Though it isn’t as publicized as it should be, Mary J.Blige remains R&B’s only consistent female ‘seller‘.
Unfortunately tarred with the same brush of perception that’s sullied her genres worth to the wider public, regular releases and well executed campaigns have ensured that her numbers remain favorable and at times miraculous even at their ‘worst’.
Her ‘worst’, being watching her latest LP ‘My Life II’ receive Gold certification after six months. A certification, many of today’s R&B releases are unlikely to ever see…ever.
However, by way of Rihanna‘s smash hit ‘Diamonds‘, Blige is on course to lose a record set in 2005 with Bryan Michael Cox penned ‘Be Without You’.
With over 100,000 votes cast, the time has finally arrived for the winners of the That Grape Juice End of Year Awards 2012 to be announced!
The last two weeks have seen category winners change almost hourly. However upon the penultimate cut-off point, the final list saw two “B”s nab a number of a number awards.
Check out the full list of winners below (in bold). Some may surprise:
She’s the Pop Princess with the voice of an angel, and now, in celebration of her ‘body’ of work, Beyonce has been named the ‘Hottest Female Singer’ of all time, weeks before the release of a brand new single.
He’s the Grammy nominated writer responsible for Usher’s ‘Climax’, Rihanna‘s ‘No Love Allowed’ and Keyshia Cole‘s ‘Enough Of No Love’.
Now, with the backing of Def Jam Recordings, Roc Nation and a fan base aptly named ‘The Eligiance‘, Elijah Blake steps into the light with the release of the hotly anticipated EP, ‘Bijoux 22‘.
So, as long time fans of his work, That Grape Juice were honored to catch up with the rising star last week- for an interview which saw him discuss the NO ID pushed EP, his journey to the top and his work for Ciara, Keyshia Cole and the Pop Icon, Britney Spears.
Annual must-see VH1 Divas is back for its third outing since being re-booted in 2010. With previous decades seeing the likes of Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, and Mariah Carey feature, the re-tooled version of the show appears to focus on birthing the new divas of tomorrow – 2012 being no different.
Find out who is set to blaze the stage at the December 16th Dance-themed show, which tributes Diva alums Houston and Donna Summer, below…
Tonight marks the return of BET’s highly anticipated ode to women of color ‘Black Girls Rock’.
Much like its ‘BET Honors’ counterpart, the event is set to showcase some of music’s best and brightest performers to serenade and shine light on women of color who have made impacts on their respective personal and professional communities.
Airing moments ago, the Tracee Ellis Ross / Regina King – hosted showing, taped October 13 at New York City’s Loews Paradise Theatre, honored actress Kerry Washington (‘Scandal’) and songstresses Alicia Keys and Dionne Warwick as well as featured performances from the likes of Ciara, Brandy, Keyshia Cole, India Arie and more.
Keep refreshing, as we’ll be updating minute-by-minute:
The year 2006 saw Nelly Furtado leave one-hit-wonder territory and enter superstardom. Inde
ed, with a string of hits each hotter than the previous, the ‘I’m Like A Bird’ singer established herself as a chart force scoring #1s after #1s. The unapologetic ‘Promiscuous’ serves as this week From The Vault pick.
Helmed by then “it producer” Timbaland, the tune saw Nelly and Timbo (featured here as a rapper/singer) trading flirtatious lines on a seductive beat. The songbird exudes confidence and sensuality with her laid-back delivery, while Mr. Mosley is surprisingly pleasing with the “singing thing”.
A global home run, ‘Promiscuous’ reached the top spot of the charts in the US and Nelly’s homeland of Canada, and was a Top
3 single in the UK and Australia. It peaked inside the Top 20 in most of the other countries it was released in.
The Little X directed music video, which famously features cameos by Justin Timberlake and then-newbie Keri Hilson, sees Furtado interacting playfully and features an army dancers grooving at a club. By no means original, yet a visually delicious take
on a well-treaded concept. (Sidenote: just imagine what a Janet, Ciara or old-Britney would have done with that ending breakdown!)
Fans of the Canadian diva no doubt look back at the ‘Loose’ days as a golden era, for Nelly’s latest ventures can’t seem to match past achievements. And that’s putting it lightly.
With her latest effort, ‘The Spirit Indestructible’, selling 5,700 copies first week in the US while debuting at #79, the days of Top Shot Debut albums and consecutive #1 singles seem to be long gone.
And while we firmly believe it’s a case of being “gone for too long” and serving up wack material upon your return, we want to hear what YOU think:
Before her staking her claim as R&B’s leading newbie, Keri Hilson served as the mastermind behind many a Pop classic.
Lending her skills to Britney Spears’‘Blackout‘ and many a jam for Ciara, Hilson is also the reason for Beyonce‘s verse in Usher‘s ‘Love In This Club‘ remix and Omarion‘s only solo hit ‘Ice Box‘.
However, despite the feats scored by the likes of she, Beyonce, Diane Warren and Makeba Riddick, the success rate of female songwriters is considerably low when weighed up against that of their male counterparts.
Ignoring past mistakes of mixing business with boyfriends, Jennifer Lopez gets up, close, and not so personal with her dancer lover Casper Smart in the video for new single ‘Dance Again’.
Set to premiere on American Idol this Thursday (April 5th), the clip is being teased by team Lopez, who’ll no doubt be hoping the Pitbull assisted cut replicates the success of their last outing – ‘On The Floor’.
Tidbit: On somewhat of a random note, the trac is interestingly being released via Epic Records. Why is this of any relevance? Well, the label had been Lopez’s recording home since the start of her career; that is until LA Reid poached her to join him over at Island Def Jam in 2010. And yet with Reid now heading up Epic, it would appear La Lopez has jumped back home. If indeed so, it’ll be interesting to see how the whole situation plays out given Ciara is reportedly Epic’s biggest priority.
After hundreds of comments and thousands votes, the time has finally come for the winners of the 2011 That Grape Juice End of Year Awards to be announced!
A certain Queen B dominated, while Adele also performed well.
However, the most surprising result of all emerged from the most popular poll, ‘Most Anticipated Comeback for 2012’. So who do most people want to see return to the charts next year? Check out the full list of winners below (in bold):
Yesterday, reports that R&B royal Brandy had returned to the studio with Sean Garrett to work on her new LP served to generate even more excitement for the long awaited project.
Slated for an early 2012 release, there are many who are to see how the LP fares, following a string of under performing releases churned out by the singer who many deem the ‘Vocal Bible’.
With hopes of placing those heels back atop a once promenaded pop plateau, R&B veteran Brandy has had fans buzzing with promises of new music in the new year. And, while faithful followers of the ‘Full Moon’ maestra are keeping up with her on the acting front (see: 90210, Drop Dead Diva), she has been hard at work crafting a ‘futuristic R&B album’ with R&B bad boy Chris Brown, Rico Love,Bangladesh, and Frank Ocean all signing on for writing/producing credits.
However, the recent unveiling of ‘The Pen’ Sean Garrett‘s enlistment on the production panel will assuredly have tongues wagging as he is responsible for some of the genre’s biggest hits over the past decade (Beyonce, Usher, Ciara).
In an impromptu behind-the-scenes studio session broadcast via UStream, Garrett gave fans a peek into what he and B-Rocka had been up to. The clip even lends a brief (and we do mean brief) snippet from what is expected to be the songstress’s first single from the upcoming album. See this and more after the jump:
