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Music

25th Nov

From The Vault: En Vogue – ‘Don’t Let Go’

This week’s ‘From The Vault’ video is En Vogue’s 1996 mega-hit ‘Dont’ Let Go’. Arguably one of group’s career defining songs, the video also marked the last time the girls would appear as a quartet. Lead singer Dawn Robinson left shortly after the track was released in 1997 due to negotiations to keep her place as a member – whilst embarking on a solo career – falling through:

Timeless. The track’s powerful lyrics and even better delivery made this a classic for me. It’s a shame Dawn left when she did, as neither she or the group managed to reach the same level of success (or anywhere near) again. Who knows how much further their legacy would have carried on to?

Bonus: ‘Don’t Let Go’ (w/o Dawn) (Live On Saturday Night Live)

Your thoughts?

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Music

24th Nov

Kelly Rowland: "I Nearly Quit Music"

After much uncertainty, Kelly Rowland has embarked on a North American tour in support of her ‘Ms. Kelly’ album. That Grape Juice reader Brice attended the Philadelphia show at the House of Blues; check out their review of the show:

Kelly Killed it…………It was a little short but Kelly worked it out. She did a mix of songs from Work, Stole, Cant Nobody, Comeback, This Is Love, Like This, Bad Habit, and DC3 stuff like Say My Name, Survivor, Bug A Boo, Soldier and Bootylicious. The show was wonderful (and) during the song This Is Love Kelly broke down a little and told us that she was thankful for having a loving crowd like us and that for a while recently she didn’t know if she wanted to sing anymore and that her love for the music was burning again.

It’s good to know that Kelly is pressing on and isn’t letting the negativity force her out of the limelight. Saying that, it’s times like this that make me wonder how genuine talent like Kelly can be so overlooked in favour of some of the mediocre artists that populate the music scene at the moment. Hopefully things look up for Kelly soon….

{Click pics to enlarge}

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Music

24th Nov

World Music Awards 2007: Ciara & Rihanna Performances

The 2007 World Music Awards were held earlier this month in Monte Carlo. R&B stars Ciara and Rihanna performed at the event. Check out their performances below:

Ciara (ft. 50 Cent) – ‘Can’t Leave Em’ Alone’

Rihanna – ‘Umbrella’

I actually enjoyed both performances. Ciara’s vocals were on-point throughout and Rihanna did her thing too.

What do you think of the performances?

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Music

24th Nov

Alicia Keys Covers Entertainment Weekly

{Spotted at: Fadedyouthblog.com}

R&B star Alicia Keys features on the cover of the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly. With the news of her record-breaking first week numbers, there really seems to be no stopping Alicia. more power to her…

What do you think of the cover?

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Music

24th Nov

Amerie Speaks On Label Drama

In a recent interview with popular UK urban magazine RWD, Amerie spoke candidly on her current label situation/frustrations. Check out the extract below {Thanks Adrian}:

How has your label treated you?
Er, you probably don’t even want to ask me that right now. That’s how I feel abut it. I personally love some of the people that work here in the UK; my publicist Shoshanna and Simon… but I really don’t want to talk about it cos I want to keep it all positive, you feel me?

Well, it seems the album didn’t really perform as well as it should have?
Cos they’re not pushing it like they should.

Why aren’t they?
We want to release Crush, but they feel there’s a lot going on. This is my thing; I’m an artist and this is not rocket science. Take Control was going good, so we knew we had to schedule the video for Gotta Work. But you need money to do a video, and by the time we got it cleared, it was late. They didn’t feel like that, but anybody with half a brain could see it was late. So then Gotta Work was going up, but it peaked and rapidly started coming down, so we knew we needed to do Crush. They said ‘Wait.’ I love the business and I studied the business and I told them we needed to do the other video, because you need to have another single when your other track is peaking. They’re talking about doing it next year, but I’m not doing it next year! So I don’t know what to tell you. I get that everyone’s filled with good intentions, but the road to perdition is filled with good intentions. There should have been no gaps.

I’m kinda surprised (yet pleased) she was so open about the whole thing. I guess, one can only be dragged through the dirt for so long. It’s a shame too as ‘Because I Love It’ is a really solid record – one of my favourites from this year.

Your thoughts?

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Music

23rd Nov

Kelly Rowland ‘Clash Of The Choirs’ Commercial

R&B singer Kelly Rowland is set to star in NBC’s ‘Clash of The Choirs’ special airing throughout the holiday season. The show pits Rowland against stars such as Patti Labelle and Michael Bolton to create a choir that will go head to head with the other choirs led by artists on the show. It looks pretty interesting and it’s good to see Kelly still keeping her name out there.

Will you be tuning into ‘Clash of the Choirs’?

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Music

22nd Nov

Happy Thanksgiving From That Grape Juice

ThatGrapeJuice.net wishes all of our US visitors a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re enjoying the day with your family and friends – stuffing yourselves too!

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Drop a comment in the comments section….

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Music

22nd Nov

Ashanti Performs ‘The Star Spangled Banner’

Ashanti performed the US national anthem ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ earlier today at the NFL Thanksgiving Game (The Dallas Cowboys vs. The New York Jets). For the record, I like Ashanti and know she can sing, but that was a mess. Just horrible. Aside from the fact that it was real pitchy, that last high note…what the hell? Here’s hoping she steps up her live performing game by the time she drops her new album ‘The Declaration’ (due early next year).

What do you think of Ashanti’s performance?

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Music

22nd Nov

Mariah Carey Appears On Ellen Show

Part 2 // Part 3

Superstar songstress Mariah Carey stopped by The Ellen Degeneres Show on Wednesday to promote her new fragrance ‘M By Mariah Carey’. She also briefly touched upon her forthcoming album which is due out ‘at the top of next year’. Mariah’s always entertaining to watch and came across well.

Any thoughts?

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Music

22nd Nov

Tyra’s Behind The Scenes Look At ‘The Beyonce Experience’

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6

Supermodel-turned talk show queen Tyra Banks took an exclusive behind the scenes look at ‘The Beyonce Experience’. The special, which aired yesterday, was filmed at the Philadelphia stop on the tour. Tyra and the ‘Deja Vu’ singer spoke on everything from pre-show rituals to costumes (including the now infamous ‘Ring The Alarm’ fall outfit). Tyra had me in hysterics with her wacky ways and it was good to see Beyonce show more of her character outside being a ‘superstar’. Tidbit: you can’t knock the Knowles’ hustle factor – Matthew was selling them items hard at the end.

Your thoughts?

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Music

21st Nov

Mary J. Blige iPod Commercial

Check out the new iPod commercial featuring Mary J. Blige. ‘Work That’ is playing in the background. The track will apparently serve as her next single.

What do you think of the commercial?

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Music

21st Nov

Rihanna & Robin Thicke Feature In GQ

Check out this steamy photoshoot Rihanna and Robin Thicke appear in for GQ magazine. This is kinda random, but I can’t deny that it’s a great shoot. You can read their joint feature, in which they speak about the success they have enjoyed this year, by clicking here.

{Click pics to enlarge}