By Geoffrey Rowland
Lady GaGa recognises the devastating effects of bullying. She established her Born This Way Foundation to offer help and support to victims. Bars And Melody rapper Leondre Devries took a different approach. Now 13, he suffered through four years of verbal and physical abuse from a group of his fellow schoolboys. Telling his parents the bruises were caused while playing football because “I didn’t want anyone to think I was an attention-seeker,” Leondre poured his misery into the lyrics of rap songs.
“It was the only outlet I had. I didn’t want to say anything to my family and I couldn’t talk to other kids at school. Writing it all down in song lyrics was my one means of escape. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d not had this ability to express my emotions.”
Eventually admitting his troubles, a change of school finally ended Leondre’s bullying nightmare. His new found feeling of security also gave him the confidence to step on stage as the solo rapper Little Dre. “Everyone into rap music obviously knows Dr Dre so I thought Little Dre would be a good name for me. It wasn’t just my age. I’m not exactly the tallest kid in the world so the name seemed totally appropriate.”
In addition to working on his own material, Leondre also enjoyed viewing the videos posted by other young artists on YouTube and Facebook. This was how he saw singer Charlie Lenehan. “I thought Charlie had the voice of an angel. I knew I wanted to try for a career in music but I wasn’t sure if it would be as a solo rapper or part of a group. So many big rap songs nowadays feature a rapper and singer but these are always two solo artists such as Eminem and Rihanna. I thought maybe Charlie and I could form a permanent rapper/singer combination.”
Leondre was not the first person to contact Charlie in the hope of working with him. “He was different,” laughed the 15-year-old Melody part of the duo. “It was one of those instant friendships. We shared the same vision of what we wanted to do with our lives. I also loved Leondre’s old school style of rap with a bit of an American twang. The obvious thing was for us to meet up.”
They did so last September. Charlie lived in Bristol while Leondre’s home was in the South Wales town of Port Talbot.
“Bristol and Port Talbot aren’t a million miles from each other,” Charlie explained. “But a day trip didn’t leave us with much time together. We started meeting every weekend and I’d stay at Leondre’s house. His dad bought bunk beds for us.”
The boys began performing together as Bars And Melody. Reaction to their songs was so positive that they decided to audition for the 2014 series of Britain’s Got Talent. Their performance drew a standing ovation from the audience and judges. Show creator Simon Cowell was so impressed that he pushed the golden buzzer sending Leondre and Charlie straight through to the semi-finals.
“We were absolutely thrilled,” Charlie recalled. “We hoped we might do well and make it on to the show but the audience response and Simon pressing the golden buzzer was beyond anything we could have imagined.”
Their audition song was a rewritten version of Twista and Faith Evans’ Hope. Leondre replaced the original verses with his own words about being bullied. This is the track, retitled as Hopeful, which has given Bars And Melody a top five hit on the UK singles chart.
“Leondre’s words struck a chord with so many people,” Charlie stated. “We’ve been contacted by loads of kids who’ve been bullied. Their basic message is that they’ve drawn strength from our song.”
US chat show host Ellen DeGeneres was also moved by Leondre’s lyrics. So much so that she flew the boys to America and had them as guests on her programme. “That was just one of the amazing things which have happened to us over the last few months,” Leondre remarked. “Ellen was wonderful, one of the nicest people we’ve ever met.”
After sailing through their semi-final, Bars And Melody were strong favourites to win Britain’s Got Talent particularly as they would again be performing Hopeful.
“Finishing third may not have been such a bad thing,” Charlie reflected. “We were obviously disapointed but so many artists who didn’t win Britain’s Got Talent or X Factor have gone on to become major stars. One Direction are the perfect example.”
It remains to be seen how far the boys will travel along the road to stardom. But how ironic it is that those bullies who picked on the vulnerable Leondre should have provided him with the material which has enabled Bars And Melody to take their first steps.
Godsmack
American alternative metal band Godsmack are currently enjoying a top 10 hit on the Billboard 200 with their sixth studio album, 1000hp. The Boston natives returned to their home city to record the album. They began the process by working on 20 songs, quickly reduced this number to 15 and eventually settled upon ten for the finished album with one other song included as a bonus track on copies bought at Best Buy stores.
Their decision to record in Boston is reflected in the autobiographical lyrics of the album title-track which is also the lead single.
“It was a conscious effort to return to our roots,” revealed singer Sully Erna. “The single actually recounts our days playing in virtually empty bars working our way up to those big stages we’re so blessed to play on now.”
No official video has yet been made for the single. An audio posting is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkmZz-nrlyg but the entire album can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=baWrEeZ2ejU.
Spoon
Indie rockers Spoon have also just released a new album.
They Want My Soul is their eighth studio LP. Unlike Godsmack, Spoon had almost no material or even ideas for new songs when they began the recording process last September.
“We’d taken a much needed break after touring our last album (2010’s Transference),” said frontman Britt Daniel. “We either wanted a complete rest or to do some other musical project before we could get excited about working on new stuff for Spoon. “The excitement started when we got back together. It felt like we were again exploring the essence of Spoon just having fun creating new songs.”
An unofficial video for lead single, Rent I Pay, is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOPfmfRVWmk while an official video for second single, Do You, can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd6aXM8WHGw. The entire album is available to hear at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv6MRAIivTU.
Hilary Duff
Singer and actress Hilary Duff has just released her new single, All About You. It is the second track taken from her as-yet-untitled forthcoming fifth studio album. Lead single, Chasing The Sun, was released just three weeks ago and has debuted at number 79 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
“We weren’t sure which song to issue as the first single,” Hilary explained. “It could have been any of three tracks but I really couldn’t decide between the two we’ve released. Other artists sometimes release two singles in quick succession so I don’t see why I shouldn’t.”
The video for Chasing The Sun is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj6MjDFD1Kw. A video for All About You has yet to be made but an audio posting of the song can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vb3sqJ86k8.
