Decades ago, when C&C Music Factory's "Everybody Dance Now" topped charts based on the powerful voice of Martha Wash, featured vocalists were something of a novelty. In today's music industry, they're practically the norm!
While Wash was famously forced to sue C&C for vocal credit on that 1989 hit, these days most contributing artists get proper credit. Still, racking up a few hits singing choruses on the most popular hip-hop and R&B hits doesn't always lead to solo success. Plenty of women can attest to this -- including rising pop star Skylar Grey.
In 1996, Grey shot up pop charts as a featured vocalist on Fort Minor's Top 5 smash "Where'd You Go" -- then disappeared. Now she's hard-at-work, trying to step out of the shadows of others' success and into her own spotlight.
In the last year, Grey's received a Grammy nomination for cowriting Eminem and Rihanna's massive hit "Love the Way You Lie" and scored two Top 20 hits featured on songs by Diddy-Dirty Money ("Coming Home") and Eminem & Dr. Dre ("I Need a Doctor"). With her new single "Invisible," though, she hopes to achieve success on her own!
It's a path electro-pop newcomer Dev understands well. Though she wrote and sang the hook for The Far East Movement's global smash "Like a G6," she's still trying to carve out an identity of her own. Her current Top 15 smash "In the Dark" has her well on her way!
My current Name-Dropping with Pollo! includes exclusive audio from my recent interviews with the women. Both stars discuss their upcoming solo albums, due late this year or early in 2012.
Also included in this edition is an interview with RuPaul's Drag Race star Mystique Summers. In our exclusive chat, the popular performer -- perhaps best known for the TV confrontation in which she told fellow Drag Racer Morgan McMichael, "Bitch, I'm from Chicago!" -- discusses meeting men online and even reveals the gay dating site(s) for which she'd like to be spokesperson!
Other names which get dropped this edition include '80s synth-pop icons Erasure -- Andy Bell and Vince Clarke -- who release 14th album Tomorrow's World on Oct. 14, Bay Area drag legend Heklina, Trannyshack's Halloween Bash at DNA Lounge, truTV host Scott Nevins, Noah's Arc star Wilson Cruz, The Rrazz Room, Bay Area Young Positives and much, much more. Don't miss a moment of it!