Hello and welcome to the sixth Future Pop mailer from This Must Be Pop! Sign up here for your weekly email featuring the hottest new pop songs and artists that you need to know about. So read on, listen up and make sure you tweet me @poptastic to let me know what you think of my picks!
This Must Be Pop Live
Tomorrow is the big day – This Must Be Pop Live is finally here!! Come along to The Workshop in Hoxton from 7.30pm to see ace new acts Rachel Furner and The Jess Hall Band perform live and catch a DJ set from retro-pop royalty The Pipettes. I can’t wait! Click here to find out more and let me know if you’re coming.
Future Stars
EJ is Edwina Johnson, born in Sweden but now based in London, set to put all the other wannabe Neneh Cherrys of 2011 to shame. Her stripped back gospelly debut single Mama I’m Gonna Sing is now available to preview online, and it gives listeners a glimpse of EJ’s talent. Don’t be fooled by this simple, subtle first move, however – I’ve had a preview of what is likely to be her second single, and it’s a huge bombastic urban pop track which perfectly answers the question of where pop music should go next. And if it’s the massive hit I think it could be, every other pop act will be following EJ’s musical lead in 2012.
Azealia may be currently unsigned but she’s certainly not undiscovered. Her London gig last week was attended by all the major labels and it’s rumoured she’ll sign to Interscope very soon. My rap expertise is limited so I can only describe her style as fast and very rude. If they tried to edit buzz track 212 for daytime radio it would end up either an instrumental or about 30 seconds long. Perhaps because of her music’s innovative production or because Azealia is a pretty girl who sometimes raps in a wet swimsuit, her popularity seems to be stemming from indie blogs more than the rap community. Although indie fans may have a stronger voice in the media, it’s rap and hip hop fans who get songs in the charts so she’ll need them on side too in order to achieve any major success.
Mindless Behaviour (Interscope)
It’s only a matter of time before America follows the UK in welcoming back the boyband phenomenon, and of the current contenders the adorable/ridiculous Mindless Behaviour have to be my favourite. They’re an urban boyband rather than pure pop which may mean their appeal isn’t as broad as the Backstreet Boys or *N Sync, but they’ve been building up a fanbase through school gigs, support tours and of course social media. Their music isn’t just for kids – although the lyrics are PG and the autotuned vocals a little higher pitched, you couldn’t otherwise differentiate their music from that of grown up urban-pop artists. Like Justin Bieber and Willow Smith they manage to be cool with their cuteness and their album recently debuted at no.7 in the US charts. Not as high as BSB or *N Sync’s debuts but only by a few chart positions!
Future Hits
This week’s theme for my Future Hits playlist is songs that I predict will be hits in the US.
Tracklisting:
- Big Time Rush – Music Sounds Better With You
- Mateo ft. Alicia Keys & Swizz Beatz – Say It’s So
- Rihanna – You Da One
- Katy Perry – The One That Got Away
- Drake ft. Nicki Minaj – Make Me Proud
Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow for This Must Be Pop Live and I’ll be back next Monday with more Future Pop! In the meantime check out This Must Be Pop for loads more like this and don’t forget to email and tweet me with your thoughts on the songs and artists above, and any suggestions for next week.
Hey Jessica, I like your list! One thing – I can promise you Big Time Rush will never. Ever. Ever. Be a hit in the U.S. except maybe with tween girls. It's like saying Hannah Montana will be popular.
Thanks! But surely Hannah Montana was popular, in her heyday? Being popular with tween girls is still being popular. Both Big Time Rush and Mindless Behaviour have had top ten debut albums, doesn't that count as popular?
I'm loving that E.J track where can I find her?
Thanks so much for posting this! Love it!