The 2015 Billboard Music Awards may be just 3 days away, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t expect news of last minute performers being added to the show’s bill.

For, after thrilling fans with news that Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson, and Nick Jonas were set to hit the show’s coveted stage, now reports have surfaced they’ll be joined by the likes of Chris Brown, Fifth Harmony, and Pitbull.

Get the scoop below:

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After building a solo force out of  Justin Timberlake following his departure from ‘NSync, the music manager Johnny Wright has set his sights on One Direction dropout Zayn Malik, offering him advice he feels will help fare just as well as his ‘Cry Me a River’ client.

Full story below…

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Lady Gaga has always stood as a present day pop anomaly.

As an artist, Gaga – born Stefani Germanotta – has carefully skated on commercial relevance by offering an EDM-wrapped package similar to the radio’s top offerings, yet qualitatively different in its decoration with undeniable vocal talent and stage presence oft-lost on her pop competitors.  These qualities, much like her ever-changing image, saw her inaugural years court as much positivity for her eccentricity as it did negativity for claims of being gimmicky.

Yet, for as meteoric as her rise to pop dominance was, her slide down the slope of commercial relevance has seemingly met similar acceleration.  Indeed, the years that followed her blockbuster ‘Born This Way’ album don’t see her every “hairdo and don’t,” on-stage antic, nor music release greeted with the same level of intense media coverage they once received.  While the cause of this shift has seen many-a-finger pointed toward the allure of “her gimmick fading,” others even argue that her inconsistent choice of sound (i.e. departure from “black music”) is to blame.

I, on the other hand, will argue that neither are the primary perpetrator, but instead wish to place a lens on Gaga’s aggressive social agenda which, in turn, caused the drift of her faithful buying audience.  Full analysis below:

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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…

Is Mariah Carey’s Las Vegas Residency A Good Career Move?

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Poor music may have stopped her from becoming the international Pop sensation her talent should have made her, but it would seem Nicole Scherzinger’s run as a successful TV personality is anything but over.

For, she may set to join Simon Cowell to revive ‘X Factor USA’, re-teaming with the mogul to put the series back on US screens after it was axed in February.

Full story below…

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Welcome back to TGJ Replay!

Designed much like our ‘Retro Rewind’ and ‘From the Vault’ features, ‘Replay’ is That Grape Juice‘s newest retrospective segment – a written quest, if you will, to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday.

Unlike its ‘Rewind’ and ‘Vault’ predecessors, ‘Replay’ looks to dust off and showcase entire albums (and eras) from a library of pop and Urban pop music hits.

With Lifetime Network gaining a bevy of bad reviews for its controversial, unauthorized biography of one of R&B’s most beloved characters, Aaliyah, we thought it a perfect time to shine some light and ode her debut album ‘Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number.’ As the album celebrated its 20th birthday this summer, let’s go back back to the ‘Back & Forth’ singer’s humble beginnings…

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There are just some people whose talent seemingly know few bounds.  And, if his storied acting, modeling, dancing, and now singing career suffice as evidence, then Miami dance machine Alvester Martin is one of them.

Already building quite the buzz after seeing his talented feet dance alongside some of music’s biggest names from Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez to Rihanna and Beyonce, now Martin is making his own moves in the recording industry.

As fans lay in wait for his official debut release via Emagine/Universal Music Group, the multi-talented crooner lets That Grape Juice in to get a peek at his first official music video and find out more about the man known to many as the “industry’s best kept secret.”

It’s all below:

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After a lengthy break on the bench, ‘TGJ Replay’ is back!

Designed much like our ‘Retro Rewind’ and ‘From the Vault’ features, ‘Replay’ is That Grape Juice‘s newest retrospective segment – a written quest, if you will, to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday.

Unlike its ‘Rewind’ and ‘Vault’ predecessors, ‘Replay’ looks to dust off and showcase entire albums (and eras) from a library of pop and Urban pop music hits.  As this week marks the 25th anniversary of the release of ‘Rhythm Nation’ – the now legendary fourth album from pop superstar Janet Jackson, we are set to deliver our biggest ‘Replay’ yet in homage to the Queen.

It all awaits below:

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Not even the likes of Beyonce could surpass Mariah Carey this time around, unable to match the icon’s sales stats when both were placed on TIME’s list of Pop’s most enduring entertainers!

How Mimi beat Bey?

Find out below…

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It was only a matter of time.

With the MTV Video Music Awards nigh, the network are gearing up to officially announce Beyonce as the 2014 recipient of the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

Details below…

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Way before she was a judge on ‘American Idol’, the ‘X Factor’ and the Australian edition of ‘So You Think You Can Dance?’ and not long after blessing Janet Jackson with a few signature moves, Paula Abdul was a popstar in her own right. This week, From The Vault is celebrating one of Ms. Abdul’s finest visual works –  the magnificent ‘Cold Hearted’

Pulled from Paula’s blockbuster debut ‘Forever Your Girl’ as its fifth single, ‘Cold’ is a Pop number with sprinkles of New Jack Swing wherein the singer warns a fellow female about a heartless, womanizing man that she compares to a “cold hearted snake “.

It was produced by Elliot Wolff – who was also responsible for the entertainer’s breakout single ‘Straight Up’ – and was one of her six Billboard chart-toppers. Unfortunately, its home soil success never translated into an overseas one.

As many of you would know, we love ourselves an epic video here at TGJ. Therefore you’ll understand why this one has a very special place in our vault. The work of Academy Award-nominated director David Fincher, the visual serves as Abdul’s homage to legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, most particularly his work on classic musical ‘All That Jazz’. The all-dance affair perfectly embodies Paula’s proposition as a “Popstar”: hook-heavy edgy Pop music, enchanting choreography, and high-octane music videos.

With Paula waving goodbye to her singing career almost two decades ago, we feel it is a shame that the current generation only knows her as a TV figure and not the award-winning stage blazer she once was. Just to express how inspiring and trend-setting she and this video have been, here’s a few well-known visuals which take inspiration from ‘Cold Hearted’: Janet Jackson’s ‘If’, Christina Aguilera’s ‘What A Girl Wants’, Britney Spears’ ‘Slave 4 U’, Ciara’s ‘Promise’.

Can you name more?

Over a decade before current effort ‘You’re Mine (Eternal)’ blasted on to airwaves, Mariah Carey released one of her most underrated singles. This week’s From The Vault is 2001’s ‘Loverboy’.

Taken from the ill-fated and criminally overlooked ‘Glitter’, the easy-breezy track served as the launching single of the album, Mimi’s first release under her new and (then)record-breaking contract with Virgin Records.

Helmed by Carey alongside producer Clark Kent and built around a sample of wedding-anthem ‘Candy’ by Cameo – who’s lead singer is featured on one of the two versions that were released – ‘Boy’ was a US #2 hit for the diva. Unfortunately, it never matched this success overseas, making it one of the singer’s lowest charting singles abroad. Since then, a number her releases have had a similar fate. But we digress.

Sidenote: this very song is considered the reason behind the alleged feud between Mariah and Jennifer Lopez. Lambily, see you in the comments section to explain why.

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The ‘Loverboy’ videos, directed by “the” David Lachapelle displayed a blonder Mariah than the world was used to, with shorter shorts and a now-infamous double-handkerchief bra.

Of course, in an era of visuals such ‘Blurred Lines’,’ Pour It Up’, ‘Partition’, and much of Mimi’s 00’s output, the clip’s raunch seems tame. Yet, at the time it caused quite a stir for being too racy with critics blasting Carey for trying too hard to compete with younger starlets such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera… and Jennifer Lopez.

Thankfully, gone are the days where the ‘Never Too Far’ songstress was an outright laughing stock. Indeed through stellar music, performances, and carefully constructed reminders of past achievements, Ms. Carey-Cannon is widely regarded as one of the most gifted talents of all-time.

Do we think she overdoes her “sexy” these days to conceal/compensate for shortcomings elsewhere? Perhaps. What is certain, though, is that if she’s able to keep the hits a’coming, her adamance to share her “particulars” wouldn’t bother us.

Peep the video for the ‘Loverboy’ remix – featuring Cameo, Da Brat, and Ludacris – below…

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