrative-driven than previous efforts, the clip sees the 40-year-old R&B star live out the lyrics of the sassy track.

The black and white visual is the first to be lifted from Braxton’s brand new album, which is slated to hit stores later this year.

Watch below…

Though the video doesn’t boast the biggest budget, it does compliment the song well…enough.

Your thoughts?

Mary J. Blige has just stepped off the stage at the 2017 BET Awards and delighted many with her performance. However, ex Kendu Isaacs is not impressed.

The Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul offered a rousing showing of ‘Love Yourself’ and ‘Set Me Free’ – the latter of which features the lyrics “there’s a special place in hell for you.”

Clearly triggered, Isaacs – who is currently in the midst of a butter divorce with the singer – took to Instagram and posted the following:

That intro was so forced!!!!! Ok. It’s time for me to tell the truth.

With their split already all sorts of messy – following allusions to infidelity and sky-high spousal support payments, things look like they’re about to get even muckier.

Your thoughts?

[Photo credit: Getty]