Thanks all those who entered the Mary J. Blige ‘Growing Pains’ + iMaingo give-away. The correct answer to the question:

Jay-Z was joined by a host of stars to celebrate the opening of the Las Vegas arm of his 40/40 nightclub. Attendee’s included Beyonce, of course, Solange, Mary J. Blige, Tichina Arnold, Al Sharpton, Joe Jackson and Robin Thicke. Check out pics from the event below:

Janet Jackson has hit the promo trail in support of her forthcoming album ‘Discipline’ (due February 26th 2008); the pop superstar features in upscale magazine Prestige Hong Kong. Check out pics from the the great Mark Liddell shoot below. You can read Janet’s interview – in which she speaks on growing up a Jackson, life offstage with boyfriend Jermaine Dupri, her new album and more – by clicking here.

Rapper Trina shot the video for her new single ‘Single Again’ this past Friday at a mansion Coconut Grove, Florida . Expect the vid to consist of various scenes; including a wedding, pool and club. It appears there’s truth to the stories of Trina’s new deal with EMI (in partnership with Slip-N-Slide) being worth a lot of money; the vid (and it’s budget) looks to be Trina’s best yet. ‘Single Again’ will be the first single to be lifted from Trina’s forthcoming album ‘Still Da Baddest’ – due February 12th 2008.

You can see more pics from the shoot by clicking here.

Be on the lookout for That Grape Juice’s great (if i must say so myself lol) interview with Trina in the weeks ahead.

Surprisingly Jennifer Lopez is to release yet another single from her certified flop album ‘Brave’. The album’s title track will serve as the CD’s third official single, with the video – directed by Michael Haussman – having been filmed already. Considering the huge losses her label have undoubtedly made off the album, I can’t understand why they are allowing her to churn out more singles – especially when the album sucks.

It seems Akon isn’t the only one ready to fight audience members at his shows; R&B singer Trey Songz brawled with a man who threw ice at him during his set at Club Ultra. Trey had me rolling with the way he jumped back on stage and launched straight into ‘Can’t Help But Wait’. See the clip below:

In a recent interview with the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, R&B star Usher detailed plans he has for a collaboration between himself, T-Pain and the King of Pop Michael Jackson. Speaking of the song, the ‘Yeah’ singer said:

“It’s been created, but it’s not recorded,” Usher explained to the newspaper. “And as long as Michael is open to it, hey, anything goes.”

Elaborating more his forthcoming album, he added:

I’ve been diligently working on creating a masterpiece,” he said of the project. “It’s going to be out first or maybe the second quarter. I see the second quarter of next year. And there will be a video and single out at the top of the year. … I think [Atlanta producer] Polow Da Don is going to have the first one. I think that’s going to be the single ‘Love In The Club.’”

An Usher – MJ collaboration sounds like an interesting concept. Why T-Pain is being thrown into the mix is beyond me. Yes, he’s the ‘it’ artist of the moment, but for how long will that be? Anyway, you can hear a snippet of the single likely to be the first from Usher’s album, by clicking here. Sounds pretty good to me.

Following a tumultuous year for Brandy, it was confirmed yesterday that the R&B star will not have to face charges regarding the crash she was involved in that a killed another driver. The singer’s high-powered attorney Blair Berk released the following statement to TMZ after the news was announced:

“We are extremely pleased that after a more thorough and extensive investigation by authorities, the Los Angeles City Attorney has determined that Brandy Norwood should not be charged with any crime whatsoever relating to the accident back in 2006.”

She continued, “These past 12 months have posed an extraordinary hardship for Brandy and her family, who have been unfairly forced to live under a cloud of suspicion initially caused by the ill-advised and premature press release sent out by the California Highway Patrol accusing Brandy of wrongdoing before the police investigation was even finished. However, Brandy continues to be mindful that she was so fortunate to be uninjured in this accident and there was a life lost that should be remembered.”

I’m glad this whole mess is over with. Now she can move on with her life.

As well as Ciara (whose performance was posted earlier), gospel singer Yolanda Adams performed at the Kennedy Honors tribute to Diana Ross. Adams performed ‘Reach Out & Touch’. Check out the performance below:

R&B star LeToya’s sophomore album has been confirmed for a June 10th 2008 release. The news may come as somewhat of a disappointment to her fans, as the singer has been quoted as saying that the album was set to drop at the start of 2008. Interestingly the album is listed as being released under Virgin Records; however it’s doubtful there’s much to that as LeToya’s label Capitol and Virgin recently merged. {Source}

Though I’m all for LeToya and the label making sure the album is ‘right’ (I’m assuming this is the reason for the delay), it is kinda risky for her to be out of the limelight for so long.

Mary J. Blige made a huge impact on the Billboard 200 album chart with her eighth studio album ‘Growing Pains’. The Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul sold through an impressive 629,000 copies of the LP – the follow-up to her 2005 multi platinum effort ‘The Breakthrough’. Despite this, Blige charted at #2 – unable to oust Josh Groban’s ‘Noel’ album from the top spot (which sold 757,000 in it’s third week of release).

In other album news, Alicia Keys’ ‘As I Am’, currently #3 on the chart, enjoys a 62% sales increase with 474,000 copies sold. Chris Brown continues to sell consistently with ‘Exclusive’, selling 176,000. Jaheim’s ‘Making Of A Man’ enters at #11 with 176,000 units shifted, whilst Lupe Fiasco’s ‘The Cool’ occupies the #15 spot with 143,000 copies sold.

Lower down the chart, Bow Wow and Omarion’s ‘Face Off’ takes a tumble – dropping 11-29 with 89,000 sold. In what must be an embarrassment for Disturbing The Peace star Chingy, the rapper’s latest LP ‘Hate It Or Love It’ came in at a dismal #84, having sold just 31, 517 copies. Ouch.

Just a reminder, the polls for the 1st Annual That Grape Juice: End Of Year Awards are now open. Voting is unlimited, so you can cast your votes as many times as you like. Polls close on December 30th, with winners being announced the day after.