Without question, this is one of my three favorite tracks off of Watch the Throne. Of course, Mr. Hudson, who is one of KanYe’s artists, is a “RRS” favorite.
Archives For Mr. Hudson
Next time you complain about a friend inviting themselves to one of your parties, think of how Kardinal Offishall ended up on Estelle’s new single, “Freak”.
“He heard the song, and was like, ‘Gimme that,’” recalled Darlings, who played the track from her house for Kardi. “He literally like took the song, looped up the beginning of the instrumental and did his verse and sent it back like, ‘There ya go, I’m on the track now.’”
Estelle didn’t mind – she cites Offishall as a good friend and one of the few that she’d grant that privilege to. Plus – she thinks he added a lot to the single.
“He killed it,” she stated. “He came on it and lifted the energy up completely.”
The singer did clarify one issue: Kardinal’s path of entry to the record is not the reason she made him wear skinny jeans for the song’s music video.
“(Laughing) He knows me. Whenever he’s around me there’s a lot of skinny jeans,” Estelle joked. “I’m sorry. I’m British. It’s what happens.”
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Of course, before Offishall declared himself a contributor to the record, Estelle linked up with French producer/DJ David Guetta. The man behind “I Gotta Feeling” and “Sexy Bitch” only reached out to one artist other than Chris Willis for a contribution to “One Love” – Estelle.
“I was like, ‘Hell yeah, will you do a track for me?’” Darlings said. She and Guetta recorded “One Love” – which the producer would later use as the title track for his August 2009 LP, an honor that Estelle admitted is “really cool.”
“After we did ‘One Love’, we were just both sitting there and I was like, ‘Play me some more stuff,’” she said. “He played ‘Freak’ and I was like, ‘Oh my God… trust me, give me that record!’”
Estelle decided that she’d bring it back to the 80’s on the hook – paying homage to the British pop group Soul II Soul by singing the chorus of the group’s smash single, “Back To Life”.
“He lost his mind,” Darlings said of Guetta’s reaction to the impromptu tribute. “I’m a child of the 80’s from London. Soul II Soul is what I grew up on.”
“Freak” is the first single from Estelle’s third studio LP – All Of Me – which she plans to release this fall. Other confirmed contributors include Swizz Beats, Gym Class Heroes’ Travie McCoy, and John Legend. Darlings revealed that the album will probably not include another collaboration with KanYe West. She did note that a recent duet with Mr. Hudson would more than likely be included on an extended version of the LP.
In the days of Web 2.0 – you know you’ve made it when someone attempts to imitate you on Twitter. Bajan singer Shontelle fell a brief victim to an identity thief – or should I say, twief – on Wednesday evening. Coincidently enough, Ms. Layne stopped by The Ralphie Radio Show on the following day.
“This was not the first time,” revealed Shontelle. “We literally had to call the Twitter people and freak out, ‘cause we’ve like, submitted for verification so long ago. I guess it takes a minute, ‘cause there’s so many people they have to verify.”
The impersonator used the Twitter username “ShontelleLayne_”, simply moving the underscore from the real Shontelle’s handle of “Shontelle_Layne.” When Layne looked at the fake account’s timeline, she was shocked to find that this person began “tweeting” at Solange Knowles (singer, Beyoncé’s sister) and Rorrey Fenty (Rihanna’s brother) amongst other people.
As of late Sunday evening, Twitter had yet to verify Shontelle’s account. By “verifying” an account, Twitter places a notification in the upper right corner of the page, so that visitors know the account belongs to the person who they claim to be.
Of course, Layne didn’t need the Twitter incident as a sign that she’s making it in the entertainment industry. Surely opening up for Beyoncé overseas could help that argument. Layne opened for Jay-Z’s husband for about a month on the “I Am…” tour overseas. Shontelle entered the trek with the expectation that she wouldn’t even meet Beyoncé face-to-face, however the headliner proved the opener wrong on that thought.
“I just get this message, ‘Shontelle, go to Beyoncé’s room’” she recalled, noting that immediately she believed that something was wrong. “When I got in there (Beyoncé) was like, ‘No, I just wanted to like, hang out for a bit, because you know, you’ve been on this tour with me, and I haven’t really gotten the chance to tell you thank you for being on the tour, I haven’t really gotten the chance to tell you how talented I think you are.’”
Shontelle’s feelings immediately switched from scared to shocked – one of the biggest pop stars in the world went out of her way to pay Layne high compliments on her singing, stage performance… even videos. From the sound of Layne’s recollection, “stunned” may be an understatement.
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Part 1: Twitter, Beyonce, Thanksgiving Day
Part 2: “Licky”, Rihanna, New CD
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“I’m like, ‘You’re Beyoncé, why are you telling me this?’” said Shontelle. “Like, is this real? They couldn’t even get me in the room at first… because I was shaking,” she admitted, although Layne insists she wasn’t star struck as much as she was nervous about the meeting’s purpose.
Shontelle also admitted on The Ralphie Radio Show that she’s nervous about an upcoming event – the “T-Shirt” singer will take part in the halftime show in Detroit at the Lions/Packers game on Thanksgiving Sunday. Layne, along with other Universal Motown artists, will perform classic Motown hits in Motown. Shontelle would not divulge which song she is covering.
“If you watched Sister Act 2… you can take a hint from that,” she teased.
In addition to the performance, which will air to a national and international audience on FOX, Shontelle is preparing a new LP. The album is slated for a 2010 release, and Layne will only confirm collaborations with Mr. Hudson and Akon. The first single is a dance infused record called “Licky” – which Layne insists is inspired by desserts.
“Licky” isn’t the only new track from a Bajan artist – as Shontelle’s friend, the aforementioned Rihanna, is back with “Russian Roulette” and “Hard.” A week and a half ago, Rihanna appeared on 20/20 with Diane Sawyer to tell her side of the story. Layne told me that the interview was tough to watch.
“Honestly, it was like watching your little sister do a piano recital for the first time,” she said. “I was nervous. I was a wreck.”
The singer thought her former Cadet partner handled the situation on camera well.
“I thought she did great, actually,” remarked Shontelle. “And she said a lot more than I even thought she was gonna say. I’m really proud of her… I just want, them both really, to grow from this.”
It’s been quite the year for England’s Mr. Hudson. Signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music, Hudson is set to debut in the States with Straight No Chaser on October 5. In an interview on The Ralphie Radio Show – West’s protégé confirmed that he’s on at least one track off of Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3, and that he is also working with Estelle on her next LP.
“We did a little duet together, hopefully for her album,” says Hudson of his studio session with Estelle – who is also from England. Hudson called Estelle “an inspiration.”
It’s just another project that Hudson finds himself involved with, thanks to West. First – 808’s and Heartbreaks – where Hudson sang background vocals on a couple tracks and lent a more prominent role to the song, “Paranoid.” Next up: Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 – where it was originally rumored that Hudson could be featured on a couple of cuts.
“I got a funny feeling it might just be Forever Young,” revealed Hudson of his contributions to the final product – which is due out September 11. “Just to be anywhere near that project is an honor. (Jay-Z)’s the man.”
Hudson took a backseat, observing and participating when asked on ‘Ye’s and Jay’s respective albums – while also watching other projects within the G.O.O.D. Music family unfold. Now, it’s his turn. Kanye actually presented the first single, “Supernova” – to Hudson as a gift, literally.
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Part 1: His New Life Thanks To KanYe, Sneaker Collection, Coldstone Creamery
Part 2: “Supernova“, Straight No Chaser, Blueprint 3, Working with Estelle.
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“He comes in… and says, ‘Yo Hudson I got a present for you,’” the English vocalist recalled. Immediately, Hudson thought the gift could be “embarrassingly generous” – as according to the singer, Kanye gave both his barber and manager cars. But there was no big “Oprah-type” moment, as West simply turned to the engineer in the studio and said, “Press play.” ‘Ye’s trademark big drums came blaring over the speakers, and West sang what would become the chorus on “Supernova” – in what Hudson describes as a, “slow and lower, more like at 808’s and Heartbreaks approach.” Hudson cranked up the volume on it and the final product came together.
“So I didn’t get a ‘Jesus Piece,’” he remarked. “I think I got something better.”
People overseas might agree – as the song peaked at numbers 2 and 3 on the UK and Irish Charts respectively. The success in Hudson’s homeland clearly means something: he didn’t need a cue to bring up the chart position during the interview. However I wondered if the London singer minded that Kanye threw his best English accent on the track.
“He’d been in London for weeks… and he had a couple drinks, so I think it just came out,” said Hudson. “I think it’s like ‘When in Rome,’ yunno?”
Mr. Hudson shared that the vernacular impact goes both ways – he added “I’ma” to his vocab – using the example of “I’ma get me a Coldstone.”
The ice cream parlor is one of many things that West turned Hudson on to. Another is fashion, particularly sneakers.
“It went from one pair to two or three. But I’m still learning,” admitted Hudson. “An Englishman has like, maybe one or two pairs of trainers.”
Of course, considering the teacher, it’s no surprised that the student owns a pair of “Yeezy’s.”
“I’m too scared to take them out the box,” said Hudson. “Maybe I’ll just wear them around the house.”
