Month: May 2018

Flame-haired singer/songwriter, beatboxer, and guitarist Ed Sheeran’s eclectic blend of acoustic pop, folk, and hip-hop has been championed by everyone from the underground grime scene to American Oscar winners. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England in 1991, Sheeran released his first EP, The Orange Room, while still at school, and his first two albums — his self-titled debut and Want Some — by the age of 16. After moving to London to gain more live experience, his performance of the self-penned “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” on YouTube channel SB.tv gained half-a-million viewers and attracted the attention of actor/R&B star Jamie Foxx, who invited him to appear on his Los Angeles Sirius radio show. Securing a deal with Elton John’s management company, he supported Example on his U.K. tour and, after signing with Atlantic, became just the third artist to score a Top 75 album purely on download sales, when his No. 5 Collaborations project, a star-studded seven-track EP featuring Wiley, JME, and Devlin, charted at number 47 in 2011. That same year he released the Loose Change EP (which featured the smash hit single “The A Team”) and his major-label debut studio album + (“Plus”). + was […]

Rachel Podger, Baroque violinist, is known for her highly accurate, virtuosic playing, outstanding musicianship and understanding of period style, and a cheerful, warm, and decidedly non-stuffy stage presence. Her father was British and her mother German. She was educated in Germany at a Rudolf Steiner school and studied violin. When she returned to England she continued violin studies with David Perry, then was admitted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Pauline Scott and David Takeno as her teachers. She asked to be allowed to study Baroque violin as well as the standard violin with modern set-up, but was told the only Baroque fiddle was already given out to another student. In addition, as she said, “It wasn’t really the thing to do in your first year. You were supposed to establish your technique.” She did not let this stop her, “So I got hold of an instrument and did it anyway.” She surreptitiously took Baroque violin lessons with Micaela Coberti at the Guildhall and often visited Cambridge where her brother, singer Julian Podger, had founded a small ensemble called Trinity Baroque and gave her a chance to play some of the central Baroque repertory. From her second […]

R&B-influenced pop singer/songwriter Bazzi hit the mainstream after finding viral success with his breakthrough single, “Mine.” Born Andrew Bazzi to Lebanese-American parents in Dearborn, Michigan, he was a natural performer from a young age, imitating Elvis and Ricky Martin as a child and later playing oud and acoustic guitar. At the end of high school, he moved to Los Angeles with his father to pursue a music career. In addition to building an audience online, he appeared on Fancy Cars’ single “Fun” in 2016. Influenced by the likes of Justin Timberlake and Bryson Tiller, he released his solo debut, “Alone,” soon after. In 2017 he issued the singles “Sober,” “Beautiful,” and “Got Friends?,” but it wasn’t until “Mine” went viral with the help of an Internet meme that his audience grew. With its smooth, breezy sound, the romantic “Mine” became a streaming hit and landed Bazzi on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2018. His debut full-length, COSMIC, arrived months later. Featuring additional singles “Gone” and “Honest,” the set debuted at 35 on the Billboard 200. ~ Neil Z. Yeung Get this now from: https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes

British MC and actor Plan B (real name: Ben Drew) came to notice with “Cap Back,” a playful, Wiley-referencing track produced by Roll Deep’s Wonder that appeared on the 679 label’s Run the Road compilation in 2005. Signed to 679’s roster, the London native proceeded to release a handful of singles across 2005 and 2006, which culminated in his debut album, Who Needs Actions When You Got Words. With its Meat Puppets-referencing title, and tracks featuring clever samples of Hall & Oates, the Prodigy, and Gary Puckett & the Union Gap (often with acoustic guitars over shuffling breakbeats), the album made it clear that there was no easy way to classify the MC. Released in 2010, The Defamation of Strickland Banks — not just an album but also a short film directed by and starring Drew — was to prove a breakthrough for Plan B. Led by “Stay Too Long,” a stomping, organ-led rock song depicting an alcohol-fueled tailspin, the record was also heavily influenced by soul and Motown. The Londoner’s formidable singing voice shared the limelight with his rapping, helping to make Plan B a household name in the U.K., where the album was the fifth best seller that […]

North West London rapper Nines drew a loyal fan base through a dichotomy in his music that celebrated the grim reality of the streets while expressing his aspirational drive to escape them. Hailing from the Harlesden area of London, the burgeoning star (real name Courtney Freckleton) steadily built up an audience through a series of mixtape releases. The first, From Church Road to Hollywood, arrived in 2012, and seemed to reference the notorious London Church Road gang that his murdered brother was allegedly a member of. He was awarded Radio 1Xtra’s People’s Choice award in 2013, and nominated for a Mobo in the Best New Hip-Hop category. That same year saw the release of his follow-up mixtape Gone Til November, but it also marked a period when his career was put on hold after he was sentenced to an 18-month imprisonment at Wormwood Scrubs for unspecified crimes. Despite this setback, the prolific artist went on to release a further two tapes, 2014’s Loyal to the Soil and 2015’s One Foot Out. Over the course of his four mixtape releases the rapper had increased his profile, thanks in part to millions of YouTube views, and he signed to XL Recordings, which […]

J. Cole, the first artist signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label, was among the most commercially successful rap artists of the early 2010s. Born in Germany but raised in North Carolina, Jermaine Cole grew up with a mother who loved rock and folk, and a father who was a fan of hardcore rap artists like 2Pac and Ice Cube. Cole’s high-school grades earned an academic scholarship to attend St. John’s University in New York City, where Cole knew he could make progress as a musician. After numerous days standing outside Jay-Z’s office in hopes of giving him a demo, Cole finally ran into his idol, but the reception was well below chilly. He was shocked when, weeks later, he received a call from the man and even more shocked when he got a chance to contribute to his 2009 effort The Blueprint 3. Later that year, Cole released the mixtape The Warm Up, while 2010 saw the appearance of the Friday Night Lights mixtape, with Cole handling most of the production. In 2011, Roc Nation released his official debut, Cole World: The Sideline Story, which debuted on top of the Billboard 200. Featuring the single “Power Trip,” Born Sinner followed […]

British quintet Blossoms formed in Stockport, a town just outside of Manchester, England, in 2013. Started by school chums Tom Ogden (vocals, guitar) and Joe Donovan (drums), the band later incorporated Charlie Salt (bass, vocals), Josh Dewhurst (guitar), and Myles Kellock (keyboards, vocals). Their sound was pigeonholed as psych-pop, which the band didn’t like; rather, they hit a sweet spot between the Doors and Arctic Monkeys, combining a knack for classic pop songwriting and moody organ atmospherics with a youthful energy. Ogden’s delivery occupied the space between Richard Ashcroft (the Verve) and Alex Turner, of the aforementioned Monkeys, as the band slithered from spooky, groovy warmth to peppy Brit-pop. Debut single “You Pulled a Gun on Me” was a fine example of this combination, and the band continued to develop on subsequent singles “Blow” and “Cut Me and I’ll Bleed.” 2015 saw the release of two EPs — Blown Rose and Charlemagne. As the band gained exposure, they released another EP, At Most a Kiss, in February 2016. The four-song set featured some new elements, including synths and a more driving urgency. A month later, Blossoms revealed plans for their debut full-length. The self-titled album was released in summer 2016, […]

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and actor Janelle Monáe left her mark on 2010s R&B with an energized retro-futuristic sound wrapped in theatrical science fiction concepts. Growing up, Janelle Monáe Robinson felt constrained by the limited resources offered in her greater Kansas City, Kansas environment. When she finished high school, she moved to New York to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy with the intention of pursuing musical theater, but in 2004, after performing in a couple off-Broadway shows and encountering a lack of desirable roles, she opted to try her luck in Atlanta. She soon joined a band and toured the local college circuit, where she eventually got in touch with her future partners in Wondaland Arts Society — a collective and label that looked to promote experimental arts — as well as OutKast’s Big Boi. The rapper was so impressed by Robinson that he included two of her performances on his 2005 compilation Got Purp?, Vol. 2. Robinson also appeared on OutKast’s 2006 soundtrack, Idlewild, and appeared in the video for “Morris Brown.” Robinson made her proper solo debut in August 2007 with an EP entitled The Chase, the first of four planned “Metropolis suites” based in […]

Dropping basketball references like the old-school but wrapping them in thoroughly modern beats, Post Malone hit in 2015 with his single “White Iverson.” Raised in Dallas, Malone was NFL before he was NBA thanks to a father who worked for the Cowboys. He loved music from a young age, and planned on joining a band thanks to the video game Guitar Hero, but when his dad gave him a copy of Terror Squad’s hit “Lean Back,” Post decided to become an MC. He hung with Dallas crew the IRAS until a move to the West Coast dropped him in Los Angeles. After putting some braids in his hair, he coined the term “White Iverson,” and when he posted the track in early 2015, he hit a million views within the month. Malone signed with the Republic label later that year. In 2016, he released the single “Go Flex” along with his official debut mixtape, August 26th, which was actually released in May. Months later, his first studio effort arrived. Stoney featured guests like Justin Bieber, Migos’ Quavo, and Kehlani. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum. ~ David Jeffries Get this now from: https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes

Essex, England-born Anne-Marie Nicholson was no stranger to performing by the time her debut EP dropped in 2015, having shared the stage as a 12-year-old with none other than Jessie J in a West End production of Whistle Down the Wind. She also auditioned for Les Misérables without telling her parents, and was offered a part. It was a risk that paid off, as it served to open her parents’ eyes to her singing ability. Aside from West End commitments, the intervening years between her days as a child star and the advent of her career as a pop singer were spent becoming a world karate champion no fewer than three times, an art form she credited with teaching her discipline and focus, two essential traits of becoming a successful musician. After a chance meeting with an aspiring singer/songwriter, she managed to secure some studio time in Elton John’s Rocket Studios, and, after hearing what she could do, she was subsequently picked up by Elton’s management company Rocket Music. Anne-Marie released a demo in 2013 entitled Summer Girl, which drew some attention to the singer, most notably garnering a fan in Ed Sheeran. Despite the encouraging start to her solo […]