Idolator: amerie

Amerie's Because I Love It, which was collecting ...

Maura Johnston — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:30:00 EDT

Amerie's Because I Love It, which was collecting dust on the shelves at Sony BMG for a really, really long time despite being a pretty good slice of R & B-tinged pop with two fine singles (one of them sampled Tom Ze, people!), is finally getting a Stateside release. And that release date is this Tuesday! No, really! [Circuit City]

Amerie Signs To Def Jam, Will Maybe Get To Release An Album

Anthony Miccio — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Rebounding from rumors of being dropped by Columbia after the blog love for her last album, Because I Love It, failed to inspire the label to release it Stateside, Amerie has signed to Def Jam and is already hard at work on her first album for the label, Ironically, I wouldn't be surprised if Sony finally releases Because I Love It (at least on iTunes) if Def Jam succeeds in making Amerie an across-the-board. After all, it's bound to be referenced in every article.

Despite being glad that she's going to be able to move on with her career, there's still part of me that's disappointed that "Crush" never got a chance to reach audiences here. As enjoyable as the singles "Take Control" and "Gotta Work" were, I think this homage to the days of Rhythm Nations and synth-orhcestra stabs would have sounded great coming out of car radios last summer (or even this one).

AMERIE SIGNS WITH DEF JAM RECORDS [Contact Music]
Amerie - Crush

The latest rumor: Amerie is on the verge ...

Maura Johnston — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:45:03 EST

The latest rumor: Amerie is on the verge of signing with Island Def Jam, and her long-delayed-in-the-States album Because I Love It will finally be released by the label. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but if I were her, I'd maybe wait until the dust clears from the impending Mariah Carey/Janet Jackson sales showdown before I signed anything binding, if only because this album's had enough problems and it certainly doesn't need two huge (well, OK, one huge and one maybe-still-huge) divas overshadowing its U.S. release from the get-go. [Rap-Up]

The Amerie Album: It Lives (Maybe) (Sorta) (Are We Being Too Optimistic?)

Maura Johnston — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 09:45:04 EST

Either way, TNT and whoever's responsible for promoting Amerie's Because I Love It in the U.S. are making me wonder if the album—or at least a song or two from it—might get at least a weak, half-hearted push in the States. And it's only been 14-and-change months after the singer dropped her first mixtape associated with it! Above, an ad for the cable channel's coverage of the NBA All-Star Game that uses the motivational anthem "Gotta Work" as its backing music—whether or not this is a sign of an actual promotional push for Amerie, or just an ad director with really good taste, or just a blatant attempt to get music-blog coverage for basketball's crowning event is unclear, but hearing this song is never a bad thing. [YouTube]

The Year In Dropped Artists: Hold On To Your Amerie Imports

mjohnston — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:35:05 EST

As a sort of companion piece to the news that Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard had been dropped from J, Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider blog ran a list of acts that had been dropped by/defected from major labels in 2007 last week. Frankly, I'm surprised that it isn't about a mile longer, even though it does run the gamut from on-to-better-things artists (the White Stripes, Radiohead) to bands that seem to have hard luck follow them wherever they go (Mooney Suzuki, Blood Brothers). Full list after the jump.

THE GOOD: This is a pretty depressing list overall, but perhaps Liz Phair getting dropped by her label will make her think twice before recording her next ode to getting down with the Kotaku set, "Mii And You (Pushin' My Trigger Button)."
THE BAD: After all that will-it-or-won't-it-come-out? drama, it looks like Amerie has been dropped from Sony, thus leaving the status of Because I Love It's US release date more unknown than ever. Here's hoping she'll make a second mix tape.
THE WHAAA? It's not about the list per se, but the comment section of the EW post has turned into a kinda crazy-ass pissing match between JC Chasez fans and Bo Bice diehards. I mean I loved "Until Yesterday" probably more than anyone else, but really?

Airbourne
Alexz Johnson
Alkaline Trio
Amerie
And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead...
Annie Steela
Ari Hest
Aslyn
Big Pooh and Little Brother
Blood Brothers
Bo Bice
Brendan James
Brett Ryan
Christian Daniel
Christina Milian
CMurder
Dandy Warhols
DMX
Fischerspooner
From First To Last
Goldie
Hedley
IMA Robot
INXS
JC Chasez
Jewel
J-Kwon
Joe Budden
Kelis
Kevin Devine
King Elementary
Liz Phair
Melissa Auf der Mar
Men, Women and Children
Moby
Mooney Suzuki
Natalie Warner
Nine Inch Nails
Northern State
Otep
Over It
P.O.D.
Paris Hilton
Paul McCartney
Phase 9
Prophet Omega
Radiohead
Reeve Oliver
Ronnie Day
Ruben Studdard
Shaggy
Shout Out Louds
Skye Sweetnam
Sound Team
Sparklehorse
Stacie Orrico
Sugarcult
Summer Obsession
The Clipse
The Donnas
The Music
The Outline
The Redwalls
The Vines
What About Frank
White Stripes

All the acts that lost major label deals in 2007 [Hollywood Insider]

Tonight, Late Show With David Letterman and ...

mjohnston — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:45:27 EST

Tonight, Late Show With David Letterman and The Tonight Show With Jay Leno return to the air, and it would appear that the writer-less Leno drew the short straw as far as musical guests go. While Letterman will have both writers and Lupe Fiasco in tow, Leno's comeback show will feature... Chingy. Although who knows, maybe this will work out: His new single (yes! he has one!) does feature Amerie, so perhaps she can convince Jay to let her pop off a performance of "Gotta Work" in lieu of one of those "Gee aren't people walking around Los Angeles dumb, part 8,453" sketches, because those are gonna get real played out real fast. [HT: Defamer]

No. 22: Amerie Pulls Us Out Of Our Funk And Into Hers

mjohnston — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:00:46 EST

And while the track at No. 22 may not motivate you to adopt an eternally positive outlook, it will get your hands waving and your butt shaking in time.

A year ago, I was going pretty crazy for Amerie's gender-bending mixtape Because I Love It, which was anchored by the Tom Ze-sampling "Take Control." The attendant album would go on to become a canary in the coalmine of sorts for the completely messed-up year suffered by the major labels, held back in "reworking" hell for months before being released in Japan, Europe, and pretty much anywhere that wasn't America. (It's still not out here yet; I finally gave in and purchased the album via Amazon UK in the fall.) In March—right around the time that the album's Stateside release was being pushed back to "maybe this summer, we think"—Amerie released "Gotta Work," which seemed to be her way of sending out a signal flare to anyone who was worried about how her album's perpetual purgatory may have been affecting her. Over a Sam & Dave sample that's twisted into a triumphant horn-bleat, Amerie leads a chorus of clones in some always-darkest-before-the-dawn lyrics that she claims came to her while she was making dinner one night. Her sign-off, "I do it because I love it," yelled over a go-go drumbeat and punctuated by even more brass, seems to be a rebuke to her corporate bosses as much as it is an invitation to come along with her for the rest of her musical ride, wherever it may take her.

Amerie - Gotta Work [YouTube]
Idolator's 2007 Top 40 List Of Awesomeness

Your Idolator Amerie Update: Every Hour On The Hour

dangibs — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 17:27:00 EDT

It's not a secret (or at least, not a well-kept one) that Amerie's stateside release date issues are a sensitive subject around the Idolator offices, but in order to show the fine people at Sony Urban/Columbia Records that there are still some people on this side of the pond who are eagerly awaiting the release of Because I Love It, we offer an Amerie news rundown after the cut:

ITEM: According to the World Entertainment News Network, Amerie's label was concerned that her college education would frighten off potential fans. Not so, Sony Urban/Columbia Records! Not so!

ITEM: Thanks to the site TeenHollywood.com, we learn that Amerie's mother forbids her to have a boyfriend. The article quotes Amerie as saying "My mom is very traditional, and she didn't understand the concept of dating. She didn't understand why I'd ever want to call someone a boyfriend. It was a bad word in our house." Thanks, TeenHollywood.com! That information will make my purchase of Because I Love It, whenever it's actually released in stores, a bit more enjoyable!

ITEM: ContactMusic.com states that Amerie is writing a screenplay, and would like David Beckham to star. No, Amerie's mom, it's not what you think! Amerie wants to get to know Victoria Beckham, as she has been a fan since the Spice Girls rose to fame.

ITEM: Finally, Starpulse shows a different side of the famously short-skirt-and-shorts wearing Amerie: The Amerie who wants to be known for her music. Says Amerie, "I don't want my fans to be into my music because they think I'm hot. There are lots of sexy singers out there. That may be one facet of who I am, but I don't want it to be the only one." So true, Amerie. You know, what might help? If we could actually acquire the music without paying import prices. Are you listening, Sony Urban/Columbia Records? Anyone? Is this thing even on?

Amerie - Gotta Work (live) [Dailymotion]

A Note From The New Editor: Waking Up At The Crack Of Dawn Because I Love It

mjohnston — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 08:38:35 EDT

Hello, everyone. Maura here. It's my first day in the editor's seat, and what better way to introduce my tenure than with the video for Amerie's summer-single-in-waiting "Gotta Work"—even if I have serious misgivings about all the Pussycat Dolls biting, a.k.a. the obvious attempt to get her record noticed on these shores? (Here's hoping there's an alternate "headbanging in front of bucket-drum-players" version of the clip floating around somewhere.)

Anyway, things will be in a state of semi-flux around here for the next few weeks: people should be permanently installed around me soon; a redesign similar to the one other Gawker sites have undergone will be put in place here early this week; and any first-person references will probably be in the singular now, although I have to say that after ten months, the semi-royal "we" is a tough, tough writing habit to break. But I'm really excited about the terrific parade of guestbloggers coming on board to assist me, beginning with Dan Gibson today.

One thing that hasn't changed: You can keep sending tips to the usual address. Also, the crabby '90s nostalgia will still be painfully high, if a bit more tinged with finds like this: the entire Love/Hate catalog, available as free MP3s. (Black Out In The Red Room did come out in 1990, after all.)

Amerie - Gotta Work [Offical Video] [YouTube, via AmerieWeb]
love/hate rock band love/hate everything lovehate metal lovehate [Official site]

A Please Release Me Special: The Amerie Album Is Still M.I.A. In The U.S.A.

mjohnston — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:00:54 EDT

Last night, we checked up on the release date of Amerie's Because I Love It, the R & B singer's third album. Despite a) her attempts to pump up its pre-release cred with a mixtape and b) the fact that it's one of the better R & B albums we've heard this year, its path toward store shelves in the U.S. has been fraught with delays. Sometime over the past few weeks, another one was introduced; the album, which was most recently scheduled for a July US release (it's already out in the UK and Japan), is now coming out in the States on Aug. 21. Sure, it's not Chinese Democracy, but this album's been plagued with delays since we first heard "Take Control," the album's lead single, back in October 2006. After the jump, a timeline of our prolonged wait for Because I Love It's Stateside arrival:

Early October 2006 - "Take Control" leaks
Late October 2006 - Amerie releases the mixtape Because I Love It Vol. 1
December 2006 - Blow Up-inspired "Take Control" video is released
March 23 - Amerie releases "Gotta Work" via MySpace
May 5 - Because I Love It leaks
Mid-May - Album is released in the UK, Germany, Japan, and pretty much anywhere else that isn't the US
August 21 - Album is released in the US. Maybe.

Did Amerie lose a video game tournament with her labelmate Kelly Rowland, whose own long-delayed album, Ms. Kelly, is finally coming out next month? The delays are somewhat boggling to us, if only because Because I Love It will have, for all intents and purposes, been out for three months by the time it gets an official release in the United States—that is, if the Aug. 21 release date stands, and the album isn't be pushed back to sometime after the first anniversary of "Take Control"'s debut.

We know we've been beating the Amerie drum around these parts for a long while, but watching an album that has commercial potential (thanks to Amerie's name recognition, at least) get the short shrift from its label is an aggravating experience, especially when that album is available on import via methods both legal and illegal, which has to cannibalize sales the longer the album is delayed. "Take Control" and "Gotta Work" have been released by Sony/BMG as digital singles over here—neither got much of a push domestically, and they didn't crack the Billboard Hot 100, either; there's apparently a video for "Gotta Work" in the works, but we have to wonder whether or not that'll see the light of day Stateside. Maybe all of this is leading up to her eventually parting ways with her label? After all, her mixtape-making prowess has shown us that she can go it alone, and tweak the noses of Ludacris and Pharrell while doing so.

Because I Love It [Amazon]

Leak Of The Day: Amerie Gives The World Some Love

mjohnston — Mon, 07 May 2007 11:00:54 EDT

Amerie's long-anticipated Because I Love It leaked over the weekend, just a few days before its release in everywhere but the U.S. (As one of our commenters pointed out, the Stateside release date at this point is sometime in mid-July—apparently, major labels haven't yet received the "staggered release dates like these just encourage people to head for the BitTorrent hills" memo.) Anyway, the album has a definite '80s-pop-radio vibe, and it's full of gems off her mixtape as well as a few new tracks, including the stomping "Make Me Believe":

~~Amerie - Make Me Believe~~ [MP3, link expired]
Amerie [MySpace]

Leak Of The Day, Part Two: Amerie Sure Knows How To Work It

mjohnston — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:11:27 EDT

We were delighted to find the latest track from Amerie, whose mix tape from last year still gets a lot of airplay around the flophouse. The brassed-out "Gotta Work" is apparently going to be on Because I Love It, Amerie's forthcoming album that has a screwy release-date schedule. Check it: "April 28th (Australia), April 30th (UK) and May 16th (Japan) and in USA most likely for the summer"? (Emphasis ours.) Unless she releases another mixtape soon, we can already feel the "Please Release Me" coming on.

~~Amerie - Gotta Work~~ [MP3, link expired; via Kevipod Music]
Amerie [MySpace]

An Inthusiastic Idolator Indorsement: Why We (Still) Love "Because I Love It"

mjohnston — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 16:21:47 EST

Last year, we were suckers for "1 Thing," the three-minutes-of-joy single from R & B singer Amerie; in October, a pal tipped us off to a leaked copy of Because I Love It, her first mixtape, and we went bananas for it almost instantly. From top to bottom, the mix—which is still streaming at LoveAmerie.com—is probably the most fun record we've heard all year; Amerie bends summertime stompers like "Money In The Bank" and "Money Maker" into her own mold, simultaneously taking charge and poking fun at the songs' excesses with some tongue-twisty wordplay. Plus, her reworking of the Kanye West/Pharrell track "Number One," the shimmering "Reminisce Witcha," is one of the most effervescent bits of pop to hit our ears since, well, "1 Thing."

~~Amerie - Reminisce Wit'cha~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Amerie - Money In The Bank~~ [MP3, link expired]
LoveAmerie.com

Videodrone: Amerie Puts On Her Super-Spy Uniform

mjohnston — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:37:25 EST

Amerie is having a pretty good run lately: First, she reworks Ludacris and Lil' Scrappy on a scorching-hot mixtape, then she puts out a video where she's a double-agent charged with "eliminating" a corrupt senator. Alas, we don't get to see Amerie do the deadly deed, but we do totally understand the clip's parallel between being chased by the paparazzi while you're trying to walk down the street and being chased by the paparazzi while you're trying to carry out a hit.

Amerie - Take Control (World Premiere) [YouTube]

Leak Of The Week Day: Amerie Shakes Her Mixtape Maker

mjohnston — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 16:56:26 EDT

Last week, we posted "That's What You Are," another new song from the spunky singer Amerie, but alas, its time on Idolator's servers was short-lived thanks to a pointed e-mail from Antipiracy@riaa.com. Imagine our surprise, then, when we found an MP3 of it on a mixtape hosted by loveamerie.com—and then share in the delight we felt when we realized that the mix was packed with a slew of new tracks from the "1 Thing" chanteuse, including her take on Ludacris' "Moneymaker."

~~Amerie - Money Maker~~ [MP3, link expired]
Index of /AmerieMixtape [loveamerie.com]

Leak Of The Week Day: More Amerie

Brian Raftery — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 13:27:19 EDT

Beauty N The Beat has another leak from Amerie's upcoming album—this time, a slow-burn called "That's What You Are." Last week's "Take Control" seemed to go over well with you guys; we await your verdicts on the new track below.

~~Amerie - That's What You Are~~ [MP3, link removed]
New Songs/Oct. 17th [Beauty N The Beat]

Leak Of The Week Day: Amerie's "Control" Issues

Brian Raftery — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:42:24 EDT

Discobelle has the new Amerie track, "Take Control," produced by Cee-Lo. Since Amerie's "1 Thing" will go down as one of the greatest singles of the '00s—if not of all time—we were a little disappointed that "Control" finds her veering into Beyonce territory. It's not a bad track, mind you (the looping guitar squiggle is fantastic), but after listening to "1 Thing" over and over again for the past year and a half, we were expecting something revelatory. Judge for yourself:

~~Amerie - Take Control~~ [MP3, link expired]
Amerie taking control [Discobelle.net]

Mash-Up Mania: T.I. Meets H&O

Brian Raftery — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:45:34 EDT

This post comes with two caveats: 1) That the Hall & Oates/T.I./Amerie combo you're about to see completely falls apart by the end, and 2) the "Hall & Oates is actually cool" retro-revival notion is pretty damn dated at this point. That said, the first minute and forty-one seconds of the clip are awesome.