Lifted from the ‘Blueprint 3’ LP (due September 11th)
Hit or Miss?
With Whitney Houston’s comeback LP ‘I Look To You’ just a week away from release, expectantly more material from the record is surfacing; the most recent being a 2 minute snippet of ‘Worth It’, which surfaced within the last few minutes.Put simply, I am loving this! Definitely next-single worthy!
Hit or Miss?
This week’s From The Vault journey’s back to the year 2000, when former Xscape member Kandi released her first solo single ‘Don’t Think I’m Not’. Lifted from her criminally underrated LP ‘Hey Kandi’, this saw the writer of female anthems such as ‘No Scrubs’ drop her own declaration of independence. A great track, which still goes hard today – some 9 years later (damn, times goes fast!):
Some of you may be wondering why the hell Kandi is standing still for most of the video. Well, it turns out she sprained her ankle just before the video was set to shoot. Having learned all the choreography and whatnot, the accident meant she had to appear in the vid in a reduced role. Still a great vid all the same. You learn something new everyday lol…
Your thoughts?
For some unknown reason, Adrienne Bailon’s contribution to this year’s ‘Confession of a Shopaholic’ soundtrack, ‘Big Spender’ went over my head. Many thanks to my friend Kwame for bringing this one to my attention, for if this isn’t audio-fiyah I don’t know what is!
Though a little lacking lyrically, the track is big, bold, swagger-heavy. Ms. Bailon rides the Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins production effortlessly, serving up with this cut one the year’s most underrated offerings. Here’s hoping her debut solo album features hotness in the vein of this. Awesome track.
Hit or Miss?
The first week of X Factor 2009 audition stage aired tonight here in the UK. Check out my 2 Pence below:
{For those unfamiliar with the show; The X Factor is the UK’s version of American Idol – with a twist in that groups and over 25’s are eligible to enter. The show also birthed the career of a certain Leona Lewis, as well as Alexandra Burke}
With it seeming like just yesterday that Alexandra Burke was crowned X Factor winner, it feels kinda weird that we’re already into the next season of the ever-popular show. Starting our coverage earlier this year (at the audition stage, as opposed to the live shows), each week I will give my favourite picks from the auditions (and later the live shows, and so forth)
This week, former contestant Duane Lamonte made a return, in a bid to last the distance this go round. A somewhat comical (‘Happy Birthday’ LMAO), yet warming audition. Soulful singer Danyl also left a lasting impression. Check out their auditions below:
Duane Lamonte
Danyl
Your thoughts?
With the X-Factor hype at fever-pitch here in the UK today – the day the new season kicked off – what better time than the present to roll out new promotional shots for last year’s winner Alexandra Burke. (Apologies for the crappy quality, that’s all that is available at present).
Alex looks fantastic! It’s vividly clear from looking at these that there is a conscious effort on her team’s part to distinguish her from Leona – a good look IMO.
In other Alex news, she confirmed today on her Twitter page that the lead single from her as-yet-untitled album is titled ‘Bad Boys’ and will feature none other than Flo’ Rida. Although I’m a little ‘ugh’ at the Flo’Rida feature, I will reserve judgement until hearing the track.
Your thoughts?
Peep this new promotional shot of diva Whitney Houston for her comeback LP ‘I Look To You’. Putting aside the fact that her team phoned in Mariah’s Photoshop-ping clan, Ms. Houston looks stunning.
‘I Look To You’ drops August 31st via Arista.
Your thoughts?
With the release of LeToya Luckett’s sophomore effort ‘Lady Love’ just days away, the singer gave the first televised performance of new single ‘She Ain’t Got’ on KTLA yesterday.
The performance itself was ‘ok’, however my biggest gripe is the lack of promotion for LeToya’s project thus far. For this to be her first televised live showing, with the album release so near by is a hot mess. This is made worse by the fact that instead of performing on BET and likewise networks and shows, she’s on KTLA (?!). I really hope Ms. Luckett’s promo picks up…fast, as she’s deserving of much better treatment.
What do you think of the performance?
With JoJo having already vented her frustration with her label’s handling of her ‘All I Want Is Everything’ album publicly, the singer has now taken to the courts in her battle for a release from her deal. Check out the report via TMZ:
That JoJo singer chick is finally old enough to file a lawsuit — 18 — and guess what?! She’s already picking a legal war with her record company!In a lawsuit just filed in NYC courts, JoJo claims her record company shoved her into a musical “limbo” because they wont let her out of her contract — and they won’t let her record a new album either!JoJo, real name Joanna Levesque, now wants a judge to force Da Family Entertainment to cut her loose — plus she wants at least $500,000 for her troubles.
More power to her! Here’s hoping she wins, gets the release and is snapped up by another major label ASAP. There is too much talent in this 18 year old for her to be left by the wayside by this sometimes shady industry.
Your thoughts?
Despite the epic fail that was their ‘Forever In A Day’ album (which was actually pretty good), Day26 continue to press ahead with the project – today releasing the video for ‘So Good’. Definitely one for the grown folk, this serves as one of their better efforts. I’m sure the ladies will love this one.
That said, Bad Boy really are keeping these boys on a recession budget with these vids. We are in a visual age, and it’s gonna take more than these samey ‘concept’ clips, in which next to nothing is happening, to garner any interest anyone beyond their fan-base – who in total don’t seem to be able to save the guys from the terrible sales they’ve been having. It’s so sad, as all four of these guys are so talented. Yet, if things don’t change with how they are handled, they’ll become casualties of the industry. Here’s hoping the latter doesn’t become a reality.
Tidbit: Does anyone else notice how unless ‘Making The Band’ is airing, you never see or hear from these guys? SMH…
What do you think of the song / video?
R&B star Keri Hilson brought the Urban music cavalry out for the video shoot of her new single ‘Slow Dance’. On hand were Chris Brown, Monica, Polow Da Don, Omarion and Melody from the Pussycat Dolls.
I’m kinda baffled about this, as during our interview with Keri a month ago she confirmed that the video had been shot already (???). Anyway, here’s what the clip’s director Chris Robinson had to say about the video to our friends over at Rap-Up.com:
“It’s a really sexy song, but we don’t want to fall into the typical love, love, love R&B vibe with that,” he revealed. “So it’s a misdirection, so to speak. I won’t give too much away, but it starts where you think, ‘Oh, it’s about her and being sexy.’”But things take an unexpected turn when Hilson’s friends catch her feeling herself a little too much. “She’s in her house and by herself, and you kind of think it could be serious, but the song drops out in the middle and her friends catch her being all sexy, basically like, ‘What the f**k are you doing? You are not singing by yourself.’”The twist portrays her as a woman who doesn’t take herself too seriously. “Keri Hilson has a great personality and is a real girl. That’s what we want to get across.”
Sounds interesting. With ‘Slow Dance’ standing as my favourite Keri cut, I’m definitely looking forward to this one.
Your thoughts?
Calling all UK Michelle Williams fans! That Grape Juice are giving a lucky reader the chance to win a pair of tickets to see Michelle perform at the J20 party at the Hoxton Bar & Grill. To be in with a chance of winning, answer the following question correctly:
In which year did Michelle join Destiny’s Child?
a) 2000
b) 1998
c) 2004
Email your answer as well as your full name, age, contact number and address to competitions@thatgrapejuice.net. Please be sure to put ‘Michelle Williams Comp’ as the subject. A winner will be selected randomly from all correct answers. Competition ends Sunday 23rd August.
Good luck!
Durand Bernarr Blazes With Must-See Performance
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