JobsCarsHomesRentalsPlace an ad »
         E-mail          Print          Text
Swedish pop singer Robyn remakes career after giving up bubble gum
Published: 05/09/08   1:00 am   |   Updated: 05/09/08   7:44 am
Comments (0)

Swedish pop star Robyn is on the verge of conquering the world for a second time. But this time it’s on her terms.

A sign of how hot she is this year is her appearance on “The View” on Thursday, which forced the postponement of a Wednesday show at Neumos in Seattle.

But she’s no newcomer. The 28-year-old singer, born Robin Carlsson, scored her first international hits in 1997 with “Show Me Love” and “Do You Know (What It Takes),” bubble-gum tracks more in line with Britney Spears than the hipster-approved electro-pop she’s doing today.

But Robyn had mostly faded from American consciousness by the time Britney and the rest of the pop-tart class of 1999 stormed the charts. And a few years later, the pop star felt creatively stifled and contemplated leaving the music biz altogether, despite sustained success at home.

“I was moving towards something closer to this album,” she said during a recent phone interview, referring to the critically acclaimed, eponymous album that was just released in the U.S.

“I was working with (Swedish electronic group) the Knife,” she said. “I was doing things I didn’t feel like my record company understood. They didn’t like it. So I was at the point where I quit making music or I start my own record company.”

Lucky for her fans, she chose the DIY option. She did about a year of research and legwork before launching Konichiwa Records, a label she initially ran out of her kitchen in 2005.

“When I made this album, I kind of had to let go of the idea of having an international career,” she said. “My focus was just to make an album that I was happy with. I’ve had a good career in Sweden for the last 12 years. I’ve been releasing albums there. They’ve sold, and they’ve done well and I can live off my music there.”

The buzz her album generated on the Internet encouraged her to expand to other countries, she said. Her self-titled album was released in England in 2007 and soon became a favorite import of the Pitchfork crowd in America as well. Success overseas led to a distribution deal with major label Interscope.

“I’m really happy about the way it turned out,” she said. “I’m not really interested in having success if it’s not on my own terms anymore.”

So you’ll have to excuse her if she sounds a little cocky on “Konichiwa, Bitches,” a playful rap track that’s been a favorite among fans on this side of the Atlantic. Sample lyric: “You wanna rumble in space/I put my laser on stun/and on the North Pole, I’ll ice you, son,” she brags. The fact that Robyn sounds about 14 as she delivers this braggadocio only adds to the track’s quirky charm.

“Well, it’s just really talking about me being the best and about how everyone else sucks,” she joked when I asked about the song’s origins.

“It’s a classic rap subject. I grew up with hip-hop music, and it was an inspiring thought to me at the time when I was starting up this record label. … It was just me doing whatever I wanted. And I just wanted to do good music and kick (butt). And that’s what I did.”

The rest of the album is more bubble gum than gangsta. But she elaborated on her love of American hip-hop.

“I grew up with Snoop and Biggie Smalls and the Wu-Tang Clan and all of those big hip-hop writers in the middle and late ’90s,” Robyn said. “And, when I made this album, I went back to that point, when I was teenager and music was fun and there was no pressure.”

You can hear the interview with Robyn on Bring the Noise (blogs.thenewstribune.com/ej).

Ernest Jasmin: 253-274-7389

 

Comments

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service.

Comments are displayed newest first. If you would like to read a thread from beginning to end, select "Oldest first" from the drop down menu.
Presented By
Previous Ad Next Ad
0/0
Homes By
Previous Ad Next Ad
0/0
A & A Cleaning Service AARP MedicareComplete American Memorial Annual A Victorian Country Christmas Festival Aqua Rec's Swimmin' Hole & Fireplace Shop At Your Service Plumbing AT&T B&I Coin Shop Bartell Drugs Benrick Enterprises Bergman Draper & Frockt Best Buy Blue Mouse Theatre Bose Corporation Broadway Center For the Performing Arts Bruce Titus Subaru Cadillac Campbell Soup Company Charles Schwab City of Tacoma Classy Chassis ClearChoice Windows Click! Coast Home Improvement, Inc. Coat Sale Time! Dejà Vu Discount Tire Dollar Store Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino Dr. Thomas Young NMD, DC Emerald Queen Hotel & Casino Factory Stores at North Bend Fantastic Mr. Fox Ford / Lincoln / Mercury Franciscan Medical Group Frank Tobey Jones Senior University Fred Meyer Galaxy Theatres Gene Pankey Motor Company Gig Harbor High School / Tide Fest GMC Goodwill Harbor Audiology & Hearing Services, Inc. Harnish Auto Family Harnish Buick / Pontiac / GMC / Lincoln / Mercury Homestead Restaurant HomeStreet Bank Honda Power Equipment Johnny's Dock Restaurant & Marina Kantor Diamond Company Kenneth P. Ring, DDS Little Creek Casino & Resort Macy's Moe's Home Collection Muckleshoot Casino MultiCare MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital / Festival of Trees MultiCare Neuroscience Center of Washington MultiCare Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Narrows Glen Navy Federal Credit Union New Tacoma Cemeteries & Funeral Home Northwest Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America Northwest Charity Donation Service Ooh's & Aah's of Lakewood Pacific Northwest Ballet / The Nutcracker Party World Philly Joe's Pibank Pierce Commercial Bank Pierce County Parks & Recreation / Fantasy Lights Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Precious Precor Home Fitness Premier Exhibitions Pro Golf Discount Puyallup Cars Reclinerland Red Wind Casino Red Wing Shoes Regence Rite Aid Pharmacy Russ Dunmire Saturn Skelley Piano Smile Train Smith Alling Lane, P.S. Sound Credit Union Sound Glass Sterling Savings Bank STIHL Tacoma Art Museum Tacoma Boys Tacoma Boys / H & L Produce Tacoma Community College Auditorium / Big Band Christmas Tacoma Symphony Orchestra Tatanka Take-Out The Grand Cinema The Twilight Saga: New Moon Titus-Will Ford / Lakewood Ford Titus-Will Ford / Toyota / Scion T-Mobile USA, Inc. Truckcity CB, EV and Solar USAA Insurance Vargus & Associates, Inc. Verizon Wireless Video Only Washington Council of the Blind Watson's Greenhouse & Nursery Weir's Appliance Wiggins Mantels & Woodworks Inc. Window World Yelm Cinemas Zion Lutheran Church Titus-Will Ford / Toyota / Scion T-Mobile USA, Inc. Truckcity CB, EV and Solar USAA Insurance Vargus & Associates, Inc. Verizon Wireless Video Only Washington Council of the Blind Watson's Greenhouse & Nursery Weir's Appliance Wiggins Mantels & Woodworks Inc. Window World Yelm Cinemas Zion Lutheran Church Titus-Will Ford / Toyota / Scion T-Mobile USA, Inc. Truckcity CB, EV and Solar USAA Insurance Vargus & Associates, Inc. Verizon Wireless Video Only Washington Council of the Blind Watson's Greenhouse & Nursery Weir's Appliance Wiggins Mantels & Woodworks Inc. Window World Yelm Cinemas Zion Lutheran Church Titus-Will Ford / Toyota / Scion T-Mobile USA, Inc. Truckcity CB, EV and Solar USAA Insurance Vargus & Associates, Inc. Verizon Wireless Video Only Washington Council of the Blind Watson's Greenhouse & Nursery Weir's Appliance Wiggins Mantels & Woodworks Inc. Window World Yelm Cinemas Zion Lutheran Church
Front page PDF