Ever keen to broaden our musical scope, recent months have seen That Grape Juice venture into a number of new musical landscapes including, most recently, gospel.
The songbird that is Jill Scott took flight in Virginia recently, when she flew into ‘The Hampton Jazz Festival’ for yet another stellar live showing.
Joined by a trio of gifted backing vocalists, the Soprano wooed her willing crowd with a rendition of 2011’s ‘So Gone’, going onto to watch her support rock the stage with the Kevin Conner penned H-Town classic ‘Knockin’ Da Boots’.
After a brief rest on the bench, From The Vault is back this week with one of the most successful releases of the 1990’s. It’s Mariah Carey‘s melismatic ‘One Sweet Day’, her smash duet with R&B’s finest Boyz II Men.
The second single lifted from Mimi’s blockbuster LP ‘Daydream’, ‘Day’s production was cooked up by Carey and former fervent collaborator Walter Afanasieff. It was written by the dynamic duo alongside the R&B quad about specific loved ones who passed away. Most notably, it was also penned with people affected by the AIDS epidemic in mind – in a bid to raise awareness.
On a chart front, the single remains a landmark to this day; it debuted at #1 – which was the singer’s second consecutive single to do so. Yet, most importantly, it is the longest running #1 single on Billboard Hot 100 of all time, totaling an impressive 16 consecutive weeks at the top. It became Mimi’s tenth chart-topper on that tally and the Boyz’ fourth.
(Fun fact: the single replaced Whitney Houston’s ‘Exhale (Shoop Shoop)’ at #1 and was replaced by Celine Dion’s ‘Because You Love Me’. Needless to say, power ballads staged a “chart stampede” during the mid-nineties).
A true world smash, it managed to peak inside the Top 10 in many European countries and remains a fixture on “talent shows” all around the globe.
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With the success and the critical acclaim the single and its parent album had received, it was believed Mariah was a shoo-in for a Grammy sweep after being nominated 6 times in 1996, but all those assumptions were cut short when the ‘Outside’ vocalist went home empty-ended on Grammy night. An injustice if we’ve ever seen one.
Given that Mimi and the Boyz were enjoying gargantuan success in their own rights, busy schedules meant both parties didn’t have time to shoot a proper music video for the single. So in order to make the most of their tenure together, Larry Jordan was in charge of documenting the conception of the track. This edited footage was turned into the track’s “video”.
Its raw quality suited the heartfelt song to the tee, choosing to put the emphasis on the group bonding and the song’s almost other-worldly vocals, rather than drowning everything in “glamorous” and “sophisticated” sets – ala some of Mariah’s more outlandish visuals since her post-Butterfly days.
With “The New Era” nigh, we can’t wait for Ms. Carey-Cannon to unleash it. Did ‘Triumphant (Get ‘Em)’ make the cut? What about ‘Almost Home’? Are we in for some more Adult Contemporary numbers in the vein of ‘#Beautiful’? Are there any other collaborations to help her on the charts? We guess it’s a matter of time until we find out. Hopefully.
Still, we’re hoping her ever-loyal ‘Lambily’ and we – over at TGJ HQ – aren’t the only ones anticipating new Mimi. Album and single sales will tell, ay?
Admirers of ‘Jump’ singer Rihanna may find the star’s influence in a unique place today, flaunted via a performance put on by Urban Pop dream team, 2NE1.
Pulling on the star’s Reggae tinged brand of R rated fun, the group rocked the Music Core Ulsan Summer Festival hours ago with their brand new single ‘Falling In Love’, proving just how far the singer’s signature- yet oft criticised- style has gone to influence her contemporaries across the globe.
Last year, ‘Visual Concepts’ called on ‘On The Run‘ Rapper Jay Z to executive produce the soundtrack for NBA 2K 2013 soundtrack.
The hit Basketball game series that’s taken the world by storm since 1999, this year saw ‘NBA’ call on Miami Heat star LeBron James to pick songs he felt best suited this year’s ‘2014’ instalment.
Only right then, that he can call on the likes of John Legend, Drake and Robin Thicke to complete the set, enlisting their songs to accompany the hotly anticipated game play.
The Pop diva looked like a bag of money and good living as she arrived at the press launch for the fifth season of The Voice last night in Los Angeles.
Having made headlines for less than savoury reasons in the past, the singer hit all the right notes yesterday, turning heads in a demure pink ensemble.
Naturally, we’re wondering why Xtina wasn’t this “on” during her ‘Lotus’ campaign (after all, love it or loathe it, image decides a lot in today’s industry). However, she looks so fierce here that the only direction we’re gazing in is forward.
As one of the most active online destinations for Urban Pop, things move at a rapid pace here at That Grape Juice. However, each week, there’s always select stories that resonate most amongst our millions of monthly readers. Happen to miss one of them? Fret not, you now have…The Refill!
No frills or trills, The Refill simply recaps the hottest topics on the lips of the TGJ faithful over the last seven days. The metrics used to compile the list weekly are comments, social media shares, and page views. So without further adieu…
May 23rd 2014 marks the spot for ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past‘, the latest instalment in the long running X-Men film series.
Welcoming Halle Berry back to reprise her role as Ororo ‘Storm’ Monroe, this month saw its cast arrive at San Diego’s Comic-Con to spill fresh details on the Bryan Singer piece during a fan based Q&A.
It seems the charts won’t be the only place ‘Part of Me’ performer Katy Perry will have to battle the likes of Beyonce, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Nicki Minaj.
For, after seeing her last album ‘Teenage Dream’ lift her to a lengthy reign atop Billboard charts, Perry’s now looking to extend that throne occupancy to fragrance shelves. Much to fan delight, the songstress took to Twitter earlier this week to unveil a queenly photo of herself accompanied by a scepter with the fragrance’s design atop it.
Greeted with royal fanfare in its own right, the snap surfaces just days before the songstress’s reprisal of the ‘Smurfette’ in the ‘Smurfs 2’ film is set to hit theaters (July 31). Despite being a bit under the weather, last night saw the pop princess pop up on Jay Leno for a chat about the film and more. See it all below:
Following the success of first outing ‘Finally Famous’, Big Sean‘s upcoming sophomore effort ‘Hall Of Fame’ is easily one of Hip-Hop’s most anticipated releases of the year.
And with the set’s August 27th arrival rapidly approaching, the G.O.O.D Music rapper has unwrapped its accompanying cover in a bid to build on the buzz generated by its confirmed features (Lil Wayne, Jhene Aiko, and “possibly” Eminem).
Taking to Instagram, the 25-year-old showcased both the standard cover (above) and the deluxe – which you can peep below…
Destiny has certainly been kind to Kelly Rowland and LeToya Luckett.
The former Destiny’s Child band-mates looked all sorts of lush as they caught up at Atlanta’s Prive earlier this week.
While the snap may come as a surprise to some, the pair have photographed together on multiple occasions since rekindling their friendship several years ago.
As many will recall, Luckett and LaTavia Roberson were ousted from the Grammy winning group in 2000 after requesting new management. DC’s remaining members Rowland and Beyonce would go on to recruit Michelle Williams – a decision that would see the collective go on to achieve the lion-share of their epic success.
Having enjoyed a solid solo run (one she’s looking to extend with her third studio album), Lady L recently revealed that she’s continuing to flex her acting muscles thanks to a new main cast role on VH1’s ‘Single Ladies’.
Watch her talk EXCLUSIVELY to That Grape Juice about her latest endeavors after the jump…
Selena Gomez continues to carve a fresh lane for her brand this week, kicking off the promo rounds for her brand new album ‘Stars Dance‘.
Released to stellar reviews on July 23rd the Rihanna inspired project is set to debut on the Billboard 200 with 100,000 units- flaunting songs penned by Toby Gad (‘Big Girls Don’t Cry‘) and Stargate (‘Unfaithful‘).
Now, watch as the Pop sensation performs her new promo single ‘Slow Down’ on ‘Live with Kelly & Michael’ below!
