Inside Nokia Music

Having just featured a little piece on X factor, I thought I share some, um… thoughts

So I’m not a fan of X factor in the grand scheme of things but I’ll admit I do indulge in the audition phase for the sole purpose of observing the psychological behaviour of the competition hopefuls, and for the opportunity to see the overly confident yet completely delusional have their dreams come crashing back down to Earth, a little sinister I know, but it makes for great television.

Beyond this, I do also enjoy trying to pick the winner in the early stages of the game based on the group or individuals presence and personality, and to be fair, of all the seasons gone by, these have been easy choices straight of the bat, as a bit of clever video editing and focus on individuals tends to subconsciously influence us all.

Now considering X Factor, of all the winners to date there’s an obvious recurring theme, Steve Brookstein, Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson, Alexandra Burke, Joe McElderry, of which only 1 has managed a successful career (the jury’s still out on the last 2). For the most part this could be attributed to the lack of nurturing beyond the show buck stop, but I believe there’s more to it than that…

What ever happened to good old fashioned stage names for solo performers?… nothing, anyone smart enough is still using them, Lady Gaga… Stefani Germanotta couldn’t break into the industry until she invented a suprficial character, one that I’m still convinced she’ll kill-off to reveal herself as the performer she’s always wanted to be. Or how about Rihanna… as talented as she is, I doubt she’d have had the success she’s enjoyed if she was performing as Robyn Fenty, there’s power and influence in a name, I know this, you know this, the industry knows this, and even Homer Simpson knew this when he changed his name to Max Power, so why, year after year do they churn out the same formulaic photo shoot (you know, the one in the tunnel with the extraction fan in the background) and with the name/surname format? It’s almost as if it’s only about the viewers recognising the X Factor brand… but then I guess maybe the contestants are to blame for not bringing any originality to the show, perhaps they need to start bringing a name rather than just playing desperate putty for the molding.

Steve Brookstein, Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson, Alexandra Burke, and Joe McElderry, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga are all available to download from the Nokia Music Store and are completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.

Let me drop a little news on you: the Inside Nokia Music blog is growing. I’m Mike, the first of a new bunch of chancers who’ll be joining Gaz here, regaling you with musical anecdotes, factoids and opinions. This is actually my third post – I’m the guy writing about Mary-Louise Parker and Muppets rather than Rihanna, and I’m going to keep that run going here. Just.

Because it turns out that among the big-name guest stars (and with nary a J, Z, or Y to be seen in his name) playing at she-who-will-not-be-named’s album launch last week was Nuno Bettencourt, guitarist extraordinaire and member of Extreme. Turns out he’s going to be Rihanna’s lead guitarist on her world tour, which is only the latest in the series of bands, guest spots and solo projects that Nuno’s been involved with.

While Extreme was part of this last year’s band-reformation craze (and the only one I was genuinely excited about), Nuno’s Population 1 album (2002) marks his creative high-point. A deft mix of musical styles, incorporating everything from electronica to metal to irreverent pop, he wrote and performed the entire thing pretty much on his own. Joined by Kevin Figueiredo (drums), Joe Pessia (bass) and Steve Ferlazzo (keyboards) for live shows, the four would release a 5-track EP Sessions From Room 4 in 2004 and performed here on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson:

A year later Population 1 became Dramagods, releasing just one album titled Love, in 2005. The release received relatively little interest outside the Far East, but Nuno’s always retained an enthusiastic fanbase in Europe eager for anything he’s involved with. The Rated R tour will, I suspect, have to sustain most of them until Extreme hit the road again, hopefully some time in 2010.

- Mike

Wow!… is all I can really say about last nights Nokia presented Rated R launch party as the show kicked off with the rousing Mad House intro segueing into the first ever live performance of the so-very-fitting Wait Your Turn as “The wait is ova, The wait is ova” blared through the house PA in what could easily be some of the best live sound production I’ve ever heard.

There has been some uncertainty from fans over Rated R first single Russian Roulette but it becomes apparently clear that this is indeed not the case for the select few thousand super-fans in the audience tonight as the song performed live does nothing short of raising the roof. I’ve said it before and I’l say it again… Russian Roulette’s chorus is an epic soarer, and this live performance is testament to it.

One of the things that struck me immediately is that the sound is heavy, particularly on the Young Jeezy featured Hard, a song that I just can’t stop talking about since the show and probably won’t for a long time to come.

Saying that though, I’m sure most will be talking about Jay-Z joining Rihanna for a performance of Run This Town and save-the-best-for-last show-closer Umbrella. As a huge fan of the studio recording’s drum loop sample, I was particularly moved by the live drum interpretation as it brought an element of the new sound beautifully to this incredible classic. Frustratingly, with exceptional research skills, I just spent about an 45min looking for the tour drummer’s name but came up with nothing… Big-up to you my man, you were world-class!

All-in-all I feel truly honored to have been a part of this amazing event with Rihanna back and sounding better than ever!

Relive the event soon on nokia.com/rihanna with videos of Rihanna’s performance.

Wait Your Turn is exclusively available right now (selected markets only, please check) for download on the Nokia Music Store and the album Rated R (Nokia Exclusive) on 23 November which features 2 exclusive tracks Hole In My Head and Russian Roulette (Donni Hotwheel Remix)

Edit this setlist | More Rihanna setlists

Only 4 days to go till Rihanna’s Rated R album launch party in London and we’re all super-psyched about hearing some of the new songs performed live for the first time as well as some great Ri-Ri classics, personally I’m holding out for a little Unfaithful.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for a daily challenge at 2pm from now until Saturday for a chance to win tickets to this historic and highly sought after event. If you’re not lucky enough to snag a pair of tickets, fear not as you’ll still be able to catch the online live stream at nokia.com/rihanna but be sure to register soon.

Amidst the whirling dervish of celebrity lifestyle I cast my nerves aside as I roll into the Roosevelt Hotel off Hollywood Boulevard for an interview with the formidable Pop force and surprisingly tall Rihanna… this is what she had to say.

Nokia Music:
Your first 2 albums had more of a Caribbean vibe to them and Good Girl Gone Bad was more pop – Any new style changes on Rated R?



Rihanna:
Rated R in comparison to my previous albums is different, it’s very honest, the sound is darker, I didn’t want to make the same album that I did last time, everyone expected me to make a similar album but I grew up a lot in the past two years. It’s different making an album at 21 because you speak about different things.



Nokia Music:
I’ve been reading that some of the songs on Rated R have a rock influence – Is there anyone in Rock music that may have inspired this?



Rihanna:
The new album is inspired by a lot of different songs like Hip Hop, there’s a lot of Bass and there’s a lot of Rock, I listen to a lot of Prodigy and Chase and Status, we actually worked with them on a lot of the production and they helped develop the new sound and we have collaborations on there, people like Slash, who is the ultimate Rock Star and the song happens to be called Rock Star.



Nokia Music:
Are there any other exciting collaborations you can mention?

Rihanna:
Yes, we worked with Young Jeezy on a song called Hard and we also worked with Will.I.Am on one of my favourites on the record called Photographs, it’s a really really cool song.



Nokia Music:
The launch party with Nokia on the 16th November in London is expected to be the world’s largest live streaming launch party, millions of fans from Finland to Italy, New york to Rome and Helsinki to Dubai can see you perform tracks from your new album – How does this feel?



Rihanna:  
It’s a live stream world wide which means everyone can watch it at the same time all over the world, live, all at once, which is exciting, it makes me nervous because it’s not just the venue but it’s millions of people across the world watching it all at once…it’s exciting though, it’s a big thing that everyone can see it, there’s no better way to launch an album.


Nokia Music:
It’s being held in London as mentioned before – Is this city special to you in any way?



Rihanna:
London is one of my favourite cities to go to in the world, it’s where I get most of my creative energy. We made a lot of the album in London actually, we took two big trips up there and spent some time each trip just figuring out the album. The first trip is when we really figured out what we wanted to do sound wise and lyrically, the second time we came back with some hits so I hold a very special place in my heart for London and this album so it was only right that we had the launch party for the album there.



Nokia Music:
Which city boasts the best audience in the world and why?



Rihanna:  
Is this a trick question? (laughs) I love performing anywhere, just for fans anywhere and that’s the good thing about this launch party, I’m not only doing it in one city, the entire world gets to see it at the same time so all my fans don’t have to feel left out, they can see it too and be a part of it.



Nokia Music:
Do you interact with your fans a lot and are you looking forward to getting closer to them?



Rihanna:
I spend a lot of time paying attention to my fans, what they like and how they grow with me. I pay attention to their comments on a lot of things, whether it be negative or positive. I want to keep them close with me and I want them to grow with me and the only way they’ll do that naturally is if the growth for me is natural.

Nokia Music:
Your fashion sense is admired around the world – Have you found any new designers or trends you will be showcasing in your videos and live performances?


Rihanna:  
In the past few months I’ve done a lot of research in the fashion world because I wanted to work with a bunch of new designers that are kinda underground, people that aren’t the obvious and I found this guy Alexander Voltaire, his stuff is just so amazing, the colours are really beautiful and feminine but the structure is really strong, which I love.



Nokia Music:
How would you describe your own fashion style?



Rihanna:
My style is very edgy, very daring, I like to take risks, I hate to do the obvious. Style is all about creativity so I like to put things together in my own way.



Nokia Music:
Have you got a special message for your fans?



Rihanna:
I just want to thank you guys for all your support, sticking and waiting with me this entire time, but the wait is ova and just tune into nokia.com/rihanna to watch me perform live on the 16th, I can’t wait to see you guys there.

We are very excited to announce a global music partnership with Island Def Jam Music Group and Universal Music Group International to bring exclusive content to music fans around the world. The partnership will launch global superstar Rihanna’s highly anticipated fourth album Rated R with an online live streamed launch party performance from a secret London location with simultaneous listening parties happening around the globe on 16th November.

Register at www.nokia.com/rihanna soon to ensure you don’t miss out on this historic event. The event also coincides with the release of the Nokia X6 mobile phone which is also available in a ‘Comes With Music‘ edition.

Rihanna’s coming-of-age album Rated R comes to the Nokia Music Store the following week on 23rd November with exclusive cover shots, a remix and an exclusive track. Nokia ‘Comes With Music’ customers will also be able to download an exclusive Rihanna application, footage from the London live album launch in the Ovi store and in selected territories an exclusive window to the track Wait Your Turn from Rated R before it’s release.

I had the honour of interviewing Rihanna yesterday in LA.

Stay close, it will be published soon

Gaz.

… and is just begging for alliteration.

The first single from Rihanna’s 4th album Rated R premiered yesterday in the form of a soft synth pulsing ballad co-written and produced by R&B gentleman Ne-Yo.

Russian Roulette begins with a rather odd sustaining guitar effect that sounds as if we’re listening to an eighties hair-metal band, thankfully the heartbeat-like groove kicks and relieves this momentary apprehension. Russian Roulette is an absolute stunner and if anything to go by, is a sure sign that we’re in for something special when the wait is finally ova.

Rihanna back-catalogue is available to download from the Nokia Music Store