Justin Bieber's Next Album To Capture Justin Timberlake's Magic
Songwriter Sean Garrett says former 'NSYNC star's success inspires Bieber's new project and also dishes on Beyoncé's album.
By Mawuse Ziegbe
Justin Bieber
Photo: Getty Images
Justin Bieber may have declined the chance to join Justin Timberlake's label, but according to a songwriter in the know, the former 'NSYNC crooner is the inspiration for the teen sensation's upcoming album.
Songwriter Sean "The Pen "Garrett, who has been working with Bieber on the follow-up to the chart-ruling My World 2.0., spoke with Billboard about the direction for the teen superstar's forthcoming album, saying the project will feature more grown-up fare.
"What we're trying to do with Justin is to segue him into young adulthood," Garrett said of the project, which is also slated to feature production from hitmaker Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. "The one great thing about Justin Bieber is the fact that his fans are going to grow with him. So we want all the fans that started out with him to still be intrigued and excited about him, but we want to also stretch out a little bit and make the fans that are 22-23 years old love Justin as well. When Justin Timberlake went from the last album of *N Sync to his first solo album -- I want to say [we're aiming for] that level. That's the bar for the type of song, that level of 'Cry Me a River,' big records."
Garrett, who has crafted records for stars like Chris Brown and Bieber's mentor Usher, also said he's hard at work on Beyoncé's next project. However, the songwriter didn't divulge too much information, only revealing that he's "been working with her extremely hard ... she's my favorite."
While Garrett said the plan for his next outing is to angle Bieber toward a swiftly maturing audience, Bieber himself has refused to categorize his music, insisting to MTV News in December that he's just focused on creating quality records.
"Whatever comes out of my mouth is just what you guys are going to hear," Bieber explained of his hits. "I don't know, it's not a specific type of music. Whatever music I write, I wouldn't say I'm pop or R&B or country or anything: I would just say it's just good music,"
What do you think Justin Bieber's new music is going to sound like? Let us know in the comments!
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Nicki Minaj Says Drake Was Her 'First Choice' For 'Moment 4 Life'
MC explains the fairytale arc of her Drake-assisted video to MTV News.
By Mawuse Ziegbe, with reporting by Sway Calloway
Nicki Minaj already has a reputation for pulling off shocking outfits and spitting even more insane stuff on her records. However, her latest video, "Moment 4 Life," may surprise some of her die-hard fans, as Minaj swaps her edgy costumes for graceful, ladylike looks and runs off with her Prince Charming — in this case, it's Young Money bestie Drake — and gets married under a firework display.
Shortly after the premiere of the video on MTV on Thursday evening, Minaj sat down with MTV News' Sway and explained the development of the fairytale narrative and said that catching her fans off guard is just what she was looking for.
"I definitely went back and forth with [director] Chris [Robinson] a lot. I just wanted it to be something a little bit unexpected," she said. Minaj added she initially had a more bottle-poppin' vibe in mind, which was eventually replaced by the romantic story line. "First I wanted it to be like, really just a celebration and a party," she admitted. "But I had the idea of making it more of a romance. Chris just sort of took those little bits and pieces and ran with it, and then it became sort of this big Cinderella thing."
The concept of the video may have evolved over time, but Minaj said that her first choice to jump on the track was always Drizzy, who provided her with the instrumental.
"Drake came to the studio one night and he brought me a whole bunch of beats when I was wrapping up the [Pink Friday] album. This 'Moment 4 Life' was one of the beats, and he was like, 'Just do whatever. Whatever you pick, I'm just gonna rock with you.' I had the beat for a while, maybe, like, over a month, and I was just sitting on it — pause — and next thing you know, I was shooting [the video for] 'Right Thru Me' and I played this beat for everybody in my dressing room, and I was like, 'Do you like this beat?' Everybody said, 'Yeah.' And I just went to the studio the next day, and I laid the hook and I sent it to Drake and I didn't know if he was gonna like it, blah blah blah, and he was like, 'I love it.' "
Drizzy mused that their parallel journeys as budding hip-pop superstars made the inspirational track a perfect fit.
"He was like, 'It makes sense for me and you.' We both are at a place right now that we feel like we wish we could have this moment for life," she recalled. "We don't know what's gonna happen next year, but this moment feels amazing. He was obviously my first choice to be on it."
What do you think of Nicki and Drake in "Moment 4 Life"? Let us know in the comments!
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- Album: Michael
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Deadmau5 Brings Dance Music To The 'Masses,' Wolfgang Gartner Says
'He has a major role in the younger generation to this music,' producer/DJ tells MTV News of his collaborator.
By Adam Stewart
deadmau5
Photo: Charley Gallay/ Getty Images
It's no secret that 2010 was a pivotal year for electronic dance music here in the States. With deadmau5 and Swedish House Mafia becoming household names, the genre's momentum shows no signs of slowing down. Using a conduit of collaboration, artists such as deadmau5 (a.k.a. Joel Zimmerman) have paired up with various underground acts to further the rapid expansion of the genre.
Perhaps one of the most notable movers and shakers of the year is now-Grammy-Award-nominated producer and DJ Wolfgang Gartner, who recently sat down to chat with MTV News about deadmau5 and dance music's rise to the top.
"He has a major role in the younger generation to this music," Gartner says, "but there have been certain artists that have been instrumental in helping it cross over and reach the mainstream — which I think is a good thing. I think rap artists using dance beats is a great thing. I think it just brings more people towards this music that we all love."
Thanks to several key moments, such as deadmau5 taking the helm as house DJ (well, technically "House Artist") for the 2010 VMAs, dance music has been thrown into the forefront of America's youth, a key demographic for any genre.
"Everybody knows who he is now and he's kind of exposing the masses to dance music. These little five-, six- and seven-year-old kids latch on to this 'mau5head' logo — they get into the music and he's bringing this tiny young generation into this music that probably wouldn't be exposed to it."
Gartner certainly doesn't mind the exposure either. Unless you were living under a rock for the past six months, you probably heard one of this past summer's hottest anthems, "Animal Rights," a collaborative effort brought forth by deadmau5 and Gartner.
"It was interesting because I kind of had a preconceived notion about how he would be to work [with]," said Gartner. "I think our sounds are really similar, so I figured he would work in a similar way to me, but the way that he writes music is actually completely different to me. But he achieves kind of the same sound through a completely different process."
Recorded in deadmau5's favorite Los Angeles studio — that would be rocker Tommy Lee's House — "Animal Rights" is a thumping progressive house anthem that melds Wolfgang's unmistakable harmonics and funk riffs with the driving bass line and wobbly synths that make deadmau5 one of the unique forces in the dance music world.
"[Deadmau5] writes these rich complex chord progressions and he does it by drawing these little bars on a grid, which is just amazing that you can do that and get that result," Gartner goes on to say. "It just proves you don't have to be able to play keyboards to write amazing music."
The two sound pioneers never cease to stop pushing the limits on what they are able to produce. Using drastically difference production approaches, deadmau5 and Gartner had the ability to play off each other's strengths while recording the track.
"I'd say the biggest thing is that I play everything in on a keyboard, like even my drums," says Gartner. "I play everything in live and he draws it in with notes on a mouse, which blew me away because his music is very musical."
What do you think 2011 will hold for deadmau5 and Gartner? Let us know in the comments below!
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APA Goes on Signing Spree (Exclusive)
The agency is adding to its fold a quartet of writer-directors: Leon Ichaso, Robert Adetuyi, Janice Cooke and David Burton Morris.
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Lady Gaga Thanks Fans For 'Edge Of Glory' Twitter Trend
The pop star gives props to her 'sneakymonsters' for discussing what is believed to be the title of one of her Born This Way songs.
By Jocelyn Vena
Lady Gaga
Photo: Jemal Countess/ Getty Images
With Lady Gaga fans eagerly awaiting the release of Born This Way's first single, which is expected to be the album's title track, details about the rest of the recording are slowly emerging. Late Tuesday, Lady Gaga tweeted to thank her fans for making "Edge of Glory" a Twitter-trending topic. "Edge of Glory" is expected to be one of the track titles on the album.
"Ok. Firstly, yes I love Nutella (with Banana+Wonderbread) who doesn't?" Mother Monster wrote. "Secondly, I can't believe Edge of Glory was trending, sneakymonsters! Thirdly, I need a beer with my name on it cause the last 72hrs gave me a creative hangover."
Gaga apparently has been making references to the song as far back as September, when she tweeted, "I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm counting on a moment of truth. I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm counting on a moment with you."
Meanwhile, her best friends, New York band Semi Precious Weapons, also have been hinting at what fans might expect from Born This Way, which is set for release in May. "Just as she described it. It's amazing, epic," Weapons frontman Justin Tranter explained in a recent Q&A. "The most incredible album I've ever heard."
In addition, Gaga producer RedOne recently put in his two cents about the singer's new material, saying that her forthcoming single was "so beautiful.
Last week, a track off the album that Gaga remixed accompanied a short film by fashion photographer Mariano Vivanco that was shown at a Mugler fashion show in Paris. Discussing the tune, Vivanco said Mugler creative director and Gaga stylist Nicola Formichetti had found "a really articulate way" to describe it — " 'It's techno meets Whitney Houston, in a really good way.' "
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