As we exclusively reported yesterday, Nicole Scherzinger is set to release ‘Wet’ as the fourth single from her ‘Killer Love’ LP (EU edition).

You can now check out the artwork for the release – which is officially released on August 29th.

Your thoughts?

Think you know everything there is to know about Nicki Minaj. Then think again. For in a very intimate E! Special, the starlet and close friends and family tell never before heard stories about the platinum selling Rapper’s rise to fame.

Check it out below…

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Pop stunner Nicole Scherzinger showed her X Factor in in Los Angeles last night, as she lit up Universal City Walk with rousing performances of material from her ‘Killer Love’ LP.

Check out the 33 year old thrill the audience at AMP Radio’s Summer Switch Party with live showings of ‘Right There’ and ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ below…

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Well that didn’t take long. Despite Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera shooting the video for new single ‘Moves Like Jagger’ this weekend gone, a teaser for the Jonas Akerlund directed clip has been released.

Check out it below…

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In what has most certainly become the hot topic of the day, the reports around the alleged assault on Rap performer Nicki Minaj died down when the starlet took to Twitter to refute the rumours this morning.

However, that is all about to change.

For more information about the assault has surfaced, information that neither she or her team may want the Popverse to know about.

Find out everything below…

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Her attempts to join Roc Nation may have not gone to plan, and Nicki Minaj may have  blocked her efforts to sign with Cash Money, but now the speculation that Lil Kim has signed with G-Unit has heated up.

Now that founder 50 Cent has given confirmation on the issue.

Find out more below…

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Nicole Scherzinger may be urging US fans to go ‘Right There’ with her, however her European supporters look set to get ‘Wet’ with the X Factor judge. For it has been confirmed that the Stargate produced track is the latest to be lifted from European version of  ‘Killer Love’ LP.

The video for the club banger is set to be shot next week.

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Hands-down one of the better tracks on the LP, it’s great to see a project servicing all the right singles. Whether it’ll resonate with the audience will be interesting to see.  Given the European response to Ms. Scherzinger thus far, she may very well be onto another hit with this…even if it does sound like about 3 Rihanna singles rolled into one.

Have yet to hear ‘Wet’?

Take a listen below…

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R&B is on a respirator.  Once a celebrated genre that has given the music industry some of its most praised acts (see: Luther, Whitney, Aretha, Marvin), the musical styling has unquestionably lost its identity to Hip-Hop and now Electro-Pop.

The question at hand: is R&B (as a commercially viable force) on its last breath or is revival in its future?  In a three part series, That Grape Juice will analyze three sectors of the fallen genre:  ladies (songstresses), males (crooners), and groups (both male and female) to determine if resurrection is in its future or if it will find permanent rest in the history books.

As always, ladies first…

Turning the dial (or Youtube search engine) back 20 years to see the plethora of female R&B acts dominating the radios and Pop charts is a stinging reminder of a time when the industry thrived on variety.  From crossover acts such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Janet Jackson, to up-and-comers Mary J. Blige and Toni Braxton (just to name a few), there was no shortage of R&B estrogen on the airwaves or charts.  Not to mention such classic, yet then-active artists like Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, and Gladys Knight.

However, as Hip-Hop/R&B fusions became more of a constant (which some attribute to artists like Carey and Mary J. Blige), the junior generation of R&B diva emerged in the form of the Aaliyah’s, Brandy’s, Monica’s, and eventually Ashanti’s.  Then, of course, you had that brand of 90s R&B diva (Faith Evans, Tamia, Deborah Cox and Kelly Price) who lacked crossover appeal, yet were still relevant – even if just appealing to a small niche.

But, as the 2000s rolled on and Hip-Hop was becoming the driving force of the music industry, ballads and slow jams were losing steam on the charts, and Hip-Hop was surely killing the R&B star. And while many of the time period marked Alicia Keys as a ‘savior of R&B’, she was one of very few pure R&B females who was granted relevancy in an increasingly convoluted music world.  Interestingly, though Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey (who by 2005 were considered veterans) were seeing some of the best numbers of their careers, the genre’s overall shortcomings were inescapable.

Then, as the Beyonce’s and the Rihanna’s of the music world began to dominate charts by willingly trading in their R&B humbling’s for Pop’ier hits, the 90s divas of yester-year who refused to succumb to the change found themselves succumbing to irrelevancy. Even those who once showed promise in the early 2000s (Amerie, Tweet, and co) were finding themselves lost in the fray.  Suffice it to say, the industry at large began to suffer (see: illegal downloading, cd leaks), yet R&B’s former leading ladies seemed to fall victim most (Brandy, Monica, Mya, and eventually Ashanti).

Fast forward to 2011. Where is  R&B female? Even with hints of recent reigniting of public interest (i.e. Fantasia’s ‘Back To Me’, Monica’s ‘Still Standing’), they alone are not enough to indicate a resurgence.  And, even with notable record sales (given the current musical climate), those sales are marginal at best comparatively.

Record sales aside, the presence of R&B females on the Hot 100 chart recently is rarely without rapper accompaniment. There is a new class of R&B divas, however.  While not reporting record-breaking numbers, the Keri Hilson’s, Kelly  Rowland’s, Jennifer Hudson’s, and co. are definitely making noise.  But, is it enough to resurrect the fallen genre? Or will R&B eventually rest in peace?

Do you think that there will be a resurgence of mainstream R&B females?

American Idol alum Jordin Sparks may have found carving an individual image for herself difficult, but she remains one of this generations most gifted vocalists.

Further proving this recently with a moving rendition of the American anthem at a baseball game.

Check it out below…

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Diva Christina Aguilera flaunted her curvaceous figure at the launch of her latest fragrance ‘Royal Desire’ in Munich, Germany today.

‘The Voice’ judge has seen the show allow for her star to re-ascend after a tumultuous 12 months. In capitalising on her renewed fame, the 30 year old is currently in the studio working on her 5th studio album.

More pics from the event, which was held at the Upside East Lounge, below…

Your thoughts?

In what will be sure to come as good news to Team Beyonce, her album ‘4’ remains atop the Billboard 200 in its second week of release, despite surfacing online months ago.

It is the only Beyonce album to do so without the aid of a #1 single in the week of its debut.

Find out more below…

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Peep ‘Pretty Girl Rock’ performer in this hot shot for the ‘Celebration For A Cause’ campaign.

Lending her very welcomed voice to the fight against cancer, Ms. Hilson will perform at the 4th annual ‘Celebration For A Cause: Where Music Meets Fashion For A Cure’ in coming weeks as part of a campaign to support the cure for the illness.

Find out more below…

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