Introducing Frank Ocean: Nostalgia, Ultra

By Steven Hyden March 15, 2011

Much like the ’80s BMW on the cover of his debut album, Nostalgia, Ultra, gifted singer-songwriter Frank Ocean apparently is out of touch with the times. That doesn’t jibe with his résumé, a seemingly impeccable combination of mainstream R&B credentials (he’s co-written songs for John Legend and Justin Bieber) and underground cool (he’s associated with outlaw hip-hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All). But after going nowhere as a solo artist signed to Island Def Jam, Ocean decided to post Nostalgia, Ultra as a free download last month. Hearing the record, it’s no shock that Ocean’s label didn’t know what to do with him. Nostalgia is a moody, frequently downbeat character study, a sort of musical version of the Reagan-era confessional Less Than Zero.

Ocean presents himself as a troubled guy in his early 20s who does cocaine for breakfast (as he sings over an aestheticized shuffle supplied by superstar producer Tricky Stewart on “Novacane”) and can’t decide whether to rue or revel in his conflicted feelings about women (the hit-single-in-waiting “Songs For Women”). Sampling world-class sulkers like Coldplay and Radiohead, as well as Stanley Kubrick’s queasy dissection of marriage, Eyes Wide Shut, Ocean saves his boldest move for the 7-minute epic “American Wedding,” fantasizing about his nuptials as the ultimate hymn of coke-addled self-absorption, The Eagles’ “Hotel California,” plays out in its entirety. Like the rest of Nostalgia, it’s dark, playful, a little tasteless, and absolutely riveting.

Macy Gray Embraces Her Imperfections on 'The Sellout'

By Steve Baltin (PopEater)

Watch as the free spirit discusses her new album, Miley Cyrus, Lil Wayne and a 97 year old green man.

You won't hear any Auto-Tune on Macy Gray's new album, 'The Sellout.' During a recent video interview with PopEater in our LA offices, the singer-songwriter told us she's fine with her trademark flat vocals. "Well, I'm generally flat. As much as I've worked on it, I just sing flat a lot. Instead of being all upset about it, I like my flatness a little bit," she says. "And some people I actually think I'm doing it on purpose. Some people think it's style, so that's pretty cool."

For Gray, it's more important to be in the song than being technically proficient. "The cool thing is when I sing I really try to be in it, I really try to get lost in what I'm singing about, and the story that I'm in," she says. "When I'm on the mic, it doesn't work unless you're there. If you're singing about a tree, then it doesn't work unless you're at that tree, in your head at least. When you go off of that, there's a lot of things that your voices will do that aren't technically right, [but] that's always cool when it's rough and when it's honest.

And who are the other vocalists she looks to for honesty? "Well I remember I heard Axl Rose and he was just so raw. The great thing about his voice was that he was really technically right most of the time and he just had this amazing emotion," she says. "And then there's always the obvious ones, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder. Although I'm naming people that I don't remember them having any imperfection. Kurt Cobain, he was pretty like raw or flawed, but it was awesome. There's a lot of rappers. I think that's what cool about Jay-Z, is he's really raw and he raps, but if you ever listen to one of his a cappellas, it's so funny because his voice cracks all the time, and it gets really high-pitched, but it works on his records."

'The Sellout' is a record where Gray gets to put all of her emotional and honest influences to use, as she delivers some of the most revealing songwriting of her career on standout tracks like the title cut and the finale, 'The Comeback.' As she tells it, the bluntness of the record comes from where she was in her life. "There are really a lot [of] me pouring my heart out, all at a time when I didn't have much going on expect my little music [and] what I was doing with that," she says. "Everything I felt and everything I had went into that."

DANCE KELLY ROWLAND DANCE

Interview with Papermag


The former Destiny’s Child member on her upcoming album, nude beaches and being a nerd.


By Alex Catarinella


If anyone is allowed to be a diva it’s Kelly Rowland, one third of what many consider the most successful all-female groups of all time, Destiny’s Child. But Rowland, now a solo artist with an eponymous, dance-heavy forthcoming album boasting production by David Guetta and Dr. Luke, is an unassuming, poised woman who isn’t fazed by the “bullshit that comes with the territory.” The video for first single “Commander,” which features Rowland rocking superhero-esque looks as she belts out soaring vocals, is further proof that she’s no longer the cute teenage girl sharing a chorus. But this isn’t the new-and-improved Kelly Rowland. Over the phone in Paris, the 29-year-old told PAPERMAG that this is simply Kelly Rowland being Kelly Rowland — a self-professed Intervention-watching nerd with dreams of frolicking on the beach naked, and who considers moments on the tour bus with “the girls” to be more special than winning a Grammy.

Now that’s our kind of superstar.



A lot of artists are moving toward a futuristic, dance-heavy sound. Why were you influenced to go this direction?


I spent about a year of my life in Europe really listening to a whole bunch of Europeans DJs and hearing dance music a lot on the radio and really loving it. But I didn’t really think that I would do a dance record until l went out in the South of France and David Guetta was spinning at a club. Listening to him was just crazy. I heard the track “When Love Takes Over” and I asked if I could take it to London to write lyrics to it. And so we wrote “When Love Takes Over” and it was my first introduction to dance music. Then I went to Europe to promote the record with David and it was a whole other monster. It’s really a culture and I love it….