Today’s From The Vault pick is lifted from Whitney Houston’s criminally-underrated ‘Just Whitney’ album, which was released 20 years ago this week.

We give you ‘Watchulookinat’.

The early 2000s were quite a storied period of time in the life of the dynamic diva. Indeed, while the window started with her dominating the worldwide charts, she magnetized the eyes of the masses for reasons that weren’t music-related… but we won’t go there today.

In 2002, Nippy made a move to silence the naysayers and flip the script with the unapologetic ‘Whatchulookinat’.

Produced by then-husband Bobby Brown and co-written by Houston, it packed a certain aggressiveness absent from her previous work and was a plea for the world to let her live her life as best as she could.

Sadly for the song – and parent album – chart success wasn’t on the cards. Indeed, the track peaked at #96 on the US Hot 100 and #75 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop tally. It fared better internationally though, scoring commendable Top 20 placings in the UK, Canada, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

A critique of paparazzi culture of sorts, the song’s music video was directed by Kevin Bray. The action took place inside of a disposable camera used by comedian Mike Epps to capture Houston as she’s stepping out of the recording studio with friend Faith Evans.

Fun fact: Migos member Offset is featured as one of the many young background dancers surrounding Whitney.

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20 years on, it’s even more unclear why this tune got overlooked as it sits perfectly alongside the revered singles from the chanteuse’s previous project ‘My Love Is Your Love.’

While it wasn’t groundbreaking thematically nor sonically, the ‘Just Whitney’ album had some great moments – namely this very track, ‘One Of Those Days’, ‘Tell Me No’ and ’Try It On My Own’ – which were clearly tailored for world domination, if it wasn’t for the unfortunate climate it was released in.

Whitney, we thank you, we miss you, and we’ll always love you.

Your thoughts?

Months after Kanye West first made headlines for a string of antisemitic comments, fallout from the controversial statements continues.

Thursday (December 7), the School of the Art Institute of Chicago confirmed the GRAMMY winner’s honorary doctorate degree they issued him had been rescinded in response to his “dangerous” stance on Jewish communities.

Read their official report inside.

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Be it for the good, bad, ugly, or downright shocking, 2022 was full of monumentally memorable moments!

Now, as the year draws to a close, That Grape Juice is reflecting on the occasions that rocked – and to some degree maybe even reshaped – the Urban and Pop cultural landscape as we know it.

Next, we revisit the slap seen around the world. Join us after the jump as we explore Will Smith‘s Oscar night showdown with Chris Rock and the fall-out that followed…

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From Justin Bieber to Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Kirk Franklin, and others, Mariah Carey is no stranger to calling on some of the biggest names in music over the years to assist with her annual Christmas domination.

And, if fans of fellow music royal Dolly Parton get their way, the Country Queen may be the newest added to the list.

Details inside.

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For SZA fans, a five-year wait for a new album came to a close Friday (December 9) when the R&B diva finally dropped ‘SOS‘ – the follow-up to her 2017 debut album ‘Ctrl.’

Preceded by hit singles ‘Shirt,’ ‘I Hate U,’ and ‘Good Days,’ “good” comes a severe understatement when describing the critical and commercial acclaim the set’s already received.

And while ‘SOS’ has shown itself to be a monster on real-time sales tallies around the globe (as we reported here), it appears to be even more of one on streaming platforms.

Look inside to see how the 23-song effort is making history.

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Mariah Carey continues to unwrap fresh wins with her festive classic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You.’ Especially in the UK.

Full story below…

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Mark those calendars because ‘Harlem’ is back!

The popular Amazon Prime Video drama – which chronicles the layered lives of friends Camille, Tye, Quinn, and Angie – returns in February and the streamer has unveiled the first look.

Join us after the jump…

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Cher fans all over the globe are sending condolences to the EGO (EMMY, GRAMMY, and OSCAR) winner after the announcement her mother Georgia Holt passed away.

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For music lovers who have yet to fall in love with ‘Fallin‘ singer Alicia Keys’ inaugural holiday album, ‘Santa Baby,’ the 15-time GRAMMY winner is giving them new reasons with every promotional appearance.

After blowing the roof off ‘Christmas in Rockefeller Center’ and ‘TODAY‘ over the last few weeks, Alicia is continuing to crank out live renditions of her take on the yuletide classics found aboard the set.

Her most recent showing came courtesy of a stop by ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.’  There, when not unveiling a spirited version of ‘Please Come Home for Christmas,’ she dished on the inspiration behind the festive LP and much more.

Did you miss the action when it first aired? No worries; we’ve got you covered.

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Godmother of Soul Patti LaBelle may have brought her brigade of hits to Milwaukee’s Riverside Theater Saturday evening (December 10), but she could barely get through her set of classics before being rushed off stage due to a reported bomb threat.

Details inside.

(more…)

Be it for the good, bad, ugly, or downright shocking, 2022 was full of monumentally memorable moments!

Now, as the year draws to a close, That Grape Juice is reflecting on the occasions that rocked – and to some degree maybe even reshaped – the Urban and Pop cultural landscape as we know it.

Next, we toast to ‘Super Freaky Girl’ – the history-making Hot 100 #1 hit of Rap Queen Nicki Minaj.

(more…)

Over the last 30 years Terrence Howard has been a Black Hollywood staple.

Bringing unforgettable characters like Quentin Spivey (‘The Best Man‘), Cameron Thayer (‘Crash‘), Djay (‘Hustle & Flow‘), James Rhodes (‘Iron Man‘), Lucious Lyon (‘Empire‘), and many others to life over his three-decade tenure, the veteran actor has not only collected top industry honors for his work but has even garnered Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations along the way.

That impressive, yet lengthy resume was the reason Howard announced his retirement in 2019 during the last season of ‘Empire.’

And though he didn’t keep his word at that time, three years later he’s revisited the statement and assured longtime fans he’s for real this time.

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