Hot Video Alert: Sarah Burgess - Sassy

Sarah Burgess...where have you been all my life?  She's got a sort of Kat Graham/Neon Hitch mixed with Jessie and The Toy Boys vibe about her, which I love! A new(ish) video for a song called "Sassy" was recently sent to me and while I've only watched it a couple of times, I can already safely say that I'm obsessed with this girl.  The Ohio-born and current Pittsburgh resident, 24 year old Sarah Burgess first grabbed the attention of American television audiences during season six of American Idol.  Burgess let it slip during her audition that her father was vehemently against Sarah having a music career, yet unable to stop her from playing hookie and auditioning in New York City.  Unfortunately, Burgess' Idol dreams were short lived when she was cut during Hollywood Week.  Fortunately for Burgess, her time on Idol wasn't for naught as she was quickly snatched up by indie label PME Records, with whom she released a couple of singles including the Colbie Caillat/Mikal Blue-penned "Didn't Matter That" and "Dangerouz," which received some national airplay in 2008 and supposedly was a top 40 hit for the singer (according to Wikipedia, however not according to Billboard archives).  Following the release of her singles, Burgess dropped her debut album, One in June of 2008.

Parting ways with PME Records in 2009, Burgess has since signed with Swiss label, Solymar Music AG based out of Zurich in association with Iceberg Records and is in the midst of recording her sophomore record, presumably which will include "Sassy" (see video BELOW).  According to posts on her blog, Burgess says that the new album will be more "edgy rock" mixed with pop, a slight departure from the more mainstream sound of her debut album.  In 2010 Burgess entered into yet another competition, this time to compete on Swiss television for the chance at representing the country in the Eurovision Song Contest with her song "Just Me."  Where Sarah Burgess' love for Switzerland came from, I'm really not quite sure, but the country seemed to embrace her as she made it into the finals, ultimately losing out to Anna Rossinelli who received 23.93% of the national vote (Burgess only received 7.7%).

The video for "Sassy" was uploaded onto the Iceberg Records YouTube channel November 11th.  According to the YouTube page, the track was written and produced by Måns Ek (Sarah Connor) and co-written by Charlie Mason (Miley Cyrus, Ashley Tisdale).  Despite having a homemade feel to it, the video is packed full of energy, spunk and oh yes...lots of sass.  Looking forward to hearing more from Sarah Burgess.  Download her first album, One, on U.S. iTunes HERE.

Check out Sarah Burgess on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//Tumblr//YouTube

Hot Video Alert: Jessie and The Toy Boys - Let's Get Naughty

As much as I love and adore Jessie Malakouti's pop-perfect outfit, Jessie and the Toy Boys  I just can't seem to get into her latest single, the appropriately titled "Let's Get Naughty."  For me, the song is just missing something.  "Push It" had a certain something something that just worked. "Let's Get Naughty" is missing that something something.  "All my hoes, touch your toes!" she says a number of times. I'm all for a bit of fun, dirty pop but this song is just dirty without the fun.  Blah. Sorry Jessie, but I'm just not feeling this one.  In an interview with the website, ArtistDirect.com Malakouti admits to having completely forgotten about the song.  "I wrote 'Let's Get Naughty' over a year ago," she said.  "Then I was going through all my material to decide what songs I was going to play for [Britney Spears'] The Femme Fatale Tour, and I came across it in my demos folder on my computer."  Turns out, the song was a big crowd hit during Britney's tour, and Jessie decided to release a studio version for her "fannequins." Well, maybe I'd have a different opinion of the track had I seen it done live.

In the super hot video directed by Don Tyler, Jessie tramps it up with her mannequins along with a sexy troupe of real live, flesh & blood back up dancers.  The choreography is as slick, and suggestive as ever and Jessie looks absolutely fabulous as she traipses around in a multitude of sexy costumes and get-ups.  The video was shot while on tour with Britney, half in LA and half in Cleveland.  Check out Jessie and The Toy Boys in all of their glory below and download the single on U.S. iTunes HERE.  To my knowledge, no remixes have been released as of yet. Since you're here...why not check out my interview with Jessie from back in April.

Check out Jessie and the ToyBoys on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube

Hot Video Alert: Jessie and the Toy Boys - Push It (Dig It Remix)

AMAZING! By now you know how much I love Jessie and The Toy Boys. You also know how much I love a good remix. What then, could be better than a new REMIX video featuring Jessie and The Toy Boys? Check out this official remix video for "Push It," which uses the Dig It Remix. The remix is just one of many to made of Jessie and The Toy Boys' "Push It" single, taken from Jessie's Show Me Your Tan Lines EP. "Push It" was released back in February and peaked at #7 on the Billboard Dance chart, featuring remixes by Richard Vission, Ron Reeser & Dan Saenz, Junior Sanchez, Skeet Skeet and Dirty Freqs. Download the Show Me Your Tan Lines EP on iTunes HERE.

Make sure you catch Jessie and The Toy Boys on the Identity Festival tour through mid-September with Kaskade, Steve Aoki, Chad Hugo, and others. Tour dates are listed below.

Tour Dates 

08/30 - Albuquerque, NM - Hard Rock Casino Presents: The Pavilion
09/02 Chula Vista, CA - Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
09/03 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
09/04 Hollywood, CA - Hollywood Palladium
09/05 Las Vegas, NV - Mandalay Bay

Check out Jessie and the ToyBoys on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube

Hot Interview Alert: Jessie and The Toy Boys

P-P-P-PUSH IT! I can't stop listening to debut single from Jessie and the Toy Boys, "Push It" featuring American rapper Yelawolf. The song is quickly rising on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, jumping up two spots this week to #12. Make sure you download the hot remix EP on iTunes (HERE), featuring remixes by Junior Sanchez, Richard Vission, Ron Reeser & Dan Saenz, Skeet Skeet and Dirty Freqs. Why don't you also pick up "We Own The Night" HERE on iTunes while you're at it.  The fabulous and beautiful frontwoman,  22-year old Jessie Malakouti took some time to answer a few of my pressing questions - talking about her time working in the UK, collaborating with Yelawolf, touring with Britney Spears and more! Ch-ch-check it out and comment away!

MIMKSB: Hi Jessie, thanks for taking the time to answer a few of my questions today. Now, the first time I heard you was on a remix for the song “Standing Up For the Lonely,” back when you were performing as Jessie Malakouti.  Now you’re Jessie and the Toy Boys. What would you say is the biggest difference between your music back then and your music today?

Jessie Malakouti: When I wrote "Standing Up For The Lonely" I had just moved to the UK and very much into the British pop scene. SUFTL was a straight up dance record, but my roots are more punky. I've always loved being in bands, so I started Jessie and The Toy Boys. Towards the end of my time in London I got really into the dubstep scene, which to me was perfect for my style because it is kind of that marriage between dance and punk rock. Jessie and The Toy Boys has a lot of dubstep influence on the album that I'm excited for everyone to hear.

MIMKSB: I LOVE that you just packed up and went to the UK to help find yourself as an artist. There’s just something so fresh and energetic about the UK music scene. I try and showcase a variety of musical styles on my blog, but a lot of it comes from the UK. Are there any fresh UK artists that you discovered while you were over there?

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Jessie and The Toy Boys to Open for the Legendary Ms. Britney Spears

Jessie and The Toy Boys, Britney Spears (inset)

What an honor! One of my FAVORITE new artists, Jessie and the Toy Boys has been announced as one of the fabulous openers on Britney Spears' Femme Fatale tour! Earlier this month, Britney announced that Jessie and the Toy Boys, Nicki Minaj and Nervo would be joining her on tour as she promotes her latest hit record, Femme Fatale, released at the end of March. Tickets for the tour don't go on sale until next Saturday but you can check out a list of Tour Dates below and start getting excited.

“This is the Femme Fatale tour and I’m thrilled to have the hot Nicki Minaj join me and Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo will get everyone on the dance floor," said Spears. “Can’t wait to take the Femme Fatales on the road.”

You know another thing that will get you excited? Footage of Jessie and the Toy Boys performing at this year's SXSW festival! Check that out HERE! Amazing. What's more, go get the remixes for her first single, "Push It" on iTunes HERE. The single is climbing the dance charts, currently sitting pretty at #17 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

The big dilema I'm faced with now is, do I drop dough on tickets? I haven't been to a Britney Spears tour since her Onyx Hotel Tour in 2004 when she was promoting her In The Zone album. It was...good. It was Britney. I went there full well knowing I was going to get live vocals. It was going to be a spectacle (and indeed it was). The problem now is, money is tight. I like to spend money on an artist that I know is going to blow me away vocally. I'm on the fence. Someone convince me one way or the other.  I would love to see Jessie and The Toy Boys live...so that's definitely a draw. Get Jessie and the Toy Boys Jimmy Harry and Tony Kanal (of No Doubt)-produced single "Push It" featuring Yelawolf on iTunes HERE and watch the video below.

FEMME FATALE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:

June 16//Sacramento, CA//Power Balance Pavilion
June 18//San Jose, CA//HP Pavilion
June 20//Los Angeles, CA//Staples Center
June 24//Anaheim, CA//Honda Center
June 25//Las Vegas, NV//MGM Grand Garden Arena
June 28//Portland, OR//Rose Garden Arena
June 29//Tacoma, WA//Tacoma Dome
July 1//Vancouver, BC//Rogers Arena
July 4//Winnipeg, MB//MTS Centre
July 6//St. Paul, MN//Xcel Center
July 8//Chicago, IL//United Center
July 12//Dallas, TX//American Airlines Center
July 13//Houston, TX//Toyota Center
July 15//New Orleans, LA//New Orleans Arena
July 17//Atlanta, GA//Philips Arena
July 20//Orlando, FL//Amway Center
July 22//Miami, FL//American Airlines Arena
July 26//Cleveland, OH//Quicken Loans Arena
July 28//Detroit, MI//The Palace of Auburn Hills
July 30//Philadelphia, PA//Wells Fargo Center
July 31//Washington, DC//Verizon Center
August 2//Uniondale, NY//Nassau Coliseum
August 5//East Rutherford, NJ//Izod Center
August 8//Boston, MA//TD Garden
August 11//Montreal, QC//Bell Centre
August 13//Toronto, ON//Air Canada Centre

Check out Jessie and the ToyBoys on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube

Classy Electro-pop with Mannequins: Jessie and the ToyBoys Preview Debut Single

I knew Jessie Malakouti mainly because of her 2009 single "Standing Up For The Lonely" but apparently she's been around for while before that. Why am I always the last to know!?  

ANYWAY - American singer/songwriter Jessie Malakouti has gone ahead and adopted a Marina & The Diamonds like persona in that she's got a name that sounds like it should be a band but it's really just a solo act. I really shouldn't say "just a solo act" because from what I've heard, Jessie and the ToyBoys is way more than just a solo act. Sure, she's got a gimmick in all of her promotional photos, namely her "Toy Boys" (AKA a bunch of mannequins) but she's got talent both as a singer and a songwriter. As a special treat Jessie released a short snippet of her debut single, "Push It" featuring up and coming rapper Yelawolf. The single was produced by Jimmy Harry and Tony Kanal (of No Doubt). Kind of reminds me of a hybrid cross between Natalia Kills and Gwen Stefani. The rap bits sound a bit too much like 3OH!3 (not in a good way) "Push It" provides a nice little taste at what we can expect on Jessie's debut album.

Malakouti's first major break came with her all girl So-Cal rock/rap group called Shut Up Stella. The group became known in dive bars all along the Sunset Strip before getting signed to Epic Records. Their song, "Welcome To My Party" was featured in the Tina Fey/Amy Pohler comedy Baby Mama but after the band failed to take off, they were dropped by Epic and the girls parted ways. Now flying solo, Jessie Malakouti is on her own, doin' her thing.  In addition to working on solo material, Malakouti writes for other artists - whether she means to or not. In 2009, popular gossip blogger Perez Hilton publicly called out the Britney Spears camp for stealing Brit's Billboard Top 20 hit "If U Seek Amy" away from Jessie, claiming Jessie's song "Trash Me" was too similar to be a coincidence. Malakouti did admit in an interview with Company Magazine that she had submitted a version of the song to the Britney camp pre-Blackout era,  she ultimately decided to keep the song for herself.  While she admitted to being gutted initially, Malakouti decided to keep it classy and took it as a tremendous compliment. That's what I like to see. Classy electro-pop with mannequins.  You go girl.  Check out a short snippet of "Push It" featuring Yelawolf below.

-Thanks to MuuMuse and Prophet Blog for the re-introduction/refresher

Check out Jessie and the ToyBoys on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube