It’s a story all-too-familiar these days in music: two artists collaborate without even meeting, let alone stepping in the same studio.
The latest example of this that we talked about on the radio show involved Brielle Von Hugel. The Staten Island native has three singles on Spotify with over a million streams: “Naked,” her featured vocals on Nervo’s “Alone” and the B.o.B-assisted “Stronger.”
Not only has Von Hugel never met the artist, nee Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr., but originally she didn’t even intend for him to have bars on that particular track.
“I originally wanted B.o.B to be featured on another song that I wrote,” the singer/songwriter revealed during an interview on my show last week. “So my team sent over my music just so he could get a feel of my style; he actually liked ‘Stronger’ better.”
Von Hugel was honored that he wanted to jump on any track, and so she gladly obliged to his request. The B.o.B-version is a Spotify-exclusive; a rap-less rendition is available everywhere else.
Also out is her latest, “Naked,” a song that deals with feeling comfortable in your own skin. The track was influenced by the bullying that Von Hugel experienced both as a kid and as she continued her music career, a path that would eventually take her to “American Idol” before becoming a member of Postmodern Jukebox.
“I feel like now more than ever I’m so comfortable in my own skin,” she noted. “A lot of great things are happening, so I really sing that with truth and I love the message.”
Von Hugel just wrapped a U.S. tour with PMJ and now heads to Europe for a four-week jaunt where she’ll tally only three days off. When the artist returns to Staten Island in May, she’ll continue working on new solo material.
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