{"id":10772,"date":"2013-09-12T12:58:38","date_gmt":"2013-09-12T19:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=10772"},"modified":"2013-09-12T12:58:38","modified_gmt":"2013-09-12T19:58:38","slug":"skylar-gray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2013\/09\/skylar-gray\/","title":{"rendered":"SKYLAR GRAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Skylar-Grey-Issue-No28\"SKYLAR GRAY<\/h1>\n

An all-star songwriter finally releases her anticipated debut\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Skylar Grey built her reputation on writing songs for superstars, so it\u2019s understandable that she wanted her debut album to reflect her own personality. Originally set for release two years ago, the album was delayed. Songs were tweaked, added and removed\u2014and now\u00a0Don\u2019t Look Down<\/i> is finally seeing\u00a0the light of day.<\/p>\n

Grey used the downtime to her advantage. \u201cI got to tour with the music, and I was able to feel what worked and what didn\u2019t,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t do a lot of experimenting in the beginning, so it wasn\u2019t as cohesive as I wanted it to be. I honed in on exactly the sound\u00a0I wanted to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Probably best known for writing the hook to Eminem and Rihanna\u2019s 2010 hit \u201cLove the Way You Lie,\u201d Grey\u2019s song credits include co-writes on Dr. Dre\u2019s \u201cI Need a Doctor,\u201d and T.I. and Christina Aguilera\u2019s \u201cCastle Walls.\u201d For Don\u2019t Look Down<\/i>, the five-time Grammy nominee continued her history of high-profile collaborations, recruiting Angel Haze, Big Sean and Eminem for guest spots. \u201cI tend to keep really good relationships with people I admire,\u201d says Grey, 27. \u201cI like it when it\u2019s kind of serendipitous rather than something that the label threw together.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to producing a few songs herself, Grey worked with longtime collaborator Alex da Kid, who produced four songs on the new record. And jazz pianist J.R. Rotem also produced four songs, though his original motive for seeking out Grey was to feature her on his own album. \u201cJ.R. contacted me because he had a song he wanted me to sing for his record,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I left the studio after having sung the hook, I couldn\u2019t get the song out of my head. As I was driving, this entire verse came out. So I went back and said, \u2018I think I\u2019ve got to keep this song for myself.\u2019\u201d That tune became the album opener,\u00a0\u201cBack From the Dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grey took her time putting together Don\u2019t Look Down<\/i>, but she isn\u2019t always patient with her craft. \u201cThe songs that come the fastest\u2014when I\u2019m really not trying\u2014are usually the best. Pretty much any song I\u2019ve labored over I usually get really tired of, and it\u2019s never quite right. I just let it flow and whatever sticks, sticks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Amanda Farah<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SKYLAR GRAY An all-star songwriter finally releases her anticipated debut\u00a0\u00a0 Skylar Grey built her reputation on writing songs for superstars, so it\u2019s understandable that she wanted her debut album to reflect her own personality. Originally set for release two years ago, the album was delayed. Songs were tweaked, added and removed\u2014and now\u00a0Don\u2019t Look Down is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[6978,7084],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10774,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10772\/revisions\/10774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}