Mariah Carey is a diva. Soaring to the top of the charts with her incredible 5 octave vocal range, her  rapid ascension to the pinnacle of Pop music remains a feat unmatched by any other solo act in history. From her 18 #1 hits to her outstanding record sales, she truly is a phenomenon. Yet, in recent years, it seems that Carey’s impact has begun to wane.

With the exception of her now 6x platinum ‘The Emancipation of Mimi’, Carey has been unable to produce a record in the last 10 years that captured renowned public appeal. In fact, she only accomplished 4 chart-toppers since the year 2000, a dramatic decline from the 14 she had in the 1990’s. Indeed, the demand for Carey’s material has now reached an all-time low as her latest LP, ‘Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel’, took an embarrassing 4 months to  achieve a gold certification; a noticeable decline for an artist whose previous 11 studio releases all went platinum or higher.

The real question is: what can Carey do to rejuvenate her career? While ‘Memoirs’ received the best reviews of any album she released since ‘Butterfly’, it is blatantly apparent that Carey is remaining in her comfort zone of mid-tempo R&B and finger-snapping radio material. Most of her records capitilise on the same formula she used to re-establish her career in 2005. However, this is 2010.

Unlike her peers such as Madonna, Beyonce or even Christina Aguilera, Carey seems reluctant to experiment with her image and material in the same way that she does with her voice. She remains steadfast in her effort to hold on to her youth by crafting Sesame Street-quality material such as ‘Touch My Body’ and ‘Up Out My Face’. Even her ballads have begun to sound the same; almost all emulating the piano-driven productions of her monster hit ‘We Belong Together’.

If Carey does not reinvent herself soon, she runs the risk of slipping into irrelevancy like many of her counterparts including Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez before her. She certainly has both the skill and the talent to reposition herself at the helm of the  game. Nevertheless, Carey needs to think ‘outside the box’ or her career may end up in one.

What direction should Carey take to revamp her

career?

R&B star Monica‘s new LP ‘Still Standing’ has officially been confirmed to hit stores on March 23rd, according to the singer’s official website. The creative process surrounding the album, the singer’s sixth, was documented on ratings winner ‘Still Standing’, which recently aired its last episode on BET.

As at writing, the album’s first single, the Missy Elliott produced ‘Everything To Me’, is performing particularly well – rocketing to #31 on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B Chart and enjoying increasing radio play.

To say I’m anticipating Ms. Arnold’s record would be an understatement! Though I’ve always been a supporter, her show served as a great reminder as to why we all fell in love with her voice to begin with. So, it’s truly wonderful to see things coming together for her after a few tough years in this ever-changing industry.

Are you anticipating Monica’s ‘Still Standing’?

As many of you know, we posted Fantasia‘s emotionally charged performance of new single ‘Even Angels’ on The Oprah Winfrey Show yesterday. You can now also check out her full interview on the show above. Enjoy.

Your thoughts?

As the Sugababes’ ready their ironically titled LP ‘Sweet 7’ for its March 5th release, a new track from the much delayed set has surfaced in the form of ‘She’s A Mess’.

Produced by The Smeezingtons, who also crafted the ladies 09 summer smash ‘Get Sexy’, ”Mess’ is hard-hitting Electro-Pop at its best. Oozing attitude, sass, and a swagger I’ve yet to hear from the brand group prior to now, this is surprisingly rather good. I say ‘surprisingly’ as a cringe-worthy cockney rap from Amelle, and the fact the song  is so lyrically far removed from the essence of their established sound, threatened the quality of an otherwise cracking track. However, the tight production and overall solidness of the song makes for this one to be a winner.

Tidbit: I can’t help but feel that, though the material from ‘Sweet 7’ is readily serviceable to the US market (as I’m sure their Stateside label Roc Nation ensured), it’s hard to envision the ladies making much of an impact there. Their current ‘sound’ is fine, however, those amateur performances they’ve been churning out as of late are unlikely to go down well with US audiences. I mean…really?

Hit or Miss?

Superstar Beyonce brought New York’s Heard Square to a stand still last night while launching her new fragrance ‘Heat’ at Macys. The ‘Single Ladies’ singer, who took home a record-breaking six Grammy’s this past weekend, signed autographed and posed for pictures with the hordes of fans in attendance. Check more pics after the jump…

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Pop royalty Janet Jackson features in the latest issue of Wonderland magazine. The reclusive performer, 43, opened up about many a topic, including the direction of her new album (due later this year on Interscope Records), switching up her style, coping with the loss of her brother Michael, starring in Tyler Perry’s ‘Why Did I Get Married Too’, Rihanna, Lady GaGa, and a whole lot more. A lengthy, yet ultimately great read. Check it in its entirety after the jump…

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Jail-bound rapper Lil’ Wayne covers the February issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

While I have no words  for the cover (at all), here’s what you can expect from the feature – which hit news-stands today:

For a decade, Lil Wayne has been hip-hop’s great unstoppable force, a 24-hour-a-day recording machine without an off button. But on February 9th, Lil Wayne will have to stop — for 12 months, when he reports to prison to serve a sentence for gun possession stemming from a 2007 arrest in New York City. Rolling Stone stays up all night with Weezy as he prepares to get locked down

It also turns out he’s been working ardently on his next LP:

Tha Carter IV — which Norris is told features tougher, faster beats — is scheduled to arrive shortly after he gets out.

Interesting.

Your thoughts?

R&B star Fantasia performed her new single on the Oprah Winfrey Show a few moments ago. Check out how Ms. Barrino fared above…

Great performance! Vocally, this really showed the American Idol alum in a new light; for, though renown for her incomparable runs and belting, this was beautifully understated, really allowing for the the appreciation of another dimension of her voice. Watching this has me feeling the song that much more. More power to her!

Tidbit: Click here to check out our recent interview with Fantasia.

What do you think of the performance?

There have been murmurings for sometime now about Brandy starring in her own reality show. As it turns out, the Grammy Award winning singer will be joining her brother Ray J, as well as their mother and father – Sonja and Willie Norwood, in a new VH1 reality show. Check out the synoposis below (spotted over at our good friend’s Concrete Loop):

Siblings Brandy and Ray J Norwood are famous for their incredible vocal talent on the stage and screen. But they wouldn’t be anywhere without the support and guidance of their parents – entertainment manager and mom, Sonja and talented musical father, Willie Norwood. Viewers will get a first hand glimpse into the lives of the Norwood family unit and their family business – Rn’B Productions. Run by Sonja, Rn’B Productions features an impressive roster of musical artists including Brandy, Ray J and their father Willie, who also serves as the company’s vocal coach. But with Sonja ready to take a step down, Brandy and Ray J will have to fill her shoes quickly all the while taking the family business to the next level. Will they have what it takes to continue to stay in the limelight while growing an entertainment empire?

The reality route seems to be the way to go for many an artist these days. Let’s just hope the show, which debuts April 11th at 9pm, is more in the vein of Monica’s or Fantasia’s, than any of Ray J’s VH1 outings.

Your thoughts?

That Grape Juice are pleased to announce that we are giving away 5 pairs of tickets to an exclusive JLS gig! Yes, 5!

The Platinum selling foursome will be playing an exclusive concert here London’s famed Hammersmith Apollo on February 13th to celebrate the launch of the ‘Nokia 5800 Chrome – Comes With Music’ phone on T-Mobile. Highly anticipated, the Nokia 5800 Chrome features a 3.2inch touch-screen, 8GB memory, and a 3.2 megapixel camera. The phone is available on a T-Mobile (UK) contract from £20 per month. A must have!

To be in with a chance of winning, answer the following question correctly:

What is the name of JLS’ first #1 single?

a) Everybody In Love

b) Hallelujah

c) Beat Again

Submit your answer, along with your name, age, address, telephone number to the below address at title it ‘JLS Comp’:

competitions@thatgrapejuice.net

All entries must be received by 8am UK time  Monday 8th February!

Good luck!

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* Winners will be notified by email and will receive printable e-tickets which will admit two persons to the venue. Winners aged 14 and under will need to be escorted by an adult aged 18 or over. For full Terms & Conditions, please go to www.nokia.com

* Nokia Comes With Music is an all-you-can-eat music service- giving you access to over 6 million tracks that you can download for free and keep forever.

Janet Jackson and her former boyfriend Jermaine Dupri are set to reunite on her forthcoming studio album. The news came via Dupri’s production partner, Bryan-Michael Cox, who revealed that in addition to Darkchild and Kendrick ‘WyldCard’ Dean, they will be contributing tracks to the project. Janet’s new album hit stores later this year. {Source}

This Janet album is sounding better by the moment! Dupri created a classic with the highly underrated track ‘Rock Wit U’ in 2008, a song that was clearly ahead of it’s time. There is no doubt in my mind that this album will be a ‘make or break’ moment in Janet’s career, and she is going to have to pull out all of the stops to sway things in her favour.

Thoughts?

Beyonce launched her new fragrance ‘Heat’ yesterday. The singer was joined by one of her Destiny’s Child alum, Michelle Williams (above), for the event at 15 Union Square West in New York City. Peep more of the images below:

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