Peep Beyonce’s new print ad for L’Oreal. She looks great and moreover she actually looks like her – unlike ‘that’ controversial campaign they had featuring her before.

What do you think of the pic?

With the initial first single from 50 Cent’s forthcoming LP ‘Before I Self Destruct’ ‘Get Up’ causing the album to be pushed back due to lack of interest, the rapper is hoping ‘I Get In’ – the record’s ‘official’ lead single – will ignite the charts. However, I’m not sure how feasible such hope is with this one. Despite being produced by the increasingly elusive Dr Dre, it still comes across distinctly typical 50. Nothing new or particularly of interest here. It really is a case of ‘step your game up, or fall back’ here IMO.

Hit or Miss?

Diva Mariah Carey rang in 2009 by being paid a staggering $1 Million for performing at a New Years party held by Colonel Gaddafi’s son in St. Barts:

Mariah Carey was paid $1 million to sing just four songs at a New Year’s Eve party.

The 38-year-old singer reportedly received the staggering sum from Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi’s son Saif son after agreeing to perform at the Nikki Beach Club on the Caribbean island of St Barts.

Mariah, who was at the event with husband of eight months Nick Cannon, shattered all pregnancy rumours as she enjoyed champagne and oysters during the party.

Other performers included hip-hop stars Jay-Z and Timbaland, who performed together on stage, before Jay-Z saw in 2009 together with his wife Beyonce Knowles. {Source}

Can’t hate on Mariah for getting hers. I am wondering though; has the Colonel’s son seen any of Ms. Carey’s live performances recently? Money well spent? LOL.

Your thoughts?

Despite the lukewarm sales of her criminally slept on LP ‘Human’, Brandy is pressing ahead promoting the record’s 2nd single ‘Long Distance’ – most recently stopping by The Today Show to perform the track. If there is one thing I have to hand it to the former ‘Moesha’ star this go around it’s her consistency. Performance after performance, she just nails it. Vocals are as crisp as the CD. Here’s hoping that in some way, ‘Human’ gets the chance to be heard by the masses. It’s too good a project to go unnoticed.

What do you think of the performance?

A new Rihanna cut, featuring boyfriend Chris Brown, surfaced today. Believed to be lifted from the ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ soundtrack – a movie in which they both make cameos – the Polo Da Don produced track isn’t bad at all. Granted I cannot understand what Ms. Fenty is ‘singing’ on the chorus and Chris Brown’s ‘rap’ sounding a lil’ Vanilla Ice, the beat goes hard and Rihanna rides the verses well. Listening to this actually has me really interested to see what she’ll be serving up on her oh-so-important new album (the one in which she proves her current success isn’t a fluke).

Hit or Miss?

With Mariah Carey’s former label Sony BMG set to release a new compilation titled ‘The Ballads’ in the US on January 20th (already available here in the UK), e songstress has released this new video for her classic ‘Hero’ (with re-recorded vocals) – which is features on the LP.

The video serves it’s purpose, in that it’s pretty much standard ‘music video in a studio’ fare. However, listening to this really does drive home how different (some would argue, deteriorated) Mariah’s voice has become. Yes, she sounds better than current industry’s vocal standard (which isn’t saying a whole lot), but touching one of her career-defining tracks and sounding a shadow of a shadow of her old self isn’t a good look. The restraint and croakiness in her delivery are un-ignorable. Sad. (Thanks Trent! You’re a star!)

What do you think of the song/video?

Many thanks to the thousands of you who voted in the 2nd Annual That Grape Juice: End of Year Awards. You can peep the list of winners below and see if your favourite scooped an award:

‘I Am…Sasha Fierce’ – Beyonce (38.71%)

‘Human’ – Brandy (14.93%)

Single of the Year

‘Single Ladies’ – Beyonce (46.94%)

Runner Up: ‘A Milli’ – Lil’ Wayne (14.59%)

Best Video:

‘Single Ladies’ – Beyonce (46.94%)

Runner Up: ‘Go Girl’ – Ciara (18.02%)

Best Collaboration

‘Live Your Life’ – T.I. & Rihanna (24.83%)

Runner Up: Love In The Club (Remix) – Usher, Beyonce & Lil’ Wayne (21.93%)

Best New Artist

Jazmine Sullivan – (25.07%)

Runner Up: Leona Lewis (23.15%)

Best Female Artist

Beyonce – (43.8%)

Runner Up: Rihanna (14.83%)

Best Male Artist

T.I. – (22.77%)

Runner Up: Chris Brown (20.7%)

The Kelly Rowland Underrated Artist Of The Year Award

Solange – (22.62%)

Runner Up: Michelle Williams (21.67%)

The Please Go Sit Down Somewhere Award

Rihanna – (38.86%)

Runner Up: Soulja Boy (29.31%)

Worst Single Of The Year

‘Marco Polo’ – Bow Wow & Soulja Boy (35.01%)

Runner Up: Everything She Released – Mariah Carey (20.19%)

Worst Album Of The Year

‘Just A Rolling Stone’ – Donnie Klang (30.44%)

Runner Up: ‘Brass Knuckles’ – Nelly (19.59%)

(You) Slippin’ / Step Your Game Up Award

Usher (30.22%)

Runner Up: Mariah Carey (23.3%)

Best Reality TV Show

X Factor (23.08%)

Runner Up: Making The Band 4 (22.7%)

Most Shocking Event of 2008

Jennifer Hudson Family Tragedy (42.09%)

Runner Up: Barack Obama Becoming 1st Black US President

Your thoughts on the awards/winners?

Suggestions for next year?

‘Never Ever’, the official first single to be lifted from Ciara’s forthcoming ‘Fantasy Ride’ LP, made it’s debut today, a day earlier than expected. The whimsical Polow Da Don produced cut, which samples Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes ‘If You Don’t Love Me By Now’, is a mid-tempo which I envision doing well at radio. However, as a first single, I’m kinda iffy on this one; it just doesn’t have that ‘ummph’ we’re used to hearing from Cici – especially as a lead single. Time will tell if it was the right choice going with this.

Hit or Miss?

Ahh…the days when Murder Inc ruled the industry. While it was pretty much standard fare for Fat Joe to only have a hit every other album, Ashanti and her Murder Inc members – especially a certain Ja Rule continued to churn out hit after hit following this one. How the times have changed…

Your thoughts?

Teen rap ‘star’ Soulja Boy was attacked last week. Check out the report below:

A representative for teen sensation Soulja Boy has confirmed the young entertainer was assaulted last week.

Unconfirmed reports began circulating on New Year’s Eve that Soulja Boy and several of his close friends were ambushed and robbed at gunpoint on Tuesday night (December 30) after six men invaded the rapper’s home.

Allegedly, Soulja Boy’s friend Jbar was nearly taken hostage during the robbery.

The following day (December 31), a video surfaced of two masked men claiming responsibility for the crime.

In the clip, the duo boasted of stalking Soulja Boy before the attack by attending his album release party and subsequently tailing the rapper to his home.

The alleged thieves further described the robbery in detail. They disputed initial reports of there being six assailants armed with pistols and Ak-47s.

Instead, the alleged robbers claimed the crime was completed between them with one weapon.

Due to the two minute video’s over the top content, the clip was initially met with skepticism by fans and media alike.

However, a representative for Soulja Boy has confirmed with AllHipHop.com that an incident did take place, but the rep refused to provide any concrete details, stating only that the crime is “a serious situation.”

Soulja Boy released his sophomore album iSouljaBoyTellem on December 16.

Earlier this week, the teen rapper again sparked controversy by releasing a Youtube video accusing legendary lyricist Nas of killing Hip-Hop and destroying economic opportunities of other emcees. {Source}

Just a quick reminder to let you know that tomorrow is the last day to cast your votes for the That Grape Juice: End of Year Awards 2008.

Winners will be announced on January 5th