From the streets to, to the charts, to the boardroom, Jay-Z‘s ascend is one of the most pronounced realizations of The American Dream in the modern era. As such, it comes as little surprise that the Roc Nation mogul has been named one of Time Magazine‘s ‘Most Influential People In The World’.

In honor of the feat, the Brooklyn-bred rapper features on one of seven covers of the publication.

Flip the hood to see what New York mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote about the Hip-Hop icon in the feature…

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‘Fading’ singer Rihanna has apologised to fans after cancelling more dates on her latest tour outing.

Citing an illness as her reason for doing so, the star took to her personal Instagram page to reveal why some dates on the ‘Diamonds World Tour’ had been axed…despite the fact she was snapped partying with friends just hours before.

All the details below…

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Time sure does fly.

Indeed, it’s startling to think that it’s been three years since Jessie J blazed onto the scene with the swagger-soaked ‘Do It Like A Dude’.

Fast forward to toady and The Voice UK coach can boast of incredible chart success on home soil, with her name recognised on a global scale.

Looking to build on both positionings, the vocal powerhouse is gearing up to unleash her sophomore set — which she has revealed is coming sooner than some may think.

Details after the jump…

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Are the rigours of having to actually perform catching up with Rihanna?

With just hours to go before showtime, the Bajan belle has cancelled the Houston date of her ‘Diamonds World Tour’ citing an unnamed “illness”.

Details below…

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Much like our ‘Retro Rewind’ and ‘From the Vault’ segments, readers of That Grape Juice know what avid music lovers we are – especially of hits past.  So in a quest to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday we introduced a new retrospective segment – ‘TGJ Replay’.

Unlike its ‘Rewind’ and ‘Vault’ predecessors, ‘Replay’ looks to dust off and showcase albums (and eras) from a library of pop music hits.  Today, we press play on ’12 Play’ – the debut solo project from King of R&B R. Kelly…

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Though recent years have seen her use her material and live act as they driving force behind her brand,the start of  Beyonce‘s solo run saw her work side by side with multinational brands to penetrate Pop culture via the mediums of television, film and in L’Oreal’s case…hair.

Now, as to reinforce her household name status ten years after debuting, she has teamed up with Pepsi and H&M to ensure her name is firmly embedded in the minds of Jane and John Doe‘s across the globe, via gargantuan media campaigns that will make her face impossible to avoid.

The first of these? Her epic partnership with H&M which will see her star in their ‘Summer 2013‘ outing- snaps from which can be seen below!

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In what may come as a surprise to ‘Formal Invite’ star Ray J Norwood, his controversial new single ‘I Hit It First’ has flown to unexpected heights after hitting the internet in the earlier part of last week.

For, while initially billed a buzz track for what fans had hoped is a forthcoming album from the singer, the song has proved that the singer’s British audience is anything but dead and- in all fact- is very alive.

Commercial surprises below…

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From The Vault time-travels 20 years back this week with a Grammy winning single from a TGJ favourite: our pick is ‘Another Sad Love Song‘ by Toni Braxton.

Your thoughts?

*Deep sigh.

After four seasons of sex, gore, high drama and gratuitous references to Jupiter’s junk, STARZ’ long running Spartacus came to an end last night, closing the door on what really was a well executed chapter.

So, in case you missed it last night and have an hour and a bit to spare, peep the finale above and let us know what you thought of it below!

It goes without saying that there is no love loss between Drake and Chris Brown.

Indeed, since “that” brawl last year the pair have incessantly been pit against each other. And while Brown hasn’t dodged questions about his rival when on radio, Drizzy had maintained a silence of sorts…until now.

The Young Money maestro sat down with our friend Elliott Wilson today on East Village Radio, opening up about a number of topics including new album ‘Nothing Was The Same’, as well as his current status with the Lil Wayne empire. Most notably, though, the-26 year-old addressed the “Chris Brown issue” directly – offering up a number of explosive quotables.

His words after the jump…

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To the world, she’s an icon, a Pop queen, and in many ways…other-worldy.

Yet few see what goes into the making of Beyonce, and even fewer are privy to be part of the process.

Acclaimed Creative Director Frank Gatson Jr. belongs to the latter and has been an integral component of ‘Beyonce – The Performer’ from her early Destiny’s Child days right through to her ‘Grown Woman’ status of today.

And while details surrounding King B’s new ‘Mrs. Carter Show World Tour’ have been soaked in secrecy, the key players in the trek – Gatson and her team of dancers (some familiar, some new) – have spoken to Dance Spirit magazine about what the build-up to the tour has been like.

Peep more pics and quotables below…

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Pop rebel Ke$ha may not have set the charts ablaze with sophomore set ‘Warrior’, however she clearly isn’t letting that halt her hustle.

Taking a brief break from rehearsals for her joint tour with label-mate Pitbull, the eccentric singer stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live to talk music, her back-story, upcoming MTV series ‘Ke$ha: My Crazy Beautiful Life’, and more.

Watch quirky Ke$ha in action below….

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