Raz B. Rihanna. Miranda Lamberts. Good Morning America (Robin Roberts). Anderson Cooper. FOX News. Odd Future. And now, Brian McKnight.
Besides at one time occupying some space on your television screens, the aforementioned entities all have had at least a taste of one other commonality – beef with R&B bad boy Chris Brown.
For, while his introduction saw him poised to follow in the steps of the legendary Michael Jackson (a la famed, talented child star whose star brightens into adulthood) and fill a space in R&B that had not been occupied since Usher, post-“the 2009 incident” has seen the ‘Run It’ singer’s public image run topsy turvy.
One minute loved and praised, the next minute reminded of that career-changing occurrence…
The time is almost nigh! Usher‘s new album ‘Looking 4 Myself’ hits stores on June 12th; and so as to drum up heightened buzz, 30 second snippets of each track have been released.
Peep ‘Epic’ star Ciara,posing it up with label boss LA Reid and acclaimed producers ‘Da Internz‘.
Unveiled by the duo minutes ago, the snap comes days after the singer announced the name of her new studio album and its lead single- ‘One Woman Army‘ and ‘Sweat‘.
Think you’ve got what it takes to direct the new era of Ciara’s career, have your say here.
Hot 97‘s annual Summer Jam extravaganza is currently underway live in New York City. As ever, That Grape Juice has you plugged into the good-good. Check out a live-stream from the show, which boasts performances from the likes of Azealia Banks and Nicki Minaj, below…
The current season of BET’s The Game has brought with it many a change, from cast additions to cast omissions, it certainly has been an eventful year for the hit show.
Newest recruit Brandy revealed in a new interview with our friends over at Kempire Radio that the fun is set to continue (for her), after producers asked her to reprise her role as Chardonnay in the show’s next season. Regular viewers would have seen Chardonnay’s tumultuous relationship with Jason Pitts (played by Coby Bell) serve as the primary storyline in the show’s current fifth season.
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With business picking up for Ms. Norwood on the music end, it’s great to see her really wetting her feet on the acting tip.
We’ve been spinning Brandy‘s ‘Put It Down (ft. Chris Brown)‘ here at That Grape Juice ever since it dropped last month. Hence, like many, we’ve been salivating for details on the track’s accompanying video.
Well, one needn’t wonder anymore. For, during a chat with our friends over at Kempire Radio, The Vocal Bible revealed that she has teamed up with the creative force behind Beyonce, Destiny’s Child, and En Vogue – Frank Gatson.
Listen to what she had to say about the hotly anticipated visual after the jump…
She may have come under fire last week following a shaky set in Morocco, but last night saw Mariah Carey wow fans at Sporting Monte-Carlo-with a moving rendition of her signature hit ‘Hero‘.
Since the genesis of her career, Rihanna has been renown for her horrible vocals. Yet, more recent times have also seen the model’s public persona take a turn for the worse.
Be it genuine or a calculated attempt to legitimate her “bad gyal” gimmick, something is up. A fact underlined in her recent interview with Esquire magazine.
Initially another Ms. Fenty interview by the numbers, the feature took a dramatic turn when her musical reunion with ex Chris Brown was brought up.
The year 2005 was a busy one to say the least. Indeed, Amerie was ruling the airwaves with her ‘1 Thing’, the Pussycat Dolls released the now-classic ‘Don’t Cha’ and Bow Wow served up one of the biggest hit of his career in ‘Let Me Hold You’
Still, in retrospect, that year’s biggest “contribution” was the launch of TGJ favorite, Rihanna! Alas, this week’s From The Vault is dedicated to the model’s debut single, ‘Pon De Replay’.
The infectious Dancehall/R&B/Pop fusion was produced by Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers and served as Rih’s lucky first strike. For, the cut reached the second position on both the American and British charts and peaked inside the Top 20 of every country it was released in.
‘Replay’s club-themed visual was a music channel regular and arguably showcases the upper echelon of Ms. Fenty’s limited showmanship (see: “come run run run run”).
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Dismissed as a one-hit wonder, few at that time would have deemed the stunner as one who’d go on to be one the biggest artists on the planet. A fact which re-affirms that, with the right backing, any-and-everything is possible. For, as much as we can appreciate the track, it doesn’t scream “Superstar Alert”, nor does the “singer” in the video.
After experimenting with her image and sound a plenty with varying results (see: rock chick, femme fatale, dance queen…), Team Rih have finally realized that what makes their “product” so palatable is its Island-bravado. Hence, there’s no coincidence that theres been a reversion to cooking up songs in the vein of ‘Replay’, and in doing so they’ve scored some of their biggest hits (see: ‘Rude Boy’, ‘What’s My Name’).
For all her vocal crimes, Rihanna remains a compelling concept as both a “brand” and “musical movement”. So much so that even when the going is tough (see: ‘Rated R’), all that was needed to remedy the predicament, was a referral to this her “genesis” for the map forward. As the saying goeth, “if it ain’t broke, why fix it”? Of course, her voice is an entirely different story.
Randomness: Are we the only one side-eyeing the fact that this specific track has been relegated to a mere video interlude while on tour? It would have been ‘interesting’ to witness its evolution through the years. You know, kinda like Beyonce and ‘Crazy In Love’.
After wowing fans overseas with the whimsical ‘Pink Friday’ Tour, Nicki Minaj returned to the US yesterday to perform at the Philly Wired Festival.
Performing a number of cuts from her debut LP and its follow up, Minaj-as you will see in the clip below-has certainly upped her performance game,since the mess that was her ‘American Idol’ stint.
With Afro-Beats making its long-overdue foray into the mainstream via the likes of D’Banj and Tiwa Savage, next up is Nigerian wonder WizKid.
Already a house-hold name is his West African native, the 23 year old saw his debut album become the fastest selling album in the region too.
And, as if his list of achievements weren’t meaty enough, Wiz won the 2011 MTV EMA Worldwide Act Award and 2011‟s MOBO Award for Best African Act. He is also nominated for Best International act at the 2012 BET Awards.
So pervasive is the rapper’s buzz that hitmaker Akon had no choice but to sit up and sign him to an International deal on his Konvict Music imprint in April of this year.
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So given the ample hype, naturally one question arises: is it warranted? Check out the video for ‘Pakurumo’ below and let us know!
WizKid makes his London tour debut on June 4th. Click here for ticket details.
‘Come On Over’ cutie Christina Aguilera was spotted last night in Beverly Hills hand-in-hand with beau Matt Rutler after a dinner date at Sur Restaurant in West Hollywood.
Dodging pap snaps, the starlet rocked a figure hugging, teal Herve Leger dress as she made way out. And, as ever, her cups runneth over.
Get into the shots below:
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The snaps surface hours after Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins sent fans into a frenzy when he took to Twitter to announce he was indeed booking summer studio sessions with Miss Xtina. We can’t wait to hear what the duo is cooking up.
