Reggae-Pop pioneer Sean Paul has been off the music radar for some time now, however the Jamaican made a rare appearance at a basketball game yesterday (March 26th) – sporting an interesting new hair cut; trading his renown cornrows for a low mohawk.

Paul was at the Detroit Pistons vs New Jersey Nets game at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey, accompanying friend Ottis Anderson, formerly of the New York Giants (also pictured).

More pics below….

Your thoughts?

While earlier reports suggested Rihanna was wrapping up her ‘Rated R’ campaign, fans of the talented model can breathe a sigh of release. According to the latest UK single schedules, the 22 year old is set to release the will.i.am assisted ‘Photographs’ as her next single on May 24th.

Word has it that, thereafter, no further singles will be released from the moderately successful LP. As at writing, it’s unknown whether song will be a general or International release.

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Though the song isn’t as bad as some of the album’s remaining material, I can’t see how it will capitalise off ‘Rude Boy’s’ worldwide success. It’s neither as instant nor anywhere near as good. It’s times like this which highlight why it would have benefited the ‘Rated R’ project if things weren’t moving so hastily and time was taken with each release. Then again, with the singles not doing much (‘Rude Boy’ aside) and the album struggling to meet sales expectations, her team likely saw it fit to throw as much out there as possible and see what sticks. Whether ‘Photographs’ will indeed ‘stick’ will be interesting to see.

Haven’t heard the track before? Check it out below…

Hit or Miss?

Holding true to our promise of keeping things fresh here at That Grape Juice (v.2.0 baby!), we bring you ‘Cover Star’. Completing our current feature-list (From The Vault, Original Articles etc), Cover Star will each week showcase regular folk’s rendition of your favourite tracks. Recent history has shown the web to be the place to discover new talent – talent which is undeniably out there in abundance. So what better way to give shine to undiscovered talent than on your favourite site and mine – That Grape Juice!

This week’s Cover Star is Shanterrial . The 23 year old Chicago-based music student serves up her own rendition of Monica‘s recent R&B smash ‘Everything To Me’. Check it out below:

Solid showing! With the song being one which requires much in the way of a technically-sound vocal, Shanterrial really nailed it. Loved it.

For more on Shanterrial, check out her Youtube page

Your thoughts?

With the Sugababes‘ ‘Sweet 7’ project in turmoil, the ladies are looking to their collaboration with rapper Sean Kingston ,’Miss Everything’, in a last ditch effort to revive the album’s sales. The song, as confirmed by Radio 1, will serve as the official next single from the record.

Though a little pessimistic upon hearing Sean Kingston’s name, The Smeezingtons-produced track is one of the album’s finer moments; hence is by no means a bad single pick (although why ‘She’s A Mess’ is consistently being overlooked is beyond me). Unfortunately for the ladies, though, it’s appearing that with each passing day, their time legitimately looks to be up. Whether the release of ‘Miss Everything’ changes that will be interesting to see. I won’t hold my breath, though.

Check out the track below:

Hit or Miss?

Pop starlet Ke$ha is currently in Australia promoting her latest single ‘Blah Blah Blah’, most recently performing the song on their version of So You Think You Can Dance a few hours ago. Check out how she fared above…

What do you think of the performance?

Linda Perry sat down for a very interesting interview with the New York Post recently. The famed songwriter, who was responsible for Christina Aguilera’s Pop classic ‘Beautiful’, noted that the young diva has dialed down her powerhouse vocals on her new album, ‘Bionic’. Perry contributed ‘Lift Me Up’ to the LP – a ballad that the two performed earlier this year during the ‘Hope For Haiti Now’ telethon. Check out what Perry had to say below:

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R&B star Brandy was spotted jogging at Runyon, Canyon earlier this week, as cameras filmed her for her new VH1 reality show ‘Family Business’ (which premieres April 11th). Ms. Norwood really has a great shape these days…

Your thoughts?

As Christina Aguilera’s promotional campaign pushes ahead, a snippet of the vocal powerhouse’s new song has surfaced. The track, ‘Not Myself Tonight’, was written and produced by Polow Da Don and Ester Dean, and will be released in its entirety on March 30th. Aguilera’s new album, ‘Bionic’, drops on June 8th. Listen to the track below:

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It appears R. Kelly‘s criminally underrated ‘Untitled’ LP isn’t dead afterall…well not yet anyway. The R&B crooner has just released two videos – one for ‘Echo’ (above) and the other for ‘Be My #2’ (above).

While the songs are some of Kelly’s best work in years, the clips have to be, hands down, the worst of his entire career. Besides being recession-specials, which looked like they were filmed AND edited on his cell phone, the whole shabang is made worse by the fact that there was simply no need for them. I mean really, does it look like any of these videos could do anything to save the album? SMH…

Peep the other travesty after the jump….

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In Amerie‘s latest performance in her mother’s native of Korea, she teamed up with girl group 4Minute to give a special rendition of her song ‘Heard Em All’ on the Music Bank show today. Though many outside of Asia may not have heard of 4Minute, they are hugely successful in their continent, hence making the performance of particular interest for many. See how they fared above…

Awesome performance! Amerie’s swagger, vocals, and look were overly on-point, while 4Minute nailed it. Good stuff.

Your thoughts?

As the Sugababes today confirm our report that they have ceased working with Roc Nation (aka were dropped), fresh reports have emerged today suggesting that ousted member Keisha Buchanan is on the brink of signing with the Jay-Z-owned firm for her solo project.

Buchanan and the rapper are said to have hit it off at the BRITS after-party last month, with Roc Nation set to formally meet with the 25 year old during her current trip to Los Angeles for the recording of her solo LP.

Should such a deal be finalised, it would ironically be exactly the same deal Buchanan entered into as part of the group – which would see her record label remain Universal Island, while Roc Nation would, essentially, A&R/produce the project.

How the tables have turned!

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Karma really is serving it up! Granted we don’t actually know what went on behind the scenes, for many it simply boils down to principle – you can not dispose of the last original component of a group and expect credibility or support to remain. It just doesn’t work like that. How any label or management team failed to foresee this back in September is anyone’s guess. I mean, prior to Keisha’s album even coming out, the group are being forced to eat some serious humble-pie, with ‘Sweet 7’ belly-flopping and public support and interest at an all-time low.

About the Roc Nation deal; it’s definitely understandable as to why they are actively seeking out Keisha. It is no secret that for many years she was the creative force behind the Sugababes, particularly with the last line-up. Hence, common-knowledge was the fact that she’d often be the first and last at the studio, co-wrote many of their hits, and enjoyed great relationships with several producers – a number of which, reportedly, refused to begin work with the other ladies until Keisha arrived at the studio.

One can only hope that Keisha really serves up the hotness with her solo project and is successful; which if she manages to pull off, will be one of the biggest stories in recent UK music history.

Your thoughts?

R&B tycoon Usher made an appearance on BET’s ‘106 & Park’ recently. In a candid interview after debuting his video for ‘Lil Freak (Ft. Nicki Minaj)’, the singer discussed his upcoming album, ‘Raymond vs Raymond’ (which hits stores on March 30th), divorce and the experiences he had working with Minaj. Check out the interview below:

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