After King of Pop megastar Michael Jackson re-invented, transcended and set the blueprint for the modern-day cinematic music video, it was hard to get back to basics. Recording artists influenced by the offbeat megastar gloved one, began to take art and the art of boogie-woogie and juxtapose the two on celluloid pictures. The consequence of his action, transformed the way we saw dance and performance art on screen. Dancers and other fanatics flocked to the nearest TV to see the latest Michael Jackson chart topper debut on MTV and other media outlets. His James Brown twirls and Bob Fosse-inspired jazz moves excited the globe. The following day, disadvantaged dancers would run off to abandoned factories, the space in their bedrooms, or take to the streets to perfect his moves. But the dancers who could afford to find a space more “suitable” to bust a move would pack studios across the world.

In honor of those dancers near and far, here is a list of some of our favorite dance party music videos that were filmed in dance studios.

1.

“The Pleasure Principle” by Janet Jackson

From the moment her finger hit the light switch to her decadent garage dance loft, we saw Mike’s fresh-faced baby sister pick herself up from the bootstraps and emerge a full-fledged woman. Janet Jackson was in full “control” on the sixth single from her 1986 pop milestone and we were smitten by her moxie. The clip featuring Miss. Jackson-if-you’re-nasty rocking out on a microphone, cascading in a ballet dive from a chair, pre-vogue breakin’ in front of a shattered mirror and executing a perfect back flip front off the roof of a vehicle—without breaking a sweat—brought a tear to our eyes and inspired R&B movers Aaliyah, Mýa and Ciara to become reigning pop divas. The independent woman roar is single-handedly responsible for every thing afterwards, so its okay blame Janet for Destiny’s Child’s feminist themes.

2.

“If It Isn’t Love” by New Edition

No longer boys and now budding young men, the kids that grew up in front of the flash of paparazzi shutterbugs, showed us their “heart break” and growing pains in 1988. Teaming up with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, who were the masterminds behind Janet Jackson’s Control, “U Remind Me” by Usher and “Human” by the Human League, the boys left their candy-eyed teenyboppers days for a more sultry sound with enough dance oomph to boot. The result was one of the best dance studio videos of all-time, featuring a bunch of young men growing up before our eyes. There are so many eureka moments, especially when Ralph Tresvant does the mock J5 breakdown with the boys. Tight choreography aside, the cameo from Yo! MTV Raps host Fab Five Freddy is more than enough to watch.

3.

“Cold-Hearted Snake” by Paula Abdul

Former Lakers girl turned dance pop icon Paula Abdul’s 1988 debut Forever Your Girl was an open letter where she left her A-list choreographer days to become the stars she worked with. Gone were her days of working in the background, it was time to step into the limelight. With four consecutive No.1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the future American Idol alum’s sweet-wise jabs and lush New Jack Swing blend as brilliantly executed in “Cold Hearted Snake” shows Abdul doing her best cabaret mime. David Fincher (of Se7en fame) directs this Bob Fosse inspired All That Jazz erotica burlesque clip that swoops and soars with the best of ‘em.

4.

“Buttons” by Pussycat Dolls feat. Snoop Dogg

Sleaze doesn’t quite describe the naughty thoughts teen boys had around the globe. Full of James Bond spyglass spotlights, phoenix fireball drenched floors and all of the skinemax come-ons one could muster, this electro-pop wonderland of lust oozed sex. The sepia-tinged lights hitting soaked flesh, the suggestive skintight dresses, the hair tossing, the chair cabaret, and spread eagle legs… makes for one great video. Snoop Dogg is one luck fella.

5.

“Promise” by Ciara

The ATL crunk&B princess was Lil’ John’s protégé no longer. She started accepting her longevity and her potential to be the go-to dance-pop sweetheart. She gave up her addiction to b-boy snap-and-slap club bangers, let the honey blonde dye bleed from the aerosol bottle and into the drain, found her swag and opted for a more grown-and-sexy sound. Man, did it work! The titillating, nice & slow baby-making slow jam, with its synth-heavy 80s R&B wall of sound divvied up the goods. Add a video with Ciara grinding on a gravity defying microphone, a sultry dance on a chair and one out-of-the-world wall dance and you’ve got yourself a show.

6.

“Glad” by Jennifer Lopez

Oh, no she didn’t! Yes… yes, she did. Jennifer Lopez crawled through the tiny crevice of Latino visibility in music and burrowed herself into the eyes of people everywhere. After the former Fly Girl decided she was invincible, she tapped David LaChappelle to direct, and produced one of the most extraordinary dance videos of all-time. The homage to Flashdance and some never-before-seen dances from Mrs. J.Lo, made us foam at the mouth with excitement and turned us on to crowning her the biggest sex symbol of the noughties.

7.

“Me & U” by Cassie

Diddy’s Bad Boy flame was always the good girl next door and the model-turned-singer was no made no exception when she released her first single “Me +U.”  The video, featuring the soubrette warming up before an impromptu dance routine on a chair and table top was sexy… and while, we saw it all before, we fell in love.

8.

“Here It Goes Again” by Ok Go

Rock music videos were starting to become a nuisance in 2006, and then the unexpected happened: Good music videos were being made. In a surprising DIY fashion, alt rock band OK Go surprised crowds everywhere with their lovely breakthrough single “A Million Ways.” They needed to top the video that went viral, so they decided to do one better and add in the impossible by signing their lives away on treadmills. Shot in a dance studio, this is probably the riskiest music video ever shot. And they make it look so easy.

9.

“Who’s My Bitch” by Paradiso Girls

Despite the trashy Auto-Tune intro via Carmen’s “Habanera,” the international expo spin-off of The Pussycat Dolls, the brat doll vocals combined with typical electro-thumping PCD backbeats and cabaret dances, these girls owned! With a standard bootylicious dances in a dance studio, these girls cracked the whip and turned out a naughty video especially with those biker sex pig lingerie pieces.

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10.

“Slave 4 U” by Britney Spears

Britney Spears: the name is synonymous with a bunch of guilty pleasures we’re both delighted and ashamed to admit. Listed as one of the most controversial music videos of all-time due to her age and the spur-of-the-moment orgy, we just sat back and accepted it as a bubblegum-pop machine gone terribly awry. However, the N.E.R.D. production had us backing it up in the club.

11.

“Hung Up” by Madonna

Okay, we can all admit that Madonna is not what she used to be. Her 80s-and-90s pop classics are not at all being challenged today in quality and her tired disco sound is a mafic fromage meltdown. But this rocked our socks off. The Saturday Night Fever glitz meets Xanadu magic meets urban b-boy decay of Rize was a delicious soufflé of house-disco we never grew tired of. The 50-year-old singer also was in the best shape of her life, which made for a sexy video.

12.

“What A Girl Wants” by Christina Aguilera

Before her hell cat goth girl gone bad days, Christina Aguilera was a big voiced pop tart trying her best to become her current status as the princess Adult Contemporary music. The postmodern pop princess filmed one of her biggest hits in the same space as Paula Abdul’s big hit “Cold-Hearted Snake” and introduced us to the new face of “good” music.

13.

“Let Me Love You” by Mario

One of the biggest panty droppers of the noughties, Mario left his freewheeling teenybopper swagger days and decided to slow things down and a bit with this R&B slow groove. Dancing in a graffiti-riddled studio complete with the sweets white threads, we saw a young boy turn into a man before our eyes.

14.

“There It Is” by Ginuwine

We could never understand why Ginuwine couldn’t just call himself genuine, but this was one of the most genuine he came across in years. This crooning gale force wind of wails is what made him the famed slow jam prince we’ve love come to love. Performing in the same studio with his band mates and then the sultry sex romp with his vamp backup dancers, Ginuwine proved he wasn’t just another R Kelly wannabe.

15.

“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” by Beyoncé Knowles

On principle, there shouldn’t be any excuse for anyone to have missed this B&W Bob Fosse inspired clip that features Beyoncé and the girls J-Setting, was this generation’s “Vogue.” Doing it all in a white dance studio, these three women kicked it like no body else.

16.

“Miss You Much” by Janet Jackson

Despite superstar singers Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, George Michael and Madonna heating up the charts the way they were heating up the dancefloor, there was no one out there that really catered to the club scene, not like Janet Jackson. Off of her landmark Rhythm Nation 1814, Janet crushed the competition for the crown of the queen of dance music with her riveting New Jack Swing single “Miss You Much.” And the chair dance? Epic.

17.

“Like A Boy” by Ciara

The crunk goddess kept the sexy coming with her follow-up to “Promise.” With a wind-gushing post-apocalyptic sound and a synth-powered orchestral stringed out hip-hop funk, she took the world by storm. The Victor Victoria boy-girl dress-up astounded us and blew all of her boy peers out of the water. The back-up dancers were just an added bonus.

18.

“Beep” by Pussycat Dolls

Okay, so… pretty much, if you’ve heard one song by Pussycat Dolls, you’ve hear them all. “Beep” was nonetheless clever and the Bowflex-esque clip featuring Will.I.Am wasn’t bad either.

19.

“Say Goodbye” by Chris Brown

Before that terrible night that turned the boy next door into a vicious brute, Chris Brown was the epitome of pop cool and was a role model to the kids. With a promising career, aging out of tween tunes and rolling out adult contemporary hits, he decided to slow it down with on for his fourth single “Say Goodbye.” A career highlight, the video features one excellent jazz ballet dance between Brown, his former flame and his new love interest.

20.

“Don’t Tell Me” by Madonna

Okay, so Madonna (and her team) are kind of pop geniuses when they want to be. This Jean-Baptiste Mondino directed classic from her infinitive Music album was no exception. Threads by Dsquared²? Check. Kick-ass cowboy swag. Check. Automated walk-way dancing in front of silver screen back-up dancers? Awesome.

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Controversy is defined as a state of lingering municipal heated debate over a matter of opinion. Rather its science and religion, philosophy and finances, politics and economics or a matter of sex and race, controversy is infinite. Recording artists understand this very well and recognize that music videos are their standing room-only epitaph to speak out against whatever current topics they that are plaguing them or speak for topics they are advocating. Here are some serious in-your-face music videos that are we consider the most controversial of all-time.

Violence

“Stan” By Eminem

The storybook narrative to this hip-hop epic tells the chaotic saga of Stan (“Final Destination” star Devon Sawa), his young pregnant girlfriend (“Dido”), and his downward spiral due in part to his infatuation with Eminem. The infamous scene in which is referred to as the most visceral moment is when a gagged and bound Dido, left for dead in the trunk of Stan’s 90-plus speeding car, is told to “shut up!” by a high-on-depressants Stan. The car-crash relationship ends with the two flying off a bridge and into water.

“Stress” By Justice

The Parisian electro-house duo caused a commotion when they let loose this rabid dog of a video clip with a chorus of disapproval. The film, shot in a shaky-camera documentary style, follows a squad of urban youths in Justice’s famous “cross” jackets probing the city streets. There was uproar because some thought all of the depicted youths were of African descent. Which was false: the mob of trashing teens varied in ethnicities. But the worst part is that these heinous droogs commit several acts of arson, GBH, grand theft, joy-riding, sexual harassment and vandalism before beating up the cameraman and spitting on the lens.

“Jeremy” by Pearl Jam

Naturally, this video clip is probably the most controversial video of all-time, nix to the blasphemy seen in crucifixion Christ influenced videos like Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” Here we see an adolescent boy who is overlooked by his parents and tormented by school bullies. At his breaking point, the boy walks into class during a lesson armed with a hand pistol and stands in the front of the class. Then, he nonchalantly puts the glock in his mouth and fires away. The music video climaxes with the school children shocked, covered in his carnage.

“Born Free” by M.I.A.

World pop bad-ass M.I.A. was out for blood, in more ways than one, in this 9-minute music video epic. This X-rated NSFW viral work of art is an annotation on the nonsensicality of genocide and the ignored back alley ethnic cleansing around the world. The Romain Gavras clip depicts an armed force running through an urban tenement, pulverizing a couple in the midst of love-making, ignoring a man while he utilizes hard recreational drugs, and violently detaining a red-headed young man, placing him on a bus with other gingers while other keffiya-wearing gingers toss rocks and glass bottles at the armored vehicle containing the gingers. They are driven to a dessert, forced out of the bus and then told to make a run for it. Then, when no one moves, a trooper shoots a tween in the skull and the gingers are forced to run across a minefield. How fun!

“What it Feels Like for a Girl” by Madonna

The Guy Ritchie-directed film shows a pissed Madonna on a crime spree. After leaving a motel room high on pills and drunk off alcohol, she pilfers a Camaro, drives recklessly, crashes into a bunch of punks, takes an elderly lady from a nursery home, embezzles money after zapping a man at an ATM, assaults people’s officers with a pellet gun, mulling over teens by car, vandalizes property, sets fire to a gas station, and then commits suicide by driving into a steel pole.

Racism and Politics

“Gutta Time” By Master P.

Rappers have done very stupid things. Very stupid things like start crappy ragamuffin fashion lines, putting their posse on their payroll only to go bankrupt (sound familiar?) and play into minstrel stereotypes. But when the uncompromising lyrics to “Gutta” went multimedia in 2006, we saw a music video Birth of a Nation: “This video is an artistic statement without racist intent… it is not an endorsement of the KKK,” said the disclaimer. What happens next? Defeated by black basketball players aka the No Limit crew, the bitter Ku Klux Khan members with machine guns leave a note stating they’ve lynched the victors the following day. And the point? We’re still waiting…

“Show Me” by John Legend

While humanitarian John Legend is a relatively play-to-safe kind of soul-folk singer, this clip, used to launch the Show Me Campaign is one of 2000s most poignant and controversial videos. Directed by documentary filmmaker Lee Hirsh and shot in Zanzibar and Tanzania, the video explores the life of a deprived South African urban youth in thorny living conditions. Noticing that he can have a better life in a more developed country—with edification, proper health care, public transportation and cultivation—he mounts the wheel well of an airplane instantaneously before take off. With no food and zero heat, the result is tragic. It is an homage to young stowaways Yaguine Koita and Fode Tounkara, who died mid-flight from Guinea to Belgium in July 1999.

Drugs

“Purple Pills” By D12

Critics can argue that the song’s promotional music video was tantamount to PG-13 in comparison to its litigious lyrics. Lyrically, the song makes references to golden seals, Mushroom Mountain, uppers and downers, coke, LSD and the title track substance, ecstasy. That’s more drugs than a Bolivian drug cartel! The clip is a telepathic vision quest for all the burnouts with its hallucinogenic excursion.

Religion

“Hate Me Now” By Nas featuring Puff Daddy

Is there a spot in hell for one of hip-hop’s finest emcees? Predicting there would be imminent hullabaloo, the self-proclaimed street disciple issued a statement to precede the clip stating, “Nas believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and this video is in no way a depiction or portrayal of his life or death…” And pigs can fly. The original cut also had Puffy dangling on a cross too, but the devout catholic had it omitted. Somewhere along the line, Puff Daddy and two cohorts cracked a champagne bottle and other office supplies over Atlantic Records executive Steven Stoute, Nas’ manager.

“Like a Prayer” by Madonna

When 1989 commenced, Madonna unveiled gospel choir dance-pop jam “Like A Prayer” and kicked off her most controversial career zeitgeist. This wasn’t the first time Madge caused controversy; in 1986, her video for “Papa Don’t Preach” on her True Blue album, showed a “teen” Madonna pregnant.  This time, she took a different approach, featured burning crosses, suggestive dancing in a church, stigmata and Madge passionately kissing a black saint a la Jesus. Obviously, The Vatican slammed the clip for merging erotica and religion and Pepsi revoked Madonna’s endorsement deal.

“Heart Shaped Box” by Nirvana

Anton Corbijn directed this acid-induced thrill ride. Beginning with the grunge rock gods watching an elderly man being administered medication via IV drip, the video unloads into an abstract surrealist al fresco vista inspired by The Wizard of Oz. The video features some heavy stuff—an elderly man (dressed as Santa Claus) climbs onto a crow-invested cross, a little girl dressed in a Ku Klux Klan get-up reaches for human fetuses in a tree, and an obese woman reenacts the front sleeve of the album by wearing a suit with human organs painted on it with angel wings fastened to her back. Disturbing, but beautiful.

Sleaze

“Black or White” by Michael Jackson

By all means this clip is not a very “X-rated” kind of video from the King of Pop. However, it’s at the climax when MJ get to the manhandles his private parts, zips his fly and then engages in an act of vandalism on a car with graffiti-ed slurs and a swastika on exterior. Some critics had it right—it looked like he had gotten off by defeating racism.

“Justify My Love” by Madonna

At the eve of her unleashed Sex, Madonna’s notorious porno-chic coffee table book, this 1990 hyper-raunchy video featured a ravenous pansexual Madge who divvied up a bunch of kind carnival sex fiends with the-partner, model Tony Ward. The clip, filmed in a cosmopolitan bordello that caters to eccentric lifestyles, shows pegging, androgyny, girl-on-girl action, gay sleaze, ménage à trios and some heavy BDSM.

Britney Spears – “Baby One More Time”

There’s still this wandering thought circling behind the universal praise of this video, and that is, why wasn’t this banned or put on during MTV’s late cycle? While it turned a teen pop tart into an overnight megastar, in one shot, Britney’s debut basically had an under-age Lolita shimmying provocatively in a Catholic schoolgirl uniform. If there was ever a way to shed the squeaky clean Mouseketeer rendering, Britney canned it here.

Britney Spears – “Slave 4 U”

All the holler and carrying on didn’t happen because a coming-of-age Britney simply wore the typical skimpy clothes. In this clip, a hedonistic Brit gets licked on the face by a glistening sex pig bystander and gets passed around like a collective bedroom toy.

“Dirrty” by Christina Aguilera featuring Red Man

Platinum blonde bombshell teen Aguilera had disappeared into the either for a short time before emerging from the ashes with obsidian curls and sun-kissed tangerine tan lines. No longer the rosey-cheeked lass, she returned as a makeup-splattered insatiable sex kitten. The David LaChapelle video depicts “a post-apocalyptic orgy” featuring X-Tina riding into a nightclub via motorcycle, then lowered from a cage into a boxing ring wearing nothing but a bikini and ass-less chaps. There are other avant-garde characters here too: foxy boxers, furries, female bodybuilders, contortionists, tattoo aficionados, cock fighters, fire-breathers, krumpers, lucha libre fighters, and mud wrestlers. But critics really chimed in, hinting at urolagnia or “water sports” when X-tina and back-up danced and splashed while getting sprayed with aqua in a lavatory.

“Gett Off” by Prince

His songs aren’t just ode to horny hedonists or wild one-night stand creatures of the night. This foray into the underbelly of Prince’s imagination riffs into a sexy dance number where two young women (amply named Diamond & Pearl) slide under one another’s legs, let Prince slither in between them and strips a girl down to her bra and panties. The ultimate male fantasy.

“Juicebox” by The Strokes

The dingy New York garage punk band featured three sex scenes in this clip. While the band rocks out in a neat radio office, six strangers and onlookers have a night out on the town. A lesbian couple make love on a balcony while being photographed by what could only be described as a pornographic freak-show director; after texting, a gay interracial couple shack up in a toilet stall while a voyeur watches; and fireworks explode in the back of a yellow taxi while a straight couple copulate. However, it a hilarious finale ensues when the straight boy falls out of the cab, getting sick after going down on the girl. Results? MTV chopped and screwed the final edit to air, and director Michael Palmieri reportedly removed his name from the clip.

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1.

“Pagan Poetry” by Björk

By all defaults, Björk–the unparalleled queen of kooky–has had some very controversial work that should be on this list, however, this one will stick with us for a while. The 2001 Nick Knight-directed clip featured a scantily-clad star exhilarated and jumping for joy, distorted, rotoscoped stock footage of the Icelandic soprano doing the do with partner Matthew Barney, and then the climax—a graphic corset body piecing that will have you going Eek!

2.

“Relax” by Frankie Goes To Hollywood

The dance-pop Liverpool band’s Welcome to the Pleasuredome debut, introduced the world to one of the naughtiest shag songs ever written, and it established itself as too racy for the like of the BBC. The video, featuring a ultra-sleazy, super passé gay club complete with a topless peroxide blonde, an obese nude Caligula figure and S&M boys, the clip ends with the bound singer showered in whipped cream aerosol when he sings “when you’re gonna come.”

3.

“Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot

This ‘90s slapstick hip-hop summer anthem is a club starter if there ever was one. But back when its accompanying video first came out, it was banned by MTV. There was something oddly familiar about that mountaintop he was standing on!

4.

“Tip Drill” by Nelly

Ladies get ready to grab your pepper spray! It’s evident that Nelly loves a big, full, round, impeccably smooth butt and this video is jam-packed with all of the baby-oil soaked, gelatin-wobbling buttocks you can feast your eyes on.  So as the focus of the video, we’re not surprised when women’s groups claimed the clip demeaned women—especially when Nelly takes a credit card and slides it down the crack of a super sexy lady.

5.

“Rock DJ” by Robbie Williams

The British bad boy sex symbol left Take That and wanted to be taken seriously as an artist and then, he released this 2000 grotty go-go boy exhibitionist fantasy. Ending credits note that “No Robbies were harmed during the making of this video.” Hard to believe, seeing that this Vaughan Arnell-directed video features Robbie tearing his flesh and organs away, tossing them at the fawning fans until all that remains is a skeleton.

6.

“Closer” by Nine Inch Nails

Rihanna went to this video for inspiration on her funky summer anthem “Disturbia.” Fitting, see as to how “dark” her music’s gotten. Taking place in a sci-fi decadent 19^th Century mad scientist’s laboratory, the critically-acclaimed Mark Romanek-directed music video features NIN frontman Trent Reznordepicted shackled to a strappado in S&M fetish gear licking a phallic instrument, a simian bound to a cross, a nude woman wearing a crucifix mask, a diagram of a vulva, and a pig’s head spinning on a rotating device, to ensue controversy. The video invoked protests by animal cruelty groups, political commentators and sex columnists everywhere. Sadly, very little outcry came when they released the video for “Happiness is Slavery,” where some poor bloke drops trou, offers himself as a sacrifice to a machine as it saps his blood. We wonder why…

7.

“Me So Horny” by 2 Live Crew

This corny in-your-face 1989 music video has controversy written all over it, due in part to explicit obscene lyrics. But it’s the dancing women fashion choices that had critics hankering to pull it off the air: Rotoscoped G-sting bikini bottoms, and sports brassieres.

8.

“Part of Me” by Royce Da 5’9”

Shot in homage of The Twilight Zone, this love-sucks kiss-off shows a shallow, fornicating adulterer and ladykiller going back and forth between two women. The two women are done wrong after having two seperate steamy one-night stands and so they get their revenge. So, they play possum and come back to his place for a ménage à trios. Too bad he falls asleep some time later and wakes up in a bathtub, with his “piece” missing, left in a blooded plastic bag.

With switchblade sleek-‘n-sexy obsidian tresses dangling from the sides of her face, and black eyeliner the color of decadence orbiting her vibrant achromatic eyes like flying saucers, Fefe Dobson radiates Gothic Lolita sex kitten. Only seven years ago, the Toronto pop tart crash landed on American charts with hits “By Bye Boyfriend” and “Take Me Away” on her eponymous debut, and she was hailed as the reigning rival to Canadian skater girl mall rat Avril Lavigne.

Unlike her likable punk rock gum-snapping counterpart, Fefe had a back story a lot of teens could relate to: humungo daddy abandonment issues, multiracial identity queries, and an offbeat adolescent childhood. Then, she wigged out and recorded her sophomore effort Sunday Love.

For such a candy-eyed title, Miss. Dobson kicked the hornet’s nest and in her own words, she experimented, “watching florescent lights go off in [her] eyes.” She altered herself almost completely: blotted her once gamine eyes with raccoon circles, put on running burlesque stockings, changed her once girlish glee into a gnarly Brody Dalle snarl, traded her baby doll curls  for ravenous razor locks, and her teenybopper riot grrl fashion into a tethered dreamscape for Hot Topic buffs. Despite every song being a radio gem, the surprise makeover turned a pop phenom hopeful into a shelved bust. She had to get real. She did.

Sitting down on a brisk summer day, Fefe chit-chats with Giant over the phone about her life post-depression, the cult following of Sunday Love, her new sunshine-and-roses effort Joy, her love life and exactly what’s she’s been up to these last few years.

Giant: You burst on the scene with your first album in 2003, but you had to pass on Jive Records before all of that happened because they wanted you to be an R&B artist! So, it makes one wonder, why do you do rock?

Fefe: It was affiliated with Jive, it was Zomba Records in Canada. They had a different vision and although I was developing that this point, I knew that I needed to do something that was different. Not even that, I was called “Brandy Spears,” that was their idea for me. “Because she’s black, she’ll be like Britney Spears because she has a pop voice,” and it just didn’t seem right for me. I don’t want to be categorized because of my look and what not. You know, I love Brandy and I love Britney, but they were already there and I wanted to be my own identity.

Giant: Not long ago, we put you on our list of “Quirky Women In Music.” This is mostly because of your writing technique. You’ve been through some hard times. On your Facebook page, you noted your siblings were placed in foster care, and that you and your had a hard time forgiving your mother. As a songwriter, will we be hearing about anything on the subject on your new album Joy?

Fefe: There will be touches on the album, but more in a liberating way, more in an encouraging—with hope—kind of way. It definitely touches elements it, but more in a positive light than being heartbroken or negative about it. There’s a song called “Set Me Free” for instance that’s more like “set me free from this negativity” and try regain strength.

Giant: You’re first album was very visceral and you also talked about your issues with your father. One of the most stellar tracks from the album is “Unforgiven,” amongst a few others. Since, you stated that your relationship with your father has rekindled. So, will we hear more about that? Will there be a song that has inspired that kind of marriage between your first album and your third album on that subject.

Fefe: Yeah, definitely. Now that my father’s in my life, I starting to learn more about myself and about my heritage and you know, the side of being Jamaican, I never really got to know because I am biracial. My mom is of white descent and my dad is Jamaican, and I never really got to know that side and now my dad’s in my life, he’s teaching things I never knew before and he invited me to Jamaica. I found a close relative of mine—because my dad’s name is Keith Quarrie–and I found out I am related to [Jamaican Olympic runner] Donald Quarrie, who was a national hero for the Olympics. It’s just crazy! You find out so many things about yourself that you’re like “Omigod!” Or even just characteristics, like when your dad smiles, it’s like “Oh, so that’s where I got it from.”

Giant: So, will we be hearing any island influences on the album?

Fefe: There’s a lot of soul influences. I haven’t been Jamaica yet, but that’s the next place I have to go to… and I can’t wait.

Giant: So, what is Joy about? What did you want to say on this record that you haven’t said recently?

Fefe: Let’s be honest. I write a lot about love. Although, I may have written about love before I been [experienced] in different ways and explained in different ways. To love, the lack of love, so many songs about you know…actually loving someone’s anatomy. It seems to love song, but its actually about other things. You know? You never know what you’re gonna get!

Giant: We’re gonna back track a little bit. In my opinion, it was your magnum opus. It was graveling, it was blood-curdling, but some argue that it had no commercial appeal. How does it feel now that artists like Jordin Sparks and Selena Gomez are rocking out and re-recording tracks from that album?

Fefe: First of all, it’s an honor. It’s so cool to have people do my tracks. When I found out I was like, “Are you serious?” I thought it was so cool. But, I think its right. I don’t think it had commercial appeal at all. I don’t even think I made it to have commercial appeal. I think I made it for myself. I made it to get a lot of teenage angst out and I think that was my opportunity to do that and that’s why this is album is joyful and I was able to do that on Sunday Love. I agree with the craze on that. You made a good point.

Giant: Do you think we’ll see a re-release of that album?

Fefe: You never know. This album is coming out, so you never know.

Giant: That album was a lot darker than the first album and you noted that you lost a lot of lovers in the past…

Fefe: Lovers?

We laugh briefly.

Fefe: Yeah.

Giant: And this new album Joy is surprisingly more upbeat from what we hear.  You mentioned once that you lost your Canadian boyfriend and your American affair. You mentioned love earlier; will we hear anything about them?

Fefe: Not really… I did have a boyfriend and we’re not together anymore. But there are a couple of people in my life that I always write about, even though I haven’t dated them in years. [People] who have left a great mark on my heart, you know? So, I keep going back and forth between them (for inspiration). In general, I meet a guy and fall in love and I fall in love fast… I mean, pretty quick.

Giant: Let’s elaborate and that a little further. Where do you go for inspiration when you write songs?

Fefe: You know, it always depends. I’m always on the road, so I usually write them in hotel rooms. But I love writing at home or in nature. I love that! I never really get the opportunity to do that very much. So, I’m usually in the writing room or in the studio. But it had an ideal place, it’ll be out in nature with my guitar.

Giant: And are there like any new tracks that you are in love with? Like, are there any new songs that when you read it, or when you play or when you listen to it that you’re just really proud of?

Fefe: Yeah, there’s this song called “Can’t Breathe.” It was a great vibe overall making the song and great collaboration. I produced it with legendary Canadian producer Bob Ezrin who produced The Wall for Pink Floyd, Destroyer for Kiss, Julian Lennon and Peter Gabriel… I can go on and on. Orianthi plays the guitar; she plays the solo on the track. So, it was just a great collaboration and the vibe was amazing.

Giant: Lastly, you’ve matured on this album quite a bit. How do you think you’ve matured and ultimately, what is it like to kind of fly solo on this record?

Fefe: How have I matured? You know, honesty as a person, you mature. You start off and you rebel and you get heartbroken and grow up from that mature. I guess I just matured like anyone else. Made some crazy mistakes and grew up like everybody else. You know? I think musically, from Sunday Love to Joy is that I am a little bit more patient with myself now and not so hard on myself. I’m not like, “This has to sound rock ‘n roll!” I just make music that I dig, and that I would actually want to listen to after the fact. Which is kind of a big thing. Because you don’t want to hate the music you do… ‘cause that’s weird.

GALLERY: FeFe Dobson Parties With Moet!

Fefe Dobson: Back To Reclaim Spot As Punk Pop Queen!

FeFe Dobson Discusses Rihanna Jackin’ Her Style

With the progression of hair extensions over time, it’s hard to understand why these well-paid divas haven’t risen with the times. Either they left the house looking nice and something happened in translation, or they need to shoot their sylist. Like The Dream would say “Girl call Latisha, your beautician.”

The stars came out to play as the songwriter and publisher organization, SESAC, held their 13th annual New York Music Awards on May 12. Honorees included writers Regie Hamm for “The Time of My Life,” recorded by American Idol star David Cook; Nikeshia Briscoe for “Womanizer” recorded by Britney Spears; and Greg Curtis  for “I Remember” recorded by Keyshia Cole. Billboard chart-topper Chrisette Michele was in the house as she was awarded the timely Ascension Award in recognition of her significant creative growth and musical success she’s experienced in the last couple of years. Check out the photos to see the winners and star studded attendees! 

-Nakia Hill

BRITNEY’S BACK, and just kicked off her new world tour, Circus last night in New Orleans.  (“Ya’ll hear that NOLA clap?” ) She got Dsqaured’s twin designers Dean and Dan Caten to not only create circus-themed costumes for Britney and dancers, but also play ringmaters in a video before the concert.

THE SET LIST

AND NOW, FOR THE MAIN EVENT

ALSO, this pop superstar has just been unveiled as the new spokesmodel for the clothing company Candies.

Britney’s giving Candies fans a special treat with a chance to win a pair of VIP tickets to her sold out Los Angeles show on April 17th.  Click here, Candies for the site and more info.

Ok. I concede it is January 1 2009 and therefore a little tardy to reflect on the year but I figure I got til Christmas trees have to come down…

Super unsurprising news #6.

When: September, 2008. MTV’s VMAs.

What: Too many folks were feeding on the Britney Celebrity Industrial Complex teat to let her stay gone and dead. After the housing sect and financial world collapsed, we needed something to fill the void. It’s basically the exact same thing as right after the Cold World when the USSR died and everyone was worried about a mondo power vacuum the likes of which the Dyson guy would wet himself over. In this analogy Britney circa nonederpants is communist Russia. Putin’s scary and handsome in a killer way so I’ll leave it at that.

Rant: There is no rant. I firmly believe a Britney comback is too damn good for morale not to support. Kenyatta will back me on this. Even if Celebritney 2.0 is a glassy-eyed monster who’s photoshopped in Glamour magazine shoots to the point where she looks like a anonymous actress in an HPV vaccine advertisement. On that note, that Womanizer song is CONTAGIOUS I tells ya.

Lesson: We can’t just Michael Jackson all the famous people. We have to relent occasionally and pretend that the crazy lady with the hair plugs who talks like she stomped out of the swamp eating on a baby alligator is beautiful and sings like how waterfalls look when the sun shines on them. We need them because the economy needs them. There have to be at least Japanese marketing campaigns in her future. Our GNP demands it.

Don’t call it a comeback… But it totally is. Britney Spears is officially back as the baddest pop chick. Peep her new video for “Circus” below:

Much like the reports of Rick Ross formerly working as a corrections officer and Tyga repeatedly getting his chain snatched, 2008 will soon be a distant memory. But given the music industry’s penchant for repeating both successes and failures, I decided to compile a short list of the things that shouldn’t make it into next year.

1. Auto-Tune
I used to hate T-Pain and Lil Wayne. Now, not so much. However, henceforth they should be the only artists allowed to touch the zero setting on Auto-Tune.

2. Comebacks
With every artist trying to avoid the reality-show black hole that is VH1, quite a few attempted comebacks. Most failed. Check the SoundScan numbers for Nelly, LL Cool J and Janet Jackson if you don’t believe me.

3. Posers
I fully support hipster rappers who are true to themselves. What I can’t stand are the lames that jump on the bandwagon in an attempt to recreate success. You know who you are.

4. Ironic names
Although I appreciate creativity, knock it off with the dumb names – as in: The Cool Kids, The Knux and Black Kids.

5. Rappers.
There are just too many rappers.

But as half empty as the glass is, there are also a few things I do hope to see and hear more of in ’09.

1. Concept albums
I’ve been a sucker for a good concept album since Prince Paul’s A Prince Among Thieves. For 2008, 88 Keys‘ The Death of Adam hit that mark.

2. Comebacks
No misprint here. They can, in the right situation (Britney Spears, T.I., etc.), actually work.

3. Paying dues
Lil Wayne may have had a breakout year, but he was no Soulja Boy. That young man has been on his Internet grind for a minute, and his success is, well, kind of deserved.

4. Video game collabos
Any smart rapper can tell you that licensing tracks to game companies such as EA Sports and 2K Games is the best way to make money in today’s tumultuous music market. Plus, who doesn’t like kicking ass to a dope soundtrack?

5. Beyoncé music videos.
Need I say more?

GIANT: Did you grow up with music?

No. I fell into it by accident.

How so?

I was 13, in drama class, first year. The teacher asked everybody to get up and sing, which I was uncomfortable doing. I was painfully shy as a child. I came up to her and said, “Please don’t make me sing. I can’t sing. I’ve never sang before in my life.” But then I got up, and I think the song was “Miracle,” that Whitney Houston song. Everybody was really quiet. And nobody really clapped. They had clapped for everybody else. I thought that I had been so brutal that they couldn’t even clap for me. Later in the day, everyone started coming up to me saying, “You can really sing.  You should do something about it.” After that, I got gospel voice lessons. I got piano lessons. Started writing.

What was your first musical obsession?

Stevie Wonder. At first everybody laughed at me because I was like, “Hey, there’s this guy. His name is Stevie Wonder.” People were like, “Uh, yeah.” I was fourteen. I’d never heard of him.

How did you discover new music when you were younger?

I’d listen to things on the radio and go, “Who’s that? Oh, that’s James Brown.” I wanted to get his album and just hear it. I started saving my pocket money and went down to the store and said, “I want this. I want that.” My house wasn’t very musical, so I sort of found it myself, which, in a way, is exciting. It wasn’t like my mom and dad listened to Lionel Richie. I got to choose my own soundtrack.

Do you still live in Ireland?

Yeah.

What have you learned growing up in Ireland that you wouldn’t have learned anywhere else?

It’s such a cliché that people say, “Just be yourself all the time.” But I feel that the older I get, the more I try to do that. When I signed [my record deal], I was 17, and I’m 21 now. It’s a long time before your record comes out. But I just feel that if my record had come out any time before, I’d be an absolute train wreck, like Amy Winehouse or Britney Spears.

I saw a photo of you with Al Green. What’s up with that?

I met him at Malahide Castle in Ireland. I went on, and he came backstage and started shouting out, “If I was twenty years younger…” I just kept looking around, like, “He’s not talking to me.” My friends were like, “Oh, he’s talking to you.” I just kept smiling. He went into his dressing room and was just like, “Come on over!” He invited me into his dressing room and was like, “Would you like some champagne, baby?” I was like, “Yeeeah!” I just sat there, and he asked me how I was, and we talked, and then we walked to the stage together. He said, “Would you like to walk me to the stage?” So I just walked to the stage on his arm. And then he thanked me for supporting him onstage. I just could not stop smiling the whole night.

[Laura Izibor performs her single, "Shine"]

What can we expect from your album, Let The Truth Be Told?

It’s authentic. I don’t just want to say authentic soul because I think that word is just thrown around so much these days. Everyone sings with soul in their voice. But it does have the true, genuine, old-school soulfulness to it. The songs I’ve written are from me.

What are you being honest about?

I’ve done a lot of collaborations, and none of the collaborations made the album. When you collaborate, you talk about structure and concept: “Imagine if we did this. Imagine this situation.” But I can’t connect with that.

Does your honesty ever embarrass you?

No. Not this album. But the way I’ve been writing recently, yeah.

How so?

As you get older, you’re more comfortable with your emotions. I’m getting very expressive, very real, very present. I used to have to wait for something to happen and then be comfortable with it, and then I can write. Now I’m in the pits of it and I’m pissed off when I write.

Is there any aspect of your life that you won’t touch in a song?

The good thing about lyrics is you don’t have to be completely obvious. You can go very personal, but with metaphors. I wouldn’t be so self-explanatory that people are coming up to me and putting an arm around me going, “Oh, you poor thing.”