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Chris Brown | Fall Out Boy | Foo Fighters | Rihanna
Mark Ronson | Robin Thicke | Timbaland | Justin Timberlake
Less than two years ago, he was the 16-year-old boy next door, a teenager from the small town of Tappahannock, VA (population: 2,000), with a world of talent and big dreams, fueled by the artists he grew up with, from Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder and Donnie Hathaway to Michael Jackson and Usher.
Now, with the release of Exclusive, his sophomore album for Jive Records, Chris Brown is ready to take his place alongside those heroes.
"Exclusive is something that not everybody can get," he says, explaining the title. "I feel it's an album especially for my fans. It's not for the critics or the haters… or people that get it just to fit in. It's only for those who truly want to hear my music."
Exclusive is the follow-up to his self-titled debut, released in November 2005, which debuted at #2 in Billboard and was recently certified double-platinum, having sold 1.9 million copies in the U.S. and more than three million worldwide.
The CD spawned the #1 Scott Storch-produced smash "Run It!" (featuring Juelz Santana), the Top 10 pop singles "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" and "Gimme That," along with the Top 20 "Say Goodbye." Brown's year was capped off with a pair of Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best R&B Contemporary Album in addition to a nationally televised performance on Awards night with Lionel Richie and Smokey Robinson singing a medley of their respective hits. He also nabbed a Soul Train award (Best R&B/Soul New Artist), two BET awards (Best New Artist, Viewer's Choice), a Teen Choice honor (Choice Music Breakout Artist Male), three Billboard Awards (Artist, Male Artist and New Artist of the Year) and an NAACP Image Award (Outstanding New Artist). He also was featured on Bow Wow's hit single "Shortie Like Mine."
"I always imagined that I could be what I wanted to be, I just hoped that I could do it," says the humble Brown, now 18-years-old. "I never knew how fast this would take off, so I'm just thankful for it."
The new album, which features collaborations with the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am, fellow platinum artist T-Pain ("Kiss, Kiss") as well as hit songwriter/producers Sean Garrett ("Wall to Wall"), the Underdogs ("Get at "Cha" and "Take You Down") and Adonis and Bryan-Michael Cox ("Tho'd," "Fallen Angel"). The songs show how far Chris Brown has come in the two years since his last album. This time around he is co-writing on several tracks.
"I would say it's just me being mature, getting older," he admits, "growing a little bit more hair and peach fuzz on the bottom of my chin. This time, I was more physically and mentally into the whole process. I just jumped in head first and delved into everything. It's another stepping stone for me. Every day is a learning experience when you're in the music industry. From day one, I've learned how to be a better artist, working on my music and with other people."
And that includes hooking up with some of the biggest stars in the pop, R&B and hip-hop business for his new album. "That was my manager, my team at Jive and me just going in all the way, "Brown says. "We pushed the floor and the envelope, stepped it up and continued to rock it out. When we had a chance to pick those we really wanted to work with, magic just happened."
The first single, the Sean Garrett-penned "Wall to Wall," is a cheeky look at how success attracts female admirers ("I don't hear nothing but ladies calling"), while Brown shows his appreciation for the opposite sex in the tongue-in-chic "Picture Perfect," a collaboration with will.i.am and Tank, a tribute to a stunning supermodel. "We wanted to write something that was kinda fun, but talked about me," explains Chris. "I may not be dating cover girls now, but hopefully in the future, I will be."
"Tho'd" is a musical nod to the D.C. go-go scene of Brown's youth, the rhythmic, syncopated dance-floor beat he dubs "like reggae, depending on how you listen to it."
The song is about just loving the fact you're with this girl," says Brown. ""Tho'd' means being uncontrollable, your mind boggled to the point where you're just, "Wow.'"
Brown also has tracks that appeal to his female fans. "Kiss, Kiss," co-written and produced with T-Pain "is about what we like in girls," laughs Brown. Produced with the Underdogs, "Get at "Cha" is Brown in pursuit mode, chasing after the girls as he teases himself by referencing his first big hit: "I know they're waiting on me/To run it."
"They started it out, then I re-wrote some of the lyrics, the second verse and the bridge," says Chris. "That was a great collaboration."
The budding superstar continues to fuse his R&B soul roots with a hip-hop edge on the stunning old-school ballad, "Fallen Angel," as he reaches out to embrace someone who's been misunderstood. "The song's about a girl who's being criticized and talked about because of who she is," he explains. "She may have started out as a bad person, but I can see the good in her."
Last summer, Brown headlined his own Up Close & Personal tour with Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo, Dem Franchize Boyz and Juelz Santana, a 32-date, Live Nation-promoted jaunt. "I love being on the road more than anything. Making an album is about recording the songs you love," he says. "By the time you get to performing them, it's about putting that out on stage and expressing yourself physically through your voice and your feet." Chris is set to go on another nationwide tour this fall.
In addition to his burgeoning music career, Chris Brown is also branching into acting, with appearances on TV shows The O.C. and UPN's One on One, as well as the hit feature film, Stomp the Yard, and a role in This Christmas, a holiday film coming out this winter with Loretta Devine, Delroy Lindo, and Regina King. The Screen Gems feature tells the story of a Christmas celebration one clan will never forget, as the children return home for the first time in years, bringing along plenty of baggage, revealing secrets and testing bonds to discover the true meaning of family.
"I want to show people I'm not just a singer, but an all-around entertainer," he says. "I love acting."
Chris will also be a part of the new Rocawear men's campaign in the fall of 2007. The campaign's concept "I Will Not Lose" celebrates those who have overcome adversity daily to continue to thrive and make the world a better place. Chris' participation in this campaign shows that he believes in the campaign motto: "Every success story no matter how big or small we all share a common thread and attitude."
Chris is also involved in charity work. He has been an incredible supporter of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital which is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.
He donated 50 cents from each ticket sold during his tour last summer/fall, which raised over $50,000 for St. Jude's! Chris' largest and most visible involvement with St. Jude to date is with their Math-A-Thon program. Math-A-Thon is a school-based fundraiser where students ask their friends and family to sponsor them to do math. For every correct math problem they complete, their sponsors give them an undisclosed amount of money. The program is expected to raise over $22 million this year!
Not only is he helping others with his charity work but with his new album Exclusive, Chris Brown is that much closer to fulfilling his dreams, not just following in the footsteps of his idols, but taking his place alongside them.
"I'd rather be known as the first Chris Brown," he says. "At the same time, I can fill the void, but Usher and Michael Jackson aren't going anywhere. They're still doing their thing, but I feel I can be a part of that and just continue to be the best that I can be at what I do."
On his new album, Chris Brown is at his best… and that's more than enough.
While walking across the stage to receive the MTV2 Award for "Sugar, We're Going Down," the only thing on Fall Out Boy bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz's mind was "please don't drop an f-bomb." Shortly thereafter the band, originally from suburban Chicago, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. But the accolades didn't stop there. Fall Out Boy won 3 Teen Choice Awards, and the video for "Dance, Dance" won the "MTV Video Music Awards" for Viewer's Choice, and was nominated for Best Group Video.
For all their success, the band members have stayed true to their roots; not in the sense that they haven't changed, but in the sense that they're making music they love to hear and aren't changing to appease the tides of trend. Fame has never been the driving force behind the music for the band, and all the recent success hasn't quite sunk in yet. "I don't think of music as a career," Wentz says, "until certain things jar it for you." When pressed for an example, he cites the thousands of screaming fans who greet him when he gets on stage.
Self-described nerds, they'd still be working just as hard on their music whether they were playing for an audience of 5 thousand, or an audience of 5. "The more you try to please everybody, the less you end up pleasing anybody," says Patrick Vaughn Stump, Fall Out Boy lead singer and guitarist. Stump, perhaps the least flappable band member save for vegan drummer Andy Hurley, becomes agitated when people take the reward of music more seriously than the art. "If you gave me 3 million dollars to spend," Stump says, "I'd find 3 million dollars worth of musical equipment to buy."
The success of their mega hit album From Under the Cork Tree hasn't been taken for granted. Instead of resting on their laurels, Fall Out Boy has opted to go immediately back to work in spite of a hectic tour schedule by releasing their next album, Infinity on High. "If you have the songs there, why not record them?" says Wentz. The group's prolific nature can best be summed by Stump, who enthusiastically proclaimed, "fuck down time," when asked if he'd like a break from the busy schedule.
The title of Infinity on High comes from a letter written by Vincent van Gogh to his brother in 1888. In the letter, Van Gogh describes the energy instilled in his work due to his new bill of health. Specifically, the line, "Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all."
The first single, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" is a tongue-in-cheek look at "the way we are so addicted and obsessed with new arts, cultures and loves" Wentz says. The chorus is a frenetic punk-rock double time, with thumping verses that beckon you to stomp your feet, which Wentz describes as "a bit of "70s funk mixed with Take This to Your Grave," the band's 2003 LP. Officially debuted at the American Music Awards, the song instantly climbed the Billboard Pop 100 airplay charts shortly after its debut.
This album is a departure from the band's previous work, marking Cork Tree producer Neal Avron's return along with smash hit making R&B producer Babyface for the first time. "We love his approach to melody," Wentz says on working with Babyface. "Patrick will sing with a greater range and more soul in our new songs and we wanted to find someone to drive that."
In "Hum Hallelujah," the third verse is introduced with a choppy drum rhythm that sounds like an inspired American Indian tribal dance—sans tambourine—accompanied by a choir-like chorus which calls back to Leonard Cohen's 1985 song "Hallelujah," a reference to a deeply troubling time in Wentz's personal life when he struggled with and overcame the isolation he felt while recording Cork Tree.
The album has a nocturnal vibe to it, and at times touches on classical tonalities. In "Golden," the song begins with a soft, minimalist piano chord that meanders throughout the first poignant verse, with Stump's voice sounding as sad as the underlying piano accompaniment sounds optimistic. "Thriller" is at once an appreciation for the fans who've been with Fall Out Boy since the beginning, and a response to all the critics who said the band would never make it, which begins on an ironic note with Stump and Wentz whispering bad reviews of past albums during the intro.
"The ideal presentation for this album would be for someone to buy it, take it home and listen to it in the dark," Wentz says. "We love the songs that we play and sometimes that seems to transfer to the crowd, sincerely." The album aims to do just that. "This is how our band will always be. We feel indebted to our fans and will always try to pay them back."
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Credit: Danny Clinch
Foo Fighters fifth and definitive album opens with a statement of purpose universal in its passion. Dave Grohl could be singing to his wife, bandmates Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins and Chris Shiflett, or to any and every fan listening to the song. In truth, the song and the double album — one heavy as fuck, the other subtly laid back — are dedicated to all of the above: the friends, family and fans that have made the decade-long Foo Fighters odyssey possible.
"We've been a band for 10 years now," says Grohl, channeling the band's quandary at the outset of the In Your Honor sessions. "So what do we do? Do we make another album? Rush into making another record? So I came up with this idea. I thought since I'd just been all around the world for a year and a half screaming my ass off, I'd make a solo acoustic record… but disguise it as movie score. We've always had acoustic songs. Most of our rock songs were written on acoustic guitar, songs like 'Times Like These,' 'Everlong'… I had this little studio up at my house and started recording all this music, some of it songs, some of it like a score, it was really beautiful, really coming out well then I listened to it and I was like 'Wait a second: It sounds like the Foo Fighters. It sounds like the band.'
"Everyone in the band has so much to offer," Grohl says. "But we'd sort of remained in this one "thing' for so long that I felt it was time to break out, to branch out, that maybe we should make the acoustic record - but then I started thinking about how I didn't want to show up to the Reading Festival with a harpsichord, or whatever. This band just has to make some rock music… so I thought, OK, why don't we do this? Why don't we make a DOUBLE album?"
And so it was that the In Your Honor double disc opus was conceived. The band and producer Nick Raskulinecz would take the Foo Fighters' unique and precarious balance of balls-out aggression and lady-killing melodic tenderness and split the difference. The chemistry that had made it possible for "All My Life," "Everlong" and "Times Like These" to impact listeners equally in their acoustic and electric incarnations would be divided and pushed to separate extremes of hard and soft, distilled into their purest forms.
"By splitting the difference," Grohl continues, "You eliminate the middle ground. We can make the acoustic record far more delicate and beautiful and atmospheric than anything we've ever done… and we can make the rock record far more brutal and aggressive and powerful than anything from our past.' In order to make it work, I really thought "take out that middle ground, make these two records, put them together and you've accomplished something." I've always sort of believed we were capable of doing both – just not as well as this has turned out."
Indeed, Foo Fighters being at the peak of their creative powers 10 years in – let alone still together at all — often seemed a sketchy possibility. From a genesis in the form of a 1995 self-titled platinum debut originally recorded as a demo tape by Grohl (who played all instruments, save for a lone guitar track contributed by erstwhile Afghan Whig/Twilight Singer Greg Dulli), the Foo Fighters' career has been largely, as bassist Nate Mendel puts it, "accidental."
Accidental… or worse: The shattered relationships that inspired, permeated and continued through the recording of and touring behind 1997's The Colour and the Shape would surely have left a lesser band in tatters. Foo Fighters, however, persevered first through the mid-session departure of drummer William Goldsmith, who would be replaced by Taylor Hawkins months before Pat Smear would depart — all of this as The Colour and the Shape yielded one FF classic after another: "Monkey Wrench," "Everlong," "My Hero," "Walking After You" — and rocketed beyond the sales of Foo Fighters.
The resultant, strengthened Grohl/Mendel/Hawkins nucleus decamped to Grohl's now derelict home studio in Alexandria VA to create 1999's There Is Nothing Left To Lose. Heralded by the infectious "Learn To Fly," the album was in large part their answer record, especially in retrospect, to the testosterone-drenched rap-metal onslaught mounting in its year of release. Mellifluous down-tempo numbers rolled into one another ("Next Year," "Aurora") while the record's few raucous numbers ("Breakout," "Stacked Actors") would become live staples. The band enlisted guitarist Chris Shiflett and embarked on yet another global conquest in support of the album, concluding with two Grammy victories: Best Rock Album and Short Form Music Video ("Learn To Fly").
One By One followed in 2002… and a difficult birth it was. The result of two passes at recording, it once again tested the mettle of the band and its personal bonds — resulting in Grohl's leave-of-absence to gain much needed perspective: recording and touring for a spell as drummer for Queens Of the Stone Age. Regrouping, regenerating and putting the record to bed, Foo Fighters released One By One to rave reviews and followed with the band's biggest world tour to date-including two sold out nights at London's Wembley Arena and a headlining stand at the Reading Festival. By 2004, One By One had become the fourth FF record to surpass the platinum mark, putting two more Grammies on the band's mantle: Best Hard Rock Performance for the "All My Life" single and a second consecutive Best Rock Album statuette, as the band wound down with a show-stopping Grammy performance of "Times Like These" augmented by legendary jazz pianist Chick Corea.
As a result of these cumulative experiences, not to mention down time spent with various side projects — Grohl's Probot, Mendel's Fire Theft, Hawkins' Coattail Riders and Shiflett's Jackson United-the collective Foo Fighters would become more assured than ever that this was the final lineup of their band-for-life. In Your Honor would be their chance to commit that statement to music: The days of near-disintegration with every record had long since come to an end.
"Every album that we made, I'd always imagine it to be our last," Grohl recalls.
"I think we all felt that way," adds Hawkins.
Cue In Your Honor's first single, the magnificent and grandiose "Best of You," which packs a career's worth of passion, rage and melody into a breathtaking 4:16. No coincidence that a lyric repeats "I swear I'll never give in/I refuse," elsewhere Grohl executing possibly the defining vocal of his career, rife with heartfelt sentiment on pertinent lines like "I'm getting tired of starting again/Somewhere new." Small wonder "Best Of You" is already tearing radio a new one and eliciting early press raves.
And so it goes over the course of In Your Honor's hard-as-nails first disc. Confessional screeds melding fury and melody with precarious balance and finesse on anthems "No Way Back," "DOA" and "The Last Song." With each successive track, it becomes more apparent why Hawkins calls disc 1 "the best rock record we've ever made," and Shiflett "can't wait" to leave the band's self-built 606 studio-cum-grownup-clubhouse to "get out and play these songs live." Deeper still into the first disc, "Resolve," "The Deepest Blues Are Black" and the closing "End Over End" find the band's formidable rock power channeled into more varying tempos and arrangements, more than making good on Hawkins' claim.
But as Hawkins is quick to clarify, In Your Honor's first and second discs "really are two different albums." As such, they were created in two distinct manners. Grohl recalls: "We'd been recording the rock record for nearly two months when I finally realized 'OK, we have to start on this acoustic stuff or else it's not going to happen.' So I sat everyone down at this meeting where I said 'here's the deal: No more fuckin' around. No more doing the drums, then you come in Wednesday and do the bass, then you come in Thursday and do the guitar.
"We just needed to have everybody here the whole time," says Hawkins.
"To do a song a day," adds Shiflett.
"And everybody was kinda' scared because we'd never done it that way before," Grohl says, though they quickly adapted, soon preferring the new pace, Shiflett referring to it as "a more natural process for creating music," while Mendel noted, "It's a lot more fun and there's a lot more spontaneity to it. Everyone's there and feeding off of one another."
The creation of the mellower half of In Your Honor turned surreal when the band's self described "insane wish list" of guest performers began materializing. Norah Jones lent vocals and piano to the sultry bossa nova of "Virginia Moon"-a performance Hawkins describes as "awesome; She is a pro." (FF guitar tech Joe Beebe, also guests on guitar on the same track) Elsewhere on the second disc, photographer extraordinaire Danny Clinch, on hand to document the recording process, shows off his harmonica skills on "Another Round," producer Nick Raskulinecz sits in on double bass for "On The Mend," Petra Haden adds violin to "Miracle," Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age plays dueling acoustic guitars with Grohl on the stunning closer "Razor," while "Cold Day In The Sun" showcases an alternate universe featuring Hawkins on vocals, Grohl on drums and Raskulinecz on bass.
But nothing could prepare the boys for the day their calls to John Paul Jones were actually returned: The legendary Led Zeppelin bassist was in town to pick up a Lifetime Achievement Grammy, and would end up contributing piano to "Miracle" and mandolin to "Another Round." His most significant contribution, however, would be ensuring that Grohl would die a happy man: "Honestly, that was probably the musical highlight of my life because I've been so obsessed with Zeppelin since I was a little kid — It's just like give me a fuckin' break man, pinch me this is NOT happening!"
Then, unexpectedly, as Shiflett recounts, "The energy of the acoustic record ultimately affected the rock record in an interesting way."
"Yeah we ended up re-thinking a lot of it," Hawkins agrees.
Or as Grohl adds less diplomatically, "There was no way we could let the acoustic stuff kick the rock stuff's ass. So we went back in on the rock stuff for about three weeks or something like that — -from noon one day until 8 the next morning, making the rock record the most devastating thing we'd ever done." The resultant sprint to the finish line saw marathon sessions that had the band thanking their lucky stars for their decision to build 606, where they could write, rehearse, record and re-record to their heart's content, all completely off the clock. The end result? In Your Honor: the double record Grohl looks on proudly as his band's crowning achievement.
"In 20 years, when some kid asks his dad, 'You ever hear of Foo Fighters? Which record should I get?' They should say In Your Honor. Like if you wanna hear some Led Zeppelin? Get Physical Graffiti. That's exactly what I want to happen with this record. I want people to say 'Wow, that's the album they'll be remembered for.'"
If nothing else, it has been an eventful and eye opening year for Barbados born songstress Rihanna. In addition to recording one of the most popular singles of 2005, the hypnotic "Pon De Replay" (which bass bumped out of more car windows while igniting a slew of barbeques last summer), she won over the masses with her charming Bajan persona.
"So much has happened in my life, I feel like I've grown five years in a year," she gushes. No doubt, by the time Def Jam Records released Rihanna's debut album Music of the Sun, it was obvious that this young woman was more than a one-hit wonder. With a work ethic reminiscent of Motown sisters back in the day when soul reigned supreme, Rihanna traveled throughout the world.
2005 saw Rihanna rocking the mic on tour with Gwen Stefani, making crowds sweat in Japan, posing for magazine covers in Los Angeles and shooting her first film role for Bring It On Yet Again. This was a long way from the quiet life she led in Barbados in the parish of St. Michael. Robyn Rihanna Fenty has come through her musical initiation process unscathed. And now she is poised for everything that 2006 may hold as she readies to do it again with her sophomore release A Girl Like Me.
"I grew up so much this past year. I had no choice. To pursue my dreams, and with their support, I left my entire family in Barbados to move to the States. It was a little scary to have no friends or family and all of a sudden step into a recording studio," recalled Rihanna.
"2005 taught me the dedication and responsibility it takes to make this dream a reality. Waking up at 5:00 am to start rehearsals, the training, the schoolwork, interviews, video shoots, going all day; it always seemed glamorous but it is real work. My love for music and singing will never change but the rose colored glasses are no longer so rosy."
"Many times over the past year, I didn't have anyone my age with me. When recording this album, I wanted it to seem like I was having a personal conversation with girls my age," says the eighteen-year-old singer. "People think, because we're young, we aren't complex, but that's not true. We deal with life and love and broken hearts in the same way a woman a few years older might. My goal on A Girl Like Me was to find songs that express the many things young women want to say, but might not know how."
Dropping from the harmonic heavens to the groovalistic dance floor, Rihanna has returned with another single that will have listeners begging the d.j. to play it one more time. Produced by Jason Rotem, the sizzling "S.O.S." is bringing the summer heat early this year. With its hypnotic beat and enticing melody, "S.O.S." utilizes the electro-funk of Soft Cell's '80s classic "Tainted Love" to create a soulful anthem of young love.
"I got excited when I first heard this track and three days later, it was recorded," Rihanna says. Turning heads with its rebel sound, "S.O.S." has been used as the theme song for their NIKE latest women's line, which can be viewed on NikeWomen.com. "Making that commercial was yet another new experience," she says. "It took six days to shoot, but working with choreographer Jamie King (Madonna and Shakira) was amazing."
Focusing on progressing as an artist, Rihanna has recorded a compelling track of heartbreak called "Unfaithful." Penned by her label-mate Ne-Yo and Stargate, the song documents the tragic decay of a relationship when another person starts cheating.
Yet, in this instance, it is the girl who has strayed. "On a lot of records, men talk about cheating as though it's all a game. For me, 'Unfaithful' is not just about stepping out on your man, but the pain that it causes both parties."
Perhaps the most surprising track is the rock meets island vibe of "Kisses Don't Lie." Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, the principles of her production company, SRP, used a mixture of Caribbean elements, electric guitar and a mesmerizing bassline." Coming from Barbados, I really hadn't heard that much rock music," Rihanna confesses. "Touring with Gwen changed my perspective. So, when I was discussing this project with L.A. Reid, Chairman of Island Def Jam Records, I made sure to say I want to experiment with some rock."
During the recording of A Girl Like Me, Rihanna jet set down to Jamaica to record with Sean Paul on the yardie duet "Break It Off." Smiling, Rihanna explains, "I have so much respect and love for Sean Paul. He took me to visit the Bob Marley Museum before going into the studio, which was an amazing experience. When we finally got to the studio, I felt as though Marley's spirit was in the room with us."
With A Girl Like Me, the beautiful singer proves that her breakthrough was no fluke. After selling 1 million copies worldwide of her debut Music Of The Sun, once again, the summer belongs to Rihanna.
Mark Ronson, Ex-Pat NYC based British musical auteur returns with the release of his brand new musical project 'Version' on Allido/RCA Records on July 10th.
Internationally renowned as one of the worlds finest DJs, uber-producer du jour, solo artist, band leader, label boss amongst (many) other things is joined on 'Version' by an array of singers; including the irrepressible musical talents of Dirt McGirt aka ODB (R.I.P) spitting verse on Britney's 'Toxic', Robbie Williams nailing The Charlatans' seminal 'Only One I Know' as if it was his own, in fact making it his own, and then there's Lily Allen on a phenomenal interpolation of The Kaiser Chiefs 'Oh My God'.
Here you'll also find a bustling funk-tified cover of The Jam's 'Pretty Green' sits alongside thunderous versions of Ryan Adam's 'Amy', and Coldplay's 'God Put A Smile Upon My Face', both bringing crescendo and euphoria to the melancholy from which they were born. Kasabian's 'LSF' and The Smith's seminal 'Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before' also take a ride on the Ronson soultrain.
You may be familiar perhaps with his version of Radiohead's 'Just' – the re-jigged, recorded and layered with added hip hop beats, soulful progression, funk ballast and vocals courtesy of Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet that rocked the airwaves and dancefloors around the world and even won praise from the bands Ed O'Brian. 'Just' was a catalyst in the conceptualisation and creation of 'Version', a visionary new album project that see's Mark taking on some of contemporary pop music's big hitters in a similar vein.
Using his own unique re-interpretive style, Mark has set out to demonstrate pop voyeurism and experimentalism are not alien forms. Here his eclectic taste has allowed him to pick and rework songs he has loved in a new, original and refreshing format. 'Version' is a positive, never derivative, journey through the art of the song… with added horns thrown in for good measure.
"With my first album, I had all these people like Mos Def and M.O.P guesting. This time its not about that. Despite the big names, it's about the songs… The songs here are the guest stars. With 'Version' I've taken these songs that I love and turned them into Motown/Stax 70's versions. I keep the utmost respect and appreciation for the original versions of songs I use. It's not like I'm thinking it's a shit song that I can make good, it's more like it's a great song and I'm now going to make it bounce."
Mark released his own massively acclaimed, shamefully ignored and criminally unworked debut solo album 'Here Comes The Fuzz' in 2003 through Elektra right before the label imploded as it was. In the wake of the label/album's demise, it is as a producer where Mark has found his rhythm and sound. Production credits over the past 12 months include tracks on new/forthcoming new albums by Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams, Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Ghostface Killah, his Allido protégés Rhymefest & Daniel Merriweather to name but a handful.
His label Allido Records, released 'Blue Collar' earlier this year, the debut album from Grammy winning Chi-town rap sensation Rhymefest, with Australian wunderkind Daniel Merriweather (That's him killing it on 'Stop Me') to follow in the next 12 months. Oh and then there is his live band… a full on funk-soul-hop-pop revue that you need in your life.
Back to the business in hand, 'Version' is the sound of Mark Ronson… A man who's musical vision and verve transcends seasons and genres, where Biggie Smalls can sit on a cloud humming along with Al Green to an old Ryan Adams cut and where Nile Rodgers can jam with Sly And The Family Stone whilst the UK's biggest popstar revisits Baggy for kicks and where music is music. It's a beautiful place that hopefully you'll love visiting again and again.
www.myspace.com/markronson
www.markronson.com
The Evolution of Robin Thicke, the second solo album from the critically acclaimed, Grammy Award-winning songwriter / producer / singer, brings to life the stories and emotions of the last two tumultuous years of his life. With a voice of purity, passion and soulfulness, he weaves tales of love, loss, temptation, redemption and finding hope when all the odds are stacked against you. "My greatest desire with this album was to write songs that were completely honest and sing them with the emotion I was feeling when I wrote them, so that whoever listens to my music is brought as close to my experiences and life."
With this intention, Robin created "Lost Without U," the infectious sleeper hit of the spring. An instant classic, this song is based on a true life experience of missing his woman. This song has taken on a life of its own and has already propelled the album to platinum status, and into the Top 10 of Billboard magazine's Top 200 Album Chart and R&B Album Chart. "Lost Without U" was the #1 R&B song on the Billboard chart for 11 weeks and was #1 for 16 weeks at the Urban AC. In addition Robin has been nominated for 2 BET Awards, Best Male R&B Artist and Viewer's Choice. His recent tours with Keyshia Cole, India.Arie and John Legend have solidified his reputation as one of R&B's premier live singers. Robin recently performed his hit song "Lost Without U" on the Oprah Show, and he captivated the Oprah audience so much that she asked him to come back for a second show two weeks later. A fter that, the album jumped over 100% in sales. Coming up, Robin will perform in Amsterdam on June 19th at the Paradiso and in Paris on July 3rd at the Bataclan. Following these performances is his highly anticipated tour with Beyoncé.
The album shows Robin's range as a singer, and as a songwriter. From the plaintive plea of "2 The Sky" to the laidback groove of "Got 2 Be Down" (featuring Faith Evans), from the pain of "Lonely World" to the unabashed hope and encouragement of "Can U Believe," The Evolution of Robin Thicke reveals all sides of the man.
Robin taught himself to play piano at the age of twelve and by the age of fourteen, he could play anything he heard on the radio. At sixteen, with no formal training, Robin began professionally writing and producing music for recording artists like Brandy and Brian McKnight. As a songwriter and producer, he has amassed dozens of gold and platinum records with artists including Usher, Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera and has won a Grammy for his participation on Usher's Confessions Album... but now it is Robin's turn to show what he can do as a singer, as his own man. Last year Pharrell Williams signed Robin to his label, Star Trak Records, and recorded the single "Wanna Love You Girl," which immediately became a club hit and attracted the attention of radio and club DJs across the country.
Reflective, redemptive, passionate and etched with undeniable soul, The Evolution of Robin Thicke is an imaginative and heart felt album that announces the arrival of the next triple threat in music.
Super-producer Timbaland has stamped his indelible imprint on the music scene since the mid-1990s. His production has helped create career-defining hits for artists such as Jodeci, Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Missy Elliott, Destiny's Child, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z, among many others. Respected beyond the genres of urban and hip hop music, Timbaland, whose musical influences cross cultural lines, has also been sought by diverse superstars whose music similarly knows no boundaries, from pop star Justin Timberlake to avant-singer Bjork. Released March 27, 2007 is his second solo album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value (Blackground / Interscope / Mosley Music Group). That disc follows his producing of the majority of the tracks, including the #1 "SexyBack," on Timberlake's #1 charting, multiplatinum FutureSex/LoveSounds, which followed their work together on Timberlake's previous smash, Justified.
Born Timothy Z. Mosley in Norfolk, Virginia on March 10, 1972, Timbaland, so named by Jodeci member Devante Swing after the Timberland boot, has had many reincarnations — from disc jockey DJ Tiny Tim to half of the hip hop group Timbaland & Magoo; from membership in Devante Swing's Swing Mob crew known as Da Bassment to S.B.I. (Surrounded By Idiots), a production ensemble including Pharrell Williams, to being CEO of his own label, Mosley Music Group.
Ginuwine's hit single "Pony" and debut LP Ginuwine… the Bachelor, produced by Timbaland, introduced a unique rhythmic style that defined the new wave of music in the "90s — R&B and hip hop mixed with an eclectic smorgasbord of effects held together by complex syncopated snare beats. At the same time, his partnership with high school friend Missy Elliott blossomed into a pairing that delivered Aaliyah's double platinum One In A Million and they became one of music's most successful production/songwriting teams. Naturally, Elliott looked to Timbaland to also define her as an artist and their work together, tracks such as "The Rain," propelled Elliott to major stardom and critical acclaim.
Timbaland's trademark sound has spawned numerous imitators—yet he has always remained the acknowledged originator. Not surprisingly given his talents, he started a new label in partnership with Interscope even as he delivered another three albums for Elliott, including 2005's The Cookbook. He also launched Tweet, who debuted with Southern Hummingbird, and produced Lil' Kim's "The Jump Off." The Game relied on Tim for "Steer" and "Put You On The Game."
Along the way he built an impressive 5,000 square foot studio in Virginia Beach where he does most of his production, and he regularly travels between that location, his Miami residence and the West Coast. In 2006 he founded a new label, again at Interscope, appropriately called Mosely Music Group (MMG). Open to all types of artists, MMG debuted with a bang: Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous" featuring Timbaland, which hit #1, as did her album, Loose.
Timbaland's genre breaking has changed popular music today, and he takes pride in his success at staying ahead of the curve with his originality and experimentation. Confident and charismatic, his goal is still to blow the listener's mind and make them move to the beat. On the personal side, this artist/producer is an avid bodybuilder committed to a strict diet and training regimen, and as serious about working out as he is about his time in the studio.
"You can accomplish anything you put your mind to if you stay persistent and disciplined," explains the driven and dedicated Timbaland, an innovator of sound who continues to set popular tastes while adventurously expanding his musical palette.
Download Photo
Credit: Terry Richardson
Download Photo
Credit: Terry Richardson
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