2. Ariana Grande –
Butera is
professionally known
as Ariana Grande, and
was born June 26th
1993. She is an
American actress and
signer, who began
her career in a
Broadway musical.
She then moved onto
appearing on the
Nickelodeon series
Victorious as Cat
Valentine. Her music
career began with the
soundtrack for
Victorious, and went
onto signing a
contract with
Republic records.
She has released two
albums: Yours truly
featuring ‘The way’ and
My everything,
featuring big singles
such as ‘Problem’ ‘Break
free’ and ‘Bang bang’.
Some of her awards
include ‘best pop video’
and ‘best pop vocal
album’
Ariana’s style is mostly pop and R&B. She has said that she grew up
listening to urban pop and 90’s music which has had a great
influence on her music. She originally created ‘bubble-gum pop’
single for the younger audience, however yours truly is slightly
different. Ariana has described this album as half throwback to the
90’s with a familiar sound, and half her originality and something a
little bit different. Her new album however, adds electro pop genres
and is an evolution of Yours Truly. Ariana has cited that artists such
as Whitney Houghton, Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys were
inspiration for her debut album. She has also been dubbed a ‘mini
Mariah Carey’ because of her wide vocal range.
At the beginning of her
career, Ariana was
applauded on the fact
that she didn’t wear
revealing clothing like
many artists her age, and
was seen as age
appropriate. She did
however opt to wear
short skirts and crop tops
in her later music videos.
Although featuring
collaborations with
well know rappers such
as Big Sean and Mac
Miller, her albums
keep an appropriate
tone, in relation to the
image Ariana presents
of herself.
When branded a ‘diva’ by
the press, Ariana’s older
brother : Frankie Grande,
said that she was one of
the most hardworking stars
he had ever met, and she is
not spoilt or precious at all.
Her innocence may be a
reason why she is so
successful in the pop genre.
3. Nicki Minaj’s real name is
Onika Tanya Maraj. She was
born December 8th 1982.
She is a Trinidadian born
singer, rapper and
songwriter who earned
attention by releasing 3 mix
tapes between 2007 and
2009.
She then signed a contract
with Young money
entertainment in 2009. Her
debut album Pink Friday
was number one on the US
billboard 200. She then
became the first female
artist to have 7 singles
simultaneously charting in
the US.
Her next album Pink Friday:
Roman Reloaded included the
single ‘Star ships’, and The
album in 2014, Pinkprint, saw
the single ‘Anaconda’ hit the
charts. She has also featured
on films such as Ice Age and
The other Woman, as well as
judging American Idol in 2013.
Nicki has been considered as
the most influential female
rapper of all time. Her
rapping is very distinctive
because of the fast flow, use
of alter egos, and accents,
mostly being British Cockney.
She also well known for
wearing extravagant wigs and
clothing in her early stages of
her career.
Nicki Minaj can also be
recognised in Mac
cosmetics, Pepsi and Adidas
advertisements. Some of
her awards include 4
American music awards,
and 5 billboard music
awards. She also owns a
billboard rising female artist
award.
Nicki is known to have said that she originally felt obliged to
follow the sexual appeal most female rappers of her age have,
but she pushed this representation to the side in order to
ensure that people, especially the younger audience,
understood that nothing in real life would be based on sex
appeal. The rapper made autographing breasts part of her
movement to empower women. She is also known to refer to
herself as ‘King’ instead of ‘Queen’ in ‘moment for life’ as she
finds herself competing with male and female rappers. She
refers to her fans as ‘Barbs’ and ‘ken barbs’, like the brand
‘Barbie’ a typically girly toy.
Nicki includes punch lines,
metaphors and word play in
her work, as is frequently
compared to her mentor: Lil
Wayne. She has also been
described as a ‘walking
exaggeration, outsize in
sound, personality and
look’, and has said her
favourite fashion designers
are Alexandra McQueen
and Christian Louboutin.
4. Jessica Ellen Cornish is
also known as Jessie J.
She was born on the 27th
March 1988. She is
English born and raised in
London, beginning her
career in a west end
musical: Whistle down
the wind.
She studied at Brit school,
along with artists such as
Adele, and then signed
with Gut records. She
then signed a song
writing deal with
Sony/ATV music
publishing where she
wrote songs for artists
such as Chris Brown and
Miley Cyrus.
Her first single came – Do
it like a dude - when she
signed with Universal
Republic. Her next single
Price Tag hit the charts in
19 different countries
and her album ‘Who you
are’ charted number 2 in
the UK.
Her first album included songs
such as: Nobody's perfect,
who you are, domino and laser
light. These all charted in the
top 10 UK singles chart,
making her the first British
female artists to have 6 top
ten singles from a studio
album.
In 2012, Jessie J performed
and the Queens Diamond
Jubilee concert outside
Buckingham palace. As well
as this, she performed at
the closing ceremony of the
2012 Olympic games in
London.
Her second album was
released in 2013 – Alive –
including ‘Wild’ and ‘its my
party’. Her third album was
released in 2014 – Sweet
talker – which was preceded
my the single ‘Bang Bang’
which featured Ariana
Grande and Nicki Minaj.
Jessie was first identified as a soul singer but
primarily records songs of a R&B and Pop nature.
Jessie’s songs and styles have been compared to
many artists such as Adele, Rihanna, Pixie Lott and
Amy Winehouse. She has also been described as
having ‘confidence you cannot buy’ because of her
evident attitude in her music. Jessie calls her fans
Heartbeats after her Heartbeat tour, and because
without them she wouldn’t be here (like a heartbeat).
