Billboard recently confirmed that Mariah Carey was set to release fan/critic favourite ‘Migrate’ as the fourth single from her under-performing (by her standards) LP ‘E=MC²’. However since then, uber reliable Mariah fansite Mariah Daily received word from Def Jam that the release of the single has been axed, with no further information on future releases from the album.

It’s a shame really as, regardless of how good an album is (and let’s make no mistakes,’E=MC²’ was far from ‘good’ IMO), it simply takes 2-3 singles well sequenced singles to deliver a hit record – for an artist of Mariah’s caliber, anyway. Why favourites such as ‘For The Record’, ‘Migrate’ and even ‘Side Effects’ (which I can’t stand, yet most seem to love) were overlooked in favour of nonsense such as ‘Bye Bye’ and ‘I’m That Chick’ is beyond me.

What’s more, from the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be receiving any new singles from the album – which I actually think may be for the best. In between those horrid live performances and the fact that the album just wasn’t very good (especially when compared with its predecessor ‘Emancipation’, I say it’d probably be in Mariah’s best interest to sit down and enjoy married life for now.

In an exclusive interview with BET’s Toure, R. Kelly spoke out about his child abuse trial for the first time since being acquitted back in June. Check out the full interview below (courtesy of World Star Hip-Hop):

With Nelly’s new album ‘Brass Knuckles’ in-stores this week, the St. Louis native stopped by The Tonight With Jay Leno show last night to perform current single ‘Body On Me’, with song collaborators Akon and Ashanti.

Though I’ve heard each sound better, they all put on a pretty decent performance.

It’s not often you see Kat Deluna around these sides (you’ll know why a few seconds after watching the video…ok, that was bad on my part lol). Anyway, the singer gave an ‘interesting’ rendition of the US national anthem – The Star Spangled Banner- at a football game in Dallas, Texas recently – so ‘interesting’ that the crowd booed her resoundingly. Check it out:

After 10 years on the air, MTV have announced that their staple show Total Request Live (TRL, as it’s more commonly known) will come to an end in November:

MTV’s flagship series Total Request Live has been axed after ten years on the air.

The show, which debuted in September 1998 with Carson Daly as host, was once the centrepiece of MTV’s schedule in the US. It mixed a daily music video countdown with appearances from celebrities across the entertainment world and in its heyday was the first destination for pop acts such as Backstreet Boys, N’Sync and Britney Spears.

Ratings began to slide when Daly stepped down in 2003 to concentrate on his NBC talkshow. Last year it was cut from five airings a week to four as ratings dropped to 400,000.

The show will conclude with a two-hour special in mid-November. New series Feedback New MTV (FNMTV), hosted by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, is being tipped as a replacement. {Source}

There have been murmerings about this since the latter part of last year, so this isn’t as much of a surprise as some seem to be making it. That said, there is no doubt this is big news; TRL has been a staple feature in the music world since I can remember and has featured some of the most memorable moments in recent times(i.e. Mariah’s On-air melt down). I guess all good things (granted TRL hasn’t been that good since Carson Daly left back in 03) must come to an end…

Your thoughts?

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from LeToya, it’s been even longer since there was any sign of the follow-up to Ms. Luckett’s Platinum certified debut (which was supposed to drop early this year). Word has it that since the merger of her label Capitol with Virgin last year, things haven’t been right at the label since (example: the last time you heard of Cherish or J. Holiday?).Anyway, a brand new track featuring R&B crooner Avant has surfaced titled ‘Somebody Else’. I must stress that the song IS NOT LeToya’s first release from the new album – and thankfully so. It’s not that the smooth, laid back’ mid-tempo isn’t good – quite the contrary; I’m just gonna need LeToya to knock the ball out the park with her new material – coming off such a solid debut, as well as the fact she’s been gone for so long. Here’s hoping the album’s release is nigh.

Hit or Miss?

{Link removed as requested}

During his recent promotional stop here in the UK, 50 Cent asserted his self-appointed spot as the ‘largest hip-hop touring artist in the world’, while also taking underhanded jabs at friend Eminem. Peep the report below via Contact Music:

Rapper 50 CENT has criticised Eminem for failing to travel the world to meet his fans.

The hip-hop star claims he is the biggest hip-hop touring artist in the world because Eminem refuses to go on tour.

He says, “I’m the largest hip-hop touring artist period. Eminem is the biggest rap artist on the planet, I’m the biggest touring artist because I travel places.

“He won’t actually go to each one of those territories to be in front of all his fans. Not that he doesn’t love them but he won’t make the sacrifice of travelling as hard as I do.”

Granted rappers tend to boast like there’s no tomorrow, it definitely seems like this is a case of there being a problem when you have to remind everyone of how relevant you are. Randomness: While I don’t have stats at hand, wouldn’t the title of biggest Hip-Hop touring act go to Jay-Z at this point? Correct me if wrong…

Your thoughts?

Many thanks to the hundreds of you who entered the Def Comedy Jam UK Tour ticket-giveaway. The correct answer to the question below is highlighted:

Which ‘Bad Boy’ star was a regular host of the Def Comedy Jam series?

b) Martin Lawrence

The winners, who were chosen randomly from all correct entries, are listed below (and have been notified via email):

* Craig Price / Manchester: Manchester Apollo – Sept 16th

* Christian Vasquez / Birmingham: Alexandra Theatre – Sept 17th

* Christiana Ajilore/ London: Brixton Academy – Sept 20th

Congratulations to the winners! Remember to keep it locked on That Grape Juice for future competitions…

After much speculation, Sony have confirmed that Britney Spears will indeed release new album this year. In the press release sent to media outlets this morning, including That Grape Juice, Sony confirmed the album will be called ‘Circus’ and will be preceded by first single ‘Womanizer’:

Jive/Zomba recording artist Britney Spears announces her sixth studio album, ‘Circus’, set for release December 1st. The first single from the album is titled “Womanizer” and was produced by the up-and-coming Atlanta production team The Outsyders. The album release date coincides with Spears’ birthday.

On the heels of an MTV VMA awards sweep, where Britney walked away with three Moonmen awards for “Video of the Year,” “Best Female” and “Best Pop Video” for “Piece of Me,” Jive Records is preparing her latest album, ‘Circus’, a follow-up to her critically well received album, ‘Blackout’. For her latest effort, Britney has enlisted a stellar group of established producers/writers that include Dr. Luke (who wrote and produced the album’s title track, “Circus”), Danja, Max Martin, Bloodshy & Avant and Guy Sigsworth (Madonna, Alanis Morissette, Bjork).

Britney Spears is one of the top-selling artists of the last decade,and to date, she has sold in excess of 62 million albums worldwide that include ‘Baby One More Time’ (1999), ‘Oops!…I Did It Again’ (2000), ‘Britney’ (2001), ‘In The Zone’ (2003), and ‘Blackout’ (2007), eight #1 worldwide singles and four consecutive #1 albums.

Wow. The latter part of this year is set to deliver some major releases; Beyonce, Ciara, Kanye, and now Britney. Exciting stuff.

Your thoughts?