Now I know that I’ve already given my loyal readers (reader….hi mom!) a dose of my predictions for 2011’s musical creme de la creme, but there is a specific genre’s future that I hold near and dear to my heart: Dance! The kind of euro-pop, vocal-heavy club music that was my guiltiest pleasure in high school, to be specific. But times have changed since my freshman gym class, and recently dance music has quickly fist-pumped its way into the mainstream: The MTV audience has grown extremely fond of DJ-Producers like Tiesto, David Guetta, Deadmau5, and even the most heavyweight of pop stars (Usher, Katy Perry, Rihanna) have intelligently latched onto the budding trend. With the sound’s prevalence showing no signs of slowing up, it only seems natural that dance-pop’s brightest stars will only shine brighter (how corny of me…) as the new year approaches. All that being said, I’ve chosen to highlight two of my favorite up-and-coming club princesses, both of which I guarantee you’ll be seeing more of as this year comes to a close —Check them out!
Sky Ferreira: With famous frienemies like Katy Perry, model good-looks and fashion sense to match, not to mention some killer pipes, you’d be an idiot to think that the girl given the nickname “L.A.’s Lolita” will do anything but win in 2011. Having already achieved some international notoriety with songs like her electro banger/Single White Female-tinged ode to Michael Madsen, (uhh..who’s idea was that? I was pictured Sky a more Steve Buschemi type of a girl) “Obsession,” as well as having broken into the UK and US Dance Charts with her hyper-catchy synth symphony “One,” the 18 year-old is only in the plotting stage of her worldwide takeover. Although the LA it-girl’s album has been pushed back from it’s original 1-11-11 (so trendy) release, Sky’s fan base is still growing like crazy, and if she keeps racking up the cool points by dropping gems like her cover of Miike Snow’s “Animal” and the super-addictive “Elevator,” it’ll only be a matter of time until the singer-songwriter gets the attention she deserves.
PS. If you can’t get enough Sky, definitely check out Colin Munroe’s remix of “One.” It is incredible!!
Alexis Jordan: Another already-established youngster, you might remember the 18 year-old South Carolinian as an adorable contestant on the first season of America’s Got Talent. Although NBC’s answer to “Idol” gave her the boot, little Alexis didn’t let that stop her. The young singer and her family relocated to Atlanta, where Alexis began to rack up millions of youtube views via her impressive covers of songs like “Halo” and “Best I Ever Had.” As luck would have it, Alexis’s youtube superstardom caught the attention of some guy named Jay-Z, who signed her to StarRoc, an off-shot of his Roc Nation imprint. One Stargate-produced, Deadmau5-sampling song later (“Happiness“) and Voila!—Alexis has become a universal wonder, charting everywhere from Ireland to Australia, including a #1 spot on the US Dance Charts. If you want to hear what 2011 is going to sound like, grab “Happiness” off iTunes today, and get amped for Alexis’ album of the same name, expected to drop in early 2011.
Leave A Comment!