Cover Drive came by the Shazam studio to give an exclusive performance of their new single ‘Sparks’. Out now through Polydor Records, ‘Sparks’ sees singer/songwriter Amanda Reifer and T-Ray Armstrong duet on this electro love song.
Towards the end of January Cover Drive topped the UK national chart with ‘Twilight’. Since then, the band has been back and forth between Barbados, L.A, New York and London to record their debut album, ‘Bajan Style’. Collaborating with A-list of producers including, StarGate (Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez), Boi1da (Eminem, Drake) and J Remy (Jay Sean, Lil Wayne), Cover Drive are set to dominate airwaves throughout the summer.
Singles such as the bass-driven ‘Lick Ya Down’ and the chart smash “Twilight” have already generated over 8 million hits on the band’s Youtube channel. The title track to ‘Bajan Style’ is a slinky pop-rap that suggests a dancehall Salt-N-Pepa. ‘Headphones’ is summer fun squeezed into four minutes. ‘That Girl’ starts off with a nod to Rihanna’s ‘Rude Boy’, then bursting in to a glorious chorus that is not dissimilar to Shakira. ‘Can’t Live In A World’ sees lead singer Amanda’s vocals combined with a more mature yet still feel good Cover Drive sound.
Cover Drive’s T-Ray commented “The album is the result of twelve months of hard work and shows what we’re all about. We’re excited for the finished product and for people to finally hear it!”
Watch the exclusive Shazam session below:
You can pre order a copy of the debut album ‘Bajan Style’ from iTunes & amazon.
Still buzzing from her no.1 smash collaboration with DJ Fresh, Rita Ora came by the Shazam office to let us know what she’s been up to. Discovered by none other than Jay Z, who signed her to his label Roc Nation, Rita Ora is now preparing to release her debut album. Her single ‘R.I.P’, featuring Tinie Tempah, is sitting pretty at the top of the Shazam New Release Chart UK – meaning big things are now in her sights! Watch the exclusive Shazam interview below
With a growing in popularity brand of Soul, Hip Hop, Afrobeat & R&B, Nneka graced the stage at London’s Scala and echoed the reasons why she is mentioned in the same breath as Lauren Hill & Erykah Badu. With power collaborations from the likes of Nas, The Roots & Talib Kweli under her belt, it is now harder than ever hard to escape Nneka mania, especially as her record ‘Heartbeat’, is sampled on Rita Ora’s ‘R.I.P’ which is currently blasting out of every car and radio station in ear shot.
In 2005 Nneka released an EP titled ‘The Uncomfortable Truth’, which contained politically challenging & self-seeking lyrics as she aimed to connect & become one with the higher powers within her beliefs. Speaking in Pidgin English – a broken down form of English which was famously used by Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti – she introduced ‘V.I.P (Vagabond In Power)’ from her latest album ‘Soul Is Heavy’. V.I.P is a song that highlights the misleading of people by political leaders. With a Tony Allen style beat on the grove, it was pretty hard to resist shaking a leg, but it was impossible to do so as Scala was at its maximum capacity.
With her voice on form and rap delivery recalling the likes of Talib Kweli, Nneka got her guitar and strummed the chords to ‘Do You Love Me’. During this very powerful rendition, a rather unusual pause occurred for around 20 seconds. A split second longer and the crowd would have been left confused, but she belted out a note at the top of her voice in a captivating manner that recaptured the attention of everybody before steering the song home.
Sly & Robbie blueprints could be heard in the passing grooves as Nneka & band played numbers from ‘Soul Is Heavy’ of which (Metro) states “Soul Is Heavy, feels like her most mainstream production yet. That doesn’t mean she’s changed her characteristically serious tone; Nneka has tended towards weighty themes that sometimes jar with her sweet-and-light melodies”.
Nneka’s performance during the night was brilliant and as she left the stage, chants of her name reverberated through the venue. She graced the stage one more time to perform ‘Lucifer (No Doubt)’, the leading track which kicks of her album. The crowd which was made up of all creeds and demographics is a testament to Nneka’s message and how wide spread her quest for truth & self had reached.
Tenemos buenas noticias para nuestros amantes de la música latina! Si piensas ver los Premios Billboards de la Música Latina este año- por primera vez podrás usar Shazam durante el show y para ver más a tus artistas favoritos. Solamente marca el show en cualquier momento para:
Mantenerte al tanto de los artistas y presentadores
Al instante comprar su música
Tener la oportunidad de ganar un viaje a los premios del próximo año
Una transmisión en vivo de lo que pasa detrás de cámaras
Así que este jueves 26 de abril sintoniza Telemundo y prepárate para seguir de cerca todas las sorpresas que pasen durante el Show.
We’ve some exciting news for our Latin music fans! If you’re tuning into this year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards – for the first time ever you can Shazam the show and experience even more of your favorite artists. Simply tag the show ANYTIME to:
Keep track of the artists performing
Instantly buy their music
Have a chance to win a trip to next year’s awards
Get a live stream of behind the scenes footage
So tune in Thursday April 26 on Telemundo and get ready to follow along with all the cool things happening during the show.
When it comes to communal dance music experiences, size definitely matters. As the legendary Swedish House Mafia tore up New York’s Madison Square Gardens last year, one of the undoubted highlights was this positively massive club banger, a track of mastodon-dwarfingly huge proportions.
Much like the inimitable Men At Work, ‘In My Mind’ comes from a land down under. A collaborative effort between legendary Australian producer Ivan Gough, dance duo Fenixpawl and vocalist Georgi Kay, the track is the biggest thing to emerge from the Antipodes since Russell Crowe’s ego.
Originally popping up in Axwell’s sets towards the end of last year, the buzz about ‘In My Mind’ has been steadily building. When Swedish House Mafia dropped it in NY, the buzz became a roar. The track has sat unassailably atop the Beatport and ARIA Club Charts for weeks and it’s now in the process of breaking out into the wider world.
Gough has form. As part of duo TV Rock, he’s been banging out big dance tunes and remixes for years. Feenixpawl – also known as Aden Forte and Josh Soon – are newer to the game, but have staked their claim with tracks like ‘Clockwerk/Xylophone’ and a staggering number of remixes. ‘In My Mind’ sees Georgi Kay, a native of more indie-pop pastures, making her first appearance on the house scene.
It’s a strange chemistry, but one that is yielding unmistakeable results. Quite simply, ‘In My Mind’ is shaping up to be one of the dance tracks of the year and it will almost certainly be getting hands in the air from Uxbridge to Ulan Bator over the next few months. All told, the song is aptly named, as you’re unlikely to be forgetting it any time soon.
It must be tough being Kanye West. Well not really, but the multi-millionaire pop star and business mogul sure gets a lot of flak. He’s still living down that Taylor Swift thing, Josh Groban mockingly sings his tweets and even President Obama thinks he’s a bit of a tool. All this stuff might be expected to dent even an ego as famously bulletproof as Kanye’s, but ‘Mercy’ suggests that any soul-searching is a long way off.
An unashamed ode to the blingest things in life, the track takes its name from the Lamborghini Murcielago, a car as expensive as it is impractical. Kanye and his compadres drop verses celebrating excess in all its forms. Predictably, the most bombastic comes from the head honcho himself:
“I threw suicides on that private jet/You know what that means, I’m fly to death/I step in the Def Jam building like I’m the shit/Tell them give me $50 million or I’ma quit/Most rappers taste level ain’t even at my waste level/Turn up the bass level till it’s at your face level.”
Kanye also cannily (Kanye-ly?) picks the best point to drop his verse. For the most part, the Lifted-produced track shuffles along in fairly minimal fashion. When the big dog makes his appearance it is over an insistent crescendo of throbbing synths. The listener is left in no doubt as to who is pulling the strings here.
‘Mercy’ is the first single from the forthcoming ‘GOOD Music’ compilation, which features a range of artists from West’s GOOD label. However that ends up turning out, it’s hard to imagine anyone involved managing to upstage the boss.
