East Coast Live will see sets by Jessie J, Jason Derulo, Rizzle Kicks, Union J, The Saturdays and The Vamps in Chantry Park on June 28.
Number one singles, a multi-platinum debut album, performing for billions at the Olympics, two series of Saturday night prime-time TV show The Voice, an extraordinary act of charity for Comic Relief, Glastonbury, the Diamond Jubilee Concert, penning songs for the likes of Miley Cyrus and Chris Brown; it’s been quite the career so far for J which began with the single Do It Like a Dude, followed by Price Tag.
The first British woman in history to take six top 10 singles from one album, the Brit Award winner’s second album Alive was released in October.
“I wrote my first album when I was 18. This is definitely more mature,” she says of the follow-up, which saw her work with the likes of Rodney Jerkins, Claude Kelly and Stargate.
Of the 21 songs written for the album, she wrote all but one.
“I’ve controlled everything,” she says. “The covers, I’ve picked Rankin to do the photography, I’ve chosen my video director, I’ve written the treatment. I’m a control freak and I don’t like it when I’m not in control,” she laughs.
Growing up in Miami raised on a diet of Prince, Michael Jackson, Elvis and Madonna, Derulo penned his first song, Crush On You, on the piano aged just eight.
At 17 he composed and sang the chorus to Bossy for Southern rapper Birdman and soon became a sought-after songwriter, penning tracks for hip-hop star Lil Wayne, RnB singer Cassie and girl group Danity Kane to name a few.
Around this time, producer JR Rotem’s brother Tommy was searching for artists to sign to Rotem’s new label, Beluga Heights. He contacted Derulo through his MySpace page and invited him to Los Angeles to pen songs for Sean Kingston’s second album.
“Jason is one of those guys who can write songs for other people but has a career of his own,” says Rotem, who produced Pick Up The Pieces, Be Careful and Dumb on Derulo’s second album Future History.
Derulo - whose self-titled debut album included the three times platinum Whatcha Say, two times platinum In My Head and Ridin’ Solo, making him the first male solo artist to score consecutive number ones on Billboard’s pop songs radio airplay chart in its 17-year history with his first two entries - says: “My goals for myself are almost impossible to reach. It’s just me doing what I’m doing and that is making music for the world and hopefully making it a brighter place for somebody.”
British pop-rap duo Jordan “Rizzle” Stephens and Harley “Sylvester” Alexander-Sule have sold more than 300,000 albums and more than a million singles since the release of their warm-up single Prophet (Better Watch It) in 2011.
Follow-up Down With The Trumpets, from debut album Stereo Typical, hit the Top 10 and their collaboration with X Factor star Olly Murs Heart Skips A Beat went to number one. It was followed by top 10 smashes When I Was A Youngster and Mama Do The Hump.
The album itself went straight in at number eight on its release, peaking at number five and has barely been out of the charts since.
They have also remixed Jessie J, Olly Murs, Ed Sheeran, Mayer Hawthorne and Foster The People.
“People say we’re reminiscent of golden age hip hop,” says Harley. “That’s what we set out to achieve, so mission accomplished.”
As for Jordan, he’s delighted to see in audiences at Rizzle Kicks concerts teenagers as well as lapsed rap fans who miss the genre’s melody and humour.
“I’m really proud that we get all these teenage girls at our gigs who we make do ‘hip hop hands’ to hip hop beats,” he beams. “That’s a good thing. We’re keeping the music alive.”
Is there room for another boyband? Union J’s 900,000 and counting Twitter followers think so.
Brought together on the X-Factor, Jaymi Hensley, Josh Cuthbert and Newmarket’s JJ Hamblett were Triple J before the ITV talent show’s judges decided to add George Shelley to the mix, giving us Union J.
Since reaching the show’s semi-finals, it has been non-stop for the boys; with hit singles and their own headline UK tour which comes to the Ipswich Regent on January 3.
Multi-platinum selling girl group The Saturdays - aka Mollie King, Una Foden, Vanessa White, Frankie Sandford and Rochelle Humes - have scored 11 Top 10 singles including All Fired Up, Higher and the number one What About Us plus Top 10 albums Chasing Lights, Wordshaker, Headlines and this year’s Living for the Weekend.
Nobody knows the power of social media more than Bradley Will Simpson, James McVey, Tristan Evans and Connor Ball, otherwise known as The Vamps.
The teenagers got together via their homemade demos on YouTube with the plan to upload a series of punkish, acoustic-driven covers of pop hits by the likes of One Direction, Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars and release an album of their own arena-shaking anthems.
Fifteen million online hits and a major label recording deal later, they’re become big bleeps on the pop radar.
Winning over an army of new fans during their support slot with McFly, their YouTube channel has nearly 250,000 subscribers with their videos getting more traffic than Little Mix, Lawson and Union J, Not bad given they’ve barely reached drinking age.
Check out Event for an exclusive interview with the guys soon and with more of the East Coast Live acts.
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