Christina Milian UpdateWe reported back in January that Christina Milian was set to sign with MySpace’s new label (in partnership with Interscope). The deal did indeed go through and the singer has confirmed to Billboard that her new album will be hitting stores at the top of 2009:

Her label debut is due next spring. The first single, “Us Against The World,” is a “cinematic power ballad” and will be available via the social networking site (MySpace) on October 6.

“I’ve been out of the game for one and a half years, and I think I’m long overdue for a comeback, so I’m treating this album like it’s my last chance to make an impression. I’m competing with myself and being very detailed,” the 26-year-old Cuban-American told Billboard. “Before, I had a label telling me what direction to go in. Now, it’s my choice, so I’m being very particular about it and I’m really excited.”

Kanye West is the sole guest artist so far, but Milian, who wrote most of the album, hints at potential collaborative surprises down the line.

Milian’s stint with Def Jam did not end well. She was dropped just a month after the release of her third studio album, 2006’s “So Amazin’,” allegedly because of poor sales. The set has shifted more than 163,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

But she views the MySpace deal as a chance for a fresh start. “I have a lot of support from my peers. I have lots of people that love me and want the best for me,” she said. “Sometimes things don’t work out the right way, but I know I work my butt off on my end. As long as you know you worked hard, you feel accomplished. Thankfully, I took the time off to check out what’s going on and now I’m back, and MySpace is allowing me to do tons of different things creatively.” {Source}

Here’s hoping this new deal works out for Christina; wouldn’t say I’m a fan, but she definitely has potential.

Your thoughts?

Ne-Yo recently released ‘She’s Got Her Own Things’ – the official remix of his current smash ‘Miss Independent’. Check out the clip for the song which features both Jamie Foxx and Fabolous:

Can’t say I’m really feeling the remix all that much, yet kudos to Ne-Yo for putting a new spin on the song. The R&B crooner is set to hit #1 with his third studio LP ‘Year of The Gentleman’ this week.

What do you think of the song / video?

Kelly Rowland At Cavalli Fashion Show Kelly Rowland At Cavalli Fashion Show
R&B star Kelly Rowland took a break from recording her third solo album to attend the Just Cavalli fashion show in Milan this week. Say what you want about Kelly, but there’s no denying she looks stunning here. Stunning.

What do you think of the pics?

Peep the trailer for the forthcoming ‘Notorious B.I.G’ bio-pic (due in theatres across the US on January 19th 2009):

Looks great. Most definitely anticipating this one.

Will you be going to see ‘Notorious B.I.G’ ?

Lord knows I try not delve into my personal life too much, but I must share this with you guys…

After waking up randomly early this morning, I switched on the TV and left it on GMTV. Long story short, after falling asleep again, I wake up to the sound of Ms. Fenty’s sheep-like bleating on this performance of ‘Disturbia’. Not the best of starts to one’s day:

Awful.

What do you think of the performance?

After a few technical hiccups, we are back doing what we do best…

Check out the official cover art and track-list for Christina Aguilera’s forthcoming greatest hits collection ‘Keeps Gettin’ Better – A Decade of Hits’ below:

Christina Aguilera's 'Keep Gettin' Better - A Decade Of  Hits' Cover & Tracklisting

Tracklist

1. Genie In A Bottle (New Version)
2. What A Girl Wants
3. Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)
4. Lady Marmalade (New Version)
5. Dirrty (featuring Redman)
6. Beautiful (New Version)
7. Fighter
8. Ain’t No Other Man
9. Hurt
10. Candyman
11. Keeps Gettin’ Better
12. Dynamite

I’m liking the cover; very striking…the track-list not so much. That said, I’m being cautiously optimistic about Xtina’s latest ‘sound/image’ as I’m still not entirely sold on either. Anywhoo, the LP drops November 11th.

Your thoughts?

That Grape Juice is currently upgrading our server, so you may notice a few changes during this period. Please bare with us, all should be completed within the next few hours.

Sam

That Grape Juice
Apologies for the slowish updates. Business as usual from here on out. A lot to look forward to this week….the Ashanti and Ne-Yo interviews (definitely) and much more.

Anyway, in an exclusive video blog for our affiliate site Rap-Up.com, hit-maker Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins reveals that Pop starlet Janet Jackson has officially severed ties with label Island Def Jam, after one album – this years’ ‘Discipline’. Check it out:

With Janet having been so vocal about her displeasure with her relationship with the label, this hardly comes as a surprise. Here’s hoping that with the success of Janet’s ‘Rock Witchu’ tour, things are on the look-up for Ms. Jackson (if you’re nasty!…).

Your thoughts?

As reported, the season premiere of The Tyra Banks Show tackled the issue of skin bleaching. You can watch the full episode below (via World Star Hip-Hop). A very interesting watch, I must say:

Your thoughts?

Kanye West Takes Aim At 50 CentIt seems the ‘beef’ between Kanye West and 50 Cent, which culminated in Kanye’s ‘Graduation’ besting ‘The Massacre’ last September, has been reignited as both rappers prep new albums. Check out Kanye’s latest blog which takes jibes at the G-Unit general – who rubbished Ye’s latest single ‘Love Lockdown’ (click here to watch 50 ‘performing’ the song):

just woke up from a quick studio nap… I’ve been workin’ on 808s and Heartbreak about 16 hrs a day and Superman passed out for a little bit… I’m in hawaii but I’m still on NY time so I wake up mad early, do some business, blog, jog for an hour, play ball, eat and then hit the stu by noon. While approving the final cut for the Love Lockdown vid, I marvel at the fact that it was written less than 3 weeks ago. I’m very excited about the everything… I guarantee this will be 50’s favorite album of mine. This will be gangster’s album of the year. {Source}

There’s no doubt this is a ploy to drive sales for both projects. In any case, here’s to Kanye winning ‘Round 2’!

Your thoughts?

Danity Kane siren Aubrey O’Day features in the latest issue of Complex magazine. As you can probably tell from the pic from her shoot above, this was no tame feature. See an extract from her interview below (the following contains adult content and may not be suitable for minors….I always wanted to say that LOL…sad I know):

Complex: How many Danity Kane albums are you locked in for?

Aubrey O’Day: Seven, not including holiday and live albums.

Complex: Damn! So that means at least five more to go.

Aubrey O’Day: In a perfect world, that’s what appears to be the case. But, as we all know, this world is not perfect.

Complex: So when people hear you’re best friends with (porn star) Jenna Jameson, they think—

Aubrey O’Day: —I’m going to do sex tapes and porn. Jenna and I never even talk about porn. I think one time Jenna and I had a conversation about having sex on your period.

Complex: Oh, running a red light?

Aubrey O’Day: Yeah. There was some new guy I was dating, and it was the first time we were going to go there, and he was weird about it. So I ask Jenna for advice and she’s like, “Honey, it’s just a little war paint, who cares?”

Complex: You seem to like to talk about sex.

Aubrey O’Day: I love porn.

I usually watch black guys doing white girls, that’s my little fetish, even though in real life race isn’t a factor for me. Really, I’m more turned on by watching the girls than the guys. I love someone who looks like they’re really into sex.

Complex: All this porn talk raises the question: Would you ever be in one?

Aubrey O’Day: I wouldn’t. I’d like to keep my sex life personal. I’ve had sex on camera with my boyfriend for fun, though.

Complex: Damn, you know those things can leak, right?

Aubrey O’Day: I’ve made all of them delete it right after we watched it.

Where to start? Wow. Aubrey seems to really be treading the fine line between being honest and being too honest. As for the pic(s) (the rest of which you can see by clicking here), it really does nothing to put an end to the barks of ‘sl*t’ oft directed towards Aubrey. Got to love the girl, though.

Your thoughts?

New Brandy Promo Pics Check out these promotional shots for Brandy’s forthcoming album ‘Human’ (due November 11th). She looks great!
New Brandy Promo Pics New Brandy Promo Pics

What do you think of the pics?
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