The-Dream’s New Girl Group is Naughty and Nice

Electrik Red
How To Be A Lady, Volume 1 (Radio Killa/Def Jam)

“Girl Power” is nothing new. The concept has been alive in music for more than a decade, shifting residency from the Spice Girls to Destiny’s Child to Danity Kane and all the before and in-betweens. But so many female groups are fenced in by lyrical limits, restricted from ever springing higher than their femcee counterparts. Don’t count on the latest gang of gorgeous singers, Electrik Red—comprised of Naomi Allen, Lesley Lewis, Kyndra “Binkie” Reevey, and Sarah Rosete—to greet that ideology with anything less than a manicured middle finger. On their debut album, How To Be A Lady, Volume 1, the fearless quartet are full of lippy, high-charged tunes—polite, they are not.

It’s virtually impossible to listen to Electrik Red without being tempted to judge it as a vicarious third go-round from R&B’s Einstein, The-Dream. After all, he and partner Tricky Stewart wrote and produced Lady in its entirety. The finished product flows with easy hooks, layered composition, and eccentric idioms particular to the pair—what separates it from previous work is its raciness. The group expresses their sentiments as explicitly as possible, whether sexing and then emasculating a male in one shot (“W.F.Y.”) or proclaiming their “shawty is the shit” with confidence (“Muah”). But their feminist stance blurs when the verses get hooker-ish, as on “P Is For Power” where Binkie flirtatiously raps: “The Y is for yes / Vanilla / If you wanna try / boy you better buy“ during a curious chant about their lady parts.

Still, it’s hard to argue against those contradictions when set to the celestial melodies of The-Dream and Tricky. Electrik Red may be confused as to which wave of girl power they’d like to ride. What’s not in question: Their debut sounds damn good.



Posted: May 26, 2009 @ 6:44 pm
By Tracy Garraud

Source:
http://www.vibe.com/music/revolutions/2009/05/electrik_red_how_to_be_a_lady_volume_1/


*

Electrik Red Is Not Your Average Girl Group

A funky four-girl caravan rolls into the deserted Brooklyn, N.Y., eatery in a dizzying blitz of lashes, lipstick, and laughter.

Pictured from left, Kyndra “Binkie” Reevey, Naomi Allen, Lesley Lewis, and Sarah Rosete—collectively Electrik Red—light up the spot like a flickering fluorescent sign and warm up a frigid November day with characteristic bluster. “I believe we’re gonna sell a million fucking records in the first week just like those other chicks did,” proclaims Binkie, the crimson-pouted, couture-worshipping party girl.

Sassy British-Canadian/Jamaican beauty Naomi chimes in, “We’d love to be colossal like the Spice Girls and the Pussyclot (sic) Dolls.”

Rounded out by Brooklyn rude gal Lesley and sultry Sarah, they’re a gorgeous twentysomething quartet, sporting porn-star hot bodies and close-up friendly kissers. But there’s nothing prefab about their union. All four girls performed as dancers and models alongside artists like Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, and Ciara—they appeared in her 2007 “Like a Boy” video together—before forming Electrik Red.

Their partnership began five years ago when two sets of childhood friends—Lesley and Binkie are native New Yorkers; Sarah and Naomi are from Toronto—danced on Usher’s 2004 Confessions tour. The four video vixens worked their collective industry connects until Def Jam Recording’s late Executive Vice President Shakir Stewart set up an impromptu audition with label chairman Antonio “L.A.” Reid.

One year later, their dazzling, self-titled Tricky Stewart– and The-Dream–helmed debut is heaving with libido-driven hits, especially the throbbing lead single “Drink In My Cup.” “Being sexy is not a problem,” says Naomi, reaching for her gloss-kissed wine glass. “Everybody’s trying to get their wind machine and the glitz and the glam. We’re not those girls.”

They’ve got looks, legs, and lyrics. But, according to Harlem-bred Binkie, what sets them apart from other chick cliques are their “coochie coupons.” She’s just kidding, but there’s something to her answer. It’s not the suggestion that they’ll give up the goodies for a track—it’s their free-spirited, unapologetic sexuality. “It’s about being real,” Sarah says.

“Everybody’s a goddamn freak. We just have a different perception of what being a lady is.” But are all the ladies on message?

“Together, we’re a really ridiculous force of feminine juice that’s ready to be squeezed all over the industry. And you’re not gonna be able to stop it,” assures Binkie, “whether you spit or swallow.”


Posted: January 28, 2009 @ 4:23 pm
By Shanel Odum

Source:
http://www.vibe.com/music/next/2009/01/electrik_red_next


*