Justin Timberlake ‘A Genius,’ Says New Label Signee Free Sol
Memphis based band Free Sol got their lucky break when fellow Tennessee native Justin Timberlake heard their music and decided to sign them to his Tennman Records label. Frontman Free Sol admits that being in the studio working on the group’s forthcoming debut album with the pop superstar has taught him quite a lot.
“Yes [we were in the studio with Justin] several times. It’s like school,” Free Sol told MTV News about working with Timberlake in the studio. “He’s a genius. A lot of people think that dude from *NSYNC, but really he’s like … He’s a baby Quincy [Jones], you know what I mean? So we learn a lot.”
Free Sol revealed that in a few weeks, the band and Justin have a very daunting process that lies ahead of them before they release an album (which they hope to have out by the summer). “In March, we’re going in with Justin. We did about 108 songs,” he explained. “We did 108 songs and we’re gonna pick 12.”
With the band performing at Justin’s William Rast show on Wednesday night (February 17) during New York Fashion Week, it was their chance to show the fashionista set what they were made of. “I would wish for [our music to sound like] the Black Eyed Peas meets Outkast,” he explained. “What we do, we took the pop and the rock and the hip-hop and we do a little dirty. We keep it Southern, but yet we still keep it melodic.”
So was he nervous to be the soundtrack for his boss’ fashion show? “Really, it’s not nerve-racking,” he said. “He’s so down to earth. He’s so cool and if you do get nervous, he’ll come over to you and be like ’shake that off,’ so it’s real cool, real lax, real simple.”
Cadillac now offering Recaro Performance Seats
If you like the way Recaro performance seats feel on your butt, but don’t want to cash out over $60,000 for a Cadillac CTS-V, then today is your lucky day. Cadillac just announced that its is expanding the availability of Recaro performance seats in the 2010 CTS Sport Sedan. The 14-way adjustable sport seats are now available in limited quantity as a $2,800 option on the Premium and Performance trim levels of the 2010 model CTS Sport Sedans.
The Recaro seats include adjustable back and thigh support for the driver and front-seat passenger, including a seat cushion extender, among the 14 total adjustable options. The seats feature French-stitched leather, with microfiber suede inserts in the center sections of the cushions and seatbacks, as well as heating and cooling functions.
The seats will also be offered this summer on the Cadillac CTS Coupe and the CTS-V Coupe.
Lady Gaga, John Mayer, ‘American Idol’ And Mardi Gras
Even though we were only providing news, insight and humor for four days this week (thanks, President’s Day!), there was still a remarkable amount of excellent news tumbling out of the Internet and onto the MTV Newsroom Blog. It was a fantastic batch of stories featuring an eclectic batch of stars, from John Mayer and Lady Gaga to Mitt Romney and Olympic skier Hannah Kearney.
If you’ve like us, you’re going to spend your weekend seeing “Shutter Island,” wishing the snow would melt and maintaining a nasty case of Olympic Fever. But before you indulge in all of that, be sure to catch up with everything you might have missed.
» After she won a trio of prizes and made jaws drop with her performance at the Brit Awards, Lady Gaga threw her support behind a series of designer condoms. Practice safe sex, Little Monsters!
» John Mayer’s Playboy controversy appears to have blown over, but that didn’t stop us from analyzing some select lyrics from Mayer’s catalog. We still can’t believe he has a song called “My Stupid Mouth.”
» We celebrated Mardi Gras this week with a playlist featuring Lil Wayne, Better Than Ezra and Miley Cyrus.
» There was no shortage of Winter Olympics coverage this week, including an interview with Hannah Kearney, the first U.S. gold medal winner in Vancouver.
The ‘Bad Romance’ Showdown On ‘American Idol’ Ends In A Draw
For years, “American Idol” fans (okay, mostly me) have complained about the show not getting clearance for singers to perform enough contemporary hits during audition rounds, instead forcing them to fall back on the same handful of Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder chestnuts that guarantee a spectacular flameout. But on Wednesday night’s (February 10) group round in Hollywood, two acts chose to perform Lady Gaga’s current hit “Bad Romance,” with both opting to go a cappella.
The thing about Gaga is, thankfully, there is only one of her. (Could our brains really handle a second one?) She’s so unique, so way, way out there that you’d be a fool to try and cop her cultural Cuisinart pop art style. But both Team Neapolitan and (ugh) Destiny’s Wild were brave enough to give it a shot. We watched as the sassy members of Wild glared at their rivals, steamed that they’d seemingly stolen the idea of going music-less after watching Wild rehearse the twitchy song first that way hours earlier.
At first, it seemed like they had little to worry about, as Neapolitan lead-off singer Liz Rooney — the one with the old school Pink hairdo — called the dogs with a series of creaky bum notes. Heavyweight lover Thaddeus Johnson and Pussycat Doll wannabe Jessica Cunningham redeemed it with a finger snapping R&B flair as the quartet executed some barbershop quartet-worthy harmonies and basic ball-change choreography that impressed Simon.
With Wild catcalling from the audience that they’d stolen their thunder, Neapolitan were moved through. From group leader Jared Liewer’s monster claw theatrics to Todrick Hall’s gymnastic pass and backflip, Wild made it clear from the start that they were the more theatrical Gagaloonies.
Hall crooned some Chris Brown-worthy runs as the other three provided “love, love, love” harmonies and Theri threw in Aguilera-like melisma.
Liewer sounded a bit spazzy and showtune-y, while surprise breakout Siobhan Magnus gave the tune an edge with her shouty, gritty vocals and open mouth rock face. Unfortunately, the four ended the performance with a flat-as-a-pancake note that led Ellen DeGeneres to lament that the whole thing was “weird” and mock their Cirque du Soleil outfits. Remarkably, though, they also made it through.
The lesson? Jazz hands, backflips, backstabbing and “Bad Romance” are a winning combination.
SUBSCRIBE
DJ CHAOS on Twitter
-
