Dance music has seen a slow and steady revitalization over the past couple of years, and especially in 2002, gaining more radio airplay and re-entering the mainstream. Throughout the month of November, “The Beat Goes On” will have interviews with influential artists, DJs, and labels to discuss the latest successes of the genre and what roadblocks still exist for it to truly be mainstream.
Since the fall of disco, dance music has struggled to make waves on the radio. There have been sporadic moments. One of the people who have had the most success in the genre the past 10 years has been Amber.
Coming onto the scene in 1995 with “This is Your Night,” a top 20 hit on the Billboard charts, she’s consistently proven to be able to stay relevant with dance audiences with tracks like “Love One Another,” “Sexual (Li Da Di),””Above the Clouds,” and her part in the Studio 54 soundtrack song “If You Could Read My Mind.” This summer Amber released her latest CD, “Naked,” which continued her growth as an artist and offered some surprising new twists for her fans.
In an interview, Amber said that the biggest change was that she was more in control of her own music this time out. “With this CD I was finally released from my contract from my production team. I tried to do that before my second album, but it did not work out. With the third album, finally I got to that point.” The end result of that arrangement saw her writing close to all of the tracks on “Naked,” with her mother filling in the gaps for the songs that she didn’t write. Amber was also an executive producer of the disc.
In addition, Amber said she wanted to add something more to her disc, both in terms of styles of music and substance. “It was very important to get away from the pigeon-holing of just being a dance artist,” she said. “I consider myself a vocalist, a songwriter, and an artist. I wanted to prove that there was more to me than a fast-type beat and I can give a substance to dance music. Dance music in general doesn’t have substance. There’s lightly dressed women that don’t have any substance, and that’s why dance music in the past has been pushed to the side.”
Amber says that she wanted to show more sides of her with “Naked.” “I’m at a point where I’m trying to bring a difference to that and show a different side to me,” she added. “As layered as my life is, I wanted to show that. I have a different mood each day – it reflects a variety of different styles.”
“Naked” definitely offers more sides of Amber, and also offers more to think about. The CD showcases Amber using metaphors in some of her songs to make them accessible, but actually offering some interesting insights when you look at the song a little deeper. One track on the disc, “Sex Without Sex,” encourages people to dig deeper spiritually with their partner. “‘Sex without Sex’ is about spiritual connection. If you get to know a person deeply, and strip all the layers down, it can be just as nice as having sex with a person physically. I meant the song as stripping down all your layers and get to know a person spiritually. I was very well aware of the sexual wordplay, but that makes the song universal.”
Amber noted that it has been more difficult for her songs to be played on the radio because of the sexual wordplay. Since the release of “Sexual (Li Da Di)” in 1999, many radio people have focused on the sexual songs and have avoided playing them. One perfect example is the first single from “Naked,” “Yes,” which uses lines from James Joyce’s book “Ulysses” for its hook.
Amber said, “People constantly put the stigma on me. “Yes” has breasts. (In the song, one lyric reads “I put my arms around him yes/and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts.”) When I say it comes from a James Joyce book and they stop, it’s like “gotcha.” No one talks about “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Love One Another,” etc. R’B artists are able to have suggestive videos and songs, but I can’t put out a song like “Yes”? I don’t understand that.”
Despite the confusion from radio programmers, Amber continues to do well on the dance charts, having racked up a string of 5 #1 Dance/Club Play hits on the Billboard charts. Her latest single, “Anyway (Men are from Mars),” which is already receiving early airplay on mix shows, could be the sixth. She is excited about the new single.
“[“Anyway”] doesn’t have any sexual content,” she said. “I think it’s a very witty written song and very empowering for women. It’s a very aesthetic song written for my divorce, and celebrate differences in a partnership. But if you don’t have anything in common, just make a final decision of where do we go from here. That’s what that song is about. I think it’s a great radio track, with a lot of good feedback from radio. I’m very excited.”
When listening to the CD, it might be noted that the song seems slower than normal Amber singles. In response, she said, “The song is 130 beats per minute. It has an off-beat, so it sounds slower. We will satisfy every genre out there. I hope that a lot of radio stations go with the original. Every original version of this album can be played on radio. Every extra remix, fine, serve it to the clubs. I was happy with basic production though.”
Amber sees crossing over to the mainstream as her next big challenge, having so successfully conquered the dance music genre. However, her latest CD proves that she’s not abandoning her roots while doing so. Many of the tracks on the CD still have danceable elements, and those that don’t are ballads that still fit in with the rest of the disc. Amber says it’s nervewracking, but exciting too. “I’ve been there [the dance charts], done that, and we’ll see what happens with “Anyway.” It’s a chance [Tommy Boy is] taking to go off that sure route. But I’ve shown diversity. Right now, I’m definitely shooting to crossover and even take dance music to crossover. Radio keeps denying that and keeps thinking and making people believe that R’B and Hip Hop is the only valid genres out there. It’s not. It’s a valid genre. Why shouldn’t it have a chance?”
Next week, The Beat Goes On continues with interviews with the team that has launched Provocative Music, a new company that includes a dance label. For more with Amber, visit her website at www.amber-mcc.com.
Leave a Reply