Hot Video Alert: DEV featuring Enrique Iglesias - Naked

"Naked" is the latest single to come from singer/songwriter AND protege of electro-hop duo The Cataracs, DEV. If you haven't heard of DEV, you might recognize her voice from Far East Movement's #1 hit back in 2010, "Like A G6."  "Naked" featuring Latin heartthrob Enrique Iglesias is included on DEV's debut album, The Night The Sun Came Up, which was finally released here in America on March 26th, following the international release last September.  While the album flopped its way onto the Billboard 200, peaking at #61,  it managed to do better as a dance album, peaking at #6.

"Naked" is your average, run-of-the-mill dance-pop single, chock-full of standard vocal effects & other aural embellishments that we've come to expect from a Cataracs/DEV collaboration.  While by no means BORING, "Naked" just doesn't go anywhere for me.  There's a lot of build up on the production side of things, but the minimalist vocals and lackluster lyrics don't allow it to fully blossom as a song.  I keep expecting a big chorus and all I get is more sound effects.  All in all, just a bit disappointing, considering how much I loved DEV's last single, "In The Dark."

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Hot Video Alert: DEV - In The Dark

DEV isn't really an artist I've spent too much time posting about because...well...I don't really know where her true talents lie. Sure, she's ATTACHED herself to a few catchy tracks ("Like A G6" by Far East Movement, "She Make Me Wanna" by JLS and "Bass Down Low featuring The Cataracs) but that's really all it feels like to me - an attachment. I don't really know who DEV is as an artist. She doesn't REALLY sing, which you know, works for Britney and Ke$ha but that market's already been pretty well covered I think.

All criticisms aside, "In The Dark" is a pretty catchy tune in and of itself. No, it doesn't stray too far away from it's predecessor, "Bass Down Low" but that's OK. It's got beat for days and a super slick video to boot (directed by Ethan Lader, who also directed the "Bass Down Low" video). "In The Dark" may very well be the tune that changes my mind about DEV. I still don't really know if I'd enjoy a full album of this auto-tuned-to-hell electropop but from what I hear, DEV does have talent beyond talk-singing. In fact, she co-wrote this very track. Who knew?

 "In The Dark" was released back in April and is the second official single taken from her forthcoming debut album, The Night The Sun Came Up, due September 5th in the UK on Island Records and September 20th in the U.S. via Universal Republic. Featuring hip-hop remixes with Flo-Rida and 50 Cent as well as dance mixes by the Proper Villains, Hype Jones, Mixin Marc & Tony Svejda, Johan Wedel, Static Revenger, Havana Brown, and Martin Volt Le Que & RJX the single peaked at #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #37 on the UK Singles Chart.  Download "In The Dark" on U.S. iTunes HERE and check out the super cool video below.

Check out DEV on the web: 

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//VEVO

In Case You Missed It...Music Video Round Up

SO you all know I LOVE music videos. Turns out I missed a s%@t load of them during my brief hiatus, so instead of going through them one by one...I decided to post them all at once, starting with the oldest. Here we go!

I HEART The Wanted. My favorite new UK boy band. "Gold Forever" is a dance-pop gem from their forthcoming sophomore album. Written and produced by Steve Mac and co-written by Wayne Hector and Claude Kelly the song was the official 2011 Comic Relief Charity single. The single debuted at #3 on the UK Singles chart, going on to become the band's third top-ten hit. Featuring remixes by Steve Smart & Westfunk, and Moto Blanco the single is destined to be a dance club hit as well. The fun video premiered in early March and was filmed on the same set as The King's Speech. Check out the boys and their cute clown noses above. Darling!  Look out for single #2, "Lightning," written by another favorite of mine, Mr. Ed Drewett.

"Gone" (AKA Dilemma Pt. 2) is the latest single from U.S. rapper Nelly's 5.0 album. "Gone" was written by Eric Goody II, Cornell Haynes, Earl Hood, Rico Love and Jim Jonsin (and produced by the latter two). In the Marc Klasfeld-directed video, Kelly Rowland reprises her role as Nelly's love interest, a role she first played in the video for his 2002 hit single, "Dilemma." While not as catchy as "Dilemma" it's nice to see Kelly and Nelly back together again. To date, the song has peaked at #59 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

"I'll Take Care Of You" is the latest single to be lifted off of American Soul artist Gil Scott-Heron's new album, We're New Here. We're New Here is actually a remixed album, produced by Jamie xx (of The xx). Scott-Heron's album was called I'm New Here, and is predominantly a blues and spoken-word album, like many of Scott-Heron's previous albums. Jamie xx seems to infuse electronic-elements into the original material seamlessly. The emotional, beautiful video for "I'll Take Care Of You" was directed by JJ Medina and AG Rojas and follows the story of an extraordinary young woman, single mother and boxer - Nisa Rodriguez. Playing like a mini movie, this stunning video shows the day-in-the-life of Rodriguez. Definitely worth a look.

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