Producer Timbaland stopped by the Ed Lover Show late last week to promote his current effort ‘Shock Value II’. In perhaps staying true to the album’s title, the 38 year old star voiced many a eyebrow raising comment during his banter on the show – the most interesting coming in the form of his opinions of Pop phenomenon Lady GaGa, as well as Ciara:

On Lady GaGa:

“What’s her name GaGa b-bla-bla? Yeah I wanna work with Lady GaGa, me and her are kinda the same style. I feel like she took my style (pauses) and ran with it… which is smart. I would do the same thing. I’ll put her on the re-package cos I’m a do a re-package”.

On Ciara:

There’s no more R&B, so all I listen to is “baby girl” (Aaliyah). I was excited about Ciara. I gave her my blessings because she was in the right footpath, the right footsteps as I would say. I think that she was going in the right direction and I love her to death. People would say “Oh Ciara is the next Aaliyah” – yes she is. She keeps my girl alive, so when I hear Ciara a tear come out my eye, coz I’m like “wow, she ain’t forgotten”.”

That sound is still gonna be heard. These kids who don’t know [and know] Ciara will go “Who she sound like? Baby girl Aaliyah” and then they go back and buy the Aaliyah stuff and be like “Aaliyah sound better than her” or somethin’. The point is Aaliyah won’t be forgotten”. {Source}

While Timbo’s comments are pretty harmless, I must say the back-handed nature of his praise for both GaGa and Ciara, make me question the legitimacy of his like for them. I mean ‘ What’s her name GaGa b-bla-bla’ for arguably the biggest star out right now, was an outright diss IMO. As for the Ciara / Aaliyah comparisons; how about Aaliyah be Aaliyah and Ciara be allowed to be Ciara. To be honest, I’ve never really seen the similarities between Ciara and Aaliyah. Yes, CiCi debuted with a similar tomboy style and swagger, but her dancing and lack of emphasis on vocals makes her an entirely different artist IMO. Surely Janet is a more fair comparison point, and even there I still see major differences. Just my 2 pence…

In any case, did anyone actually remember Timbaland has an album out?

Your thoughts?

It appears R&B star Chris Brown wasn’t done venting his frustrations about the treatment his latest effort ‘Graffiti’ is receiving courtesy of the industry and the stores supposed to be selling it. Speaking on his Twitter page yesterday, prior to the entire account being mysteriously deleted, the 20 year said:

“JUST WAS AT WALMART IN wallingford CT,844 north colony.. the(y) didnt even have my album in the back… not on shelves, saw for myself.”

“we talked to the managers and the(y) didnt even know anything. wow!!! but they had alicia keys album ready for release for this tuesday comin. the manager told me that when there are new releases its mandatory to put em on the shelves.. BUT NO SIGN OF #GRAFFITI. BS no disprespect to alicia at all.. just givin an example to whos album is loaded and ready to go next week.

{Spotted over at Singers Room}

While it’s almost a cert it was his handlers that decided to axe the Twitter account, I can’t but feel a little bad for Chris. Now before anyone peggs me any kind of advocate for violence, surely the public should be given the chance to decide his fate by either buying his CD or not. Simple as. It’s really not for any higher entity or random outlets to pre-determine the fate of the album. In any case, it’s good Chris is speaking up about it (though I’m sure his label are up in arms). ‘Good’ as should the album under-perform, this drama can be factored into it along-side the obvious. While on the topic: does anyone else find it weird that, beside his Fan Appreciation Tour, and them annoying ‘I’m Sorry’ interviews, Chris hasn’t actually had a televised performance anywhere?

Your thoughts?

As 2009 draws nearer to its close, we will be acknowledging the releases, events and shocking moments that have made the last 12 months one of music’s most memorable ever with our 3rd annual That Grape Juice: End of Year Awards.

Shaking things up somewhat from last year, the nominations process has been stream-lined this go round, with the provisional list of categories and nominees listed below. Prior to nominations going live and voting commencing this Thursday (December 17th), we’re keen to hear your feedback/suggestions on both the nominees and categories, which you can drop in the comments section below!

So quickly recapping, the final nominee list as well as actual voting goes live on December 17th. Winners will be thereafter announced on Christmas Day ( December 25th)!

(* For those wondering, Beyonce isn’t eligible for many of the awards as ‘Single Ladies’, as well as her album ‘I Am Sasha Fierce’ were both released in October 2008 – and were nominated/won many awards last year!)

That Grape Juice: End of Year Awards 2009 – The Nominees

Album of the Year

* The Fame Monster – Lady GaGa

* The Blueprint 3 – Jay-Z

* The E.N.D – Black Eyed Peas

*  I Look To You – Whitney Houston

* In A Perfect World – Keri Hilson

Single of the Year

* Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z (ft. Alicia Keys)

*  Pretty Wings – Maxwell

* Bad Romance – Lady GaGa

* I Gotta Feelin’ – Black Eyed Peas

The Michael Jackson Music Video of The Year Award

* Love, Sex, Magic – Ciara

* Russian Roulette – Rihanna

* Bad Romance – Lady GaGa

*I Can Transform Ya – Chris Brown

* Bad Boys – Alexandra Burke

Best Collaboration

* Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z & Alicia Keys

* Knock You Down – Keri Hilson, Ne-Yo & Kanye West

* Video Phone (Extended Mix) – Beyonce & Lady GaGa

* Love, Sex, Magic – Ciara & Justin Timberlake

* Hard – Rihanna & Young Jeezy

Best New Artist

* Alexandra Burke

* Drake

* Kid Kudi

* Kesha

Best Female Artist

* Beyonce

* Lady GaGa

* Alicia Keys

* Ciara

* Rihanna

Best Male Artist

* Jay-Z

* Maxwell

* Drake

* Chris Brown

Best Club Banger

* Work – Ciara

* Obsessed – Mariah Carey

* Hard – Rihanna

* Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas

* I Can Transform Ya – Chris Brown

Best Live Performer (TV, Award Shows etc):

* Beyonce

* Janet Jackson

* Lady GaGa

* Jay-Z

* Ciara

The Kelly Rowland Underrated Artist of the Year Award

* Amerie

* Teairra Mari

* LeToya Luckett

* The-Dream

Most Slept On Album of the Year

* Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel – Mariah Carey

* In Love & War – Amerie

* Love vs Money – The-Dream

* Fantasy Ride – Ciara

* Graffiti – Chris Brown

The Please Go Sit Down Somewhere Award

* Rihanna

* 50 Cent

* Chris Brown

* Mariah Carey

Worst Single of the Year

* Wait Your Turn – Rihanna

* Why R U – Amerie

* Louboutins – Jennifer Lopez

* Happy – Leona Lewis

Worst Album of the Year

* Before I Self Destruct – 50 Cent

* More suggestions needed……

You Slippin’ // Step Your Game Up Award

* Mariah Carey

* 50 Cent

* Britney Spears

* Jennifer Lopez

* Rihanna

Recession Special: Worst Video of  the Year

* I Want To Know What Love Is – Mariah Carey

* Wait Your Turn – Rihanna

* I Get It In – Omarion

* Fresh Out The Oven – Jennifer Lopez

Most Shocking Event of 2009

* Kanye West VMA Outburst

* The Death of Michael Jackson (RIP)

* Whitney Houston’s Grammy Snub

Best Movie

* Precious

* This Is It

* Madea Goes To Jail

Most Anticipated Comeback For 2010

* Usher

* Kelly Rowland

* Janet

*IMPORTANT: This is NOT the vote itself. This is for feedback on the nominees list. Voting starts on Thursday*

Your thoughts / suggestions?

* Banner credit: Luca!!!

It appears Def Jam are wasting no time rushing out a re-release of Rihanna‘s latest effort ‘Rated R‘. For in a recent interview with the the BBC,  Ryan Tedder, the hitmaker behind Beyonce’s ‘Halo’, confirmed that he will be heading into the studio with the model at the start of the new year. Check out an excerpt from the feature:

Those so far on his radar include Ne-Yo, the Noisettes. Lupe Fiasco, Imogen Heap and in the new year, Rihanna.

He admits he’s been trying to synchronise schedules with the Umbrella singer for about a year and a half now and wants to get her pushing the boundaries.

He said: “She’s in a darker musical place right now… she’s got enough of those songs on Rated R to last for a while.

“I can do stuff dark musically, haunting kind of thing, but I want to have her do something vocally that she’s never done before.”

While news of a all-but-confirmed re-release comes as no surprise, two things really struck me upon reading this. The first being that in trying to get her to do something vocally she’s never done before, perhaps he could actually get RiRi to sing out of her mouth instead of her nostrils. More than anything though, it really drove home how disgusting the industry can be at times…it’s as if a re-release was always in the pipeline (yes, we all knew it was coming, but the confirmation leaves a salty taste in my mouth). Surely the general premise of re-releases are to extend the shelf-life of an already-successful album or a poorly selling album that never got a chance first go round (in the way of promotion etc)?

Whatever the eventual fate of ‘Rated R’, there’s no doubt its numbers to date are atrocious – when considering all the promo, sympathy, interviews, her success with her last album and all that jazz. If folk weren’t buying into it now, I have no idea why a re-release – which all indications point to being planned before the original even came out – is being given the green-light. As I type, the notion of another entirely new LP being rushed out next year came to mind, which IMO is equally as bad. SMH…

Your thoughts?

Lady GaGa caps off an amazing 2009 by hitting the top spot on the Official UK Singles Chart with current single ‘Bad Romance’. Though facing a serious challenge by the force that is Susan Boyle, GaGa boasts the UK best selling album and single of 2009. {Source}

The level of success GaGa has attained in little over a year is next to unheard of in recent music history. Yet I can’t think of any other artist in recent times who deserves it more than the 23 year old superstar. A much needed breath of fresh air to the music industry, GaGa unique brand of…well…everything…really must be giving her industry contemporaries a serious kick up bum to step their own game up lol. Go GaGa!

Your thoughts?

Holding true to our promise of keeping things fresh here at That Grape Juice (v.2.0 baby!), we bring you ‘Cover Star’. Completing our current feature-list (From The Vault, Back In The Beat etc), Cover Star will each week showcase regular folk’s rendition of your favourite tracks. Recent history has shown the web to be the place to discover new talent – talent which is undeniably out there in abundance. So what better way to give shine to undiscovered talent than on your favourite site and mine – That Grape Juice!

This week’s Cover Star is 20 year old Riko from Detroit, Michigan, who serves up his own rendition of Rihanna’s ‘Russian Roulette’. Check it out:

Putting aside the fact that he wasn’t looking into the camera (!), Riko gave an awesome rendition of the song (which believe it or not has grown on me), really taking it to church towards the end. Having checked out more of his videos, Riko has definitely been blessed with some serious vocals!

For more on Riko, check out his Youtube page

Your thoughts?

Never ones to wallow in salaciousness or outright gossip, we’d previously not covered the Alicia Keys/Swizz Beatz/Mashonda love triangle, as – let’s face it – nothing concrete had been alluded to by any of the parties involved. However, today saw hitmaking producer Swizz, real name (Kaseem Dean) and ex-wife Mashonda take to Twitter in a sparring of words over Swizz’s controversial relationship with R&B star Keys (who it’s alleged he started a relationship with WHILE still married to Mashonda).

After being goaded by his critics, Swizz wrote the following on his Twitter:

“All people want to talk about is my divorce. Wow! F**k what they say or said. I’m a good man, but when it’s time to move on, it’s just time! I’m also a great f**king Dad, but nobody give a sh*t! People talking about I cheated. How the fuck can I cheat when I was separated, ass-holes? It’s been damn near 2 years”.

To which Mashonda retaliated on her Twitter with:

“Here’s the bottom line, you were married when you started your affair, you’re married now. And both of you knew what it was. Separation came after the fact. Now peps, this is why it’s important to keep God 1st! I’m not gonna battle my son’s father on twitter about his mistress. Ya’ll WON! But just know! I never lied and NEVER will. Thank God we are doing this before 2010. My new year will not involve this scandal. That’s all folks”.

Both parties have since taken down their Tweets, however clearly the damage is done. Everyone and their mother’s tongues will be wagging about this one – yet neither Swizz or Mashonda have anyone to blame but themselves. Airing out their laundry in such a public domain, IMO, almost makes it an inevitability that folks will chew it up and come to their own conclusions – on a matter which really and truly should never have been their concern to begin with.

I’d probably have to say I’m most disappointed with Mashonda, not because I’m taking sides (Lord knows only they know what really went down), but because this was all brought into the public domain when she openly cited Alicia Keys as the reason for her marriage breaking down way back when and thereafter pouring fuel on the fire by constantly talking about it thereafter. Important to stress, once again, is the fact that I’m not taking sides (it’s not my position to) neither am I playing down any pain Mashonda may be experiencing. Yet, with her being an adult and a lady, I’d kinda expect a more dignified approach to the matter – especially since they have kids together. What’s more, as a firm believer in Karma, had what she been saying been true, surely Karma would get back those in the wrong. Instead, there’s one big mess all out in the open for the public to devour. SMH…

Your thoughts?

Controversial singer Chris Brown took to his Twitter a few hours ago to vent his frustrations at what he believes is the industry attempting to blackball his comeback attempt. Here’s what the 20 year said:

I’m tired of this shit. Major stores are blackballing my cd. Not stockin the shelves and lying to costumers. What the f*ck do i gotta do…

WTF… yeah i said it and I ain’t retracting sh*t. I’m not biting my tongue about shit else… the industry can kiss my ass.

thx again to my real fans. u dont go unnoticed .love yall

WOW! In as much as some will question the point Chris’ outburst (which I’m almost certain is to do with the 100k prediction for his LP’s sales first week), I find it somewhat refreshing to see an artist so impassioned about their work that they have no qualms in airing out the industry politics etc that are threatening its success. Though I’m not exactly sure what it was going to achieve, other than alert the masses as to what is going on behind the scenes, think about how many artists get screwed over by the industry and just sit there and keep quiet until they bonafide flop and their names and statuses are dented.

In any case, keeping the focus solely on the music (which many publications seem to struggle with doing these days – see: ‘Graffiti’ reviews), ‘Graffiti’ is a great body of work, which deserves more success than its being positioned to achieve.

Your thoughts?

R&B star Keri Hilson performed new German-only single ‘I Like’ at the ‘Pop Stars: You & I’ finale in Oberhausen, Germany last night. Kudos to Keri for continuing to up her profile outside of the States. About the performance itself, though, I quite enjoyed it. Although – for however much good was intended with the Michael & Janet ‘Scream’ part – it really should have never been included. All-in-all, a pretty good performance. Go Keri!

What do you think of the performance?

Alicia Keys has been over here in the UK for a minute promoting ‘The Element of Freedom’, her 4th studio album which is due in stores next week. Check out her performance of current single ‘Doesn’t Mean Anything’.

A decent enough live showing, I guess. However, I’m really not feeling the song and feel she could’ve come harder for the record’s lead single, especially considering the fact her album boasts songs more deserving of the 1st single treatment.

What do you think of the performance?

Comedienne, actress and now talk-show host,; Mo’Nique is really doing her thing at the moment! As the 41 year old continues to generate Oscar buzz for her role in the critically acclaimed ‘Precious’ (which I’ve yet to see – is it any good?), her photoshoot for Upscale Magazine has surfaced. The Alter-Ego themed shoot was snapped by famed photographer Derek Blanks. Mo’ looks stunning!

What do you think of the pics?

Our good friends over at Lime Magazine here in London generously provided That Grape Juice with exclusive excerpts from their recent interview with Grammy Award winning vocalist Toni Braxton. In the candid piece, the mother-of-two speaks on everything from her much publicized bankruptcy (with shocking revelations), her divorce, as well as the death of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson (who she recounts a hilarious story about). A lengthy, yet great read. Check it out:

Your bankruptcy was very messy and highly publicised at the time – what happened?

The bankruptcy was a good thing in a way as it allowed me to help other artists. For example my case was made public like that because I was at the pinnacle of my career but Usher, TLC, NSYNC were going through it but no one really knew – they only knew about me and TLC, so the girls tend to be made an example of. When you file bankruptcy it means all your contracts are null and void, the reason my case was made as public as it was is because that meant my music would be null and void, so the record company was fighting that. The second thing that a lot of people don’t know about is my royalty statement at that time was just under two thousand dollars. For 10 years I couldn’t talk about it because there was a gagging order but now my 10 years has passed and I can say what happened. So imagine I’m on tour with UnBreak My Heart and I get my royalties statement and its one thousand and nine hundred plus dollars!

How did you feel about having such a private matter out in the public domain like that?

Yes it is a very private matter but I was to be made an example of. My situation went to congress because they wanted all artists who file for bankruptcy in the future to have rights. As it was when you file bankruptcy all contracts are made null and void except recording artists so my case was to be made the example.

Did all of this take a big toll on your health?

Yes over a period of time I think it did. I think going through the court thing and then going through getting out of my deal with Blackground and then the stress of my son having autism, it really did beat my body up a little bit and then that’s when I got ill last year.

Was that experience the dark side of fame for you?

Probably yes that was the dark side but right now my husband and I are separated so it’s dark once again. We’re fine, we’re friends and it’s amicable; we’re just trying to raise our kids together without actually being together and it’s new, it’s only been six weeks.

How did you feel when you heard about the death of Michael Jackson?

Gosh it was very surreal to me, I heard about his passing before the press did because I’m with AEG and so was Michael Jackson. When I found out I didn’t believe it because I’m a huge fan. I remember when I first met him; he came over to me which was a really big deal. We were at a charity ball and he came over to me and said, ‘Toni Braxton oh my God I love you, your voice is so incredible, so androgynous – it’s so unique. Breathe Again is my favourite song, let’s take a picture together.’ Of course I was like, ‘it’s Michael Jackson!’ Years later he called me on my phone and introduced himself but I was like, ‘yeah right please like that’s Michael Jackson’ and put down the phone! Then his assistant called and was like, ‘no seriously Toni – it’s Michael Jackson’, when he called back I was like ‘Michael I’m so, so sorry’ and he said: ‘everyone does that, I’m used to it!’

What are your favourite songs that you’ve sang?

Breath Again is my all time favourite song, I remember when I first heard it, but it wasn’t for me it was for Pebble (Producer L.A. Reid’s wife). Un-break My Heart I loved but Seven Whole Days I hated it! There’s apart in the song where I say, ‘Seven Whole Nights aahhh’ I did that on purpose because I hated that song and they kept that bit in the song because they liked it. Let It Flow, I love but that wasn’t for me either, that was for Whitney (Houston) because it was for the soundtrack ‘Waiting To Exhale’. It was in a higher key but they had to lower it considerably for me.

Click here to read the full interview!

A very insightful read! Who would have known Usher and NSync were going through similar financial issues to Toni?! Or that Michael Jackson loved ‘Breathe Again’? Or that ‘Let It Flow’ was meant for Whitney Houston? Also, interestingly, this interview was conducted here in London BEFORE Toni officially announced her divorce and even more interestingly BEFORE the Soul Train Awards (which she attended with her husband, yet kissed Trey Songz). Things that make you go ‘hmmm’

Toni’s new LP ‘Pulse’ hits stores 22nd February 2010.

Tidbit: Be sure to follow Lime Magazine on Twitter by clicking here

Your thoughts?