Shelly Peiken Spreads Mother’s Day Love With “Notebook” Video

You may not have heard of Shelly Peiken, but you’ve undoubtedly heard music she’s written. The songwriter has penned such hits as Christina Aguilera’s “What a Girl Wants” and “Come on Over,” Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch,” Mandy Moore’s “I Want to be With You,” Brandy’s “Almost Doesn’t Count,” and The Pretenders’ “Human.” In August, she’ll be fulfilling a lifelong dream by releasing her own album, 2.0 etc. and The third single off the album is “Notebook,” an ode to her daughter that’s arrived just in time for Mother’s Day.

The song is about a notebook that Peiken has kept since her daughter, Layla, was born, documenting all the special moments in her life. “I think that writing things down is important,” she says. “She loves the idea that that book is waiting for her and it’s hers for whenever she wants it.” In the video, Peiken shares photos of herself and her daughter, who is a supporter of her music.

Peiken started out her musical career as an artist herself, then began having more success writing songs for other people. The success didn’t come easy, though — she remembers being desperate for a big break while she was pregnant with Layla, unsure how she would support her and thinking she may have to go back to waiting tables. Thankfully, that was just when she began writing with Brooks for the singer’s 1997 breakout LP Blurring the Edges.

“It felt like we broke ground at that time,” she remembers. “There were male artists that sang songs with ‘bitch’ in them, but God forbid a woman does it. We had a lot of pushback from radio. We weren’t necessarily calling anyone a bitch; we called ourselves a word that represented a complicated woman. Now, I look back and think, it doesn’t have to be a woman. It could be a man, it could be a child. It’s just about how we are complicated beings.”

Even though she was one of few female songwriters in the business, Peiken didn’t second-guess herself. “I never thought of myself as a woman songwriter; I thought of myself as a songwriter,” she says. “If I had a remarkable song in my pocket, I was going out with it, and I was a gentle bull in a china shop, playing it for everyone who would listen until they heard it. I just walked right through with blinders on and said what I wanted to say.”

After a while, Peiken felt less and less like the songs she wanted to write lined up with what artists were looking for, so she took a break from songwriting and wrote a book, Confessions of a Serial Songwriter, whose audio version was nominated for a Grammy.

Since following her own creative pursuits had worked out for her, she decided to continue by creating an album. “This baby has been gestating inside me since the minute I wanted to make an album when I was a young girl, and now I’m giving birth to it,” she says.

“I’m not some new it girl on Spotify; that’s never going to happen,” she adds. “I don’t even check my following; I’m trying not to pay attention. But enough people email me or text me or DM me and say, ‘Gosh, I heard that song and it made me cry’ or ‘it brought me back to these wonderful memories,’ and I got these messages that make me feel like I am adding value to the lives of others. I don’t know what’s next, but that feels really right right now.”

NEWS ROUNDUP: Nas, A Sony Payout & More

 

Nas, A Sony Payout & More

By Jasmine Williams

The Internet’s Hip-Hop Hypocrisy

Last night Kanye West was involved in yet another livestream event. He produced the new Nas album, Nasir, which debuted via a listening party in Queens, New York. While many Illmatic fanboys have lit up the internet with their excitement and praise for the album, others are seeing its open-armed reception as more evidence that the #MeToo movement is having trouble gaining a foothold in an industry where some of the biggest money makers and critical darlings happen to be raging misogynists.

Wear a MAGA hat in a bi-polar frenzy and get scorned by all of the internet but hit a woman? No big deal! West has had his fair share of criticism for recent remarks and Twitter tirades but Nas has barely suffered a scratch following the April allegations of ex-wife Kelis, who claimed that the NYC legend physically and mentally abused her over the course of their four year marriage. Her accusations echo that of Nas’ ex-girflfriend, Carmen Bryan, who said that the rapper punched her in the face during their relationship.

Sony Loves You

Sony recently made $750 million from selling half of their Spotify shares and this week the industry giant pledged to share some of those profits with indie artists. Around 100,000 artists will potentially be able to take part in Sony’s new compensation program, which is outlined in a memo stating that because of the giant stakes sale Sony now has an “opportunity to pay additional compensation to all of our eligible artists and participants.”

That New New

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Christina Aguilera photographed by Luke Gilford.

Christina Aguilera’s highly anticipated new album dropped today! It’s her first album in six years and proves that the noughties superstar is no longer concerned with your concerns. As she says in the Zoe Grossman-directed album trailer, “Fuck it, this is who I am and…whoever’s not on board can suck my dick.”

Ryan Adams went from troubadour to weatherman and back again on Wednesday night when he took over Denver7’s weather report. In exchange for letting him play forecaster, (something Adams called a “longtime dream”) the singer-songwriter wrote about Denver7 and dropped a new animated music video on their channel.

Dirty Projectors also released an animated video in support of the single, “That’s A Lifestyle.”

Drake has been accused of keeping fatherhood a secret and blackface photoshoots swept under the rug but there are some parts of his past that the rapper does not shy away from. Case in point? His latest video for “I’m Upset” features a Degrassi reunion, although some are wondering, “Where’s JT?”

End Notes

~Now concluding its 176th season, the New York Philharmonic is the oldest orchestra in the country. For all of these years, they’ve had a pretty strict dress code but that may finally change. The orchestra is now considering loosening up the rules so that female players may no longer be required to wear dress and skirts and men could possible stop wearing white ties and tails.

~Two weeks ahead of the June 29th release of her next Florence + The Machine album, High As Hope, Florence Welch gave an extensive interview to The New York Times. Of her upcoming LP She told journalist Melena Ryzik, “This one, I had a lot of joy in making it.”

~The expression “high seas” may soon take on a new meaning. Kesha just announced a new cruise tour – Kesha’s Weird and Wonderful Rainbow Ride will sail from Florida to the Bahamas in February.

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NEWS ROUNDUP: A Shake Up in Streaming & More

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Tidal press conference, 2015. Courtesy of Time.

A Shake Up in Streaming & More

By Jasmine Williams

A Reckoning?

Last week #MuteRKelly gained speed as Time’s Up’s women of color added their support and yesterday the movement got a boost from a Spotify. While the streaming giant did not cut all ties with Kelly, Spotify did announce that they will remove the alleged sexual abuser from all playlists and other suggested conduct so he will no longer be actively promoted on the platform although his discography will still remain and be searchable. The move comes as the result of Spotify’s new rule pertaining to artists accused of misconduct or of having songs with objectionable lyrics. Spotify tapped consultants from the Southern Poverty Law Center, The Anti-Defamation League, GLAAD, and other advocacy groups to create their “hate content and hateful conduct” policy which addresses “hate speech” in music and states that “when an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful (for example, violence against children and sexual violence), it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator.” In response to Spotify’s action, R. Kelly’s team accused the company of engaging in an “attempted public lynching.” His PR team’s use of the historically-loaded phrase in defense of the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer has sparked a separate controversy.

Spotify’s new policy is making waves in the industry and has many wondering what other musicians will be affected. Perhaps Chris Brown and Young Lo? Let the censorship debate begin!

In other pay-for-play streaming news, Tidal has been accused of faking millions of plays in an effort to make it look like Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Kanye West’s Life of Pablo were streamed more than they actually were. Norwegian paper, Dagens Nærengsliv obtained a hard drive with Tidal data reports that showed many users streaming the albums a suspiciously large number of times in one day.

Based on the obtained information, each of Tidal’s claimed three million subscribers would have had to play West’s Life of Pablo eighty-three times. Knowles and West both have business stakes in Tidal. Nærengsliv contacted one Beyoncé fan who was in Tidal’s records as having streamed Lemonade fifteen times in one day. She verified their suspicions of fabricated plays, saying “I love Beyoncé — but 11 hours? No.”

In traditional radio, it is illegal to pay DJs and promotors to play certain songs but streaming platforms still exist in a legal grey area – labels and artists can purchase slots on playlists. Perhaps the accusations against Tidal will lead to a change in the way all streaming services conduct business. Watch out Discover Weekly – they’re coming for you!

In a separate report, Tidal has also been accused of inflating their number of subscribers.

That New New

Arctic Monkeys head up the big releases of the week with their new studio album. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is the British band’s first full-length in five years. Arctic Monkeys refrained from dropping any singles ahead of the album’s release so the sound is completely new to fans.

Christina Aguilera released the second single off of her upcoming album Liberation. “Twice” sees the singer return to form with soaring vocals and personal lyrics. Christina heads on tour this fall; she’ll play two dates at Radio City in October.

French duo Justice are also back with a new release. They just announced the date for their upcoming live album, Woman Worldwide, out August 24 via Ed Banger.

Sigur Rós dropped a mixtape of “endless” ambient music this week. Liminal is an hour-long collaboration between Jónsi, Alex Somers, and Paul Corley.

End Notes

  • NYC fans of Superchunk  and The Breeders are about to get reacquainted with the seasoned musicians. Both bands play free shows in Prospect Park. Start the season off with Superchunk on June 20th, close it out with The Breeders on August 11th.
  • Random couple alert – Grimes and Elon Musk showed up at the Met Ball together on Monday night. Grimes wore a Tesla choker to the exclusive event. The next day Musk tweeted that his favorite Grimes songs are “Flesh without Blood” and “Kill V Maim.”
  • Legendary hip-hop label Loud Records is coming back. Founder Steve Rifkind is starting it up again, this time with Sony and RED. The trio is debuting a brand new sound for Loud’s rebirth! Just kidding – one of Loud’ first projects will be a remake of an iconic release. They’re bringing back Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) but this time contemporary hip-hop artists will play the characters of the classic LP.

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NEWS ROUNDUP: Christina Aguilera Returns, Time’s Up for R. Kelly & More

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Christina Aguilera, shot by Zoey Grossman for Paper Magazine.

Christina, Time’s Up For R. Kelly & More

By Jasmine Williams

Early noughties preteens, rejoice – Xtina is back! Yesterday, the Stripped singer announced the release date and tracklist of her upcoming album, Liberation. While the LP won’t come out until June 15th, the first official single just dropped yesterday with a clip that features the new, natural, Christina. Produced by Kanye, Aguilera’s “Accelerate” is the only positive thing we’ve heard from West in weeks!

Despite the fact that R. Kelly has been accused of many disturbing acts of sexual assault, pedophilia, and abuse, the music industry has been disturbingly slow to address the Trapped In The Closet artist’s misconduct. That may finally be changing – this week a grass-roots campaign that has steadily been working to create a widespread of boycott of R. Kelly gained additional traction with the help of some Hollywood heavyweights.

The #MuteRKelly campaign was started last July by Oronike Odeleye, an Atlanta Arts Administrator. Since the movement’s start, ten R.Kelly concerts have been cancelled. On Monday, women of color members of the Time’s Up movement put their considerable influence behind #MuteRKelly when they penned an open letter asking organizations (including Spotify and Apple) to boycott R. Kelly. He is currently represented by RCA Records, a division of Sony.

Read the full letter here and find out how you can help #MuteRKelly here.

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Director Ava Duvernay expressed her support for Time’s Up letter to boycott R. Kelly.

That New New

Princess Nokia dropped a new video yesterday. “For The Night” comes from her recent mixtape, A Girl Cried RedFlorence + The Machine announced that their highly anticipated followup to 2011’s Ceremonials will drop on June 29th. They just released “Hunger,” the second single off of the album. Dirty Projectors released “Break-Thru” a new video off of their upcoming album. Lamp Lit Prose is out July 13th and the band embarks on a massive support tour this summer. My Bloody Valentine, Angel Olsen, Raphael Saadiq, Death Cab for Cutie, Father John Misty, and Audiofemme favorite, Wax Idols, will also hit the road soon.


End Notes

  • NPR got the lowdown on the most random collaboration in recent memory. Hear Sting & Shaggy talk about their recent reggae-influenced album, 44/876, here.
  • BRIC has announced the lineup for their free concert series, Celebrate Brooklyn!
  • Rapper Meek Mill, who was freed from prison only last month, spoke openly about his opioid addiction and called for criminal justice reform at a press conference in Philly this week.

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