Days after performing their EDM-meets-rap track at the Billboard Music Awards, David Guetta and Nicki Minaj released the official video for their third collaboration. The energetic visual, which also features Afrojack and Bebe Rexha, sees dramatically dressed tribal dancers contort their bodies into all sorts of positions as revellers join them on a party bus that bears the sign “Department of Recreation”. It’s easy to spot Afrojack as he towers over everyone else at 6ft 10 inches!
The video is basically an artistic desert rave, based on the legendary Burning Man festival with a bit of Mad Max thrown in for fun! Directed by Hannah Lux Davies the video was filmed in a lakebed in El Mirage California, “I’m always really inspired by music festivals and the fashion that follows with that,” Davis told Billboard. “And Burning Man was something that felt like the energy of the song.”
Nicki Mirage, or rather Minaj, appears only as a hologram – her curves and boobs are still on full show though, don’t worry, as is her iconic pink hair.
Hey Mama is the latest cut from Guetta’s album Listen – it reached Nº8 in the UK and Nº22 in the US when it was released in November last year.
Taylor Swift debuted her highly anticipated music video for Bad Blood to deafening screams at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas last night. Aside from Kendrick Lamar who plays ‘Welvin Da Great’ it’s an all-female mini superhero film, starring 18 gorgeous gals. Produced by Taylor Swift and directed by Joseph Kahn this epic action packed video sees Swift playing ass-kicking, cartwheeling alter ego ‘Catastrophe’ and the story centres around two girl gangs who wage war against each other.
The video is so jammed-packed with star power – Emmy winners, Golden Globe winners, Grammy winners, an Oscar nominee and iconic supermodels. The only other music video in history that has had more star power was Michael Jackson’s Liberian Girl (coincidentally produced in 1989) which had an incredible 30 A-list celebrities – including Steven Spielberg, John Travolta, Whoopi Goldberg, Dan Aykroyd, Olivia Newton-John and The Incredible Hulk.
Previously, Swift had revealed that Bad Blood is about a female singer – presumed to be Katy Perry – and their dispute over back-up dancers, which Perry allegedly stole from Swift. Last year Swift told Rolling Stone that Perry “basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me.”
Bad Blood is a remix of the original and is Swift’s 4th single to be lifted from her award-winning album 1989.
Last night Swift won 8 accolades at the Billboard Music Awards: Top Artist, Top Female Artist, Billboard Chart Achievement, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Digital Songs Artist and Top Streaming Song (Video).
Here’s the cast list for Bad Blood in full – each of these women chose their alter-ego’s names and personas.
Taylor Swift as Catastrophe
Selena Gomez as Arsyn
Karlie Kloss as Knockout
Kendrick Lamar as Welvin Da Great
Martha Hunt as HomeSlice
Jessica Alba as Domino
Serayah as Dilemma
Lena Dunham as Lucky Fiori
Hailee Steinfeld as The Trinity
Ellie Goulding as Destructa X
GiGi Hadid as Slay-Z
Hayley Williams as The Crimson Curse
Zendaya as Cut-Throat
Lily Aldridge as Frostbyte
Ellen Pompeo as Luna
Mariska Hargitay as Justice
Cara Delevingne as Mother Chucker
Cindy Crawford as Headmistress
Selena Gomez as Arsyn
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Legendary Italian DJ & producer Giorgio Moroder and Sia have debuted their new music video for the dance-pop track Déjà Vu. Moroder plays a wise cab driver in the new visual which sees a gentleman meeting lots of Sia-like females in a strange hotel who lead him into recurring scenarios. A bit confusing, but the visual certainly captures the definition of déjà vu.
The new album, Déjà Vu, is Moroder’s first album in 30 years – a comeback that was inspired by his collaboration with Daft Punk on their Random Access Memories album back in 2013. After the work Moroder began Dj-ing again and finding inspiration from the crowds he played to.
“I felt so young. I mean, I’m 74, but I still felt like part of this young generation,” Moroder told Rolling Stone in a recent interview. “Some of those guys knew my songs and were not even born when they came out. It’s nice to hear a 20-year-old guy or girl sing along with the lyrics.” One of the tracks on the new album is called 74 is the New 24.
We’re certainly looking forward to June 12 when Moroder’s album is out – it’s jam-packed with brilliant collaborations.
Déjà Vu Tracklist:
01. 4 U With Love
02. Déjà Vu feat. Sia
03. Diamonds feat. Charli XCX
04. Don’t Let Go feat. Mikky Ekko
05. Right Here, Right Now feat. Kylie Minogue
06. Tempted feat. Matthew Koma
07. 74 is the New 24
08. Tom’s Diner feat. Britney Spears (Suzanne Vega cover)
09. Wildstar feat. Foxes
10. Back and Forth feat. Kelis
11. I Do This For You feat. Marlene
12. La Disco
We love AronChupa’s electro-swing ditty I’m An Albatraoz and this week the track made it’s debut on the UK charts, in at Nº25. The song, released in August last year, has gone completely viral, notching up over 153 million views on YouTube, going platinum in four different countries and gaining a Swedish Grammy nomination for Song of the Year. It’s one of the biggest crossover dance tracks in recent history.
The song isn’t about a large sea bird (Albatross) at all – “Albatraoz” refers to the band that AronChupa is part of. Albatraoz is a Swedish electro-hip hop group from Borås, formed in 2012 and the lines “I’m an Albatraoz” refer to being part of the band/fanbase. The opening lines translate to “Ladies and Gents Please Be prepared for AronChupa and Albatraoz Go!”
23 year old Swede Aron Ekbergand and his 18 year old sister, Nora Ekberg, who sings the vocals, have been thrown into the limelight – although neither of them seem to be caught up in all the hype. In a recent interview on Thump Aron said, ”The plan was just to show it to friends, really. Then it happened in Borås, right by Gothenburg in Sweden where we’re from, and then to the whole country. I thought ‘Man, that was easy…'”
Aron and Nora (you can say them both backwards) have been working together for a while, and now they’re certainly stuck together. “It’s good working with your brother since we know each other very well and we can always be honest. When Aron asks me something, he’s like ‘Nora, what do you think of this?’ and I can honestly say if it sounds like shit if I really think that.”
Aron doesn’t really give a poop about tags like ‘One Hit Wonder’.” Sometimes money’s boring, because we really made it for fun in the beginning. When money gets in the picture, it’s too serious. I wanna do what I love, do the music I love…”
“You have to be a little stupid to do make a song as weird as that,” laughs Nora. “I’m allowed to say you’re stupid, Aron. It’s okay.”
Sunday Sessions this week are brought to you by LA based singer/songwriter Molly Moore, a genuine chameleon who writes songs from deep within. In her recent tracks like Natural Disaster, Hallucinating and Break, she moves seamlessly from lighter folk-influenced sounds through to darker and sometimes edgy pop that comes from a variety of influences. Her songs beckon and feed off of a large audience of diverse listeners. Although her sound is unique, if you could compare her to any star today we would say Ellie Goulding or Lana del Rey. Others have even compared her to the highly regarded 90’s singers like Suzanne Vega, Joan Osborne and Lisa Loeb. Molly’s current influences include newcomers Sam Smith and Banks.
Molly has caused quite a stir recently with her haunting, addictive track Natural Disaster. EDM Girl had this to say about it:
“Molly Moore’s track Natural Disaster is quite fantastic. Her voice is strong, and the production behind the track compliments it nicely. The chorus really sets the track apart, and gives the track a bit of edge. The lyrics are meaningful, and you can hear the life behind the words.” Take a listen below and see what you think.
As you may expect, developing these styles comes from an early age. Molly hails from the Bronx and grew up in Westchester, New York. Fast forward to adulthood and Molly has moved to Los Angeles, initially as a writer. But response was swift and her songs Ready For Love and Hollow were picked up and transformed into uncharacteristic EDM successes by Canadian Felix Cartal and veteran Dutch duo Dubvision.
Molly signed with manager Ric Aliberte and has worked with a variety of producers, mainly with Steve Dresser to help hone her sound. Molly has been working closely with singer/songwriter Brandyn Burnette (Sony ATV, with songs recorded internationally by Jake Miller, Auryn, Hedley, and others), with whom she travelled to Sweden and Norway in May 2014 on a songwriting junket for BMG.
All we can say is that we look forward to much more of Molly Moore !
Molly has chosen a beautiful smooth Sunday Session playlist this week:
1- Local Natives – Ceilings
“I’ve been a huge fan of Local Natives for a while… I love how their lyrics so beautifully capture a split moment in time and the weight/meaning of that moment. This song, to me, is about insecurities/vices and how they can capture you, but also about how the right kind of love can set you free from all of them.”
2- Rhye – Open
“This song pulls at my heart strings… It is poetry, really. A love song that reminds me of my love every time I listen. And the video is wonderful.”
3- Brandyn Burnette – I Wanna Be (Free)
“This is a very special artist you will want to attune yourself to early on. I Wanna Be (Free) is a song I had the honor of being a part of… Whether we are chained by stress, substances, relationships that are unsatisfying emotionally, spiritually, physically…. One thing I think a lot of people today can agree on is ‘We Wanna Be Free’.
C5 users you will find this playlist in Playlists >> Sunday Sessions
In what was undoubtedly the most poignant moment of the evening Jennifer Lopez paid an emotional tribute to Selena Quintanilla at the Billboard Latin Music Awards which took place last week and aired on Telemundo (April 30). Huge screens on the stage played a montage of images of Selena who was tragically murdered in 1995 at the tender age of 23. Selena’s former band Los Dinos joined JLo on stage. At the end of the stunning performance, in which she seamlessly changed costumes 3 times, the 45-year old star shouted “We love you Selena,” to a standing ovation.
It was in 1997 that JLo had her big break playing the late singer in the critically acclaimed biopic – the 10th highest-grossing biopic of all time – in which an incredible 22,000 actresses were screened for the part. JLo became the highest-paid Latina in Hollywood history, earning a million dollars for her role.
It was Selena who put Tejano music on the American map and she still continues to be a force in Latin pop 20 years after her death, with six posthumous releases reaching to No. 1 on the Latin Albums chart, the most recent in 2012.
Pedro Fernandez, who co-hosted the show described JlLo’s performance as “magical”. “She has had many more triumphs in her life,” Fernandez said. “But her magical interpretation of Selena on the big screen has made a definite mark on her artistic life.”
JLo spoke to Billboard before the performance about what Selena means to her: “I felt she had a sense to live in the moment, that you’re not promised tomorrow. For me that was the biggest lesson. That affected me in my life far more profoundly than the movie did in career terms.”
JLo performed her renditions of Como La Flor, Bidi Bidi Bom Bom, Amor Prohibido, I Could Fall In Love, and her finale No Me Queda Mas.
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Lebanese-British singer-songwriter Mika is back with the lead single off his forthcoming album and it’s a slice of cool, refined pop. Talk About You is upbeat, sweet and should do well on the airwaves this summer. Written by Mika and co-produced by Mika and Grammy nominated producer Gregg Wells (Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, Adele, Rufus Wainwright).
The video was directed by New York based photographer and film maker KT Auleta. It has plenty of Mika’s trademark awkward dancing, which actually just makes it charming.
The video has plenty of shameless product placement – namely a Swatch watch, the new BMW i3 electric car and some incredible suits – but somehow manages to get away with it (at least it’s a break from seeing Beats headphones). Mika has been working with Swatch as their creative ambassador and is also collaborating with Italian fashion house, Valentino, producing Bespoke suits for his appearances on the X Factor Italy. We must say, the suits are awesome.
Mika has sold more than 10 million records and received Gold or Platinum awards in 32 countries across his previous three albums Life in Cartoon Motion, The Boy Who Knew Too Much and The Origin Of Love, winning Brit and MTV Awards along the way. Talk About You is the first cut from his fourth studio album No Room In Heaven (see cover art below).
DJ Deorro had the biggest hit of his young career with last year’s Five Hours. A new version, now called Five More Hours, adds vocals from Chris Brown. Deorro and Brown seem like an unlikely pair – an American electro-house producer and DJ, who incorporated Melbourne bounce into his music, working with one of the world’s biggest R&B/pop acts. But it’s not the first time Brown has dabbled in this kind of music – Breezy has been known to use a few straight EDM beats. He sung on David Guetta’s I Can Only Imagine and also Benny Benassi’s Beautiful People.
“Sometimes I just make music and I don’t even know what I’m making,” Derro told Rolling Stone in an interview last year. “Who knows? I might start it off as an electro song and it ends up as an R&B song because I thought it sounded better with a different kind of kick pattern.”
These kicks are manipulated vocal snippets that he records into his phone. “I don’t want to go through patches and presets and allow someone else to create a sound and I later on find it in the bank or something. I create every sound by myself with literally just my voice and my iPhone. That’s taught me how to sound design. When you’re on presets, you’re really not learning anything. And it’s so cool to show the world that – that you can do whatever you want with sound.”
In the colourful video Brown is on his way to Coachella when his car breaks down. Fortunately for him a bus on it’s way to Coachella, driven by Deorro and packed with gorgeous girls, gives him a lift. The party gets started on the bus and never stops…Brown shows off his dance skills in the clip – certainly some of the tightest dance moves you’ll ever see by someone waring a tye-dye Grateful Dead T-Shirt!
Music’s most electric and dynamic instrumental duo, 2Cellos, have just released a powerful video for their cover of Michael Jackson’s They Don’t Care About Us. Looking like a scene fromThe Hunger Games or Divergent, Luka and Stjepan have created an evocative and cinematic visual with a poignant message.
The visual sees the pair dressed as opposing soldiers who represent pawns in a chess game and also pawns in a war as well. They symbolise individuals who are basically helpless against government rule and other controlling powers, such as the influential elite. The track is taken from their latest self-produced album Celloverse.
The comments on YouTube reveal how blown away everyone is by this creative and clever visual:
“They Don’t Care About Us might be one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs of all time. Well… +2CELLOS got their hands on it. This video is awesome!”
“MJ would be soooo damn freaking proud of you two! Best rendition of the song, ever!”
“+2CELLOS This is probably the best front page Youtube video in years, if not ever. I love how you pointed out those that play geopolitical chess and send us to war don’t really care about us.”
#ThrowbackThursday – 36 years ago the Sugarhill Gang, comprised of Big Bank Hank, Wonder Mike and Master Gee, were the first hip-hop act to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Several years before this the hip-hop culture had begun to take shape at parties in New York, specifically the Bronx and Queens, when people would spontaneously rhyme over a beat – hip-hop was all about performing at parties or clubs, not making studio releases. While it was not the first single to feature rapping, it is certainly considered to be the song that first popularised hip-hop around the world.
Sugarhill Records founder and CEO, Sylvia Robinson, put together the Sugarhill Gang trio to record their rhymes over the recent Chic hit Good Times. The final result was a 14-minute single, cut in one take that found the gang bragging about money, their sexual prowess, their brilliant skills at the mic and even complaining about stomach ache. Leaving out the stomach ache, the other 3 themes still resonate in hip-hop today.
The song is ranked at Nº251 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and Nº2 on both About.com’s and VH1’s 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs. It is included in NPR’s list of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century and was named as the Greatest Really Long Rock Song of all time by Digital Dream Door. It was preserved into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2011, calling it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” At the time of release it went to Nº1 in Canada and the Netherlands, Nº2 in Norway, Sweden and Switzerland and Nº3 in the UK and Germany.
