That Grape Juice were fortunate enough to catch up with the UK’s #1 girl-group, the Sugababes, here in London last week. The multi-Platinum selling trio, consisting of Keisha Buchanan, Heidi Range, and Amelle Berrabah, chat with us about their new single ‘Get Sexy’ and forthcoming album, signing with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation imprint in the US, the poor performance of their last LP ‘Catfights & Spotlights’, being criticised for going too ‘commercial’, solo plans and much more. A fun watch, I must say šŸ™‚ Enjoy! (Special thanks to: Louise D, Leon M, Jamell, Sean L, Beatrice A, Seye ‘Iizsik’ and Alistar C!)


Your thoughts on our Sugababes interview?
Bow Wow Signs To Lil' Wayne's Cash Money
Rapper Bow Wow announced late last night on Twitter that he has signed with Lil’ Wayne’s Cash Money label. Check out what the pint-sized star posted:

BOW WOW IS A CASH MONEY MILLIONAIRE. SHOUT TO STUNNA FOR BELIEVING IN ME AND GIVN ME A CHANCE SHOUT OUT 2 WAYNE FOR LETN ME WALK ON BOARD! AND MY YM FAMILY AND CASH MONEY FAMILY. LBW/CASHMONEY/YOUNGMONEY BOW WOW WAYNE AND DRAKE? WHO GOT STOP THAT TRIO! GNR LETS GO ITS SHOWTIME!” {Source}

Is it me or is anyone else a little puzzled by this, as ol’ Shad said he was retiring from the industry early this year as he’d ‘done did it all’? I guess he was trying to save face after being dropped by Columbia. Oh well, I really can’t knock his hustle – regardless of how annoyingly cocky he is. Whether folks rush to the stores to buy his music will be real interesting to see, but best of luck to him.
Tidbit: Bow Wow forgot to list Omarion as one of the other artists signed to Cash Money. The pair will now be label mates again. What? I’m just saying…
Your thoughts?
Mariah's 'Obsessed' NOT First Single - Apparently
With Mariah Carey’s ‘Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel’ project in disarray, it’s seemingly been put down to her network of close media contacts to ‘clean-up’ the mess that is rapidly becoming this album. Former Fox News reporter, Roger Friedman, who is in Mimi’s extended PR team, has gone on record to supposedly explain what’s going on behind the scenes with Mariah’s LP:
Mariah Careyā€”despite idiotic postings elsewhereā€”is gearing up for her big new CD release.
Mariah feels so strongly about ā€œMemoirs of an Imperfect Angelā€ that sheā€™s even re-hired the PR powerhouse that made her second-stage career such a success. Sheā€™s back with Cindi Berger of PMK HBH. It was Berger who made her ā€œEmancipation of Mimiā€ the biggest hit of Mariahā€™s career. Smart move.
Of course, that means both Mariah and Whitney Houston are now being repped by the same PR company. PMKā€™s Kristen Foster is handling Whitney with my old pal, Jill Fritzo.
ā€œMemoirsā€ was scheduled for an August 25th release, then moved to September 15th. Now itā€™s set for September 29th. If the regular Grammy deadline had been in placeā€”September 30thā€”Mariah would have made it. But the unfortunate early deadline of August 31st cut her off. So she has some slack time to get ā€œMemoirsā€ just right.
The first single from Mariahā€™s CD will not be ā€œObsessedā€ā€”that was just a summer trifle, and it was a lot of fun. The real first official single is said to be a powerhouse ballad along the lines of ā€œVision of Love.ā€ {Source}
Oh Mariah. I do find it hilarious that the oh-so-used explanation for a single under-performing – ‘oh, it was a buzz single’ – is being used here. Besides, Mariah herself, as well as her label, radio programmers etc have all acknowledged ‘Obsessed’ as the first single. I can guarantee, had the song did what it was supposed to on the charts (aka been a massive hit, instead of a barely moderate one), they would have been trumpeting it as the record’s first single. SMH…
For a brief moment I got excited at the prospect of a qualitative single from Mariah – as Friedman alludes to, instead of the cookie-cutter trash she’s been putting out as of late (something she is so above making). Then I remembered how I’ve been punk’d by Mimi with everything she’s done post-Emancipation, hence my decision to be pleasantly surprised when she does deliver the hotness. At this point, though, I wouldn’t bet much on that happening.
Randomness: Is it me or is Mariah kinda dropping albums (so close together) for the sake of it now? I mean it’s not as if she’s in Janet Jackson’s predicament, where her last releases were slept on – and perhaps feels she needs to prove something. This I ask as Post-Emancipation Mariah seems to be releasing material very quickly – yet bringing nothing new to the table and consistently serving up rubbish material.
Tidbit: Check out this preview of Mimi’s ‘Memoirs’ from the UK’s Sun paper. Things are not looking good šŸ™
Your thoughts?

Fantasia sat down with CNN this week to discuss what she’s been up to since she’s been out of the spotlight for the last year. An interesting watch, one in which she opens up about having tumours in her throat and going back to school. More power to her!
Your thoughts?

R&B star Keri Hilson recently performed a set for Walmart Soundcheck online concert series. Check out her performances of new US single ‘Slow Dance’ (which I’m hearing was minimalist due to the more explicit nature of her usual live performances of the song), new UK single ‘Energy’ as well as album cut ‘Alienated’.

Pretty good….
What do you think of Keri’s performances?
This week’s classic From The Vault video is Mary J. Blige’s 2005 international smash ‘Be Without’. A return to form for the future Hall-of-Famer, the song serves as one of those that sound as fresh today as it did when it was first released – IMO one her all-time best. It’s not often singers who have been in the industry for so long manage to add to their list of career-defining hits so late into their career, something I feel really is a testament to just how great both this song and Mary J are. Enjoy:



Your thoughts?

Peep this preview of D. Woods’ video for debut single ‘Legalize Me’. Still on her Independent circuit grind, I’m must say I’m quite impressed with D for this one.
Your thoughts?

Interview coming faster than you can say ‘Sam, the man, the Kelly Rowland stan!’

Your thoughts?
JoJo - 'Forever In My Life'
As JoJo’s battle with her label Blackground rages on over the release of her ‘All I Want Is Everything’ album, a new cut presumed to be for the recording sessions for the LP has surfaced. ‘Forever In My Life’ is mid-tempo R&B/Pop fusion, with a great vocal performance turned in by the 18 year old. That said, there’s not much to scream about with this one. Album track, at best.
Hit or Miss?

Listen: Whitney's 'I Look To You' LP (Preview)
Amazon UK have put a preview of the full version of Whitney Houston’s hotly anticipated new album ‘I Look To You’ up moments ago. Click the link below to listen and let That Grape Juice know what you think…
Update: That Grape Juice are particularly liking the sound of ‘Worth It’ (fiyah!!!), ‘For The Lovers’ and ‘I Got You’ – of the tracks we’d yet to have heard before today.
Hit(s) or Miss(es)?
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