SOHH SOULFUL
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Soul Rebel Speaks to Electrik Red: "It's Okay If You're Not A Stepford Wife"
Posted on March 26, 2009 6:00 PM
If you come here much, you know I've been paying close attention to Def Jam/Radio Killa's new group Electrik Red pretty much since they signed with the label last year. I spoke with them last week and in addition to discovering that they were every bit as wild as expected, I also found them to be outrageously funny. Read on to get details about who they are as individuals, how they naked-pranked Ne-Yo on tour and why telling your ex "We F**k You" is not necessarily a bad thing!
From the moment I saw this photo I had to know what was up with Electrik Red, after all -- aside from Cherish, what four member black girl r&b/pop group have we had since Destiny's Child? Pussycat Dolls and Danity Kane clearly went the multi-culti route with what I hate to call "tokens" but lets be real! I was kinda disheartened last week when a couple commenters sort of dismissed them as "freaks" so I was happy to hear the girls tackle the subject when asked directly. Check them out :
Soul Rebel: What brought you guys together as a group? I know I've seen some of you before.
Sarah: Yes, I'm sure you have we're all proud owners of ex-video vixen/dancer features so you may have seen us each before. Naomi and I are childhood friends , we met Binkie and Lesley in the professional dancing business and we're talking about the kind that goes on tours if you're thinking otherwise (we don't knock it but anyways). Binkie and Lesley approached me with the idea, I couldn't refuse. I introduced them to Naomi and eventually we all moved to L.A. we started working with different producers for about six years working to make sure the music was undeniable, until we got signed about a year ago. We were presented with the opportunity and we went for it. We chose to be here, we're girlfriends and we're really happy to be here.
How did you come to work with The Dream?
Naomi: We were signed to Def Jam, Feb 23, 2008 and we were signed by the irreplaceable and late Shakir Stewart and it was through him that we met the very talented Tricky (Stewart) and The-Dream, he set up the meeting. It was phenomenal. They executive produced our album. Wouldn't have it any other way, they get us, now they're family now. As Binkie says we're on the Christmas list. Who knew?
What would you say you each bring to the group as far as individuals and how do your vocal styles/backgrounds differ?
Naomi: It's best when we describe each other. Lesley is always on point. She's always on time, with all the information, she always looks amazing. She looks dynamite, you would never know she was touching the sky the night before. She is our on point sexy smart punctual woman.
Lesley: Thanks Naomi, I'm gonna bounce that back to you. Naomi is our free-spirited, curly-topped breath of fresh air. Always logical, always able to really bring a great balance into all our dynamics because we're all completely different individuals she's somewhere right in the middle. She definitely can go hard and party with you but at the same time she is a balance of us all. She's extremely intelligent, always fun to be around, always positive, altogether an amazing soul and really happy.
Sarah: What Binkie brings to the group is she is a strong force of creativity. She always comes up with innovative new ideas whether its fashion, to treatments to choreography. Whatever it is she is the first one to come up with the most creative ideas so she is responsible for those juices. She also has a very sexy unique tone so she really adds a nice raspy tone to our sound when it comes to a lot of the stuff that we're doing. It's really unique, her vocalizers are fire.
Binkie: I'm gonna touch on our Victoria Secret model Sarah Rosete. Sarah has the uncanny ability to look effortlessly flawless all day every day. I used to live with her. I know what she looks like when she gets up, making some cereal. I gag every morning she's just that's amazing. She's a tender tender soul, she's a great mom. Her vocalizer is really great as well, she has an amazing ear and she is our resident rev it up girl, whenever we are down and no one wants to do anything past 9pm she is the one to find the batteries and lay them ever so gently into our butts and get us going . She is the rev it up captain. (Electrik Red in unison): Captain Rev It Up!
Your album comes out April 21, from what I've seen you guys are a bunch of naughty girls, so why'd you name the album How to Be a Lady?
Binkie: Just for that fact. Just because you said we are naughty girls. We're gonna call it How to Be A Lady, just because. It's the complete opposite.
Sarah: It's a play on the stereotype of what a lady is supposed to be, how she is supposed to act and what she is supposed to say. We're bringing a new age woman to the world. There are a lot of women out there just like us and we feel like there is a void, there's a voice that needs to be heard. We can represent for all those women out there. We want to show it's okay to be different, it's okay if you're not a Stepford Wife, its okay if you have dreams and goals to push it to the limit even if people try to keep you in a box and tell you that (angry voice) all you're good for is... oh sorry. We just want to show you there's other sides to being a lady. You can be intelligent, you can produce tv shows ie Naomi Allen has with "G's to Gents," you can give birth, you can have the sickest Louboutin collection, shoutout to Binkie and Lesley. You can be a visual artist and stay on top of your bills and stay organized as well as if you're in a club and some chick is acting crazy we might cut'cha. It's a nice well rounded collection. It's lady power on crack. How to Be a Lady 2009.
Binkie: If there were blogs in the '80's I would love to hear Madonna answer some of these questions when she was creating "Like A Virgin," "Papa Don't Preach" and all these girl power-esque songs. We're tring to do the same thing and make the same impact in 2009, its just we have different issues, the world has definitely changed. We're just doing it our way but in the same vein.
Electrik Red "We F**k You" (Warning: Explicit Lyrics NSFW etc...)
Some of your content is pretty explicit, one of my favorite songs is "We F**k You" but are you concerned about parents not wanting their kids to listen to you?
Binkie: I knew we had you at hello. That's one of my favorite songs as well. When we first heard that song, we all gagged, laughed, sh*tted our pants, jumped for joy all in one moment once we saw that chorus come together. That punchline is worth ten million dollars. You do not expect that to be the hook on the song. And that one goes out to all the ex-boyfriends (yells in the background from rest of the group). You thought you really broke it down but in fact ya didn't, you got broke. It didn't get brung, we brung it.
Sarah: It's about being true to who you are. We're not ashamed of who we are. Yes that is the riskiest song, but there is an undertone that's more important and it's about being powerful and confident in who you are. There is definitely a clean version and your children probably shouldn't be listening to that song, but we can't control those things. But what we can do as artists is keep trying to inspire each other. Quiet women rarely make history!
Naomi: Part of why we love the Madonna's and the Janet's and the Prince's and the Andre 3000's and the Kanye's is because this is exactly what they are trying to do. They're not gonna decide what's right for them because of what is in media and what stereotypes, they'll decide what's right for themselves and that's what we're doing.
Binkie: I totally agree and hopefully we'll have the chance to make the same mark in history as those artists Naomi named, and stay true to who we are without having to sugarcoat it.
You've were on tour with Ne-Yo until recently -- any crazy stories?
Naomi: On the last show in St. Louis, it's known in the tour world that on the last show is when you do the pranks, of course you don't sabotage it, but you find a way to make it funny. So what we did in Electrik Red, we put on our panties and our tube tops and our electric red chains and we wrapped ourselves in white towels that we borrowed from the hotel and we took black electric tape and spelled out N E Y O on our backs and we ran up on the stage at a particular song and we were holding everything together as if we were naked and spread out with our backs to the audience opened our towels, and he was like Oh My God.
Binkie: from the audience you could only see his head and the way that we spelled Neyo, each one of us had a letter on our back and his face was priceless... and the audience faces were priceless because they thought we flashed Neyo and the band, when really we had our bathing suits on. It was hilarious.
The fiercesome foursome Electrik Red are continuing their quest for world domination by joining the "I Am Music" Tour with Lil' Wayne, Gym Class Heroes and Keri Hilson. Check out the tour dates below!
3/27 San Jose, CA - HP Pavillion
3/29 Los Angeles, CA - Gibson
3/30 Sacramento, CA - Arco Arena
4/2 Portland, OR - Rose Garden
4/6 Omaha, NE - Qwest Center
4/8 Albuquerque, NM - Tingley Coliseum
4/10 Hoffman Estates, IL - Sears Center (TBD)
4/11 Auburn Hills, MI - The Palace
Wayne also appears on the remix to "So Good" the black and white stills used in this interview are from the video shoot. Electrik Red's anticipated debut album "How To Be A Lady Vol. 1" hits stores on April 21, 2009.
6 Comments
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Damn, I might have to pick up the album on April 21st...I've been liking everything from them so far.
Ok. Rebel... Nice Piece! I don't know if you asked a specific question because of a particular commentor (clearing throat), cause you know I have really been the only one getting on them bout how they have been putting themselves out there...
Nevertheless, I wil say after reading this piece that they have earned my resepect...Real Talk.. I can respect them expressing themselves in a daring way....I mean, lets get serious here, it all boils down to marketing and selling yourself in the best way possible. And you know when I very first seen the photo of them up top and the chick standing outside the ride, I had some doubts, and was taking jabs at them cause how they were trying to market themselves...But it's all good...I mean, there grown women, and it it a new day....It's damn near 2010...Shit ain't like Leave it to Beaver no mo, lol....So in that aspect of the game they have earned my respect..
The song "We Fuck You" I like the concept of the song, it is different and that is what we need. But far as the song that's where it ends...It was horrible..The chorus was horrible and the vocals weren't up to par...Unless it was one of those type of songe where it was suppose to be melancoly and dreadful at the same time.. I mean really, I listened to the whole song only cause it was something from women like I have never heard before other then Adina Howard..Which I think they should give just a little credit too, honestly...Adina was able to cross that look over before Lil Kim did it..But shit, if you really wanna go back, Earth Kitt was really the one...But will just keep it Hip-Hop & R&B...What I'm boiling down to is, I don't think that I could bare to listen to the whole song again if I were to hear it..The hook was just that awful...And the beat just keep banging in ya head the whole time during the awful ass hook...Trying to remember if I liked any songs from them so far..I think I did like just one...Don't know though, it's bout 9:30 and you know I done twisted up by now...But all I know is, if I can't dig a song while I blazed, then I know damn sure I can't dig while I'm sober..And that's just being real..
In conclusion, they earned my respect as women and far as breaking into the industry...We do need new voices and faces in R&B cause it's just so few on top, and I'm tired of hearing the same ol girls..ALL THE DAMN TIME!!!... Shout out to Electrik Redd...I know y'all reading... Good Luck to y'all seriously...I meant no harm...I just like to call it how I see it from the gate...Just please don't overdue auto tune...And tell Dream, even though I really don't ride wit dude like dat, don't ever do auto tune either...As long as he don't do that, he'll still be an artist...
MUCH RESPECT!!!
@REBEL...Damn good piece...Dat's what I'm talkin bout..I like how you continue to bring it...As long as you keep doing you, I'ma keep blessing ya page...Sleep tight home girl..I'm out!
Like I said I'm not interested in a group that most likely the product of a man's fantasy and I not interested in the way you interview so I'll pass.
They are garbage! Man i wish the industry would stop looking for pretty girls first and look for talent first, then maybe we would have some better music. Is R&B nothing but club bangers? Is that what i'm going to be subjected to? Sorry, they are another bunch of pretty chicks that can barely carry a note. Danity Kane and Pussy Cat dolls suck as well, but they have great marketing. But does anybody know or remember what song those two groups sing? I'm not buying it. You mindless zombies can eat this crap up, but I just can't. These chics ain't no TLC, SWV or En Vogue, hell i can keep going with 702 or xscape. None of these tracks are classic material, they will be long forgotten in 3 years. Man, i miss real talent, maybe we just need to start letting ugly chics into the industry if it means we can get some more talent.
@ Rebel...Note that what C-Red is saying, is the same exact thing that I have been saying...En Vogue was the exact group that I used to compare the women as well... Like I said, they have earned my respect, but they have a long way to go far as vocal ability....
Oh yea, i must say, this story is well written dawg, i don't want to take away from that and you are justdoing your job...professionally unlike the other writers on this website, but I'm just not feeling any females artist except in my pants lol As long as Erykah Bdu keep making classic material while getting no airplay or attention from the media, I will continue to be bitter and dislike these other R&B acts.