As a poet, prophet and purveyor of Jamaican culture, he shattered musical boundaries around the world.
Bob Marley was born in a small village called Nine Miles in Jamaica. The son of British Naval Officer and Jamaican woman called Cedella, Marley rarely saw his father due to his mother’s family and their disapproval of his parents relationship.
By the time he had turned 16, Marley had recorded his first single ‘Judge Not’, and in 1963, he formed The Wailers with Peter Tosh, Bunny Livingstone, Junior Braithwaite, and Beverly Kelso. The band then scored their first number one in Jamaica with ‘Simmer Down’ on the Coxsone label.
When Braithwaite and Kelso left the group around 1965, the Wailers continued as a trio, Marley, Tosh, and Livingstone trading leads. In spite of the popularity of singles like ‘Rude Boy’, the artists received few or no royalties, and in 1966 they disbanded.
After marrying his girlfriend Rita Anderson, Marley spent most of the following year working in a factory in Newark in the United States, where his mother had moved in 1963. Upon his return to Jamaica, the Wailers reunited and recorded for Coxsone with little success. During this period, the Wailers devoted themselves to the religious sect of Rastafari.
In 1969, they began a three-year association with Lee “Scratch” Perry, who directed them to play their own instruments and expanded their line-up to include Aston and Carlton Barrett, formerly the rhythm section of Perry’s studio band, the Upsetters. Some of the records they made with Perry – like ‘Trenchtown Rock’ – were locally very popular, but so precarious was the Jamaican record industry that the group seemed no closer than before to establishing steady careers. It formed an independent record company, Tuff Gong, in 1971, but the venture foundered when Livingstone was jailed and Marley got caught in a contract commitment to American pop singer Johnny Nash, who took him to Sweden to write a film score.
Their breakthrough came in 1972 when Chris Blackwell – who had released ‘Judge Not’ in England in 1963 – signed the Wailers to Island Records and advanced them the money to record themselves in Jamaica. The first result of this new contract was 1973’s ‘Catch A Fire’, the breakthrough album that saw the band reach an international audience for the first time. It was followed a year later by Burnin’, which included the songs “Get Up, Stand Up” and “I Shot The Sheriff”.
The band toured heavily during this period, and Marley expanded the instrumental section of the group and bringing in a female vocal trio, the I-Threes, which included his wife, Rita. Now called Bob Marley and the Wailers, they toured Europe, Africa, and the Americas, building especially strong followings in the U.K., Scandinavia, and Africa. They had U.K. Top 40 hits with ‘No Woman No Cry’ (1975), ‘Exodus’ (1977), ‘Waiting in Vain’ (1977), and ‘Satisfy My Soul’ (1978).
In 1976, Marley was shot by gunmen during the Jamaican election campaign, but survived and continued to soar in popularity until his 1981 death due to brain, lung and stomach cancer. In 1987, both Peter Tosh and longtime Marley drummer Carlton Barrett were murdered in Jamaica during separate incidents. Rita Marley continues to tour, record, and run the Tuff Gong studios and record company.
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Can’t Hold Us ft Ray Dalton
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, a duo from Seattle, Washington, have emerged as a premier national hip-hop group known for their electrifying live shows, expertly crafted music, and innovative music videos and media.
After years of building momentum with impassioned support from their devoted fan base, 2012 has been a banner year for the group, kicked off by Macklemore’s feature in XXL’s Freshman Class. Most recently, they have broken new ground by independently releasing their debut full-length album, The Heist, which shot into the #1 spot on iTunes and debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts without the support of a traditional record label.
Their single “Thrift Shop” has top 40 on the Billboard Top 100 chart and is still climbing, with a wildly popular music video (20 million+ views on YouTube) on heavy rotation on BET and MTV2. “Same Love,” a song and video in support of marriage equality, galvanized young fans and voters and led to a live studio performance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
While on their 70-city, completely sold-out world tour supporting The Heist, they have garnered attention in Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, TIME and GQ, with live performances on VH1 and an upcoming feature on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
Please Contact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
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Havana Brown always planned on being a singer – it’s just becoming a world-famous DJ kind of got in the way.
The Melbourne glamour has just released her sizzling debut single ‘We Run The Night’, but she first started singing at the modest age of six. Admittedly though, her ‘performances’ back then were a little different…
“I’d put together shows at family dinners and drag along my poor cousins, who didn’t know how to dance or sing. I don’t know how entertained everyone was,” Brown recalls with a laugh. “I was really into R&B, like Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and Bobby Brown.”
After countless years of singing lessons, performing in dance troupes and cheerleading for her hometown Aussie Rules and basketball teams, Brown got serious about making her own music right after leaving high school.
She started working with Panos Liassi, a Melbourne-based London DJ/producer and one half of R&B/reggae partystarters, Supafly Inc. Such was their musical connection, she ended up following him to the UK to form a Fugees-style group called Fishbowl with two other members. They got signed to the Polydor UK label almost instantly, but sadly, in-fighting saw the act split before they even got to release a single.
“When I look back, it was a pretty dark time,” says Brown. “Getting signed is a big deal for a new artist. You think, woah, this is it! But it wasn’t…”
Like anyone suffering a break up, Brown threw herself into the party scene and one night, she had a dancefloor epiphany of her own: the DJ had the best job in the room and she wanted in.
After learning the basics from Panos, she scraped together enough money from her four-quid-an-hour job to buy her first pair of decks and started hitting up bars with her demo.
Her persistence finally paid off when she scored her first residency at London’s exclusive Kabaret nightclub. “I told the promoters I’d play my first gig for free and they could throw me off after the first song. I don’t think they even thought I’d turn up the next night. When I did, they were like ‘oh, you were serious?’ I ended up playing for an hour and they loved it.”
Arriving back in Australia at the end of 2006, Brown – in her own words – “worked her little tush off” to keep her DJ dream alive. After working the club circuit, she became the first female DJ in Australia to sign a major label record deal with Universal Music in 2008, released her first mix CD, Crave, and topped the year off opening for the Pussycat Dolls on their promo tour.
The Dolls’ management were so impressed with her DJ-with-dancers show, they asked her back for their full tour in 2009. And as word spread, Brown found herself supporting the cream of the pop crop, including Rihanna, Chris Brown, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, with the latter inviting her on her European tour a year later.
Since then, Brown’s star has only gotten brighter. These days, she boasts weekly radio mixup shows in Australia and abroad (on the popular Radio FG France dance network), has sold over 150,000 copies of her Crave series (now up to Volume 5) and played events as dazzling and diverse as the official Grammy’s After Party and the Singapore F1 Grand Prix alongside Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas. Along the way, she’s also clocked up more than 100,000 loyal Facebook fans.
Now, twenty years since that first giddy singing lesson, she’s ready to retake the mic and launch that long-overdue singing career. And she’s not afraid to say she’s a little bit nervous…
“It’s exciting, nerve-wracking and intimidating all at the same time,” she says. “I’ve been working on this for a while and I didn’t want to release anything until I was completely satisfied with it. I can’t wait for people to hear this song.”
Written and produced by dance duo More Mega, first single ‘We Run The Night’ is the perfect introduction to the talents and tastes of Havana Brown. A certified dancefloor detonator, the song’s as epic as it is euphoric with an insanely infectious breakdown that’s guaranteed to throw the crowd into overdrive.
“It’s created for both the clubs and the radio,” she reveals. “That was really important for me and it was very difficult to pull off. As for the track, it’s about how music makes me feel.”
Brown says her vast experience as a DJ playing other people’s tunes has also had a huge impact on how she approaches her own.
“In the past, I wasn’t quite sure what type of artist I want to be. But now, after DJing and Fishbowl falling apart, which has been a blessing in disguise, now I’m very confident about what I want.”
At the same time, she realises that some people can be just as dismissive of female pop singers as they are of female DJs. But that, she says, only motivates her more.
“It actually drives me more when people say bad things,” she confesses. “It doesn’t make me angry, it’s more ‘I’m just going to annoy you even more by going out there even harder.’”
“I know I’m putting myself out there in a different way,” she adds. “Originally I was behind the console playing other people’s music but now I’m up front performing my own. I’m revealing myself – it’s like being naked.”
So far, Havana’s career as a jet-setting DJ has been nothing short of dazzling, but now she’s ready to shine in a whole new light. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Havana Brown the artist.
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
Havana Brown always planned on being a singer – it’s just becoming a world-famous DJ kind of got in the way.
The Melbourne glamour has just released her sizzling debut single ‘We Run The Night’, but she first started singing at the modest age of six. Admittedly though, her ‘performances’ back then were a little different…
“I’d put together shows at family dinners and drag along my poor cousins, who didn’t know how to dance or sing. I don’t know how entertained everyone was,” Brown recalls with a laugh. “I was really into R&B, like Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and Bobby Brown.”
After countless years of singing lessons, performing in dance troupes and cheerleading for her hometown Aussie Rules and basketball teams, Brown got serious about making her own music right after leaving high school.
She started working with Panos Liassi, a Melbourne-based London DJ/producer and one half of R&B/reggae partystarters, Supafly Inc. Such was their musical connection, she ended up following him to the UK to form a Fugees-style group called Fishbowl with two other members. They got signed to the Polydor UK label almost instantly, but sadly, in-fighting saw the act split before they even got to release a single.
“When I look back, it was a pretty dark time,” says Brown. “Getting signed is a big deal for a new artist. You think, woah, this is it! But it wasn’t…”
Like anyone suffering a break up, Brown threw herself into the party scene and one night, she had a dancefloor epiphany of her own: the DJ had the best job in the room and she wanted in.
After learning the basics from Panos, she scraped together enough money from her four-quid-an-hour job to buy her first pair of decks and started hitting up bars with her demo.
Her persistence finally paid off when she scored her first residency at London’s exclusive Kabaret nightclub. “I told the promoters I’d play my first gig for free and they could throw me off after the first song. I don’t think they even thought I’d turn up the next night. When I did, they were like ‘oh, you were serious?’ I ended up playing for an hour and they loved it.”
Arriving back in Australia at the end of 2006, Brown – in her own words – “worked her little tush off” to keep her DJ dream alive. After working the club circuit, she became the first female DJ in Australia to sign a major label record deal with Universal Music in 2008, released her first mix CD, Crave, and topped the year off opening for the Pussycat Dolls on their promo tour.
The Dolls’ management were so impressed with her DJ-with-dancers show, they asked her back for their full tour in 2009. And as word spread, Brown found herself supporting the cream of the pop crop, including Rihanna, Chris Brown, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, with the latter inviting her on her European tour a year later.
Since then, Brown’s star has only gotten brighter. These days, she boasts weekly radio mixup shows in Australia and abroad (on the popular Radio FG France dance network), has sold over 150,000 copies of her Crave series (now up to Volume 5) and played events as dazzling and diverse as the official Grammy’s After Party and the Singapore F1 Grand Prix alongside Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas. Along the way, she’s also clocked up more than 100,000 loyal Facebook fans.
Now, twenty years since that first giddy singing lesson, she’s ready to retake the mic and launch that long-overdue singing career. And she’s not afraid to say she’s a little bit nervous…
“It’s exciting, nerve-wracking and intimidating all at the same time,” she says. “I’ve been working on this for a while and I didn’t want to release anything until I was completely satisfied with it. I can’t wait for people to hear this song.”
Written and produced by dance duo More Mega, first single ‘We Run The Night’ is the perfect introduction to the talents and tastes of Havana Brown. A certified dancefloor detonator, the song’s as epic as it is euphoric with an insanely infectious breakdown that’s guaranteed to throw the crowd into overdrive.
“It’s created for both the clubs and the radio,” she reveals. “That was really important for me and it was very difficult to pull off. As for the track, it’s about how music makes me feel.”
Brown says her vast experience as a DJ playing other people’s tunes has also had a huge impact on how she approaches her own.
“In the past, I wasn’t quite sure what type of artist I want to be. But now, after DJing and Fishbowl falling apart, which has been a blessing in disguise, now I’m very confident about what I want.”
At the same time, she realises that some people can be just as dismissive of female pop singers as they are of female DJs. But that, she says, only motivates her more.
“It actually drives me more when people say bad things,” she confesses. “It doesn’t make me angry, it’s more ‘I’m just going to annoy you even more by going out there even harder.’”
“I know I’m putting myself out there in a different way,” she adds. “Originally I was behind the console playing other people’s music but now I’m up front performing my own. I’m revealing myself – it’s like being naked.”
So far, Havana’s career as a jet-setting DJ has been nothing short of dazzling, but now she’s ready to shine in a whole new light. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Havana Brown the artist.
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
Havana Brown always planned on being a singer – it’s just becoming a world-famous DJ kind of got in the way.
The Melbourne glamour has just released her sizzling debut single ‘We Run The Night’, but she first started singing at the modest age of six. Admittedly though, her ‘performances’ back then were a little different…
“I’d put together shows at family dinners and drag along my poor cousins, who didn’t know how to dance or sing. I don’t know how entertained everyone was,” Brown recalls with a laugh. “I was really into R&B, like Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and Bobby Brown.”
After countless years of singing lessons, performing in dance troupes and cheerleading for her hometown Aussie Rules and basketball teams, Brown got serious about making her own music right after leaving high school.
She started working with Panos Liassi, a Melbourne-based London DJ/producer and one half of R&B/reggae partystarters, Supafly Inc. Such was their musical connection, she ended up following him to the UK to form a Fugees-style group called Fishbowl with two other members. They got signed to the Polydor UK label almost instantly, but sadly, in-fighting saw the act split before they even got to release a single.
“When I look back, it was a pretty dark time,” says Brown. “Getting signed is a big deal for a new artist. You think, woah, this is it! But it wasn’t…”
Like anyone suffering a break up, Brown threw herself into the party scene and one night, she had a dancefloor epiphany of her own: the DJ had the best job in the room and she wanted in.
After learning the basics from Panos, she scraped together enough money from her four-quid-an-hour job to buy her first pair of decks and started hitting up bars with her demo.
Her persistence finally paid off when she scored her first residency at London’s exclusive Kabaret nightclub. “I told the promoters I’d play my first gig for free and they could throw me off after the first song. I don’t think they even thought I’d turn up the next night. When I did, they were like ‘oh, you were serious?’ I ended up playing for an hour and they loved it.”
Arriving back in Australia at the end of 2006, Brown – in her own words – “worked her little tush off” to keep her DJ dream alive. After working the club circuit, she became the first female DJ in Australia to sign a major label record deal with Universal Music in 2008, released her first mix CD, Crave, and topped the year off opening for the Pussycat Dolls on their promo tour.
The Dolls’ management were so impressed with her DJ-with-dancers show, they asked her back for their full tour in 2009. And as word spread, Brown found herself supporting the cream of the pop crop, including Rihanna, Chris Brown, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, with the latter inviting her on her European tour a year later.
Since then, Brown’s star has only gotten brighter. These days, she boasts weekly radio mixup shows in Australia and abroad (on the popular Radio FG France dance network), has sold over 150,000 copies of her Crave series (now up to Volume 5) and played events as dazzling and diverse as the official Grammy’s After Party and the Singapore F1 Grand Prix alongside Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas. Along the way, she’s also clocked up more than 100,000 loyal Facebook fans.
Now, twenty years since that first giddy singing lesson, she’s ready to retake the mic and launch that long-overdue singing career. And she’s not afraid to say she’s a little bit nervous…
“It’s exciting, nerve-wracking and intimidating all at the same time,” she says. “I’ve been working on this for a while and I didn’t want to release anything until I was completely satisfied with it. I can’t wait for people to hear this song.”
Written and produced by dance duo More Mega, first single ‘We Run The Night’ is the perfect introduction to the talents and tastes of Havana Brown. A certified dancefloor detonator, the song’s as epic as it is euphoric with an insanely infectious breakdown that’s guaranteed to throw the crowd into overdrive.
“It’s created for both the clubs and the radio,” she reveals. “That was really important for me and it was very difficult to pull off. As for the track, it’s about how music makes me feel.”
Brown says her vast experience as a DJ playing other people’s tunes has also had a huge impact on how she approaches her own.
“In the past, I wasn’t quite sure what type of artist I want to be. But now, after DJing and Fishbowl falling apart, which has been a blessing in disguise, now I’m very confident about what I want.”
At the same time, she realises that some people can be just as dismissive of female pop singers as they are of female DJs. But that, she says, only motivates her more.
“It actually drives me more when people say bad things,” she confesses. “It doesn’t make me angry, it’s more ‘I’m just going to annoy you even more by going out there even harder.’”
“I know I’m putting myself out there in a different way,” she adds. “Originally I was behind the console playing other people’s music but now I’m up front performing my own. I’m revealing myself – it’s like being naked.”
So far, Havana’s career as a jet-setting DJ has been nothing short of dazzling, but now she’s ready to shine in a whole new light. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Havana Brown the artist.
Got a request? Want a song dedicated to you? PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it. Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
France’s David Guetta belongs to the sparkling wave of DJs who combine Daft Punk’s sleek house music with a pinch of electroclash’s punch. Guetta had been DJ’ing around France playing popular tunes, but his brain was particularly rewired in 1987 when he heard a Farley Jackmaster Funk track on French radio. He taped the track, brought a copy to a gig, and promptly cleared the floor with it during one of his own sets. Things loosened up a year later when acid house came to France and Guetta successfully promoted his own club nights. It was during one of those nights in 1992 that he met Robert Owens, a Chicago-based house legend who was touring across Europe at the time. Guetta played Owens some of his own tracks, and Owens picked one he liked enough to sing over. The result was “Up and Away,” a minor hit that lurked in garage DJ crates for the next four years.
Guetta’s carefree attitude — that he only produces good music while he’s having casual fun — kept the DJ from releasing anything until 2001’s “Just a Little More Love.” The track featured American gospel singer Chris Willis, who met Guetta while on vacation in France. Another slow burner, “Just a Little More Love,” kept popping up in sets for the next two years, first in an electro version and later in a pumped-up Wally Lopez remix. During this time, Guetta snuck out a bootleg remix of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” retitled “Just for One Day.” Bowie gave the go-ahead to release the track officially, and Guetta soon had a massive hit on his hands. Guetta featured the liberated boot on his first mix CD, Fuck Me I’m Famous, named after Guetta’s successful Ibiza-based party.
The fun-loving slacker DJ finally got around to releasing a collection of his own productions in 2004, Just a Little More Love on Astralwerks. Guetta Blaster arrived that same year, followed by Poplife in 2007. Chris Willis sang lead vocals on the latter album, which spun off multiple dance singles in multiple countries. Fuck Me I’m Famous: International, Vol. 2 was then released in July 2008, giving listeners a taste of the stylish sounds that orchestrated Guetta’s summer club events in Ibiza. A year later he released One Love, a platinum-selling album featuring the singles “When Love Takes Over” with Kelly Rowland, “Sexy Bitch” with Akon, and “Gettin’ Over” with Chris Willis.
In 2010 Guetta received five nominations at the 52nd Grammy Awards, two of them related to the One Love album and the other three for his work on the Black Eyed Peas’ massive worldwide hit “I Gotta Feeling.” That same year, One Love was reissued as One More Love, featuring a bonus disc of remixes and new tracks. A superstar guest list — featuring Akon, Lil Wayne, Flo Rida, Usher, Chris Brown, and others — would figure into his 2011 release Nothing But the Beat, but this time the DJ’s songwriting was inspired by dramatic rock bands like Coldplay. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi.
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
France’s David Guetta belongs to the sparkling wave of DJs who combine Daft Punk’s sleek house music with a pinch of electroclash’s punch. Guetta had been DJ’ing around France playing popular tunes, but his brain was particularly rewired in 1987 when he heard a Farley Jackmaster Funk track on French radio. He taped the track, brought a copy to a gig, and promptly cleared the floor with it during one of his own sets. Things loosened up a year later when acid house came to France and Guetta successfully promoted his own club nights. It was during one of those nights in 1992 that he met Robert Owens, a Chicago-based house legend who was touring across Europe at the time. Guetta played Owens some of his own tracks, and Owens picked one he liked enough to sing over. The result was “Up and Away,” a minor hit that lurked in garage DJ crates for the next four years.
Guetta’s carefree attitude — that he only produces good music while he’s having casual fun — kept the DJ from releasing anything until 2001’s “Just a Little More Love.” The track featured American gospel singer Chris Willis, who met Guetta while on vacation in France. Another slow burner, “Just a Little More Love,” kept popping up in sets for the next two years, first in an electro version and later in a pumped-up Wally Lopez remix. During this time, Guetta snuck out a bootleg remix of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” retitled “Just for One Day.” Bowie gave the go-ahead to release the track officially, and Guetta soon had a massive hit on his hands. Guetta featured the liberated boot on his first mix CD, Fuck Me I’m Famous, named after Guetta’s successful Ibiza-based party.
The fun-loving slacker DJ finally got around to releasing a collection of his own productions in 2004, Just a Little More Love on Astralwerks. Guetta Blaster arrived that same year, followed by Poplife in 2007. Chris Willis sang lead vocals on the latter album, which spun off multiple dance singles in multiple countries. Fuck Me I’m Famous: International, Vol. 2 was then released in July 2008, giving listeners a taste of the stylish sounds that orchestrated Guetta’s summer club events in Ibiza. A year later he released One Love, a platinum-selling album featuring the singles “When Love Takes Over” with Kelly Rowland, “Sexy Bitch” with Akon, and “Gettin’ Over” with Chris Willis.
In 2010 Guetta received five nominations at the 52nd Grammy Awards, two of them related to the One Love album and the other three for his work on the Black Eyed Peas’ massive worldwide hit “I Gotta Feeling.” That same year, One Love was reissued as One More Love, featuring a bonus disc of remixes and new tracks. A superstar guest list — featuring Akon, Lil Wayne, Flo Rida, Usher, Chris Brown, and others — would figure into his 2011 release Nothing But the Beat, but this time the DJ’s songwriting was inspired by dramatic rock bands like Coldplay. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi.
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
Little Bad Girl – David Guetta ft.Taio Cruz, Ludacris
France’s David Guetta belongs to the sparkling wave of DJs who combine Daft Punk’s sleek house music with a pinch of electroclash’s punch. Guetta had been DJ’ing around France playing popular tunes, but his brain was particularly rewired in 1987 when he heard a Farley Jackmaster Funk track on French radio. He taped the track, brought a copy to a gig, and promptly cleared the floor with it during one of his own sets. Things loosened up a year later when acid house came to France and Guetta successfully promoted his own club nights. It was during one of those nights in 1992 that he met Robert Owens, a Chicago-based house legend who was touring across Europe at the time. Guetta played Owens some of his own tracks, and Owens picked one he liked enough to sing over. The result was “Up and Away,” a minor hit that lurked in garage DJ crates for the next four years.
Guetta’s carefree attitude — that he only produces good music while he’s having casual fun — kept the DJ from releasing anything until 2001’s “Just a Little More Love.” The track featured American gospel singer Chris Willis, who met Guetta while on vacation in France. Another slow burner, “Just a Little More Love,” kept popping up in sets for the next two years, first in an electro version and later in a pumped-up Wally Lopez remix. During this time, Guetta snuck out a bootleg remix of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” retitled “Just for One Day.” Bowie gave the go-ahead to release the track officially, and Guetta soon had a massive hit on his hands. Guetta featured the liberated boot on his first mix CD, Fuck Me I’m Famous, named after Guetta’s successful Ibiza-based party.
The fun-loving slacker DJ finally got around to releasing a collection of his own productions in 2004, Just a Little More Love on Astralwerks. Guetta Blaster arrived that same year, followed by Poplife in 2007. Chris Willis sang lead vocals on the latter album, which spun off multiple dance singles in multiple countries. Fuck Me I’m Famous: International, Vol. 2 was then released in July 2008, giving listeners a taste of the stylish sounds that orchestrated Guetta’s summer club events in Ibiza. A year later he released One Love, a platinum-selling album featuring the singles “When Love Takes Over” with Kelly Rowland, “Sexy Bitch” with Akon, and “Gettin’ Over” with Chris Willis.
In 2010 Guetta received five nominations at the 52nd Grammy Awards, two of them related to the One Love album and the other three for his work on the Black Eyed Peas’ massive worldwide hit “I Gotta Feeling.” That same year, One Love was reissued as One More Love, featuring a bonus disc of remixes and new tracks. A superstar guest list — featuring Akon, Lil Wayne, Flo Rida, Usher, Chris Brown, and others — would figure into his 2011 release Nothing But the Beat, but this time the DJ’s songwriting was inspired by dramatic rock bands like Coldplay. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi.
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
France’s David Guetta belongs to the sparkling wave of DJs who combine Daft Punk’s sleek house music with a pinch of electroclash’s punch. Guetta had been DJ’ing around France playing popular tunes, but his brain was particularly rewired in 1987 when he heard a Farley Jackmaster Funk track on French radio. He taped the track, brought a copy to a gig, and promptly cleared the floor with it during one of his own sets. Things loosened up a year later when acid house came to France and Guetta successfully promoted his own club nights. It was during one of those nights in 1992 that he met Robert Owens, a Chicago-based house legend who was touring across Europe at the time. Guetta played Owens some of his own tracks, and Owens picked one he liked enough to sing over. The result was “Up and Away,” a minor hit that lurked in garage DJ crates for the next four years.
Guetta’s carefree attitude — that he only produces good music while he’s having casual fun — kept the DJ from releasing anything until 2001’s “Just a Little More Love.” The track featured American gospel singer Chris Willis, who met Guetta while on vacation in France. Another slow burner, “Just a Little More Love,” kept popping up in sets for the next two years, first in an electro version and later in a pumped-up Wally Lopez remix. During this time, Guetta snuck out a bootleg remix of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” retitled “Just for One Day.” Bowie gave the go-ahead to release the track officially, and Guetta soon had a massive hit on his hands. Guetta featured the liberated boot on his first mix CD, Fuck Me I’m Famous, named after Guetta’s successful Ibiza-based party.
The fun-loving slacker DJ finally got around to releasing a collection of his own productions in 2004, Just a Little More Love on Astralwerks. Guetta Blaster arrived that same year, followed by Poplife in 2007. Chris Willis sang lead vocals on the latter album, which spun off multiple dance singles in multiple countries. Fuck Me I’m Famous: International, Vol. 2 was then released in July 2008, giving listeners a taste of the stylish sounds that orchestrated Guetta’s summer club events in Ibiza. A year later he released One Love, a platinum-selling album featuring the singles “When Love Takes Over” with Kelly Rowland, “Sexy Bitch” with Akon, and “Gettin’ Over” with Chris Willis.
In 2010 Guetta received five nominations at the 52nd Grammy Awards, two of them related to the One Love album and the other three for his work on the Black Eyed Peas’ massive worldwide hit “I Gotta Feeling.” That same year, One Love was reissued as One More Love, featuring a bonus disc of remixes and new tracks. A superstar guest list — featuring Akon, Lil Wayne, Flo Rida, Usher, Chris Brown, and others — would figure into his 2011 release Nothing But the Beat, but this time the DJ’s songwriting was inspired by dramatic rock bands like Coldplay. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi.
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For some it was a fat mayor on a zipwire or that triple-golden Saturday night in the Olympic stadium. But for others, East London’s incredible summer of 2012 began one month earlier when Hackney Weekend was struck by a storm whipped up onstage by four local boys and their band of friends.
Rudimental’s ‘Feel The Love’, had just topped the singles chart, arms were raised, bodies bounced, neck hairs sprang to attention and throats went a little lumpy as thousands of voices sang along on a grey London day on the Marshes.
Not only was this the undisputed feel-good hit of the summer, it was stamped Made In Hackney, home to three-quarters ofRudimental and still their number-one hangout and recording base. The fourth and final part, Amir Amor, came from nearby Somers Town.
Piers learnt about music playing piano in his dad’s blues and ‘60s covers band, and also as “a white kid called Darker making grime,” he laughs. Amir was making garage beats in a Camden community studio and collaborating with Plan B (as Analog Kid), but also playing bass in “post-hardcore” rock bands as a side line. Kesi got the bug after picking up guitar aged six and was making hip hop beats in his teens, while Leon was spending his pocket money on grime 12-inches, dj’ing with Piers on pirate stations and scratching up his mum’s Anita Baker albums.
He, Kesi and Piers have been together as Rudimental since late 2007, making music reflective of London’s eye-wateringly diverse street scene. But it was 2011’s low-slung, ‘Deep In The Valley’, that was, in Piers’ words, “the first time Rudimental started to sound like Rudimental”. With the arrival of Amir, everything suddenly gelled.
“When we first came together it was like it was meant to be,” he says. “It was like he’d been there all our lives,” concurs Piers.
Rudimental’s work is all hand-crafted, singer and producers in the studio together working on the song, whether it’s emerging talents, such as MNEK, who appears on the incredible ‘Spoons’, or 2012’s superstar Emeli Sandé, co-writer and singer on ‘Yeah’ and ‘Free’.
“Emeli lives in Hackney and she came to our gig when we supported Maverick Sabre. She came down to the studio a few days later and we had a lovely idea on Free. When she came in and worked on it we were so excited,” says Piers. “It was such a simple kick drum and guitar and me going ‘oh oh oh’,” adds Amir. “She heard it and started making up words, singing, putting it together.”
“The beauty of it is that we’re still in the same studio using the same crappy equipment,” says Amir. “The process hasn’t really changed. All the artists on this record are people we’ve worked with before in some capacity. We met John Newman in a pub and ‘Feel The Love’ just fit nicely with his voice so we put him on there.”
Like Soul II Soul, Massive Attack or Basement Jaxx before them, Rudimental are a front person less dance act with a strong supporting nucleus. “Not to say we have a circle we’ve created and no one can access it,” says Leon. “What we’re creating on this album is a family vibe. People like Mark Crown, who follows us everywhere, Sinead, Syron [who also sings on Spoons and the beautiful title track], MNEK are all family we can just call on.”
Family, community and indeed home are themes that are stamped on Rudimental as surely as rollicking rave tunes and a sense of adventure. They’ve all benefited from community music studios, learning their trade on cheap equipment and picking up pro tips, while Leon and Kesi have both had mentoring roles in schools. And this sense of music as a healthy distraction from the inner city’s less productive pastimes informs everything they do. Think of the award-winning ‘Feel The Love’ video, which is shot in Philadelphia’s Fletcher Street project that gives disadvantaged kids the opportunity to ride and take care of horses against the bleak backdrop of North Philadelphia. Or for ‘Not Giving In’, which uses the tale of a Filipino break dancer to illustrate art’s power to transform lives.
Amir says, “The sad thing is the focus is always on the negative side of youth. In our videos we show the positive side.” Leon adds, “Where we came from there was negative things all the time – drugs, violence. Music was a means of escape. Fortunately I had a parent who funded and supported that. A lot of the people didn’t have that. We consider ourselves real people, we’ve been around real things.”
And it was music (alongside football – Leon played semi-pro until Rudimental took off) and the wider sense of musicality that proved their outlet. “There was definitely a moment when I was all about riding Dizzee Rascal for about two years,” says Piers. “But at the same time I’d go and do a pirate set with loads of really aggressive MCs, get really into it, testosterone all over the place, then I’d go home and sit down with my dad and play blues. At school I used to hide my iPod ‘cos it was full of blues and jazz.”
“We’ve all gone through so many phases,” adds Kesi. “The unifying thing is raving and soul music. Blues and jazz and guitar music and house and hip hop all come together. We really love soulful vocals and sing-a-long parties.”
That sense of playfulness, of variety, of ‘what are they gonna do next?’ is what makes Home such a stunningly rich, constantly surprising album. It’s something reflected in their live shows, where they play as a 12-piece band (Piers admits he’d like to go even bigger), including Piers on organ and synths, Amir on bass, keys and guitar, Kesi on keys and percussion and Leon on “MPCs, shouting and getting my top off”.
‘Feel The Love’, of course, wasn’t just a one-week wonder in Hackney. After hitting the top spot, it spent months in the UK top 10, then toured the charts of Europe and went triple platinum in Australia. It also took four mid-20s lads from Hackney and Camden and gave them a new lease of life. Says Leon, “We always go on about Hackney Weekender, but it’s given us the licence to show we’re not just a drum ‘n’ bass track, we can do a soul tune or an Angel Haze track at 119 bpm.”
Dropping ahead of the album, the new Ella Eyre vocalled single ‘Waiting All Night’ went straight in at no.1 in the UK singles chart, selling more in its first week than any other track this year so far.
The summer was packed full of festival appearances including Glastonbury, T In The Park, Global Gathering, Bestival and more. The band have also just completed their sold-out autumn headline tour, and will return for another tour in Feb /Mar 2014, including 3 sold-out dates at London’s Brixton Academy.
As you’ll discover on their debut album – HOME, there’s not much they can’t do.
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