During a recent autograph signing, Pop star Kelly Rowland revealed that the video for her new mainstream single ‘Rose Coloured Glasses’ was shot in 3D. The Destiny’s Child alumni was coy when further questioned on the particulars of the video, only confirming that the recently wrapped clip is set to première shortly. A video for Rowland’s Urban single ‘Grown Woman’ has yet to be shot {Source}
It’s awesome to see Kelly championing an area untreaded by other artists before her (how many 3D music videos have you seen?); particularly when considering the lyrical content of the song.
That said, it is imperative that a video for ‘Grown Woman’ is being cooked up too; for the Ne-Yo penned song is FAR out-performing ‘Rose Coloured Glasses’; and in keeping it 100% is clearly the ‘HIT’ of the two.
As reported earlier, Leona Lewis is currently hard at work on her 3rd studio album. Now the singer, who has reportedly teamed up with David Guetta, Ne-Yo and J.R. Rotem, has now brought producer Dallas Austin into the mix. Austin is known for his work with TLC (‘Creep‘), Blu Cantrell(‘Hit ‘Em Up Style’) and many others. {Source}
Let’s see if Lewis’ new found sass and Austin’s skill can create magic. Either way, it’s refreshing to see that she’s not putting her fate in the hands of the increasingly redundant Ryan Tedder.
With Kelly Rowland‘s new single ‘Grown Woman’ currently blowing up on Urban radio, the Destiny’s Child alumni is wasting no time with the song’s accompanying video.
During an interview with 100.3 The Beat of Philly radio station yesterday, the Grammy winner revealed that she is set to shoot the video for the Ne-Yo penned/Stargate produced cut next week. When probed further on what folk can expect from the clip, Rowland remained tight-tipped, saying that “these days there is no element of surprise. (Folk) are gonna have to wait and see!” {Source}
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It’s great to see that Kelly and her team appear to paying attention to what the masses are feeling; indeed ‘Grown Woman’ is receiving a great response both in the US and across the pond – something which bodes well for it being able to serve as the follow-up to ‘Commander’ in International territories.
In other Kelly news, while doing the radio rounds yesterday, she confirmed that the album will be released “this fall”. She purposefully avoided mentioning the previously reported September 21st date, due to her still recording.
Pop star Kelly Rowland is currently wrapping up the recording of her third solo LP. With but a few slots remaining on the self-titled album’s track-list, the 29 year old has revealed in a recent interview that she has been working with hit-maker Tricky Stewart in the record’s final stages.
Stewart, whose hits-list is impressive to say the least (‘Umbrella’, ‘Single Ladies’, ‘Touch My Body’), joins the likes of Ne-Yo, Dr Luke, Stargate, Brian Kennedy, Ester Dean, Rico Love, David Guetta, and Bangladesh as a contributor to the record. ‘Kelly Rowland’ hits stores on September 21st {Source}
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Ms. Kelly and her team are clearly not playing with this record! Roll on September!
In other Kelly news, ‘Grown Woman’ is blowing all the way up on Urban radio, ahead of its iTunes release on July 13th. I say forget ‘Rose Colored Glasses’ and push the Ne-Yo penned cut to the top!
After a brief rest on the bench, our Best You Never Heard feature returns this week with little known gems by Mya, Sugababes, Ciara and Smokie Norful.
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Mya – I Am
Mya’s last major label effort ‘Liberation ‘ironically remains caged after label mishaps and the poor performance of its singles forced it to be shelved. While what we did sample of the album was kinda hit and miss, the record did boast potential in the form of tracks such as the Kwame produced ‘I Am’. The gutsy up-tempo, saw the singer raunch it all the way up, in what is a very pro-female anthem. A great song!
Listen:
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Sugababes – No More You
Despite the Sugababes’ most recent LP ‘Sweet 7’ being anything but ‘sweet’ (see: it’s dismal chart performance), the album did serve up a few gems – ‘No More You’ being one of its best. The haunting production courtesy of Stargate really compliments the song’s lyrics (which were penned by Ne-Yo); lyrics which Jade, Amelle, and Heidi do an awesome job of delivering – truly capturing the essence of the song. There’s no doubt this could easily be a hit for the ladies should they release it, or any other act for that matter.
Listen:
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Ciara – Tell Me What Your Name Is
Song leaks and bad strategy brought Ciara’s ‘Fantasy Ride’ to an abrupt halt last year. However, despite its shortcomings, the project did yield winners such as the Dr Luke produced ‘Tell Me What Your Name Is’. A well-produced, breezy mid-tempo, with much in the way of playful sensuality. One of Ms. Harris’ best offerings to-date.
Listen:
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Smokie Norful – Run To You (Cover)
Gospel heavyweight Smokey Norful put his own spin on Whitney Houston’s classic ‘Run To You’ in 2006. Norful’s interpretation not only does the original justice, its tweaked lyrics open the song up to a whole new audience, while capturing an audience already familiar with the original. A skilled vocalist, whose tone favours John Legend, yet whose power is incomparable to contemporary secular acts, Norful turned in an amazing performance with this one.
Things appear to be going from bad to worse for the Sugababes. Following the dismal debut of their ‘Sweet 7’ LP, midweek figures today revealed that the album is set to crash out of #40 in its second week on the Official UK Album Chart. That doesn’t appear to be the worse of their woes though, as there is now increasing talk that the ladies were quietly dropped by production label Roc Nation last month.
Some may remember that the group signed the lucrative deal in early 2009 with the company shortly before the recording process of ‘Sweet 7’ commenced. Indeed, it was that very production deal which enabled the group, then-fronted by Keisha Buchanan, to work with US-based hitmakers such as Ne-Yo and RedOne for the proeject.
It now seems the drama and awful performance of the project on a whole left a sour taste in the mouth of Roc Nation, who are now reportedly referring to the group as ‘former clients’. The group are also no longer featured on the company’s site. Miaw!
That Grape Juice caught up with Grammy award winning R&B star Monica this week. In our candid interview with the mother-of-two, she spoke on everything from finding her place in the industry again, to whether her hit BET reality show will be returning, exclusive details on her new album ‘Still Standing’, marriage, kids, Rihanna, and much more.
As ever, we ask the questions you really want answers to. A great read, I must say….Enjoy!
With the release of Mariah Carey‘s remix LP ‘Angel’s Advocate’ drawing nearer, the diva’s label Island Def Jam have announced that the release will NOT be available in all retail outlets. Instead, the record will be released as an exclusive to retailer Target:
Mariah has completed her 13th studio album, Angels Advocate, a collection of newly remixed duets with some of her favorite artists, performing Mariah’s favorite songs from her #1 R&B album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel (released September 2009). Angels Advocate, on Island Records, will be available March 30 exclusively at Target stores nationwide, iTunes.com/target and Target.com.
Featured duet partners with Mariah on Angels Advocate include: Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo, Nicki Minaj, Fabolous, R. Kelly, The-Dream & Ludacris, T-Pain & Snoop Dogg, Akon, Trey Songz, K-Ci & Jo Jo, and OJ Da Juiceman & OutKast’s Big Boi.
Not one to toot my own horn, but many of you will remember me suggesting such a move as best for the project, factoring in the initial album’s poor performance, and the further embarrassment a full-blown release flopping would cause for ol’ Mimi. By releasing the record as a Target/iTunes only release, the project takes on a ‘for the fans’ form, being less about sales – although I doubt this is what was intended for it initially. Back to the drawing board it seems for Mariah. Sigh…
When Mariah Carey set out on her ‘Angel’s Advocate Tour’ in support of her poorly received, and even worse charting, ‘Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel’ LP, we highlighted that it made little sense considering her dismal record sales and public disinterest. It appears such observations have been validated, as it has been revealed that the 39 year old diva is struggling to sell-out 3000 seat venues.
Box office tally’s, as per Billboard (via Mariah Daily), for Carey’s January 27th 2010 show at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C, show that of a possible 3166 seats, the songbird only managed to fill 2430… leaving 736 seats empty. Ouch.
Oh Mimi! It’s actually kinda sad to see how things are turning out for her after such an amazing comeback with ‘The Emancipation of Mimi’. I mean even playing such small venues when she’s a star of such a magnitude must have been a blow to her ego; so not being able put bottoms in seats, must be even worse. Looking at the situation objectively, it was evident a mile off that a tour was a no-no, hence why it ever materialised is beyond me. Embarrassing.
Tidbit: In other Mariah news, ‘Angel’s Cry (ft. Ne-Yo)’ is on heavy rotation on UK music TV channels.
It’s that time again! That Grape Juice wants to see what you all are listening to. Which 5 tracks have you got on constant rotation at the moment?
Remember, it doesn’t have to be limited to Urban music; could be something new, Throwback, religious, even something you made yourself LOL. Drop a comment in the comments section. Mine and Trent’s are below – in no particular order:
According to our good friends over at Mariah Daily Journal, Mariah Carey‘s serially delayed remix LP ‘Angel’s Advocate’ has been pushed back yet again. Initially due out in January, then March 9th, the album is set to hit stores on March 23rd. The videos for the singles preceding the record’s release – ‘Angel’s Cry (ft. Ne-Yo)’ and ‘Up Out My face (ft. Nicki Minaj)’ are set to première this Thursday (January 28th).
Oh Mimi! Though pushed back by just a few weeks, news of this nature never tends to bode well for projects, especially projects like this where the original album flopped worse than ‘Glitter’ (fact).
Having actually had the original (‘Memoirs’) keep annoyingly pop up on my iPod when in shuffle mode, it has grown on me significantly (loving ‘More Than Just Friends’). However it seems it’s less the material and more so Mariah that folks just don’t seem to be gravitating to, hence the album’s dismal sales. Whatever the reason (be it the industry’s unfair ageism towards females or the fact many just want Mariah to sing meaningful, yet easy-on-the-ear songs again), one thing is for sure; Mariah would definitely have benefited from pretending ‘Memoirs’ never happened and laying low musically for a while (to recharge her creative batteries and give the public a break).
Instead, we have ol’ MiMi trying to re-flog an album, which no was checking for to begin with. If the foundation wasn’t there at the start, I’m a little baffled as to why she’s trying to build on it. At best, this should have been a ‘for the fans’ type iTunes release; yet giving it the whole album treatment (especially when the label aren’t supporting it) will only cause for more embarrassment IMO. I’d be forced to shut my mouth if the material was actually any good, but the wackness that has been these cheap remixes (no new vocals or lyrics, just phoned-in guest appearances) hasn’t done her any favours. It’s all quite sad really, as she’s kinda ruining the re-establishment of herself as a musical force that she achieved with the ‘Emancipation’ with her album offerings thereafter. SMH…
R&B contralto Jazmine Sullivan is preparing to release her sophomore album. The Lauryn Hill-inspired singer has been in the studio with some of music’s biggest hit makers including Ne-Yo, Carlos ‘Los Da Mystro’ McKinney and Ryan Leslie. The untitled LP hits stores in Summer 2010. {Source}
Sullivan has one of those voices reminiscent of those once heard on ‘Showtime at the Apollo’ in the early 1990’s. If her new album is anything close to what she did on her debut, then I am sure that she will have a hit on her hands. I still can’t believe that she did not win the ‘Best New Artist’ at last year’s Grammy Award ceremony, especially after hearing her live vocal performances of ‘Need U Bad’. Shame shame shame.
Sidebar: I know I’m not the only one who got caught in singing ‘Bust Your Windows’ at the top of my lungs in the middle of traffic. Am I?
