Singles : The Parlotones : Shake It Up

Listen To The Parlotones : Shake It Up


Who Are The Parlotones?
The Parlotones are known for their electric, polished stage performances delivered against the backdrop of their deftly crafted and darkly romantic lyrics. Their sound, described as alternative in their formative years has evolved substantially becoming more refined and focused with each album. It took the bands debut album ‘Radiocontrolledrobot’ two years to reach Gold status and their follow up ‘A World Next Door To Yours’ achieved this in three months. Three months later the album was certified Platinum. Testimony to just how much the band has grown over the past few years.’ A World Next Door To Yours’ remained on the South African top 20 sales chart for more than twelve months and is currently South Africa’s biggest selling rock album of this decade. The album spurned seven radio singles, a very unique situation.

That convoluted journey into the music psyche of South Africa was one which required strong work ethic from the band and an even stronger stomach when it came to attracting the country's media: “We've always had the attitude to just do anything, because everything counts. We've done it all; from having kids throwing water bombs at us, to waxing each other's legs on national television and eating tripe in Soweto. And it really does all count; soon the whole country knows who you are. (Well not 'soon', rather 'eventually.')”.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s start from the beginning. Sitting in the studio working on the new album reflecting on their recent rollercoaster rise to fame, it has certainly been an interesting time. In the last eighteen months the band have played over 300 shows and sold over 100 000 records.

In 2005 things really took off with the release of ‘Radiocontrolledrobot’. The debut album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2006 South Africa Music Awards and won! From there on the opportunities and breakthroughs just kept on coming. One of bands highlights for the year was the closing slot at The Coke Fest, which saw the Parlotones play AFTER Metallica. How many indie bands can say Metallica opened for them?

The awards kept on coming and by the end of the year the bands hauntingly beautiful and poignant ballad ‘Beautiful’ was used in an Irish Fujifilm commercial which led to a European license deal with Universal Music.

2007 kicked off with a bang with the band performing 70 shows in the UK. In June of that year The Parlotones were selected to perform at The Live Earth concert, the largest festival ever staged. MSN named The Parlotones as on one 10 most memorable performances at Live Earth and likened seeing the Parlotones at this early stage of the career to seeing The Police in the late 70’s.

2008 was a great year with entering the European market. The Parlotones went on tour in Germany with the Wombats, had Razorlight over to perform with them in SA and performed at the Open Air St Gallen in Switzerland. UK super group, Starsailor came over to support the band on The Powerzone unplugged Festival tour. This resulted in a twelve city tour with Starsailor in the UK

Back at home, their single ‘Ill be there’ was nominated for 2 MTV Africa Awards and won 3 South African Video Awards and they were chosen as the Face of the HD launch in SA.

2009 was off to a great start with critically acclaimed performances at Midem, Canadian Music Week and SXSW. The band was selected to perform at Midem, where they performed with Blue October. A show that resulted in a 6 week tour with Blue October in the USA the next year.

The Parlotones have been very well received in the USA with an independent release managing to crack the CMJ top 200 chart in the USA. ‘Overexposed’ won awards locally and in the USA including 2 awards in The International Song Contest (ISC) which boasts heavyweight judges such as Robert Smith, Tom Waits and Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20)

Moving forward…

The band released 3 of their own wines, each named after a song. "Giant Mistake" (red) "Push Me to the Floor" (white) and "We call this Dancing" (rose.)

The Parlotones performed at One Movement for Music Perth (OMFM) in October, one of the most important music industry event for the Asia Pacific region. With 80 artists playing unique 30-minute showcase sets, premièring their latest material in a full outdoor festival setting over two days at Perth Esplanade, the event sees music industry experts and the cream of worldwide musical talent coming together.

The schedule for the rest of 2009 is typically fraught with activity as The Parlotones embark on a world tour.

Kicking off in the United Kingdom, the band crisscross Europe (including a visit to Russia), playing concerts in countries where the singles off “A World Next Door To Yours” are currently emulating the success enjoyed in SA.

SA fans can catch their pride and joy live in concert at The Dome, where 19 000 fans will celebrate the end of the tour with the band.

Cities on the tour included: London, Reading, Bristol, Liverpool, Guildford, Portsmouth, Manchester, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Frankfort, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Lisbon, Zurich, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Moscow and Perth.

Their unwavering work ethic, coupled with their 'do what it takes' mentality means that they are winning over fan after adoring fan in every territory they visit.


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Sources : The Parlotones Photo | Listen To Shake It Up | The Parlotones Biography

Videos : Machine Gun Kelly (starring Ryan Sheckler) : Skate Cans

Who is Machine Gun Kelly?
Delivering lyrics with the speed of a bullet train, Cleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly (aka MGK) experienced a meteoric rise in late 2011. Born Richard Colson Baker in Texas but raised in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, MGK began making news in 2009 when he became the first rapper to win at amateur night at Harlem's Apollo Theater. A series of mixtapes, including 100 Words and Running, Lace Up, and Rage Pack came next; a 2011 performance at SXSW was followed immediately by a meeting with Sean Combs. Kelly signed with Comb's Bad Boy imprint that night and released the single "Wild Boy" on the label that same year. The track featured special guest Waka Flocka Flame and MGK's debut album Lace Up landed in 2012.


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Sources : Machine Gun Kelly Photo | Skate Cans Video | Machine Gun Kelly Biography

Singles : Dillon Francis ft. Simon Lord : Messages

Listen To Dillon Francis ft. Simon Lord : Messages


Who is Dillon Francis?
Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987) is an American electronic-dance musician, known for being one of the pioneers of moombahton, a fusion genre of house music and reggaeton, and moombahcore, a sub-genre of electronic dance music deviating from moombahton.

Dillon Francis was born dolphin in the sea near Los Angeles, California.

Dillon Francis: “I was born and raised in the sea. My father is an alternative medicines doctor, so I guess he’s upper middle-class. But I came from the lower middle-class. When I was younger, my family lived in an apartment but now my dad has worked his way up.

“I grew up in a really sheltered family. I didn't know the F-word until I was like 13. Growing up sheltered] helps with… I don’t know what it helps with but I know it helps with something. I feel like my work ethic is amazing because of my parents.

“Growing up, I couldn't watch TV unless I watched two hours of Sesame Street a day to learn stuff. And then I had to go to study. I had Hooked on Phonics just so I could be ahead of the game. It’s weird. I’m happy with what my parents did for me and the type of work ethic I have.

“I don’t go out that often. When I’m at home, I’m constantly working on music. I've tried to have two relationships but I can’t even handle relationships.

Francis first rose to fame after gaining the respect of American producer Diplo and eventually collaborating on the song "Que Que". His song "Masta Blasta", originally a 130 BPM house track, was edited after inspiration from Dutch musician Munchi and eventually ended up as the moombahton track that brought him to fame. In 2010, Francis released his Swashbuckler EP on Play Me Records.

He has released works on multiple labels including Dim Mak Records, Mad Decent and OWSLA.

In February 2012, Francis became the first moombahton artist to achieve the number-one spot atop the Beatport Top 5 Releases Chart with the release of his extended play Something, Something, Awesome.

In late 2012, he embarked on his Wet & Reckless tour across North America, as well as supporting the English electronic-music trio Nero on their Welcome Reality tour and English musician Flux Pavilion on his Standing on a Hill tour.

In 2013 he announced a headlining 'Wurld Turr' across the USA and Canada, as well as confirming that his debut album would be released in 2013. He also gained prominence by being announced as one of MTV Clubland's Artists to watch in 2013, alongside acts such as Kill The Noise and Otto Knows.


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Sources : Dillon Francis Photo | Listen To Messages | Dillon Francis Biography

Videos : Ricky Rude & Ar-Ab : Hold Me Down

Who Is Ricky Rude?
Following a series of critically acclaimed underground releases, Ricky Rude is set to drop NO GUTS, NO GLORY. His best body of work to date, the album capitalizes on the clever wordplay and catchy one-liners characteristic of his early work and incorporates them into a new dimension of high minded cohesion.

Having grown up listening to Scarface and battle rapping in the school cafeteria, Rude's musical style took an eclectic turn when he was introduced to guitar-heavy punk bands like Nirvana. Since then, he has been making headway as the troubadour of South Jersey with a new brand of hip hop entitled Punk Rap. This innovative genre embraces Modernist tropes of making it new, while at the same time paying tribute to the great artists that paved the way.

Rude's songwriting focuses on passion, truth to life, and enjoying himself in a manner that speaks equally to the hood as it does to the ‘burbs. Although the faint of heart may find his edginess off-putting, Rude's commitment to honesty will not be contained by political filters. Those willing to hear the truths about life will find the inspirational tales of unparalleled ambition, fearlessness, and perseverance that have come to define Ricky Rude.


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Sources : Ricky Rude Photo | Hold Me Down Video | Ricky Rude Biography

Singles : Beyonce ft. Bun B, Z-Ro, Scarface, Willie D, Slim Thug, Lil Keke : I Been On REMIX

Listen To Beyonce ft. Bun B, Z-Ro, Scarface, Willie D, Slim Thug, Lil Keke : I Been On REMIX


Who is Beyonce?
One of the most recognizable characters in modern-day R&B, Beyoncé first rose to fame as the siren-voiced centerpiece of Destiny's Child before embarking on a multi-platinum solo career in 2001. Booming record sales, Grammy awards, movie roles, and a romance with rapper/CEO Jay-Z combined to heighten her profile in the 2000s, making the singer a virtual mainstay in the entertainment world. While some media outlets derisively championed Paris Hilton as "the next Marilyn Monroe," Beyoncé was a much better contender for the role, her glittering pop culture persona only matched by her success onscreen and on record.

Born in Houston in September 1981, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles began performing at age seven, winning upwards of 30 local competitions for her dancing and vocal abilities. She also joined her cousin Kelly Rowland and classmates LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett in forming an adolescent vocal group. Mathew Knowles, Beyoncé's father and Rowland's legal guardian, signed on to be the girls' manager, eventually quitting his full-time job to focus on their efforts. This situation would ultimately lead to the creation of one of the most popular female R&B groups of all time — Destiny's Child.

Destiny's Child gained momentum throughout the '90s, appearing on Star Search in 1992 (under the name Girl's Tyme) and weathering several lineup changes before signing to Columbia Records in 1997. Four studio albums later, the group had officially become the best-selling female group of all time, with such smash hits as "Jumpin' Jumpin'," "Bills, Bills, Bills," "Say My Name," and "Survivor" bolstering the girls' momentum despite a continued string of lawsuits from former members Roberson and Luckett (who contested Mathew Knowles' management, claiming he withheld profits and unjustly favored his daughter and niece). In 2001, Beyoncé, Rowland, and replacement member Michelle Williams allowed themselves a break from the group to pursue individual solo careers. Before landing several movie roles, Beyoncé became the first African-American female artist and second woman ever to win the annual ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year Award. An appearance in the MTV drama Carmen: A Hip Hopera quickly followed, but it was her role as Foxxy Cleopatra in 2002's Austin Powers in Goldmember that established Beyoncé as a true Hollywood star.

While her inclusion on the movie's soundtrack failed to chart nationally, Beyoncé's full-length solo debut, 2003's Dangerously in Love, reached multi-platinum status. Featuring collaborations with Sean Paul, Missy Elliott, OutKast's Big Boi, and romantic interest Jay-Z, the album spawned a total of four Top Ten singles and garnered the singer five Grammys. Destiny's Child reconvened the following year to release Destiny Fulfilled; upon completing the resulting tour, the group issued one final album, a greatest-hits compilation entitled #1's, and subsequently disbanded. Beyoncé turned her full attention to her burgeoning solo career, releasing the sophomore effort B'day in September 2006 and, three months later, turning in an award-winning performance for the movie musical Dreamgirls. The singer then embarked on the Beyoncé Experience concert tour, releasing a live DVD in November 2007.

The following year proved to be another busy one as Beyoncé landed the role of Etta James in Cadillac Records, a musical biopic that explored the heyday of Chicago's Chess Records. Shooting commenced in February 2008, with Beyoncé also serving as co-executive producer. One month before the film's December release, the singer released her third studio album, I Am...Sasha Fierce. The double-disc effort emphasized her two distinct personalities, allowing Beyoncé to explore both mainstream sounds and traditional R&B. Some live releases followed. Released in 2009, I Am...Yours, a CD/DVD set, documented an August 2009 performance at Wynn Las Vegas, while 2010's I Am...World Tour, available in separate audio and video formats, was recorded at London's significantly larger O2 Arena (a few months after the Vegas program). She followed ten Grammy nominations with 2011's 4. One of her most energetic and empowering tracks, "Run the World (Girls)," was issued as the lead single, followed by "Party" and "Countdown." The album hit the top position on Billboard's Top 200.


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Sources : Beyonce Photo | Listen To I Been On REMIX | Beyonce Biography

Albums : Blake Shelton : Based On A True Story

Listen To Blake Shelton : Based On A True Story

Who is Blake Shelton?
Oklahoma native Blake Shelton moved to Nashville in 1994, two weeks after his high school graduation, to launch a songwriting career that would eventually make him one of the leading males in contemporary country music. Back home, he'd received statewide attention by touring the bar circuit and winning the Denbo Diamond Award, the top award for young Oklahoma entertainers. In Nashville, Shelton was able to maintain that momentum by selling songs to several publishing houses, including Naomi Martin Music, Warner/Chappell Music, and Jerry Crutchfield Music. He also landed a solo contract with Giant Records. Favoring a traditional style of country music that included sentimental ballads as well as blue-collar rock songs, he made a splash in 2001 with the chart-topping single "Austin," which spent five weeks at number one. "All Over Me" and "Ol' Red" followed in 2002, pushing Shelton's accompanying debut album — the self-titled Blake Shelton, released by Warner Bros. after the dissolution of Giant Records — to gold status.

With Shelton's songs still enjoying airtime on country radio, he returned to the studio to work on a second album. The Dreamer appeared in February 2003, hot on the heels of another number one single titled "The Baby." A third album, Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, was released in 2004, along with an accompanying DVD featuring several of his music videos. Three years later, Shelton scored his fourth consecutive gold album with Pure BS, which featured a guest appearance by girlfriend (and fellow country singer) Miranda Lambert.

Lambert and Shelton attracted more and more media attention as their relationship progressed. Lambert made another appearance on his next album, 2008's Startin' Fires, and sang about their relationship on her own release, Revolution. Shelton eventually proposed in 2010, issuing a pair of well-received EPs — Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight — that same year. The EPs yielded three number one hits, followed in 2011 by another chart-topper, "Honey Bee," which doubled as the lead single from his sixth album, Red River Blue. Shelton married Lambert that spring, several weeks after joining the judging panel of NBC's prime-time singing competition The Voice.

The Voice was a smash hit, elevating Shelton's profile and assisting the sales of Red River Blue. Two seasons of the competition arrived in 2012 and that year, Shelton also released Cheers It's Christmas, a seasonal album containing duets with Reba McEntire, Michael Bublé, Kelly Clarkson, and Lambert, as well as her band Pistol Annies.

Shelton delivered Based on a True Story... — his first full-fledged album recorded since the success of The Voice — in March of 2013, preceded by the single "Sure Be Cool If You Did" which topped the Billboard country charts.

Based On A True Story Review
Oklahoma country music superstar Blake Shelton handily serves multiple masters on his seventh studio album “Based on a True Story …”

As much as it might pain his longtime fans, especially Oklahomans who have followed the Ada native’s career since the 1990s, Shelton is no longer just a likeable country boy with a big voice and even bigger personality. Still, he continues to leverage those assets with affable ease, delivering songs that will appeal to both venerable devotees and newfound fans the Tishomingo resident has gained as a coach on the smash reality TV show “The Voice.”

Despite its rushed feel, Shelton, 36, manages to equalize his expanding sonic horizons and his enduring — although recently questioned — affection for old-school country music with “Based on a True Story …,” his first album since he truly broke out as a crossover superstar.

The follow-up to his 2011 Grammy-nominated effort “Red River Blue,” which debuted just after Season 1 of “The Voice,” “Based on a True Story …” also balances his gift as a balladeer with his reputation as a swaggering smart aleck.

The album’s chart-topping first single, “Sure Be Cool if You Did,” made it clear that the laidback country singer would be exploring a more pop-infused sound. The experimentation isn’t limited to the lead-off single: Shelton’s new “Story” opens with the freewheeling hip-hop beat of “Boys ‘Round Here,” which features his wife Miranda Lambert and her Pistol Annies bandmates contributing harmony vocals and sassy catcalls.

The three-time Country Music Association Male Vocalist of the Year clearly doesn’t need AutoTune, but the high-tech trickery is used for effect on the autobiographical Southern rocker “Small Town Big Time,” which expresses his homesickness for small-town living during his Hollywood residencies for “The Voice.”

The say-anything bravado that has earned Shelton so many admirers is given full rein on the brash “I Still Got a Finger,” which is sure to draw comparisons to David Allan Coe and Johnny Paycheck’s “Take This Job and Shove It.” He also channels his Countrypolitan hero Conway Twitty on the seductive “Lay Low,” while “Granddaddy’s Gun,” previously covered by rock/country crossover artist Aaron Lewis, has all the hallmarks of a classic country story-song.

But the ballads are the best parts of Shelton’s “Story,” particularly the weeper “Mine Would Be You” and the sultry “My Eyes.” The newlywed bliss that flowed on “Red River Blue” seeps in with the good-natured “Doin’ What She Likes” and the earnest “Ten Times Crazier.”


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Sources : Blake Shelton Photo | Listen To Based On A True Story | Blake Shelton Biography | Based On A True Story Review

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Videos : Queens of the Stone Age : My God is the Sun New Song Lollapalooza Brasil 2013

Who Are Queens of the Stone Age?
Formed from the ashes of stoner rock icons Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age reunited the group's singer/guitarist Josh Homme, drummer Alfredo Hernandez, and bassist Nick Oliveri along with new guitarist/keyboardist Dave Catching. The project's origins date back to Homme, who in the wake of Kyuss' 1995 demise relocated to Seattle to tour with the Screaming Trees; he soon began working with a revolving lineup of musicians including the Trees' Van Conner, Soundgarden's Matt Cameron, and Dinosaur Jr.'s Mike Johnson, recording a series of 7"s originally issued under the name Gamma Ray. After rechristening the group Queens of the Stone Age, Homme recruited Hernandez to begin work on their self-titled debut LP, issued in late 1998 on Loosegroove; after the album was completed, Oliveri left the Dwarves to rejoin his former bandmates, with the subsequent addition of Catching rounding out the roster. In addition to extensive touring, Homme put together a series of albums for the indie label Man's Ruin; the various volumes of the Desert Sessions feature Homme's collaborations with a loose-knit, revolving-door lineup of likeminded musicians, some from bands like Soundgarden, Fu Manchu, and Monster Magnet.

In mid-2000, Queens of the Stone Age issued their sophomore album, R (as in the movie rating; some promo copies were distributed with the original title, II), before appearing on that year's Ozzfest tour. By that point, drummer Hernandez had been replaced by a tag-team combo of Gene Troutman and Nicky Lucero. The group built a healthy buzz courtesy of accolades from such renowned publications as Rolling Stone, and due to good old-fashioned touring. 2001 saw the group perform at the massive Rock in Rio festival (after which Oliveri was arrested by the Brazilian police for performing nude) and a spot on the year's Ozzfest. The same year, Homme and Oliveri put together yet another volume of the Desert Sessions series, while QOTSA assembled a third studio album.

Ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl was very vocal in the press about his admiration of the Queens, which led to an invitation for him to join the group for the third album's recording and, subsequently, supporting tour. Surprisingly, Grohl accepted, putting the Foo Fighters on hold (despite having a new album completed and ready to go). One of the year's most eagerly anticipated hard rock albums, Songs for the Deaf was issued in August 2002 and was preceded by a tour that saw Oliveri and Homme joined by Grohl on drums, ex-Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan, and A Perfect Circle guitarist/keyboardist Troy Van Leeuwen. As if their schedules weren't busy enough between QOTSA and their other projects, Oliveri and Homme signed on to pen the musical score to the movie The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (with backing by Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk), and formed a new project, Headband, with ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez and Amen frontman Casey Chaos. Homme also hooked up with old friend Jesse Hughes for Eagles of Death Metal, which issued the Peace Love Death Metal LP in 2004. (Homme played drums.)

When QOTSA reconvened for the March 2005 LP Lullabies to Paralyze, the lineup featured Homme, Joey Castillo, Alain Johannes, Van Leeuwan, and Lanegan. The Over the Years and Through the Woods CD/DVD appeared in November that same year. It featured live material from the band's tour for Lullabies, but also included rare and archival Queens footage. In 2007, the band (Lanegan at this point was only a guest) released the excellent Era Vulgaris, which also included contributions from the Strokes' Julian Casablancas, among others. ~ Jason Ankeny & Greg Prato, Rovi


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Sources : Queens of the Stone Age Photo | My God is the Sun New Song Lollapalooza Brasil 2013 Video | Queens of the Stone Age Biography

Videos : Stars : Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It

Who Is Stars?
Stars is an indie pop band from Canada.

All members of Stars grew up in Toronto. Torquil Campbell and Christopher Seligman started the first record Nightsongs in New York in 1999. When starting to play live shows they called in Evan Cranley, a childhood friend, to play bass. Cranley then recruited Amy Millan. The four of them then all moved to Montreal and began to work on the second full length album Heart. In Montreal they met Patrick Mcgee, who became their drummer. Heart was released on the new label Arts&Crafts along with their friends Broken Social Scene. While on their first north American tour together, Stars and Broken Social Scene shared and swapped members on a nightly basis.

After critical acclaim for their album Heart, Stars rented a house in the Eastern Townships in the middle of winter. For a month and a half the five of them lived together and wrote Set Yourself on Fire. It was recorded at studio plateau in Montreal and was produced by the band and Tom Mcfall. The record was highly received, scoring high points and incredible reviews. Set Yourself on Fire and their highly acclaimed live performances, established them as one of the best bands in Canada.

Campbell is currently an active member of Memphis. Millan has released two solo albums, Honey from the Tombs in 2006 and Masters of the Burial in 2009.

They have cited a wide variety of musical likes and influences ranging from Berlioz to Outkast, citing among others Barrett, Paddy McAloon, New Order, The Smiths, Brian Wilson, Momus. They covered The Smiths' "This Charming Man" on 2001's Nightsongs and The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" in 2005. Other indie artists have been guest collaborators on many of their tracks, especially for an early period including the release of their first LP.

Anticipating that their album In Our Bedroom After the War would leak at some point between the final mixing and the official release, Stars was one of the first bands to make their album available in digital form the day after it was completed on July 10, 2007. The CD release included a bonus DVD, a film called "Are we here now". It is a collection of interviews with the band and the bands close allys as well as live performances around the globe, it was directed by Anthony Seck.

On September 1, 2008, the band released the EP Sad Robots exclusively through their online store and on tour. The EP is available as a physical release or an online download.

Their single "Celebration Guns" is the title song for the television series ZOS: Zone of Separation and was provided for free as part of a collaboration with Moms Against Climate Change.

Stars have covered The Smiths' "Asleep" for American Laundromat Records' charity CD "Sing Me To Sleep - Indie Lullabies". The CD was released worldwide on May 18, 2010.

On March 9, 2010, the band announced they would be releasing their fifth studio album, The Five Ghosts, on June 22, 2010. In Canada, the album was released via Soft Revolution, the band's own new label. It has been distributed worldwide via Vagrant Records.

On June 21, 2012, the band announced on their website the upcoming release of their sixth studio album, The North, which was released on September 4, 2012 via ATO Records. With the announcement, the band also offered a free download of the first single "The Theory of Relativity" in exchange for signing up for the band's official e-mail list.

Stars will perform at the 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival along with the Field Trip Arts & Crafts Music Festival, celebrating tenth anniversary of their label Arts & Crafts.


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Sources : Stars Photo | Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It Video | Stars Biography

Videos : Future : My

Who Is Future?
Busting out of Atlanta in 2011 with his hit street track "Tony Montana," rapper Future grew up in Atlanta's Zone 6 section. Born Nayvadius Cash, hip-hop was in his family, as his cousin was producer Rico Wade. It was his local crew who gave him his moniker, dubbing him "The Future of Rap," something the nation got to experience in 2010 when he partnered with Gucci Mane for the mixtape Free Bricks. In 2011 he released the street album Streetz Calling and made a guest appearance on YC's mixtape hit "Racks." In the fall of that year, as "Tony Montana" was catching fire, it was announced that Future would be signing to the Epic Label Group thanks to producer and CEO L.A. Reid. His debut album, Pluto, landed on Epic proper in 2012.


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Singles : Texas : The Conversation

Listen To Texas : The Conversation


Who is Texas?
Despite taking their name from one of the 50 United States of America and adopting several American-sounding musical styles, the Scottish pop/rock band Texas found nearly all its success in Europe starting in the late '80s, including the multi-million selling albums Southside, White on Blonde, and The Hush, and a series of hit singles such as "Say What You Want," "In Our Lifetime," and "Summer Son."

Bass player Johnny McElhone (born April 21, 1963, Glasgow, Scotland) organized the band in Glasgow in 1986. McElhone, a veteran of the bands Altered Images and Hipsway, brought in singer and rhythm guitarist Sharleen Spiteri (born November 7, 1967, Glasgow, Scotland), lead guitarist Ally McErlaine (born October 31, 1968, Glasgow, Scotland), and drummer Stuart Kerr (born March 16, 1963, Glasgow, Scotland). The group took its name from the film Paris, Texas, which had boasted a score by Ry Cooder, whose slide guitar playing heavily influenced McErlaine, and Spiteri sang without any discernible Scottish accent, giving the band a distinctly American sound. Texas made its concert debut in March 1988 at Dundee University in Scotland. McElhone's previous connection with Mercury Records through Hipsway led to the label's signing the band, which initially tried to record with Bernard Edwards of Chic as producer before settling on Tim Palmer instead. The first result of this association was the single "I Don't Want a Lover," the initial effort of the writing team of Spiteri and McElhone, which Mercury released in the U.K. in January 1989. On March 4, it peaked at number eight. Southside (the title referring to a neighborhood of Glasgow), the debut album, was released in March and peaked at number three at the end of the month. As Texas toured the U.K. and Europe, three more singles were released from the album, but failed to reach the Top 40; nevertheless, Southside eventually sold more than two million copies worldwide. Meanwhile, Mercury released "I Don't Want a Lover" and Southside in the U.S. in July. The single broke into Billboard's Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks radio charts before finally entering the Hot 100, where it peaked at number 77 on September 30; the album peaked at number 88 a week later.

Texas continued to tour Europe in 1990 before beginning work on their second album. Kerr left and was replaced on the drums by Richard Hynd (born June 17, 1965, Aberdeen, Scotland), and keyboard player Eddie Campbell (born July 6, 1965, Glasgow, Scotland), who had been playing with them live, became an official member of the band. Mothers Heaven was released in September 1991 and proved to be a commercial disappointment, peaking at number 32 in the U.K. on October 5. In the U.S., the track "In My Heart" reached the Modern Rock Tracks chart as Texas made its first visit to the country in November, but the album failed to chart. "Alone with You," the album's third single, returned them to the British Top 40, reaching number 32 on February 15, 1992, but their first substantial hit single since "I Don't Want a Lover" was a one-off cover of Al Green's "Tired of Being Alone," which peaked at number 19 on May 9.

Again, after touring primarily in Europe, Texas retired to write and record another album, this time turning to Paul Fox as producer and recording at Bearsville Studio in Woodstock, NY, which gave them their title, Ricks Road, the name of the dirt road leading to the studio. "So Called Friend," released in advance of the album in August 1993, peaked at number 30 in the U.K. on September 11. (It was later used as the theme song for the U.S. television series Ellen, starring Ellen DeGeneres [1994-1998], and in the 1996 feature film Last Dance, starring Sharon Stone.) A second single, "You Owe It All to Me," reached number 39 on October 30, before Ricks Road finally appeared in November, hitting number 18 on November 13. The album was not released initially in the U.S., but it eventually came out in 1994 as the band made several trips — in March, May-June, and August-September — to tour in North America. Despite this effort, like Mothers Heaven, Ricks Road failed to chart in the U.S., selling a meager 38,000 copies. The band wrote off the American market thereafter, concentrating primarily on Europe.

One more single from Ricks Road, "So in Love with You," made the British Top 40, peaking at number 28 on February 12, 1994. But by the time Texas closed its touring in support of the album in December, it was ready for an extended break, and little was heard from the band over the next two years, while they worked on their fourth album with producer Mike Hedges. They re-emerged with a hometown concert in Glasgow on December 5, 1996, and in January 1997 came the advance single "Say What You Want," which became their biggest hit yet, peaking at number three on January 25. That surprising comeback was followed by the album White on Blonde, which entered the British chart at number one on February 15, 1997. It remained in the charts nearly two years, selling 1.7 million copies in the U.K. alone and throwing off three more Top Ten hits: "Halo," "Black Eyed Boy," and "Put Your Arms Around Me." The band spent the year touring extensively in Europe and made its first trip to Australia in May. (They did not tour the U.S., where White on Blonde finally was released on August 5, 1997, as "Say What You Want" appeared in the film comedy Picture Perfect, starring Jennifer Aniston, although they did find time for a promotional trip in October. The album did not chart, but Hollywood continued to favor the group, with "Put Your Arms Around Me" appearing in the 1998 film Ever After, starring Drew Barrymore.) On February 9, 1998, Texas appeared at the BRIT Awards, performing "Say What You Want" in the company of rapper Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan. The seemingly unlikely pairing led to a new recording of the song, and the single "Say What You Want (All Day and Every Day)" by Texas featuring Wu-Tang Clan (actually, just Method Man and RZA) entered the U.K. charts at number four on March 21. The band played shows periodically during 1998 while working on its next album. That fifth album was prefaced by the lead-off single "In Our Lifetime," which entered the British charts at number four on May 1, 1999. The Hush, which followed within weeks, showed the band as consisting of Spiteri, McElhone, Campbell, and McErlaine; soon after, it was announced that Mikey Wilson was the new drummer. The album entered the charts at number one on May 22, 1999. Second single "Summer Son" reached number five in August, but "When We Are Together" stopped at number 12 in November, capping Texas' run of consecutive Top Ten British hits at seven. Touring continued throughout 1999.

Texas' next single was "In Demand," a Top Ten hit released in October 2000 that prefaced The Greatest Hits, which hit number one in Britain in November and spawned a second new track, "Inner Smile," that reached the Top Ten in January 2001, and the band launched an extensive European tour. (By this time, Mercury wasn't even bothering to release Texas' records in the U.S.) In July, they issued a remixed version of their first hit, "I Don't Want a Lover," which made the Top 20. Spiteri then took time off to have a baby, giving birth to a daughter on September 9, 2002. So, more than two more years passed before the October 2003 release of the sixth album, Careful What You Wish For, which was prefaced by the single "Carnival Girl," featuring Kardinal Offishall, a Top Ten hit. (The credits announced that Neil Payne was the new drummer, replacing Wilson, and that a new guitarist, Tony McGovern, had joined.) The album peaked at number five and also featured the Top 40 hit "I'll See It Through." By November 2005, when the seventh album, Red Book, was released, Texas' commercial fortunes had declined, but the disc was still able to debut in the Top Ten in France, the band's most reliable market. (The album marked the addition of keyboard player Michael Bannister.) "Sleep," a duet between Spiteri and Paul Buchanan of the Blue Nile, was excerpted as the album's third single in January 2006 and made the U.K. Top Ten.


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Videos : Eve : Make It Out This Town

Who Is Eve?
Eve was one of a new breed of tough, talented, commercially viable female MCs to hit the rap scene during the late '90s. Though she could be sexy when she chose, she wasn't as over the top as Lil' Kim or Foxy Brown, and as part of the Ruff Ryders posse, her production was harder than Da Brat's early work with Jermaine Dupri. In the end, Eve came off as her own person; a strong, no-nonsense street MC who could hold her own with most anyone on the mic; and was finding success on her own terms. She was born Eve Jihan Jeffers in Philadelphia on November 10, 1978, and started out as a singer in her early teens, performing with an all-female vocal quintet. She was also honing her skills as a rapper in impromptu battles with friends, and before she left high school, she formed a female rap duo called EDGP (pronounced "Egypt"), adopting the name Gangsta. EDGP performed at local talent shows and club gigs, often to the detriment of Eve's dedication to school. When the group broke up, she went solo and changed her name to Eve of Destruction; she also moved to the Bronx in the wake of her mother's remarriage, and worked for a time as a table dancer at a strip club. Unhappy with this direction, she decided to give rap another shot after being encouraged by Mase.

Through some of her friends, Eve scored a meeting with Dr. Dre in Los Angeles, and surprised him by turning it into an audition. Dre liked what he heard and signed her to a one-year deal with his new label, Aftermath. Eve recorded a few tracks, including one, "Eve of Destruction," that ended up on the Bulworth soundtrack in 1998. However, Aftermath was searching for a direction at the time, and Eve wound up lost in the shuffle. Her contract expired without an album even in the works, but fortunately, she'd met DMX when the rising new star was in Los Angeles promoting his smash debut, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot. Eve passed a battle-rap audition to join DMX's Ruff Ryders posse, and in 1999 she contributed to their label's Ryde or Die, Vol. 1 compilation. Thanks to DMX's star power, it entered the charts at number one, and Eve's track, "What Ya Want," was released as a single. It hit the R&B Top Ten, and Eve built more anticipation for her debut album with high-profile guest spots on the Roots' "You Got Me" and the Blackstreet/Janet Jackson duet "Girlfriend/Boyfriend."

Eve's first full-length was titled Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders First Lady and released in September 1999. With Ruff Ryders the biggest name in rap, the album was an instant smash; it entered the charts at number one — the first time a female rapper had ever accomplished that feat — and went on to sell over two million copies. Eve also scored hits with the R&B Top Ten "Gotta Man" and the antidomestic violence track "Love Is Blind," and guested on Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's hit "Hot Boyz." After touring in support of the record, Eve returned to the studio and delivered her follow-up, Scorpion, in early 2001. The album received strong reviews and topped the R&B charts, while debuting at number four on the pop side. Lead single "Who's That Girl?" had some chart success, but it was the follow-up, a duet with No Doubt's Gwen Stefani called "Let Me Blow Ya Mind," that really broke Eve on the pop charts. The song rocketed to number two and went on to win a Grammy in the newly created category of Best Rap/Sung Collaboration; it also helped Scorpion go platinum.

Eve next set about establishing a movie career; she made her box-office debut in the Vin Diesel action blockbuster XXX, which was released in the summer of 2002. Not long after, she was also seen in a prominent supporting role in the Ice Cube comedy Barbershop. Amid all this activity, Eve released her third album, Eve-Olution, in August 2002. It debuted in the Top Ten and found Eve returning to the soul singing of her youth on a surprising number of tracks. The single "Gangsta Lovin'," which featured guest vocals from Alicia Keys, was a number two smash on both the pop and R&B charts, and the follow-up "Satisfaction" was nominated for a Grammy. In early 2003, Eve signed with the UPN network to produce and star in a multiracial sitcom about a fashion designer, and she continued acting in movies, with roles in Barbershop 2, The Cookout, and The Woodsman. A full return to music was made in 2007, when she released Here I Am, an album featuring productions from Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, and Pharrell.


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Mixtapes : Yelawolf : Trunk Muzik Returns

Listen To Yelawolf : Trunk Muzik Returns

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Who is Yelawolf?
Yelawolf is an underground rapper from a small town in the South who found major-label success in 2011. Born Michael Wayne Atha on December 30, 1979, in Gadsden, Alabama, he made his full-length album debut with the independent release Creekwater (2005). He subsequently made the jump to Sony BMG for the release of a promotional single, "Kickin'" (2007). Disillusioned with life on a major label, he returned to the underground rap scene. Newly inspired, he worked to build an audience for himself via MySpace and mixtapes. In 2010, an appearance on Bizarre's album Friday Night at St Andrews became an early sign that the rapper was aligning himself with Eminem's Shady label and its family of artists. His signing to the label was announced in 2011, and by the end of the year his official debut, Radioactive, had landed. Guest shots came from Eminem, Kid Rock, Lil Jon, and Gangsta Boo, while names like Diplo, Jim Jonsin, and the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League handled production. A year later he partnered with blink-182 drummer Travis Barker for the rap-rock EP Psycho White.

Trunk Muzik Review
Since the release of his major-label debut Radioactive, Yelawolf has slowly crept back into the underground hip-hop scene. The idea of crossing over for a larger commercial audience in hopes of scoring a hit weren’t met to his expectations. There were certainly contenders, “Let’s Roll” and “Hard White (Up in the Club)” contributed to the album’s chart success. But Yela openly expressed frustrations with how the album turned out, and those frustrations have been reflected in his musical output since. Trunk Muzik Returns is a return to the form that won his fans over. Unlike some of the uncomfortable attempts at pop songs found on Radioactive, Yelawolf is raw and uncut here, which has always been the basis of his appeal.

The original Trunk Muzik, later re-released as Trunk Muzik 0-60 based on its success, established Yelawolf as the other white rapper with a quick-fast tongue and unfiltered rhymes. The sequel’s singles (“Way Out” and “F.A.S.T. Ride”) are some of his best work, containing the right ingredients of vintage Yelawolf with a sleek new twist. The now bearded Alabama MC showcases relatable moments throughout—with a certain country back-roads mystique—over experimental production and funky grooves. There’s a clear artistic progression upon listening to the tape, and on Trunk Muzik Returns’ opening track, he makes it known that “this fire in me ain’t going out.”

The biggest change in Yelawolf appears on “Box Chevy Part 4,” a five-minute track that sees him crooning over his love for his Chevy. Although it contains lyrics about turning to drugs to escape internal pain, there’s a personal stamp here that makes it worthwhile. Yelawolf could have easily laced up a “Box Chevy Part 3.5” of sorts, but instead delivers a proper ode that finds a balance between rock and hip-hop. It’s the type of direction we’ve encountered in his previous releases, and these attempts continue to push a new persona, one more evolved from the typically hard-partying and trash-talking rapper from before.

Yelawolf has a penchant for lyricism and brings along rappers like Raekwon, Killer Mike and A$AP Rocky on the tape. Paul Wall makes a surprising return on “Hustle,” where he raps about holding down a few side jobs, while steadily getting money through any means necessary. On “Gangster,” a cut that’s reflects Yelawolf’s trunk rattling past, he details his upbringing through a truth-telling lens. It’s here he grasps the attention of longtime fans and shows he can still take it back to his Slumerican ways.

The project isn’t without one or two missteps, though. Yelawolf isn’t exactly the type to hold anything back, and “Fame” is another chance for him to let some things off his chest. The song details his rise, from pushing his demo to taking meetings with label executives like L.A. Reid. Generally, these rags-to-riches stories are interesting, but it comes off as self-loathing here. “Tennessee Love,” a somber love story over woozy production, isn’t a song typically in his wheelhouse. On the one hand, it’s a fitting ending to the tape, but there’s an oversensitiveness to his confessions.

If Yelawolf had something to prove, it was that he’s still an adept rapper who stuck to his guns. Even if Radioactive cooled his buzz for a bit, there’s a sense of self-awareness of his mistakes here and he certainly sounds determined to impress fans and fuel the fire for his sophomore effort, Love Story. As he raps on “Rhyme Room,” “Catfish Billy, you can put Trunk Muzik in the picture frame/You ain’t gotta tell me that I made a mistake and some of that shit was lame/But all I wanna do is say “fuck that shit” and please accept my change/I was only tryna people please/So people please, know my name.”


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Videos : The Airborne Toxic Event : Timeless

Who Is The Airborne Toxic Event?
Formed by novelist Mikel Jollett during a tumultuous period in his life, the Airborne Toxic Event (named after a section in American author Don DeLillo's novel White Noise) combine literate indie rock with real literary cred. Formed in 2006, the group initially took shape as a Los Angeles-based duo, with Jollett and drummer Daren Taylor serving as the only members. A roster expansion was eventually needed; as a result, classically trained violinist Anna Bulbrook was brought in to play viola and keyboards, jazz bassist Noah Harmon joined up, and the empty guitar slot was filled by Steven Chen. The band's first show as the Airborne Toxic Event took place in fall of 2006, and was followed by a regional rise to stardom, attracting offers from indie labels and accolades from magazines like Rolling Stone.

Riding the wave of industry buzz, the Event released their first EP and accompanying single (both titled Does This Mean You're Moving On?) in 2007, which only helped to heighten the band's standing in the indie scene. They signed with Majordomo Records in 2008 and released their self-titled first album, The Airborne Toxic Event, later that year. "Sometime Around Midnight" became a Top Ten modern rock hit, prompting Island Records to sign the band in early 2009. Two years later, the Airborne Toxic Event — now signed to the same label as one of their major influences, U2 — issued their sophomore release, All at Once.


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News : Taylor Swift Is Hating On Hipsters But Will It Only Make Them Love Her More?

No matter the genre, hatred is the key to great, heartfelt songwriting. Just look at these offensively generalised facts: UK indie bands hate the Tories, rappers hate the police, emo bands hate their dads, and Taylor Swift – a genre all of her own – hates hipsters.

So when Swift's recent single 22 arrived, the internet was abuzz with the video's unabashed hipster-baiting. Its opening line "It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters" was fully realised, with Swift in mocking lens-less black frame glasses and a slogan tee, all framed in an Instagram-like hue. The singer's dislike of edgy elitists was exposed for all to see.

Sadly for Taz, hipsters don't reciprocate this vitriol. The pretentious flock to Swift's music like a mothy David Cameron to a Smiths-shaped flame. Just this month, Minneapolis's avant-dance act Elite Gymnastics uploaded a mashed-up cover of Swift's Ours to his Tumblr, a gift for his girlfriend Grimes's birthday. That whole scenario couldn't get more hipster if you died its hair green and made it into a gif.

So why have 2013's hipsters chosen to adopt Swift as their official mascot? Why Taylor? Why not Conor Maynard? Why not Rita Ora? Why not the pink-haired one from Little Mix?

One reason why Taylor is so hip right now is that she is fundamentally a dork. Alongside her ever so slightly prominent teeth (facial quirk, tick), she spent her teens as a vastly successful country singer (niche musical past, tick), and writes songs really well (gifted, tick). She's also something of an outsider and doesn't particularly "belong" to any music scene (double tick, smiley face in gold pen).

Hipsters now wear their love of mainstream pop as a badge of honour. If you're listening to Taylor Swift, you're probably tweeting about listening to Taylor Swift. You can appreciate Kendrick Lamar, Death Grips and Taylor? Then of course your tastes are smart and eclectic. Additionally, tech-savvy hipsters claim their love for Swift comes via the immaculate pop production on her recent album Red, accredited largely to Max Martin. He's the Swedish writer-producer responsible for Britney's …Baby One More Time, and is the reason why on any night of the week you'll find a bearded part-time DJ in an east London pub muttering something along the lines of, "The production on Swift's tracks is probably on a par with anything J Dilla ever touched."

Taylor's hipster-mocking isn't working. In fact, it's only making them more determined to lasso her into their world instead. So she has two options: either fully surrender to those tattoo-adorned bastards; or, if she's really determined to push them away, add a few more Ed Sheeran collaborations on to the next album. Hipsters aren't ready for post-acoustic irony. Yet.


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Videos : Shawn Desman : Too young To Care

Who Is Shawn Desman?
Shawn Bosco Fernandes (born January 12, 1982), better known by his stage name Shawn Desman, is a Canadian pop/R&B singer. He is signed to Universal Music Canada.

Shawn Desman attended St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School in Toronto where he took part in many talent shows and events. In 1998, Shawn Fernandes was in the Boomtang Boys video for their song "Squeezetoy" as a dancer. He had a few recordings in English and Portuguese under his real name Shawn Fernandes before adopting the name Desman. According to his own account, he adopted the name Desman because in his youth his friends referred to him as "Dez, man" - thus creating his artistic pseudonym Desman.

His self-titled breakthrough album in 2002 featured three top ten singles ("Shook", "Spread My Wings" and "Get Ready") on the Canadian charts. The album went on to achieve gold certification in Canada. The single, "Spread My Wings", is a cover of the unreleased male group, Vega, featuring Chilli of TLC.

His follow-up album, Back for More garnered a Juno Award for Best R&B Recording which featured the number one hit single "Let's Go".

His recent album Fresh garnered 2 gold singles, 1 platinum single, Video of the Year at the Much Music Video Awards, Canadian Dance/Pop Song of the year at the Stylus Awards, as well as SOCAN #1 Award for Electric/Night Like This.

Shawn Desman is also a producer and has worked with various artists producing hit singles for Nick Carter, Kreesha Turner, Keshia Chante, Danny Fernandes, as well as contestants on YTV's The Next Star where he produced the song (One More First Chance) for Brock Zanrosso in 2009 and "It Might Be You" for contestant Parker Schmidt in 2011.

In 2013, Shawn Desman released his fourth studio album, Alive along with an accompanying short film of the same name. The album spawned two hit singles; "Nobody Does It Like You" and "Dum Da Dum". (Read More)


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Videos : Nikki Williams : Glowing

Who is Nikki Williams?
There's a kind of woman who just needs you to get the hell out of her way. You'll know her when you see her, smoldering with swagger and sex appeal. Holding her back would be like lassoing a supernova— good luck with that.

Spend even a few moments with Nikki Williams and you know that's exactly what you're dealing with: an unapologetic, balls-out truth-teller, an old soul at 24 with a killer set of pipes and the attitude to match. A natural born storyteller and a gifted singer-songwriter, Williams is the personification of Newtonian law: a body in motion will stay in motion. "I was born to do this," she says. "There is no Plan B. This is it. You don't ignore an instinct."

Williams' earliest memories as a young girl in bustling Port Elizabeth, South Africa, feature her performing—belting it out in church at four years old, providing the evening entertainment for her parents and their friends at age 7. But hers was hardly a picture-perfect youth. When post-apartheid crime ravaged her hometown, Williams' parents decided to pack it in and start anew elsewhere, in Nashville of all places. ("My family grew up listening to country music, so why not?") At 16, Williams found herself over 8,000 from home, a flame-haired Afrikaner in the land of the Grand Ole Opry. The transition was as tough as it sounds. "It took me a long time to adjust," she recalls. "Everything from the size of the fast food portions to the fact that people didn't understand what I was saying. I always had to repeat myself 10 times."

Not long after the move, her parents divorced—she and her kid sister stayed with her mom in Nashville, while her dad returned to South Africa. Williams took their split hard. Who can blame her for falling in with the wrong crowd? "I didn't see their divorce coming," she says. "I started rebelling, hanging out with an older crowd, drinking Southern Comfort, going out to bars."

In a city thick with teased-and-tousled glam-girls, Williams, a Ravenwood High School hellraiser, looked like she'd arrived to Nashville by way of CBGB with her heavy eyeliner, ripped tights and combat boots. But she found respite from her turbulent youth in writing. Every day after school, she'd deep-dive into marathon country songwriting sessions and quickly discovered she was brilliant at it. Influenced by a gamut of old-school and contemporary country-Western icons, from Alan Jackson to the Rascal Flatts, Dolly Parton to Taylor Swift, Williams poured her restlessness and soul-searching into her lyrics. By her junior year in high school, she'd locked up a publishing deal with Sony ATV. By 18, Williams was supporting herself. Her song "Fly Again", which was featured in Country Song (starring Gwyneth Paltrow), was inspired by an older boyfriend who helped foster her career and confidence. She co-wrote "Like My Mother Does," which was performed in 2011 by American Idol finalist Laura Alaina. Over and over again Williams was approached by Nashville heavyweights eager to cut a deal. She rebuffed them all. "I never wanted to be a country artist," she says plainly.

Williams relocated to Los Angeles when she was 21, and shortly after signed with Breyon Prescott of Chameleon Entertainment (a joint venture with the Island Def Jam Music Group). "Working with Breyon Prescott along with Aaron Phillips is literally the best thing that's ever happened to me," Williams says. Under their guidance, she has emerged as a sultry new voice on the pop-rock scene. She has already notched collaborations with a string of Grammy-winning hitmakers including Sandy Vee, Dallas Austin, and Rodney Jerkins.

Typical of many young women, Nikki has been through some personal challenges and bad relationships. Nikki used those experiences as motivation to truly express herself as an artist. Williams throws herself into her work, exorcising her pain and sadness in the recording studio. The results are achingly beautiful. She first released "Kill, Fuck, Marry," a haunting single by Sia and produced by Stargate, which has already captured the attention of critics and fans alike. ("Nikki Williams…is poised to be a breakout star," declared Cosmopolitan Magazine.) Her as-yet-untitled album, slated for release this spring, is already generating buzz among critics and music bloggers as one of the mostly hotly anticipated new releases of the year. "Glowing", her first single, is a chest-thumping dance floor anthem that showcases the many sides and powerful vocals of Nikki Williams!

Williams is currently on the road, sampling her music before a voracious crowd hungry for her trademark candor and explosive stage presence. She'll be hard to pin down for a while, she says, but that's a good thing. "I'm still working stuff out," Williams confesses. "But if you want to find me, I'll be in the diviest bar of whichever city I'm in."


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Albums : Wavves : Afraid Of Heights

Listen To Wavves : Afraid Of Heights

Who is Wavves?
Named for his fear of the ocean, Wavves, the skuzzy project of San Diego slacker Nathan Williams, is a blend of distorted no-fi and refined sunshiny melodies. Charmingly messy, most of his lyrics, while difficult to decipher, generally revolve around the subjects of weed, boredom, and the beach — when he isn't poking jabs at the gloomy subculture of goth rock (a common theme, found in "Goth Girls," "California Goths," "Summer Goths," "Surf Goths," and "Beach Goths"). Wavves was conceived just after Williams, at age 21, quit his job as a clerk at Music Trader, while he was dividing his free time between skateboarding, writing for his hip-hop blog, Ghost Ramp, and making music using an '80s Tascam cassette recorder and Garage Band software. Due to his inexperience with the program, the result of one month's worth of bedroom recording sessions was two full albums of songs: all completely mangled by overdriven inputs. Rather than scrapping the material, he embraced the in-the-red aesthetic and started promoting the songs online. Wavves was quickly embraced and touted as "the next big thing" by Internet music critics and fellow bloggers.

Many praised the immediacy and D.I.Y. nature of his work, and Williams capitalized on those aspects, continuously uploading free digital versions of his music — including two 7" singles, a cassette, and an EP — all with simple self-drawn artwork or scanned photos for cover art. Wavves' first LP, simply titled Wavves, became available around this time as well, and it was released in a limited run by Woodsist. The more confusingly titled Wavvves (note the third "V") followed just after, and was planned for release by De Stijl before Williams jumped ship to Fat Possum. After the track list was revamped, the release date was pushed back a month and Wavvves was officially made available on March 17, 2009. After receiving mostly glowing reviews in April, Wavves got his share of bad press in late May. While performing live at the Primavera Sound Festival, assisted by drummer Ryan Ulsh, Williams had a minor meltdown and walked offstage. Later, he issued an apology, chalking up the incident to poor decision-making and a drug concoction of ecstasy, Valium, and Xanax.

In 2010, after recording a few tracks with indie drummer extraordinaire Zach Hill, Williams entered the studio with Grammy-winning producer Dennis Herring to record a straightforward and surprisingly polished album. Following the August release of King of the Beach, Wavves toured as a trio with Williams assisted by former bandmates of the late Jay Reatard, bassist Stephen Pope and drummer Billy Hayes. After parting with Fat Possum, Williams released a new EP in the fall of 2011 under the Wavves name, titled Life Sux, featuring guest appearances by Best Coast and F****d Up. He and Pope then began recording a new album with the production help of John Hill (Rihanna, Santigold), using their own money to finance the project. Mom + Pop signed the band and released the slickly produced, very '90s-influenced Afraid of Heights in early spring of 2013.

Afraid Of Heights Review
The chatter surrounding Nathan Williams' activities has occasionally overshadowed the music itself. It's been five years since Williams' self-titled debut long-player as Wavves, so it's a fine time to step back and re-direct the conversation. Wavves and 2009's triple-v'd follow-up featured monochromatic garage grinders buried under blown-out production-- not exactly the work you'd expect from someone who'd later write a Christmas song for Target with his girlfriend. It's possible that many present-day Wavves fans are unaware that those albums and his sound has changed accordingly. The beery, brawny King of the Beach from 2010 featured improved production and sharp, sticky hooks that were perfectly suited to soundtrack shows on MTV (which they eventually did.)

Following some label drama that almost derailed that album's creation, Williams took the DIY approach by self-releasing 2011's guest-laden Life Sux EP; two years later, he and current musical co-conspirator Stephen Pope have returned with the proper follow-up to Beach, Afraid of Heights. The record is Williams' first for Warner Bros. and Sony-affiliated imprint Mom + Pop, but Williams self-financed the album's recording over the course of a year. It's a big-ticket record made with indie-minded ethos, and the album's tangle of contradictions befits a guy with such a history of contrarianism.

King of the Beach had real-deal rock guy Dennis Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse) behind the boards; Afraid of Heights features John Hill, a producer with modern pop bonafides from Rihanna to M.I.A. You can hear his touch in the pretty-sounding keyboard-mellotron loop that's interrupted by a low, persistent inner-ear thud in the opening of the typically bratty "Sail to the Sun", and Afraid of Heights as a whole is truly a headphones album, a luxuriously produced record tempered with a few moments of noisy studio trickery (notably, the scuzzy rumble of "Mystic") for contrast. Five songs feature strings; one features slide guitar.

As for the songwriting, Afraid of Heights finds Williams taking these new elements-- including guest vocalist Jenny Lewis' contributions, only barely heard on the album's melodically winding title track-- and rolling them up tightly in his familiar forward churn. King of the Beach's self-loathing-as-swag anthem "Idiot"-- one of the most straightforwardly ear-catching songs on that album-- is a jumping-off point. This means that there's less of the formless, small-scale exercises that largely made up Beach's back half; some will miss the eccentricity, but Afraid of Heights' energizing consistency makes for a fair trade.

Williams' lyrics are still dripping with self-loathing. Life Sux's "I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl" drew sneers based on the title alone, but the sentiment never seemed explicitly careerist; at some point, you'd have to assume that this guy would rather do anything else rather than continue to address his own personal insufficiencies. Here, "Dog" and "Beat Me Up" deal with subservience in relationships, while the sprightly "Lunge Forward" ends with a wish for the end of humanity. There's talk of graves, death, bruises, and the eventuality of being alone. The negativity is sometimes so pronounced it's almost funny: "Gimme a Knife" closes with, "I loved you, Jesus/ You raped the world/ I feel defeated/ Guess I'll go surf."

The album's most enjoyably surprising moment arrives when he turns his attention outward. "Cop" is a love song, albeit a strange one: it's written from the perspective of the gay lover of protagonist John, who's just killed a policeman. "Sit back and relax, John, just go home and quickly wash your hair/ Lay back in my arms," Williams sweetly sings, backed by a distant acoustic shuffle reminiscent of Jay Reatard's cover of Chris Knox's "Turn Down the Shades". Some strings and stray whistling enter, and the song swells into a big, beatific wash of light before the hook comes in again. It is, without doubt, the most lovely and affecting piece of music Williams has written.

Afraid of Heights is the first Wavves album longer than 40-minutes and sometimes it drags. Williams is an avowed Weezer disciple, and accordingly his more dirge-y creations have always reminded me of the sluggishness found on mid-period Weezer albums like Maladroit. Although he mostly does the the more low-key material right here, "Everything Is My Fault" is a real momentum-killer, especially when you realize there's still 10 minutes of album material to get through. Still, Afraid of Heights provides plenty of bummed-out pleasures and Williams' obvious talent is easy to take for granted. At "Lunge Forward"'s chaotic peak, he cries, "None of you will ever understand me" and that may be true, but his music continues to make perfect sense.


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Who Is Jay Sean?
British R&B singer/songwriter Jay Sean is notable for being one of the first British-Asian crossover stars and also for his international popularity, including five consecutive Top 40 singles in America. Born Kamaljit Singh Jhooti on March 26, 1981, in the London borough of Hounslow, he began rapping at age 11 and eventually switched to R&B music, in part because of his Indian heritage, which made it difficult for him to break into the British rap scene. Sean was signed in 2003 by 2Point9, an all-in-one entertainment company whose roster is comprised of British-Asian artists such as Rishi Rich, and he made his recording debut late in the year with "Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal)." Produced by Rishi Rich and featuring fellow 2Point9 artist Juggy D, "Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal)" became a major hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number 12 on the singles chart. In the wake of his debut single's success, Sean was offered a lucrative major-label recording contract with Virgin Records. He accepted the offer and opted to drop out of Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, where he was studying to become a doctor. Me Against Myself (2004), his debut album, became a Top 30 hit in the U.K., spawning a pair of Top Ten hit singles ("Eyes on You," "Stolen"); plus, the album became an even bigger hit in India, where it was a chart-topping success and went multi-platinum, thanks in part to Sean's appearance in the Bollywood film Kya Kool Hain Hum (2005).

Despite his international success, Sean left Virgin Records and released his second album, My Own Way (2008), independently via 2Point9 Records. Though its release date was pushed back repeatedly, My Own Way debuted at number six on the U.K. albums chart, a significant improvement over his last album, which had been released by a major label. The album spawned a couple U.K. Top 20 hits, "Ride It" and "Maybe," the former of which also charted internationally in countries including Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Bulgaria. The focus would turn toward America in 2009 when Sean signed with the Cash Money label. The relationship kicked off with the single "Down," featuring special guest and labelmate Lil Wayne. The track would land on Sean's album All or Nothing released in November of that year. The single "2012 (It Ain't the End)," featuring Nicki Minaj, was released in late 2010 and was followed a year later by his mixtape The Mistress. His sophomore release for Cash Money was planned for 2012.


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