This week’s classic From The Vault video is Wyclef & Mary J. Blige’s year 2000 collaboration ‘911’, which was lifted from the former Fugee star’s ‘Ecleftic’ LP. Put simply, this track still goes hard today, with the video having aged particularly well some 10 years later. A classic.

Your thoughts?

Rihanna took to the stage on Cheryl Cole’s ITV1 special ‘Cheryl Cole’s Night In’ which aired tonight here in the UK. The Bajan model performed current single ‘Russian Roulette’.

Kudos where kudos are due, Ms. Fenty held her own pretty well tonight, so much so that I’d say it was hands-down her best performance of the song to-date. The billy-goat bleating was kept to a minimum and she wasn’t sitting in that damn chair.

What do you think of the performance?

Alexandra Burke was one of a host of stars on the bill for Cheryl Cole‘s ITV1 special ‘Cheryl Cole’s Night In’, which aired a few moments ago here in the UK. The singer performed her #1 ‘Bad Boys’.

Though this was probably the millionth performance of ‘Bad Boys’ we’ve seen from Ms. Burke, it was still engaging due to her electric spark as a performer. If this is the calibre of live performances we’re seeing from her now, one can only imagine what the future holds. Go Alex!

What do you think of the performance?

UK media darling Cheryl Cole’s ITV1 special ‘Cheryl Cole’s Night In’ literally just came off the air. The hour-show featured performances from a host of artists, as well as the Girls Aloud singer herself. Check out her performance of new single ‘Three Words’ with Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am above. Though neither Cole or the song move me in any way, I must say she turned in a pretty decent performance with this one. Good stuff.

What do you think of the performance?

With Jennifer Lopez‘s comeback single ‘Louboutins’ currently struggling to chart, reliable sources have informed That Grape Juice that 40 year old’s label have scrapped the single in its entirety – no video, no iTunes release, no nothing. Instead, her team are deeming ‘Louboutins’ a ‘buzz single’ (sound familar?) and are gearing up for the release of  an entirely new ‘first official single’ – set to be rolled out early 2010. Lopez’s new LP ‘Love?‘ is still scheduled for a March 2010 release.

While I most definitely had a little chuckle at yet another artist pulling the ‘buzz single’ card, I can’t help but feel a little sorry for Jennifer. Despite giving her all with the live performances of ‘Louboutins’, the song is – blunt as this may sound – a bonafide flop; which, truth be told, may have always been its final destination, as it was always pretty rubbish. That said, it’s not a wrap for Jenny just yet. Provided there aren’t any push-backs and she comes with fire for her next ‘first’ single (lol), I don’t see why she can’t make an impact on the charts once again.

Your thoughts?

Pop music’s most famous contralto, Toni Braxton, took the charts by storm with her classic hit ‘Unbreak My Heart’ on December 7th, 1996. The ballad, which was written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster, was the diva’s 2nd consecutive #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining at the charts peak for an impressive 11 weeks. In addition, the song is ranked as the 10th most successful single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, representing the 3rd longest run that a female act has ever had at the top of the chart. ‘Unbreak My Heart’ was also a major success in other countries, charting at #2 in the UK and in the top 10 of several other territories. Braxton received her 4th Grammy Award with the success of the song, that time for ‘Best Female Pop Vocal Performance’ which remains the only time that the singer captured top honors in that category to date.

Thoughts?

In news that comes as little surprise, it has been confirmed that Cassie has signed with Diddy‘s label venture over at Interscope. The model is the latest high profile  act (relatively speaking) to leave the Bad Boy imprint (since Diddy’s departure), the first being Day26 who have side-stepped to Atlantic Records (who still distribute Bad Boy). {Source}

Though somewhat expected, surely this must eliminate all element of doubt regarding something bogus going on behind the scenes (take from that what you will). As at writing, Cassie stands a *very* pretty, yet totally talentless ‘artist’. Hence, how she’s managed to keep her deal – with only one hit and one (flop) album to her name – is anyone’s guess – particularly when artists with more talent in their pinky finger have been dropped long ago. I mean it’s almost 4 years since ‘Me & U’ came out, how and why is she still here (I’m not being a cow, I’m legitimately baffled). I’d imagine some folk will cite the fact she’s a stunner as to why she still has a deal; yet in this economic climate and with a much more quality-demanding consumer base, being ‘pretty’ simply isn’t enough to survive.  SMH…

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 Riko from Detroit, Michigan, who serves up his own rendition of Rihanna’s ‘Russian Roulette’. Check it out:

Putting aside the fact that he wasn’t looking into the camera (!), Riko gave an awesome rendition of the song (which believe it or not has grown on me), really taking it to church towards the end. Having checked out more of his videos, Riko has definitely been blessed with some serious vocals!

For more on Riko, check out his Youtube page

Your thoughts?

Never ones to wallow in salaciousness or outright gossip, we’d previously not covered the Alicia Keys/Swizz Beatz/Mashonda love triangle, as – let’s face it – nothing concrete had been alluded to by any of the parties involved. However, today saw hitmaking producer Swizz, real name (Kaseem Dean) and ex-wife Mashonda take to Twitter in a sparring of words over Swizz’s controversial relationship with R&B star Keys (who it’s alleged he started a relationship with WHILE still married to Mashonda).

After being goaded by his critics, Swizz wrote the following on his Twitter:

“All people want to talk about is my divorce. Wow! F**k what they say or said. I’m a good man, but when it’s time to move on, it’s just time! I’m also a great f**king Dad, but nobody give a sh*t! People talking about I cheated. How the fuck can I cheat when I was separated, ass-holes? It’s been damn near 2 years”.

To which Mashonda retaliated on her Twitter with:

“Here’s the bottom line, you were married when you started your affair, you’re married now. And both of you knew what it was. Separation came after the fact. Now peps, this is why it’s important to keep God 1st! I’m not gonna battle my son’s father on twitter about his mistress. Ya’ll WON! But just know! I never lied and NEVER will. Thank God we are doing this before 2010. My new year will not involve this scandal. That’s all folks”.

Both parties have since taken down their Tweets, however clearly the damage is done. Everyone and their mother’s tongues will be wagging about this one – yet neither Swizz or Mashonda have anyone to blame but themselves. Airing out their laundry in such a public domain, IMO, almost makes it an inevitability that folks will chew it up and come to their own conclusions – on a matter which really and truly should never have been their concern to begin with.

I’d probably have to say I’m most disappointed with Mashonda, not because I’m taking sides (Lord knows only they know what really went down), but because this was all brought into the public domain when she openly cited Alicia Keys as the reason for her marriage breaking down way back when and thereafter pouring fuel on the fire by constantly talking about it thereafter. Important to stress, once again, is the fact that I’m not taking sides (it’s not my position to) neither am I playing down any pain Mashonda may be experiencing. Yet, with her being an adult and a lady, I’d kinda expect a more dignified approach to the matter – especially since they have kids together. What’s more, as a firm believer in Karma, had what she been saying been true, surely Karma would get back those in the wrong. Instead, there’s one big mess all out in the open for the public to devour. SMH…

Your thoughts?

Controversial singer Chris Brown took to his Twitter a few hours ago to vent his frustrations at what he believes is the industry attempting to blackball his comeback attempt. Here’s what the 20 year said:

I’m tired of this shit. Major stores are blackballing my cd. Not stockin the shelves and lying to costumers. What the f*ck do i gotta do…

WTF… yeah i said it and I ain’t retracting sh*t. I’m not biting my tongue about shit else… the industry can kiss my ass.

thx again to my real fans. u dont go unnoticed .love yall

WOW! In as much as some will question the point Chris’ outburst (which I’m almost certain is to do with the 100k prediction for his LP’s sales first week), I find it somewhat refreshing to see an artist so impassioned about their work that they have no qualms in airing out the industry politics etc that are threatening its success. Though I’m not exactly sure what it was going to achieve, other than alert the masses as to what is going on behind the scenes, think about how many artists get screwed over by the industry and just sit there and keep quiet until they bonafide flop and their names and statuses are dented.

In any case, keeping the focus solely on the music (which many publications seem to struggle with doing these days – see: ‘Graffiti’ reviews), ‘Graffiti’ is a great body of work, which deserves more success than its being positioned to achieve.

Your thoughts?

After months of speculation and a string of erroneous reports, Universal Music Group has just announced that Mariah Carey will be embarking on an 8-week, 19-city North American tour. The ‘Angels Advocate’ tour will be preceded by a performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City and officially begin on January 2nd at Borgata in Atlantic City. The production will support the diva’s 12th studio album, ‘Memoir of An Imperfect Angel’, which has been commercial disappointment by selling less than 344, 000 copies since it’s September release. Peep the official list of locations below:

Dec. 31 New York, NY Madison Square Garden – on sale now
Jan. 2 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata – on sale now
Jan. 15-16 Mashantucket, CT MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods – on sale 12/11
Jan. 19 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre – on sale 12/19
Jan. 21 Hollywood, FL Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – on sale 12/18
Jan. 25 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre – on sale 12/19
Jan. 27 Washington, DC DAR Constitution Hall – on sale 12/18
Jan. 30 Boston, MA Wang Theatre – on sale 12/19
Feb. 1 Philadelphia, PA Tower Theatre – on sale 12/19
Feb. 4 Montreal, Que. Bell Centre – on sale 12/19
Feb. 6 Ottawa, Ont. Scotiabank Place – on sale 12/21
Feb. 9 Toronto, Ont. Air Canada Centre – on sale 12/21
Feb. 10 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center – on sale 12/19
Feb. 13 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre – on sale 12/19
Feb. 16 Minneapolis, MN Northrop Auditorium – on sale TBA
Feb. 18 Dallas, TX Nokia Theatre – on sale 12/18
Feb. 20 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre – on sale 12/19
Feb. 23 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Theatre – on sale 12/19
Feb. 26 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena – on sale 12/19
Feb. 27 Las Vegas, NV The Pearl Concert Theater – on sale 12/19 {Source}

As a major supporter of Mariah Carey’s music and someone who enjoyed the ‘Memoirs…’ album, I am indeed excited she will be hitting the road once again. However, I am concerned that this maybe a little too late. The album has underperformed tremendously on the charts and has already fallen halfway down the Billboard 200. Furthermore, with only one hit record from the project, I highly doubt that people will be enthused to see her perform material from the album at all.

The real question is if she will be able to consistently sell out venues on her journey around the nation. Judging by the list of sites, it seems that label has taken this into consideration, as she will only be performing in small to medium venues. Hopefully, this will help the sales of her LP because at this rate, it does not seem that she will even go Gold (a first for Carey whose other 11 studio releases have all gone platinum or higher).

Thoughts?

The video for Alexandra Burke‘s latest single ‘Broken Heels’ premiered a few moments ago. Shot in the Los Angeles last month, the Frank Gatson (Beyonce) choreographed clip unsurprisingly has a distinct US feel and polish to it which is most definitely a good look. Speaking of ‘good looks’, Alexandra looked great and moved even better – she was working that choreography!

Having not been sold on the song, and admittedly still not being its biggest supporter, I find myself liking it a whole lot better after watching this – a testament to how good this clip is. Gwan Alex! LOL

What do you think of the song?