Snoop, A$AP Rocky, Saweetie, Rich the Kid at #REVOLVEFestival

#REVOLVEfestival, a two-day daytime desert party on April 14 and 15, 2018 with multiple brand activations, introduced the PALMS Stage. Live performances by A$AP Rocky, 21 Savage, YG, Snoop and DJ sets by Taco and Siobhan Bell, while VIPs beat the dessert heat in the poolside cabanas. The Alice in Wonderland themed party boasted a carousel swing ride and a maze which led to a secret bar, pouring swilling white goblets, brimming with Moët Ice Imperial Rosé.

Rap legend Snoop, showed up for a special performance of his hits and old school songs including a set with long-time friend, and fellow rapper Warren G. Snoop also played Lauren Hills’s “Killing me softly with his songand the entire crowd was singing along.

Snoop 

Snoop 

Bringing some girl power to the party, Saweetie, sang new songs and hits High Maintenace”, “Good Good”, “B.A.N.”, “IcyandAnit Freestyle”. Later we sat down for an exclusive interview:

She told me: “I’m working on my album right now.  I’ve been working with Stargate, Beethoven, the Producers, and so the songs are like more mature and I’m just really excited to see how this project unfolds. I’m kicking off my So Icy tour today so there’s a lot of dates coming up.  So just seeing how I can extend my brand to something bigger and better.”

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And fans can get excited since she said she is releasing her album and a couple of songs soon:

“More towards the end of the year. I’m always recording.  So we have four songs so far, well six, but four complete songs. I have a song called “Day and Night”.  It’s fun.  It’s a really fun song.”

“We’re going to release a couple of songs before the album.  I definitely would want to give like a summer vibe.  I’m a summer baby, so you know, my birthday’s coming up on July 2, so I definitely want to release something around my birthday, so you might be partying to it, you know?”

And we can expect some collaborations:

“I definitely want to collaborate with some females.  I really…like I think an adult female rap record would be really cool. I love Kamiyah, Cardi B, you know. Dreezy’s really good.  I would like to do like a new record for women in hip hop.  I think we need that.  Something like woman-empowering.  I think that would be really cool.”

We also talked about her career journey:

“I became comfortable with my voice just last year, and I’ve been wanting to do this since I was 14.  So when I finally became comfortable with myself, it was a really big thing for me, and I was super excited, because then I could record just any time now.  I don’t have to worry about like how I want to approach a song—I just go and record it now.”

She also explained her inspiration for her songs:

“If it’s something I go through, I want to put it out in a song.  Like that’s how I like to vent.  I’m not the type of person that likes to call people about my problems.  I’m the type of person who will put it in a song.  You know—good, happy, sad, energetic—whatever emotion I’m feeling, that’s what I like to put in my music.”

She continued: “I drew a lot of inspiration while driving.  I used to drive a lot, so I feel like if I’m immediately inspired, I have to write it down like right away, but I am a nocturnal type artist, so like I’ll be in the studio until like 5:00, 6:00 a.m.”

She explained to us about her new song “Respect”:

“Respect” is about a guy that I adore, and one time I was in the club and he was getting a lot of respect, and by that I mean like a lot of people were saying “hi”, going out of their way to say “what’s up” to him, and I’m just like, “A lot of people respect you”, but like in that moment, I was like I want to write a song about this. So I actually wrote the chorus while I was in the club so I didn’t forget it, and sometimes I’ll even like, you know, your voice memo—I’ll say it really quick so I don’t forget the melody.”

Couple Ty Dolla $ign and Lauren Jauregui arrived together and snapped photos at their cabanas and talked to 21 Savage. 

Rich the Kid took the stage and rap Plug Walk”, then Rick Ross looking healthy after his helath scare also took the stage. 

Rich the Kid, Selma Fonseca

Rich the Kid, Selma Fonseca

Chance the Rapper closed out the show with a surprise performance, singing “No Problem”, and the crow sang him happy birthday as models Winnie Harlow and Jasmine Sanders were seen dancing and snapping selfies.

Even music mogul LA Reid stopped by with his lovely wife Erica, they were hanging with 21 Savage.

Snoop had his own after party at the PALMS Casino Resort gold VIP secret room inside the House where he listened to music on his phone.

Chance the Rapper

Newly married Emily Ratajkowski and husband Sebastian Bear lounged in cabana’s eating Skinny Bitch Pizza and Amaze Bowls while telling friends “I can’t believe I’m a wifey now”. Kendall Jenner joined her friend’s and sipped on a CÎROC coconut drinks poolside, before heading on stage to greet Taco for his DJ set.

Other celebrity VIPs included Nipsey Hussle, Nicole Richie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dj OHSODJ Mustard, Shay Mitchell, Chanel Iman, Jordyn Woods, Jasmine Sanders, Terrance Jenkins, Olivia Culpo, Jasmine Tookes, Ryan Destiny, Alisha Boe, Amelia Gray Hamlin, Lottie Moss, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Hart Denton, Camilla Mendes, Elsa Hosk, Shanina Shaik, Rocky BarnesNicole Scherzinger, Taylor Hill, Romee Strijd, Mike Will Made ItKitty Cash, Winnie Harlow, Joan Smalls, Luka Sabbat, Ryan Destiny, Keith Powers, Peyton List, Cameron Monaghan, Alisha BoeVictoria Justice, Amanda Steele, Jasmine Sanders, Terrence Jenkins, Shaun Ross, Nipsey Hussle, Gunna, Lauren Jauregui, Chase B, Brittany Sky and Jenn Im.

 

 

 

 

Faulkner band Album Release “Pariahs” - Exclusive Interview

Faulkner, an alternative band based in Venice, California released their new Album “Pariahs” on Friday, February 9, 2018. They celebrated by performing at the Peppermint Club in West Hollywood, CA on Thursday, February 8.

Before getting on stage and singing their hits “Molly”, "These Kids Nowadays”, "Black", "Revolutionary” and “Hot Streak”, I sat with the band for an exclusive fun interview. Lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Lucas Asher explained the meaning of their debut album: “It’s called “Pariahs”. It means outsiders—all the rebels, all the misfits, all the unfits.  Everyone who’s searching for that meaning.  That’s who I identify with. We came from the streets, and so it’s largely inspired by our journey from the streets to where we are now. I came from the New York streets. I was homeless in Dumbo for months when we just started." Then joking a little he said: “Yeah, and now look at us. We’re wearing red jackets, pimping, and…”

Lucas Asher, Dimitri Farougias, Eric Scullin, and Christian Hogan. Photo by Selma Fonseca

Lucas Asher, Dimitri Farougias, Eric Scullin, and Christian Hogan. Photo by Selma Fonseca

He continued: “Well, I don’t have any parents, I’m an orphan, so I just ran away to New York like a lot of…I mean, Madonna did that when she was young.  There’s a lot of stories… And that was a little after the towers (Twin Towers) fell. I’ve always been playing music, ever since I was really young, so I was doing Singer/Songwriter stuff back then, and just making your way, you know, and that’s when you, I guess you find your voice.  I think artists need to go through that refining phase, and then I came out to L.A., met up with these guys.  These guys are all like my brothers, and…”

Lucas also told me how members of the band meet (Dimitri Farougias, Eric Scullin, and Christian Hogan): “We were all in line at the DMV trying to pay tickets—you know how it is.”

Lucas Asher
Faulkner

Talking about the album, Lucas said: "We collaborated with the Strokes producer, JP Bowersock, who did one of my favorite albums, “This is It". We brought in Mark Needham, whose mixed like half of the alternative radio right now.  He did “The Killers”, and then we’ve always been big fans of Witches Glen, partially of because of my New York upbringing, and so RZA got involved, and he brought us to Rick Ruben’s studio in Shangri-la where Bob Dylan’s tour bus is in the back and Eminem has a lemon tree and we could go on and on about that.  It took like two years to put it all together.  And it’s got urban influences, alternative influences.  We saw a lot of great legends pass away while we were making the album so that was inspiring because you have to carry the torch.  Like what are we all going to do? Just stop?"

And he said the legend that passed away that inspired them was: “Bowie, because sonically, in our sound, we were so inspired by him.  And this guy, too, Eric (Scullin) helped co-produce it, the album, too, so he’s like our Bryan Jones and the tannest person in the band.”

Lucas told me how he writes his songs: “That’s actually a good question, because I start on acoustic guitar and then I usually collaborate with this guy (Eric), and he’s just a great, great… I think he’s going to be a superstar producer someday. He’s just really gifted and he helps with the arrangement, and we really collaborate on it, and then we bring it to these guys, and by the time everyone gets involved, I don’t recognize my own song anymore, because it moves. It’s a real band, so everyone adds their piece to it, and it takes on a life of its own and starts to live and breathe, and a lot of the music is a little bit aggressive because I wrote some of it when I was living on the streets and when I was coming up.”

He continues: “Now I’m writing music that’s completely different because I’m in a different place. I’m drinking expensive wine and I always wear red, yeah.”

Lucas also told me what he likes to listen to: “For me, I listen to mostly hip hop which people find odd because I’m in an alternative band. We love Dr. Dre.  We love Kanye.  That’s kind of what we’re listening to, and the first two Fifty Cent albums, Nas. That’s kind of what I listen to mostly because it’s aspirational and they came from nothing, too, and we kind of came from nothing.  So, it’s aspirational; it’s inspiring.”
We talked about their future project: “In March, we’re shooting a music video. We shot in Italy, Morocco, and the Imperial Dunes, and that’s going to be dropping in late March for the “Hot Streak” song. After the music video drops, we’re going to be on the road.”

Resuming this is the plan for 2018: “We have a music video coming. The album is called “Pariahs”, it’s 10 songs.  Tour is going to be announced later in March.  It’s 2018, so you never stop recording. We’ll be putting out new music even after the album comes out.  We just worked on a song a couple of weeks ago with a choir who sang with Drake and we had a big gospel choir, so we’re always exploring new sonic territories.”

Their performance was energetic, fun, a must see.

Eric Scullin, Lucas Asher, Selma Fonseca, Dimitri Farougias, Christian Hogan. Photo by Selma Fonseca

Eric Scullin, Lucas Asher, Selma Fonseca, Dimitri Farougias, Christian Hogan. Photo by Selma Fonseca

Check out their latest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drFSi7S-Pqg