The Best You Never Heard: Rihanna, Amerie, Mario & LeToyaThe Best You Never Heard, this week, serves up little known gems by Rihanna, Amerie, Mario and LeToya. Do you have any suggestions for future instalments? Drop me an email at sam@thatgrapejuice.net

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Rihanna – Music Of The Sun

 

Though seemingly a distant memory, the Rihanna that burst on to the scene just three years ago had yet to have her Bajan roots (musically) diluted. A great example of this is ‘Music of The Sun’ the title track of her 2005 debut. With its Caribbean flavoured production and laid back feel, the track still stands as one of my favourite Rihanna tracks – not that that means much LOL

 

Listen: Music Of The Sun

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Amerie – When Loving You Was Easy

I’ve made no secret of my belief that Amerie’s last effort, 2007’s ‘Because I Love It’, was criminally slept on. Serving up a solid selection of box-fresh hits, it’s shame things didn’t pan out as they should have with the record. One of the album’s best offerings IMO was the C-Note produced ‘When Loving You Was Easy’. Raw, impassioned and boasting a fantastic vocal performance by Amerie, the track was one of my personal highlight’s from what is an awesome album.

 

Listen: When Loving You Was Easy

 

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Mario – Lay In My Bed

 

 

As with Amerie (above), Mario delivered with ‘Go!’ – his third studio album – one of last year’s most underrated LP’s IMO. Solid from start to finish, one of the record’s standout cuts is the Polow Da Don produced ‘Lay In My Bed’. In an industry which sees its veterans boast about being the pioneers of ‘Baby Making Music’, Mario definitely shows, with this one, that the young’uns can hang too.

 

Listen: Lay In My Bed

 

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LeToya – All Eyes On Me (ft. Pall Wall)
There’s no doubt LeToya’s solo success was one of the biggest stories to emerge from 2006. Indeed, the former Destiny’s Child star silenced the naysayers and critics, delivering a very solid debut, which spawned the smash ‘Torn’. It was the JR Rotem produced ‘All Eyes On Me’, though, that stands as my highlight from the record. The high-octane production – which LeToya rides effortlessly – is overly infectious. This is how a club banger should be done. Good stuff.

Listen: All Eyes On Me (ft. Paul Wall)

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Your thoughts: Hit(s) or Miss(es)?

Rihanna was one of the big winners at the 19th annual MuchMusic Video Awards last night in Toronto Canada. The ‘Umbrella’ singer snagged two awards – one for Best International Video for ‘Don;t Stop The Music’ and one for MuchMusic.com’s Most Watched Video for ‘Umbrella’. She also performed ‘Take A Bow’ at the event. You can watch the performance below:

I see her live singing is still the pits…

What do you think of the pics performance?
Michelle Williams On Wendy Williams Show R&B star Michelle Williams stopped by the Wendy Williams radio show yesterday. In typical Wendy fashion, the interview was a no holds barred affair, with the shock jock leaving no stone unturned. Everything from the 106 & Park fall, to dancing to Matthew Knowles and of course the new record ‘Unexpected’ were discussed.
I’m real impressed with Michelle; she handled herself very well. ‘Unexpected’ hits stores August 12th.

LISTEN: Michelle Williams On Wendy Williams Show
This week’s From The Vault video dates back more than 10 years ago, Mary J. Blige’s ‘Everything’. Lifted from the Mary’s most commercially successful LP to date 1997’s ‘Share My World’, ‘Everything’ has long stood as one of my favourite MJB tracks:

Still going strong today, Mary’s story really is a testament to the notion that true talent will always shine. Good stuff.

Your thoughts?

R&B songstress Ashanti seems to be pretty much everywhere these days promoting her stellar new album ‘The Declaration’. Check out the singer performing the LP’s second single ‘Good Good’ on the Tonight With Jay Leno show yesterday:

Great performance.

What do you think of the performance?

R. Kelly Trial: The Jury Speaks After yesterday’s controversial decision to acquit R. Kelly on all 14 counts of child pornography/abuse, the jury have begun speaking to the media about how and why they reached their judgement. Check out the report via MTV.com:

CHICAGO — The jurors in the R. Kelly child-pornography trial didn’t doubt whether it was the singer on the tape — they just doubted whether it was the girl prosecutors said it was.

“I thought it was R. Kelly on the tape,” juror #9 said after the verdict was rendered. “I just wasn’t 100 percent on the girl.”

The five jurors who agreed to speak to the press following their not-guilty verdict said they felt the state hadn’t presented enough evidence and that having the alleged victim on the stand would have made the difference.

“The key problem was the identity of the female,” juror #23 said. “Her absence was a major lack.”

“The family was too divided,” said juror #9, who in the preliminary votes had voted for a guilty verdict. “So you had to discount the family testimony either way.”

This didn’t mean that the jurors bought all the defense arguments wholesale. The missing mole, for instance, was a non-issue, they said. They didn’t want to examine the video any further, either.

“I’ve seen that video way too many times,” juror #21 said. “The first time was too many.”

Being sequestered — and the prospect of remaining sequestered over Father’s Day — was not a factor in their quick verdict, they said.

“We wanted to go home, but we knew what we had to do,” said juror #21. Nodding in agreement was juror #40, who just earlier that day had asked to be relieved of duty.

Had he — or juror #40 — been relieved, the vote would have gone very differently, said the three alternates who were dismissed earlier in the day. Jurors 65, 73 and 72 said in a separate news conference before the verdict was rendered that they were leaning toward guilty. “My opinion leans towards that it is him with the girl in the video,” said juror #65.

Things might have also gone differently had evidence of Kelly’s marriage to a then-15-year-old Aaliyah or the criminal sexual conduct lawsuits against him been part of the case, the seated jurors said, but that was not what they were given to consider.

“I didn’t even know about that,” juror #23 said. “But as jurors, we have to act within the confines of the law and what is legally presented.”

“It’s all just speculation,” juror #21 said. “Who knows what we would have found [otherwise]?”

I’m still shocked as hell over the verdict; not so much because I think he is guilty (or innocent either, for that matter), but because the Prosecution IMO – and as I’m sure many who followed the trial will agree – argued a very compelling case. I guess time will tell what the effects, if any, there will be on Kelly’s career post-all of this.

Your thoughts?

Kelly Rowland performed at the Hilfiger Sessions in Berlin, Germany a month or so ago. Check out her performances below:
Like This (w/ Wyclef)


Dilemma

Bootylicious

Work

She nailed it! I really enjoyed the ‘Like This’ performance.

What do you think of the performances?

The much anticipated video for the Pussycat Dolls new single ‘When I Grow Up’ premiered just a few short hours ago on MTV. I’m most definitely feeling this one; the video captures the essence of the song pretty well. The dance break was the business also. Tidbit: The Britney Spears cameo was axed, according to reports; however no reason was given as to why.

What do you think of the video?

Breaking
R. Kelly: Not Guilty On All Charges

CHICAGO (AP) — Singer R. Kelly has been found not guilty on the first 7 of 14 counts at a child pornography trial. The jury deliberated less than a day.

Kelly was charged with 14 counts of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl, who prosecutors say was as young as 13. If convicted, he faces a minimum of four years in prison and a maximum of 15 years. He would also have to register as a sex offender in Illinois.

The jury — nine men and three women — was given the case Thursday.

The key question for the jurors was whether they believe it was Kelly in the video, as prosecutors contend. Kelly’s attorneys say it wasn’t him. {Source}

Your thoughts?

The Pussycat Dolls performed their new single ‘When I Grow Up’ on So You Think You Can Dance yesterday. Check out the performance below:

They nailed it. I’m guessing they’ve been listening to a lot of people’s crtiques as it was evident that someone other than Nicole’s mic was turned on. Good stuff.

Do forget to keep it locked on That Grape Juice for the premiere of the ‘When I Grow Up’ music video later today.

What do you think of the performance?

Eminem Eyes Comeback During a recent call to his own radio station Shade45, Eminem confirmed that he is working on a new album, the first since 2004’s ‘Encore’.
Though a release frame was not specified, the news comes after months of speculation about whether the Grammy award winning star was set to return to the spotlight. During his hiatus, the rapper re-married ex-wife Kim, only to divorce her three months later. {Source}

To be honest I can’t say I ever jumped on the Eminem bandwagon what seems like all those years ago. Upon hearing of his plans of coming back, I’m kinda left wondering…

Is Eminem even relevant anymore?

Your thoughts?

With Missy Elliott set to release her recently re-titled LP ‘Block Party’ on August 26th, the set’s lead single ‘Best Best’ has surfaced. Produced by Danja, the mid-tempo cut is typical Missy in that it’s pretty much unlike anything out at present. Though I’m not entirely sold on this whimsical just yet, the song does sound like a grower.


Hit or Miss?
 

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