Having listened through our preview copy of Timbaland‘s ‘Shock Value II’, I was kinda disappointed with the fact that it comes nowhere near the brilliance of the first – lending credence to the age old adage that ‘sequels never top the original’.

That said, the LP’s (hands-down) best cut is served up in the form of the JoJo-assisted ‘Lose Control’. Put simply, stellar production, great vocals, a catchy hook and a surprisingly workable mesh of the pair’s voices, make this one not only a winner, but an obvious choice for the record’s next single. It’d be criminal for this not to be given the release treatment.

Tidbit: Click here to check out E! News’ recent feature on JoJo in the studio. {Thanks George!}

Hit or Miss?

Show-stopping entertainer Lady GaGa took the stage  at Capital FM’s ‘Jingle Bell Ball’ last evening in the O2 Arena, in London. The singer thrilled the audience of over 60, 000 patrons with performances of her hits ‘Bad Romance’, ‘Poker Face’ and ‘Speechless’ among other songs from her critically acclaimed ‘The Fame Monster’ LP. Peep more pictures from the event below:

Thoughts?

Attempted singer Rihanna was featured as a special guest and performer on this week’s Saturday Night Live, in New York City. The part time model ‘sang’ her hit ‘Russian Roulette’ as well as her new single ‘Hard’ with rapper Young Jeezy. Peep the performances as well as her hilarious ‘SNL Digital Short‘ below:

‘Russian Roulette’

‘Hard (Ft. Young Jeezy)’

‘SNL Digital Short’

Thoughts?

R&B veteran R. Kelly was interviewed by Skee TV recently and took a moment to address his detractors – seemingly taking particular aim at Trey Songz, who slammed him earlier this year. Say what you want about Kellz, but…really…Trey Songz?!

I mean,yes, this did come across like one big self-endorsement. Yet, in saying that, he wasn’t lying about anything now, was he?

Your thoughts?

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, Back In The Beat 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 20 year old Felicity from Maryland, who serves up her own rendition of Beyonce’s ‘Broken Hearted Girl’.  Check it out:

While I would have preferred Ms. Felicity looked at the screen while singing (eye-contact is very important), there’s no doubt she did a great job! Raw, emotive and an overall solid vocal, make this cover a winner.

For more on Felicity, check out her Youtube page

Your thoughts?

Rising diva Leona Lewis scored the lead single off the soundtrack to James Cameron’s adventure film ‘Avatar’. The track, entitled ‘I See You’, will be available with the rest of the songs on the project on iTunes on December 15th. ‘Avatar’ hits the big screen on December 18th.

For the first time time ever, Leona actually ‘saaang’ on a track! With powerful and unbridled vocals, the UK singer soars over the epic instrumental, seemingly leaving her inhibitions in the wind. Leona is definitely one of the most technically skilled vocalists to emerge in the industry for a very long time. However, a prime complaint from critics is that her voice is devoid of any emotion. Well, it’s safe to say that this time she shut. it. down.

Sidebar: Do you think that ‘I See You’ is Academy Award material or does Mary J Blige’s ‘I Can See In Color’ have it in the bag?

Hit or Miss?

For those who missed it, check out Chris Brown‘s much hyped interview on ABC’s 20/20 which finished airing a few moments ago. The Robin Roberts fronted interview was underwhelming to say the least (he spoke on nothing new!) I say he should have just performed on Good Morning America as planned (a gig which was cancelled in favour of yet another interview). Sigh.

He’s lucky his album (‘Graffiti’) is actually good, and that he talented enough to sell it through performance etc. I say this because I can’t see how all these interviews are doing what I’m sure his team are intending they do – garner sympathy and show remorse. Instead, I feel it’s starting to have an adverse effect. Here’s hoping the focus is kept on the music now. The ‘incident’ won’t fade if its continually prodded at (yet never elaborated on). It’s time to move on…

Your thoughts?

According to reports, Mariah Carey is supposedly planning a US tour in support of her ‘Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel’ LP at the top of 2010. Said to be titled ‘The Angels Cry Tour’, the 39 year old diva’s first stop on the trek will apparently be her upcoming New Years Eve  concert at New York’s Madison Squared Garden. {Source}

Hmm. Sounds like someone in Mimi’s camp (or elsewhere) is likely a) blowing hot air or b) not quite understanding the magnitude to which she belly-flopped with this ‘Memoirs’ project. From a business stand-point (my new favourite line lol), major tours are usually launched off the back of a moderate-well performing album. Setting off on any kind of trek in support of ‘Memoirs’ would potentially yield even more embarrassment for Mimi than the album’s actual sales (the lowest of her career). I mean, put simply, if folk weren’t checking for your album, why in the blue hell would they buy a ticket to see you live?! It’s like her staging a tour after ‘Glitter’ sold triple copper. It just doesn’t make any sense.

If anything, I’d imagine her team will do spot dates in select States ‘for the fans’. Billing it as any kind of full-fledged tour, at this point, doesn’t make any sense IMO (hence making me strongly doubt its validity) – that is unless Mimi and her team don’t mind her playing to half-empty arenas. I say, she goes back to the drawing board and tours with her next project whenever that drops – provided it’s a bigger success than this  (which won’t be hard).

Tidbit: Strangely enough, ‘Memoirs’ is starting to grow on me now. Yet, it’s safe to say that with it not being accessible enough for the causal listener (something even quality music still can be!), it’s understandable why it failed to resonate with the masses. Yes, the promo sucked, but the actual record wasn’t anywhere near Mimi’s best, let’s be honest…

Your thoughts?

Following Rihanna‘s comments about wanting to “switch off” R&B singer Tiffany Evans (regarding Evans’ comments on RiRi and the Illumnati), Evans has taken to her Twitter page to respond. Here’s what she said:

I just wanna say that I personally do not have beef with Rihanna. Why would I have any beef with someone I don’t even know? It’s stupid. Whatever statements I made about the industry was not geared towards Rihanna in any type of way. What I said about RussianR was blown way out.

So to Rihanna as young woman with total respect I apologize for the huge misunderstanding.

Citing certain blog sites for fuelling the fire (not us of course, Tiffany is a TGJ fan), Tiffany hilariously rounded off by adding:

Oh one more thing,about her calling me out with remote thing on big boi LOL I thought is was funny. Too bad I can Sang!

LMAO! Tiffany kept it classy, yet got the undeniable in at the end! POW…lol

Tidbit: Reality TV personality Tila Tequila, who Ms. Fenty also called out in the interview, responded…levelling some truly SHOCKING accusations about against her. Click here to read what she had to say. Explosive! (Knowing Tila, it could all just be rubbish, but a fascinating read nonetheless!)

Your thoughts?

R&B singer LeToya is pressing on with the promotional efforts for her ‘Lady Love’ project, despite her label acting a fool (yes I said it!). The stunning 28 year old most recently stopped by The Mo’Nique Show to perform ‘Regret’ (which you can watch above), as well as talk to the comedienne about conflicting with the label over singles, her boutique Lady Elle and a whole lot more (which you can watch below).

Good performance, but great interview! I’m loving her media savviness and all-round go-getter nature…she was getting it when plugging Lady Elle!

Your thoughts?

Courtesy of Just Jared, check out these pics of Rihanna on the set of the video for ‘Hard’ – which is being directed by Melina. Ms. Fenty describes the vid as “couture military”. Ok then…

What do you think of the looks?

With the release of Alicia Keys‘ ‘The Element of Freedom’ LP drawing ever nearer, the hotly anticipated Beyonce collaboration from the CD ‘Put It In A Love Song’ has surfaced…and boy is it a winner!

Completely left-field to what I expected upon seeing its title, the pulsating, drum-driven cut packs a powerful punch. ”Love Song’ is sassy, attitude-heavy and  all-round the quality of track you’d expect from two artist of their calibre. That said, the chorus could have been stronger, however it doesn’t take away from what ultimately is one sure-fire hit – should it be released as a single (which it has to be!)

{Thanks Irvine!}

Hit or Miss?

Updated link!