This past Saturday marked the 2nd day of the 2008 Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. Home-grown star Estelle was among the performers (pictured above with Bryan Michael Cox and Matthew Knowles above), as were LL Cool, Solange ,Musiq, Patti Labelle and Christette Michele. Check out the pics:

The annual Essence Music Festival kicked off this past Friday, 4th July, in New Orleans. Many an artist made an appearance, performed and whatnot at the event – which took place jointly at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and Louisiana Superdome. Check out the pics of Rihanna, Chris Brown, Kanye West, Solange, Bow Wow among others below:

This week’s From The Vault clip is Pop star Britney Spears’ first foray in the Urban music world – ‘Slave For You’. The sexed-up vid for the Neptures produced song is widely considered by many as Spears’ official transition from teenage Pop sensation to edgy Pop princess. Who would have ever thought it, Britney riding a Neptunes beat? Good stuff…check it out:

As R&B songstress Brandy continues to mould her much anticipated new album – her first under new label Epic, a track, said to be from the record, has surfaced. Produced by The Underdogs, ‘The List’ is a well crafted cut that sounds unlike much of what is dominating the musical sphere at present – a good or potentially not so good thing, I guess. If the track, which features Brandy’s trademark vocal arrangements and harmonies, is indicative of the LP’s overall direction, I’m even more amped for her record than I previously was. As though ‘selling’ is no doubt a priority, there has always been something qualitatively that sets Brandy apart from the pack – even if her sound isn’t as readily serviceable to commercial radio as, say, your typical Rihanna track. Anyway, enough of my babbling…

UK singing sensation Leona Lewis performed her hit single ‘Better In Time’ as well as the worldwide smash ‘Bleeding Love’ at at the NRJ Music Tour in France. Check out the performance below:

We all at That Grape Juice wish all our US visitors a very Happy Independence Day!

Check out singer/songwriter Keri Hilson on the set of her Melina directed video for new single ‘Energy’:

R&B star Ne-Yo recently performed for Yahoo’s Nissan Live Sets. During the Q&A session, the singer was asked by an audience member who he preferred looks-wise between Beyonce and Rihanna. Check out Ne-Yo’s response below:

Not content with taking digs at Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri on previous occasions, rapper Khia has blasted the pair in her latest MySpace blog (warning: explicit language):

Nowwwwwwww…… Jermaine Dupri…… I hear you was on Hot 97 in New York… Talking bout how I was ungrateful…………. And Miss Jones was FIRED right after dat!!!!!! If I’m ungrateful about anything its about the fact of how I SAVED the day for JANET….. And I couldn’t even be in the VIDEO…..But dats old news so why are we even still talking about it????? Janet’s album Flopped and DATS dat!!!!! I’m sorry……. Janet…..I hear you been going thru the CHANGE…. So maybe dats why you were MOODY and didn’t want me in the VIDEO dat day!!!! I guess 40 is not the new 20????

If I am disappointed about anything……… Its because you DIDN’T sign me, after I had already proven to you that I can sell records!!!! Is it because I am not little like BOW WOW??? Is it because I don’t wear my pants backwards with my boxers showing like Kriss-Kross??????….. You are Michael Jackson’s little sister’s boyfriend!!!!!! Is Chris Stokes your cousin??? Now dats the REAL disappointment!!!!! Are you gonna join Janet at the Jungle dis weekend, the hot GAY bar in Atlanta?? If so, I will see you then!!!! SOUND OFF……. And Noooooooo…… I don’t wanna buy no DAMN BOY SCOUT COOKIES!!!! It’s something funny bout GROWN men running around with little boys in uniforms….. Tell Janet to lay off the HUSTLER and COCO DORM SEX Tapes!!!!! Another man is beating YOUR TIME!!! Give it to em raw and RINSE dat strap off………Now run and tell dat!!!!!! Nasti Muzik 08!!!!!

A mess…a hot mess. You can read the rest of Khia’s rant, which also takes aim at her record label Big Cat Records for lack of promotion (see: Karma) in the comments section.

Former ‘Moesha’ star Fredro Starr, who played ‘Q’ on the popular sitcom has revealed that he was…well…’serviced’ by Brandy during his time on the show. The explosive revelations came during Starr’s interview for the ‘C.O.D’ DVD. Check out theclip below (skip to 3mins 20 for the Brandy part):

The video for Mariah Carey’s latest single ‘I’ll Be Loving U Long Time’ premiered literally within the hour. Vid quality isn’t the best, but you now where you saw it first lol. Check it out:

Will Smith’s much-anticipated new superhero flick ‘Hancock’ was simultaneously released in both US and UK yesterday. Though generally receiving a ‘so-so’ response from most critics, the film is poised to deliver Smith’s highest grossing debut to date, with early projections touting somewhere in the region of $80 Million being grossed in its first weekend.

So with that said, That Grape Juice wants to know if you’ll be going to see ‘Hancock’. If not, why? If you’ve seen it already, your view?