Cody ChestnuTT came by the Shazam studio to give us an exclusive performance of ‘That’s Still Mama’. Cody is a soul troubadour who first tasted mainstream success back in 2002 when Hip Hop super-group ‘The Roots’ covered his track ‘The Seed 2.0′. His debut album ‘The Headphone Masterpiece’ received universal critical acclaim with his unique edgy take on modern soul.
‘Landing On A Hundred’ is Cody’s first full length release in 10 years and was recorded with a ten piece band in Memphis-based Royal Studios (the previous home to soul legends Al Green, Ike & Tina Turner). “The original tracks were cut on two inch tape,” Cody explains. “My hands were tingling because I got to sing on the actual microphone that Al Green recorded with”.
The album certainly channels the spirit and retro vibe of Curtis/Marvin era soul but Cody’s unique individuality, strong songwriting and charming delivery giving a fresh slant to this classic genre.
Gin Wigmore is a 26 year old singer-songwriter, hailing from New Zealand. With her single “‘Man Like That’ being used as soundtrack for the Heineken/James Bond 007 Skyfall TV Advert, She is set to hit our shores with meaningful impact. The TV Advert is directed by Sam Mendes (Skyfall director), and stars James Bond himself, Daniel Craig and Bond girl Berenice Marlohe. While making the commercial Gin said she discovered a more wild side to her. She explained “If I could live in my wild side all the time I think I would. But I think everyone would be so sick of me. The fact that I get to be that character and that person whenever I play live is pretty satisfying”.
‘Man Like That’ is taken from her upcoming album ‘Gravel & Wine’ which is produced by Butch Walker (Weezer/Pink) and will be released November 5th through Polydor Records. ‘Gravel & Wine’ comes from her experiences from travelling around Deep South America. During her travels she experienced sermons form Reverend Al Green and even found time to fill her stomach with real pork BBQ.
Gin Wigmore is already a start in New Zealand. Her album “Holy Smoke” released in 2009, has been certified 5 X platinum as well as recieving plaudits for; Album of the Year, Best Pop Album, Highest-Selling New Zealand Album as well as Breakthrough Artist of the Year.
Watch our exclusive shazam session with Gin Wigmore, enjoy & watch this space.
Rita Ora grabbed everyone’s attention on the massive UK number one from DJ Fresh, “Hot Right Now”. She reappeared with the release of “R.I.P.”, which featured Tinie Tempah. The Chase & Status produced track also went on to claim a number one spot in the UK national charts. Rita is now the only artist since the turn of the year to have scored two Number one records in the UK national charts. Having previously graced Shazam with an interview, Rita came back to give us an exclusive performance of her debut US single ‘How We Do (Party)’.
‘How We Do’ (Party)’ is produced by The Runners & The Monarch, who have worked with the likes of Justin Bieber; Cher Loyd & Rihanna. Over a guitar loop and a sub bass driven production, Rita sings “I stumbled up to the window, opened the curtains to blinding light, Make up all over the pillow, what went on? What went on? What went on last night?”. She also recalls lyrics from the late Notorious BIG in the chorus “Party & B******t”.
Watch the exclusive Shazam Session Below
“How We Do (Party) is available now in the US & Canada and will be release in the UK on 12 August. You can pre-order a copy from iTunes
Fresh from scoring a Top 5 hit in the national charts with their single ‘Love Me’, Stooshe came by the shazam studio to give us an exclusive performance of their follow up single ‘Black Heart’.
‘Black Heart’ highlights the trio’s strength in vocal harmonies. In the official video, the girls are seen in outfits & hair-do’s that recalls the Motown days at its peak.
Stooshe recently played their first headline show at London’s proud Cabaret. The Evening Standard’s review stated “their star status couldn’t be more obvious if Sir Patrick Moore had discovered them through a telescope”. The Daily Star also wrote, “the girls captivated from the off. Incredible vocal harmonies were perfectly executed, while the fact they appear to be having so much fun makes you want to be in their gang.”
‘Love Me’ & ‘Black Heart’ are both taken from Stooshe’s untitled album which is due to be released later this year.
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.
San Fransisco based musician Kristine Flaherty, known as K.Flay came by the Shazam studio to give us an exclusive look as she sequenced & rapped on the spot.
She grew up outside Chicago and embarked on her musical journey while enrolled at Stanford University. Her self released ‘Stopped Caring In 96′ mixtape & recent tour around the U.S are inspirations behind her new EP, titled ‘Eyes Shut’.
When asked about her music, she states “I spent my first few years making music just messing around, not really having a sense of what I was about,” she explains. “With the mixtape, I started to realize my vision for the project. I made it in isolation, which was liberating in a creative sense. The songs on this EP start where the mixtape left off and reflect where I’m at in my own life now. There are no love songs. It’s really about a mindset, a perspective. A lot of the people I know are pretty apathetic and disillusioned. They’d rather check out than engage in something. I’m drawn to that myself at times and at other times I’m repelled by it.”
Her EP ‘Eyes Shut’ consists of five tracks that were written during spring and summer 2011. Influenced by a diverse mix of artists including Outkast & Lykke Li, she combines hip-hop, electronica and indie rock, all topped off with smooth & at times flawless 2-step rapping ability.
Watch the exclusive Shazam Session below
Download K. Flay’s ‘Eyes Shut’ EP from iTunes here
Before jetting off to the U.S for their gig at SXSW and various other venues, Tribes came by the Shazam studio to give an exclusive performance of their new single ‘Corner Of An English Field’- from their album ‘Baby’.
Dubbed by NME as “the best American band in Britain”, their recent shows in the states have the tastemakers singing their praise. Nylon Magazine also wrote “This Camden four-piece is breaking out in a big way… we can’t get enough!”
The debut album ‘Baby’ is described by Q magazine, stating “…by the sound of this debut, their hearts lay several thousand miles due West. The early 90s alt-rock of the likes of Nirvana, Mudhoney, The Lemonheads and Pixies loom large over ‘Baby’.’”
Throwing together influences from; The Pixies & The Libertines, ‘Baby’ is diverse and daring in its own right. Their first single “We Were Children”, gathers guitars in harmonious, infectious and rather invigorating manner. On the other hand, “Halfway Home” is a lullaby with a spacey feel, something that reflects a breakup.
2012 has already proved to be an incredible year for Emeli Sandé. Confirmed winner of the prestigious BRIT Critic’s Choice Award, the Scottish singer came by the Shazam studio for an exclusive performance of her amazing new single ‘Next To Me’ – the third song to be taken from her stunning debut album, ‘Our Version Of Events’, out today.
‘Next To Me’ is a piano driven pop classic packed with soaring emotions and backed by a stunning vocal delivery that only Emeli can muster. “You won’t find him drinking under tables/ Rolling dice and staying out till 3/ You won’t ever find him being unfaithful/ You will find him next to me“. ‘Next To Me’ at first sounds like it’s about a boy, but Emeli revealed it’s about music, her first love.
As well as winning the Brits Critic Choice Award 2012, she also has a nomination in the Best Breakthrough Act category. Her stunning debut album ‘Our Version Of Events’ is described by Q Magazine as “An album that deserves to linger in the limelight-passionate,powerful and possessed of real star quality”.
The album was written entirely by Emeli and produced by her creative partner Shahid ‘Naughty Boy’ Khan. A formula of warm, wise, frank, funny, thoughtful music – as seen on previous singles ‘Daddy’ & ‘Heaven’- affirms her debut offering as a bold and assured statement from a promising emerging talent.
See the video of the Exclusive Shazam Session below.
Emeli recently supported Coldplay across Europe and heads out across the UK on her second headline tour throughout April 2012. Dates are as follows.
April Wed 4th Norwich UEA
Thu 5th Leeds O2 Academy
Fri 6th Aberdeen Music Hall
Mon 9th Liverpool Academy
Tue 10th Glasgow Old Fruitmarket
Thu 12th HMV Manchester Ritz
Fri 13th Cardiff Solus
Sat 14th Birmingham HMV Institute
Mon 16th London Shepherds Bush Empire
The stunning debut album ‘Our Version Of Events’ is out now, get your copy here For more info visit www.emelisande.com & Follow Emeli Sandé on twitter here
Big Sean, one of the world’s most exciting young rap talents, came by the Shazam studio to give us an exclusive performance of ‘Don’t Tell Me You Love Me’, plus an exclusive freestyle.
The Detroit based MC, got his break in a chance meeting with Kanye West in 2005, after rapping for the multi-platinum superstar in a radio station hallway.
His career has since taken a steep upward ascendancy. Sean’s first mixtape hit 60,000 downloads, not bad by anyone’s standards: but it was his second tape, ‘You Know Big Sean’, which made the biggest splash, getting huge props from BET when it was released in 2009. His debut album, released on Kanye’s sub-label G.O.O.D. Music and rap mega imprint Def Jam, was one of the most eagerly awaited urban releases of 2011 and peaked at the lofty position of #3 in the Billboard charts
It’s no doubt been an impressive rise, not that Big Sean’s ever doubted his abilities:
“I remember in the eighth grade I told myself, man I’m going to be signed to Def Jam,” says Sean. “I always put it out into the universe and I think it was written for me. I was meant to inspire people, I was meant to make music. There’s been so many nights where instead of going out I’ve had to work and was depressed so I feel like I deserve this. This is what I was meant to do.”
Watch the exclusive Shazam Session below (Please be aware that there’s some bad language, viewer discretion is advised)
Big Sean’s album ‘Finally Famous’ is available now on iTunes and Amazon You can follow Big Sean on twitter here
Following on from the overwhelming success of the chart-topping, ‘Don’t Go’, Wretch 32 came by the Shazam studio for an exclusive performance of ‘Forgiveness’ the fourth cut to be taken from his debut album ‘Black And White’.
In what can be seen as one of the biggest music success stories of the year, 26 year old Wretch 32 (aka Jermaine Scott) has come a long way from the times when he sold mixtapes in and around his estate in Tottenham to get by. After being earmarked as the artist to watch out for in 2011 by everyone from the BBC, NME, Q magazine and MTV through to Tinie Tempah and Professor Green, and notching up an impressive list of fans such as Adele, Nicki Minaj and Liam Gallagher, ‘The Metaphor Man’ (as he is referred to by the grime glitterati) has lived up to the hype.
In addition to delivering a top 5 smash with debut single ‘Traktor’, a no. 2 anthem ‘Unorthodox’ (featuring Example) and no 1 hit with ‘Don’t Go’, and a top 5 critically acclaimed album with ‘Black And White’, Wretch 32 has stolen the show at festivals over the summer (from Glastonbury to Wireless and V Festival), performed on Later With Jools Holland, been appointed an official Adidas ambassador for their Olympics 2012 campaign, and been nominated for 4 MOBO awards and a Q award.
‘Forgiveness’ is produced by Labrinth and features vocals by upcoming singer Etta Bond. One of the most candid and emotive cuts from the album ‘Forgiveness’ sees Wretch reflects on the dichotomy he faces whilst chasing his dream to get ahead in music: “Excuse me, my friend, I think I might have hit my head. Excuse me, my friend, I can’t remember who I am, cos I’m holding on, trying to be somebody, but it won’t be long until I need somebody…”
