Member Since: 9/20/2008
Posts: 2,290
|
Kelly Rowland's 'The Game' is written by Sia!
Quote:
R3hab isn’t the only unsigned artist whose next project will be shaped by “Beats of the Beautiful Game.” Kelly Rowland teamed with producer Jake Troth for “The Game,” a midtempo stomper with lyrics penned by Sia. Rowland loved making the track so much and stretching her vocals into more rock-based territory than we’ve come to expect from the former Destiny’s Child, she’s already tapped Troth to produce songs for her forthcoming fifth album. “He’s so innovative and fresh and pushes me as an artist to stretch my creative self,” says Rowland, who will also soon be shopping for a new label after parting ways with Republic Records earlier this year. “Pepsi made that introduction, and he’s been one of the major highlights for me with this new album.”
Rowland will be one of the few artists to appear on-camera in their accompanying “Beats” filmtrack, which is about to film in Brazil with director Spike Lee. Speaking to Billboard, Lee says he was inspired to participate in the Pepsi program through a triangulation of his own projects -- his own ad agency Spike DDB, an ongoing documentary project he’s been filming with Brazilian musicians like Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze and Gilberto Gil, and Michael Jackson’s 1995 music video “They Don’t Care About Us,” which he directed and filmed parts of in the heart of Rio de Janiero. “When you think about Brazil, you think about the drums,” Lee says, noting that Pepsi had few guidelines when it came to guiding his creative process. “I’m a storyteller, so I’m very grateful that my man Frank Cooper gave me the opportunity to do what I love, which is to make films.”
Though Pepsi had been brainstorming ideas for a Music Accelerator program for over a year, artist searches for “Beats” began in earnest in late November, giving the program a rather narrow six-month window from initial conversation to rollout. A wide net was cast to regions far (Egypt’s Hassan el Shafei, China’s Jolin Tsai Yl-ling) and near (Santigold, Timbaland, Monae’s Rio-fied cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes.” In the complicated scramble to convince artists to submit exclusive tracks that would be interpreted by filmmakers without their input, a few acts came and went due to time constraints.
“It was a tricky proposition,” admits RPM’s Lylette Pizarro Mclean. Robin Thicke was in talks at one point to submit a new remix of his “Blurred Lines” album track “Feels Good,” as was Lorde, who penned an original song for the program. Of the latter, Cooper says, “she just didn’t like the song, and we didn’t have time to get her back in the studio. We love what she does, and I love the song, but what do I know?”
Lorde’s Lava labelmate Jetta, however, will likely get a big “Beats” boost from the inclusion of her new single “Crescendo,” which features production from Pharrell. She’ll release a new EP in the UK next month, setting up a U.S. release for the fall. “We all agreed Jetta is a next-generation superstar, and Pepsi responded to her ethos, her music and her style,” says Lava Records president Jason Flom. “It’s one of those things where it made sense at every level.”
In addition to distribution, Pepsi is also handling radio-promo duties for select tracks from “Beats,” including Don Omar’s “Pura Vida,” the reggaeton superstar’s Brazilian-inflected single (and lead track from forthcoming album “The Last Don II.”) But aside from a couple tweets from Omar himself about the Pepsi partnership, there’s nothing about the song or its accompany film helmed by music-video director Jessy Terrero to make the connection explicit to fans -- save for a subtle use of Pepsi’s signature “blue” hue on the jerseys of the video’s soccer team. “Subliminally, we wanted you to feel like the blue team has won,” Terrero says.
And that’s the point, says Cooper. “The fundamental assumption in the whole platform is that we believe in and trust the online audience. You don’t have to beat them over the head with a brand message. We find it’s actually better that they learn it themselves and find out in a more organic way.” Pepsi will likely repurpose several of the filmtracks for TV ads that would air closer to the World Cup in June. “We’ll throw some fuel on the fire at a more appropriate time,” Cooper adds.
|
http://www.billboard.com/biz/article...source=twitter
|
|
|
|
