Alors On Danse by Stromae

The latest hit making waves across European charts is Alors On Danse (So We Dance) by Belgian-Rwandan rapper Stromae.

While it has already reached No.1 in eleven European countries, Stromae’s depressing yet unique music video for Alors On Danse has picked up over 13 million views on YouTube.

‘Its blend of French flow, trance stabs, ravey sax and la-la-la vocals offer no less than four melodies perfect for drunken chanting…so it’s going to be massive. And yet, it’s about the awfulness of existence.’ Guardian.co.uk

Written and produced by Stromae himself at home on his computer with a desktop mic, Alors On Danse is currently climbing the UK iTunes chart so check it out below if you haven’t already! Kanye West features on the Alors On Danse Remix and you can listen to that here (right-click, save link as).

With roots stemming from French Hip Hop and also as a MC and producer, Stromae looks set to continue ’stormae-ing’ further across the globe with his blend of hip hop and electronic music.

The track’s UK release is on 6th September .

Lyrics English translation

‘So we dance,
Who says study says work,
Who says work says cash,
Who says money says spend,
Who says credit says debt
Who says debt says bailiff
Who says ‘you’re in the shit’,
Who says love says kids,
Said always and said divorce,
Who says relatives says mourning,
Because problems come in pairs
Who says crisis says ‘world’,
Says famine says Third World,
Who says exhaustion says wake up,
Still deaf from last night,
So we go out to forget all our problems,
So we dance.
Then you tell yourself that it’s over,
Because the only thing worse than this would be death,
When you finally think you’ve found a way out and there’s nothing left,
There’s more to come,
It’s the music or the problems,
Problems or the music,
It sends you tripping, does your head in,
And then you pray for it to stop,
But it’s your body, it’s not God,
So you don’t block your ears anymore,
And then you scream even louder but it goes on,
And so you sing…
And then only when it’s over
We dance’

www.stromae.net/blog

Nathan Watson

Nathan Watson is a real talent. He’s young, good-looking and he turned the corner just at the right time. His songs are refreshing and clear and once you’ve heard them you’ll know he’s lived every word. Nathan Watson… a name to watch out for.

A pure slice of soul/funk, “Reach Out (You’ve Got A Friend)” is the first release from the soul hipster. Out on the Strawberry Moon label on September 20^th it’s downloadable from Itunes, HMV, Amazon and all good music sites.

Taken from the forthcoming album “Student Of Life”  the new single shows exactly why this boy from Stevenage is being hailed as having a great musical future.

But it wasn’t always so. The odds looked pretty well stacked against Nathan succeeding at anything… from falling from three stories as a child, to being hit round the head with a lump of wood, to being involved in a 70mph car crash, he’s lucky to still be around.

Then later, hanging with the wrong crowd, getting into trouble. Saturday Night was indeed alright for fighting….until music came to the rescue.

“Reach Out (You’ve Got A Friend)” features Nathan’s band The Sound and is the result of a collaboration with long time musician/producer Steve Salvari. Nathan would work at Steve’s studio on Saturday mornings and it was, as he says, his salvation. (You can’t make too much music in prison and that’s where Nathan was heading had it not been for the regular Saturday morning input.)

Music had always been in his blood though. He started playing at the age of six – drums, clarinet etc – and even tried the trombone but gave it up as too small. From rapping under the moniker Dragonfly he progressed to soul and was soon writing his own material including “Reach Out (You’ve Got A Friend)”.

Part of the proceeds from the new single will be going to Childline Rocks to help other kids less fortunate than himself. This self-awareness is being put to good use.

Nathan is now something of a role model. In 2009 he was awarded the Cambell-Younge Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community. Like Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton, also from Stevenage, Nathan may just be the next big thing in UK music.

He contributed to the recent Help For Heroes charity single alongside Paul McCartney, Ronnie Wood and Michael Bolton and he’s sung for the Princes Trust.

Nathan’s gigged with acclaim at the Jazz Cafe and Dingwalls as well as other venues across London and a tour of the UK is lined up for later this year. In the meantime he can be seen on September 25th and October 23rd at the Forge, Camden.

Zarif on style, X-Factor, and taking inspiration from Janelle Monae

Bringing pop back to the London scene, Zarif takes inspiration from the oldies like Prince, Stevie Wonder and the timeless edge of Michael Jackson. Here at Flavour, the 24 year old talks about getting herself into the spotlight and all things happening at the moment. Read more

‘The Tribes’ – the online dragons den

Launching next month, ‘The Tribes’ mission is to allow creative people; Artists, Musicians and designers to share their ideas and creations and turn them into a commercial reality. The concept is to bring together innovators, early adopters and investors to allow a unique opportunity for anybody to submit their ideas and gain guidance and security.

As an online version of the ‘Dragons Den’ (albeit without the judgement and yelling!), everybody’s ideas are considered and can benefit from the advice of ‘The Tribe’ community.

‘The Tribe’ will be holding regular competitions to encourage talented individuals to generate new ideas, concepts and artistic projects.

The first competition launching on the 22^nd September 2010 will be a worldwide design competition for merchandise including T-Shirts and bags. This will be a fantastic opportunity for designers, artists and creatives of all types to submit their ideas for; the first prize is an amazing £10,000!

www.thetrib-e.com

Shardinay King – love or hate?

A wannabe pop star from Essex hit the headlines recently – after her debut single was crowned the ‘worst song of 2010′. Read more

Desi Flavour 3

Hello Desi Flavour heads. Welcome to another instalment of your favourite blog of all things Desi from the UK. Two weeks really is a long time in showbiz and that’s no different in the Brit Asian scene where much has happened as July turned into August.

The mela season is now done and dusted, with London mela closing what has been an incredible two months of festival madness. The nation has once again witnessed a season of awesome Asian music during a summer which has seen more melas than ever before. London mela drew an unbelievable crowd of around 90,000 strong who watched the likes of Imran Khan, PBN, Raghav, Panjabi MC, Sonna Rele, Jaya, Shizzio, Jernade Miah and Rishi Rich with his entire crew tear up the stage. The DJ support was nothing short of a dream line up either with Westwood, Nihal, Panjabi Hit Squad, DJ Kayper, The Wideboys and even Reggie Yates stepping up to the decks. The atmosphere was electric and rounded off a memorable season of Asian music festivals in the UK.

You can relive the entire mela season on a special programme, A Summer of Melas, to be aired on the BBC Red Button for a week from Monday 16^th August.

One person who was absent from the melas this year was Jay Sean. He has a very good reason as well as he’s been promoting his brand new single 2012 in the States. The track features rap princess of the moment, Nicki Minaj and is a fun upbeat pop number, a style which Jay Sean fans are becoming accustomed to. The hook up with Young Money/Cash Money label mate Minaj makes sense and the two seem to make an unstoppable duo. The song has all the makings of another hit for the Brit Asian boy from Hounslow, who is becoming every bit the definitive global pop star. In fact the video even features Jay partying up in London, New York and Japan and keep your eyes peeled for a Spicy cameo as well! G’wan Jay.

As Jay hooks up with Nicki in the States, over in India, Brit-Bollywood Queen of hip hop Hard Kaur also has a collaboration up her sleeve. She’s hooked up with Detroit rap collective D12 and in the process returned to her more urban roots with the track Desi Dance. The single was recorded in London, Detroit and Bombay and is a somewhat experimental hip hop track with Asian influence. The video was shot in London whilst D12 were performing in the UK with Eminem. Hard Kaur explains “I’ve been so mad busy with everything that I’ve been working on in India which meant that my first love had to take a back seat. I can say that I’ve made it in India in the mainstream and could be relaxing but my music fans always give me so much love and I just had to do this for them. I wouldn’t be satisfied if I didn’t create a record for them.”

Watch for the video for Desi Dance coming real soon.

While we’re on the topic of Asian ladies in hip hop let’s talk M.I.A, who I must honestly say, I’ve not always rated. I think with M.I.A you either get it or you don’t and for a while I didn’t get her but in the last couple of years she’s blown up and is on par with Jay Sean as a massively successful British Asian export. Hats off to the girl for staying true to herself and not churning out the usual. She is quite simply one of the most unique artists of our generation.

Check out the video for her latest single XXXO

What happens when Bollywood legend Shah Rukh Khan asks 2Point9 Records’ newest signing Jernade Miah to perform for him at a private party? The answer is below. Jernade, an artist who I’m tipping too for big things, simply blows King Khan away and walks away with one of the biggest compliments he’ll ever receive as Shah Rukh labels him the ‘next big star’. Jernade’s latest single Empty Box will be dropping real soon.

Time to wrap it up for another week but I will spare my last words for two recent disasters. The first being Preeya Kalidas’ Shimmy, which after all the hype only managed a poorly no.85 in the charts. Let’s hope it’s not curtains for the talented and genuinely lovely ex-Eastender. And lastly a real world disaster which has taken place in Pakistan has united many to support the cause and it’s great to see so many artists and celebrities from all walks of life doing all they can to help the millions affected. To donate £5 to the DEC’s Pakistan floods appeal simply text ‘GIVE’ to 70707.

Words by Samir Ahmed

Urban Female Group ‘RD’

RD (aka Ruff Diamonds) are Chronz, Martika and Troy; three girls from London, ready to fill the gap left in the UK for a female urban group.

Their first single, ‘Alrite Stillll’ showcases the girls’ talents in singing and Mc-ing, fusing r&b, hip hop and dancehall influences, with a UK flava. ‘Alrite Stillll’  is set to be a summer anthem – check out the video here:

‘Alrite Stillll’ has already been hitting the airwaves and was made weekend anthem on Will Manning’s 1Xtra show earlier in the year, and the girls also recently sang live on Manny Notre’s Mixtape Show on Kiss FM:

The girls have just finished supporting N Dubz on their UK tour at Birmingham, Manchester, Reading and Leicester date.

In between touring, the girls are hard at work in the studio. The girls co-wrote  and sang on Fugative’s current single “Crush” and are busy working on their own material with producers such as Flukes (Crazy Cousins), Parker and James (Oopsy Daisy/Chipmunk) and Nocturnal (Ghetts).

www.rdofficial.com

Gyptian “Hold You”

Gyptian is currently at the forefront of Reggae music and his album is out now Read more

Terri Walker on where she has been and where she is going

It seems faces from a little way back are making their comebacks into a new world where dance music seems to proliferate. One of the faces making a welcome return is the soul singer Terri Walker. Truthfully she has been off the lime light radar for an age but this does not mean she has been lounging. On the contrary she has been behind the scenes blessing peoples’ tracks and adding that particular brand of Terri Walker flavour.

Flitting between the US and UK and picking up a couple of work friends  like; Ski Beatz (on production for her forth coming album), Estelle and one Damon Dash, Terri Walker is well on the way to a majestic return.

Download MP3 (right-click, Save As): Terri – BAK 2 BIZNISS

So Terri you have been away a long minute. I know you have been busy but what have you been up to?
Yes it has been a while that I have been away. I just felt that I needed time away and I just decided to do stuff in the background really* and through that time I got to meet Slum and Salaam Remi.

Yes Salaam Remi is a brilliant producer and I know your cousin Self Taught loves his production.
Definitely. It is funny you know because our whole family is really in the music scene? But it was funny because we all did not know that we were all in music game until a little while ago so it was kind of weird really.

So it is four years since you have been out of the music world so to speak. Has it been a period to find you, excuse the cliché?
You know what it is crazy but in a way yes I have been trying to find myself?  I had to be around my family, friends and people that are real and will tell you that you are talking rubbish.

So they helped you to come back to reality in a way?
Well I always was in a reality but there was a point where people tried to change me into this different sound. The first album [Untitled 2003] I did had Mos Def on there and then the next album I do is full of Swedish pop. At the end of the day I was young and I wanted to sing but that is how you learn you need to make mistakes.

When you are young, I expect you can be a little impressionable.
The thing is when you just want to sing, you just want people to hear your voice. I was more excited about being on stage and singing and I was not really interested in being “famous”. By the time I got to the third album [I Am 2006], however I was definitely more concerned about how I wanted to sound and what I wanted to convey in my stories and how I wanted to be seen.

So you are coming back which is great, firstly how did this connection with Ski Beatz occur because that is a big look?
People are saying that definitely. The funny thing is I was in New York with Estelle and just basically trying to meet up with the right people. During that time I actually met up with Mos Def’s manager and he told me that a couple of people wanted backing vocals and so on for people. I went down with him I ended up doing the hook on this track Aerilas 2010 by Ski Beatz that featured people like Mos Def and Stalley. After that Ski was like “you need to do more work”.

That is an amazing look. And what about Damon Dash who is it seems deeply involved with your new project.
It is definitely a big look, and the Damon hook up happened because he just happened to be in the place when I had returned to the US to do my album with Ski.

Is there a big difference working with people like Ski Beatz and Damon Dash.
I think when looking at that question, you have to remember that in America there is more of a demographic for our kind of people. That type of music [Soul/Urban] is such a niche and it is not really advertised that well. In the States, there is a big urban community. The work ethos is about get it done and out because there is a market for urban music in the United States.

That leads seamlessly really into my next question: is it too difficult for black soul artists to make it here in the UK, even stalwarts like Beverly Knight still have major difficulty and she has had to change her sound somewhat ?
Definitely, it is majorly difficult for us to make an impact because our music is really niche so to speak and to market us is particularly difficult when people try and market us in the pop world.

You were talking about Estelle who was here but did not really make a massive impact until she went to the US and blew up with collaborations with Kanye and John Legend?
Yes she did and she is doing really well. I think my music at the moment in truth is suited more to an American audience and market as opposed to the UK. It is music for people that love soul music because everyone in the UK at the moment is creating dance tracks at the moment. Do not get me wrong, I love my funky house music and I am thinking of doing a couple of remixes but there is a whole new world; there is Germany there is Japan and so there are more places than the US and the UK.

So getting onto your album standard question, what can we expect?
The album will have a hip-hop sound but with beautiful soulful melodies. It will be homage (although, it will never be the same) to Mary J’s, What’s the 411 (1992) which was a hip-hop album that was soulful and groundbreaking.

I know you featured on your cousin, Self-Taught’s track Where I Wanna Be any possibilities of you using his services on your new album?
Yes I did feature on his album so that was a pretty good look. He actually sent me some tracks and so I am writing on one of his tracks.

Well if that gets to feature on the album then that will be a big look for him. I actually heard the brilliant track Understanding which will feature on the album as I understand.
I want it to be a direct album and so tracks like Understanding are just about that there is no long drawn out thing. I am at that age where I just want to be straight forward.

So has your maturity brought about a different Terri?
(She laughs) You know that thirty-one is the new twenty one? I feel like I am at my peak where I feel I know so much and I am ready not to take any shit. I mean with my album it is about keeping things positive and knowing that we must make the best of what we have in this life.

The album has been produced out in the US so will it have a US release first?
Yes it will drop there first and get a good buzz out there before we go for promotion in the UK. It will drop early next year because I really want to get my name out there first because I have been away for so long you know. So I will be doing a lot of shows and drop one or two singles but I do not really want too many people hear too much stuff yet.

I remember checking you on Jools Holland’s show, so as you build the momentum up where are people going to be able to catch Terri?
Well hopefully on Jools Holland’s show again. When the album is done we will send it out to them and hopefully they will like it. But on the 1^st of August I will perform at Jazz Cafe and so that is going to be absolutely brilliant and I really cannot wait and then Soul D Out on the 6^th August, a few festivals so I will just be getting out there.

Words by Semper Azeez-Harris

Bashy on Beirut, Bob Marley and Bish Bash Bosh

Ashley ‘Bashy’ Thomas is not your regular MC. With Shank recently released to DVD and yet another ‘substantial’ acting role currently keeping him busy, Bashy’s plans for world domination do not stop there Read more

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