{"id":3067,"date":"2011-08-03T15:13:05","date_gmt":"2011-08-03T22:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3067"},"modified":"2011-08-03T15:13:05","modified_gmt":"2011-08-03T22:13:05","slug":"fefe-dobson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/fefe-dobson\/","title":{"rendered":"FEFE DOBSON"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

FEFE DOBSON<\/h1>\n

Making the most of an unexpected second chance at stardom<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Toronto native Fefe Dobson appeared poised for a major breakthrough in 2003\u2014her song \u201cTake Me Away\u201d was climbing the charts, she scored endorsement deals with Tommy Hilfiger and the Got Milk? ad campaign and was picked as the opening act for Justin Timberlake\u2019s world tour. Nonetheless, Dobson was dumped from her major label right before the release of her second album, 2006\u2019s Sunday Love<\/em>. Such messy behind-the-scenes struggles would bend the will of many up-and-comers, but Dobson mastered that crisis with her plucky attitude. \u201cThrough the many years I\u2019ve started not to be so hard on myself,\u201d Dobson says. \u201cI\u2019ve learned to wait for the right moment and just to have fun in the industry. It\u2019s supposed to be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as many of her peers zoomed past her, her optimism began to pay dividends. During her long layoff, Dobson saw her songs recorded by Miley Cyrus and Jordin Sparks. In 2008, Dobson was signed by Island Records\u2014the very label that had dropped her. On her latest album, Joy<\/em>, Dobson gives voice to her past grievances over a series of bouncing pop-rock beats. Her assertive, fist-pumping anthems, mostly directed at ne\u2019er-do-well boys, are tailor-made for summertime singalongs. But she\u00a0\u00a0also tempers her tantrums with songs that explore the lighter side of love. \u201cIn your life, you grow, you change, you evolve and you experience all these happy moments,\u201d she says, \u201cand that\u2019s reflected in this music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspiration strikes in any number of ways for Dobson, who wrote or co-wrote all 12 tracks on Joy<\/em>. \u201cIt can be anything from a headline in a newspaper to a journal entry in my diary,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m constantly looking for the next idea.\u201d She says her artistic freedom was nursed by her record label. \u201cI was allowed to breathe creatively,\u201d she asserts. \u201cAs long as I have my band there with me, I\u2019m great.\u201d The album\u2019s first single, \u201cWatch Me Move,\u201d a fired-up chunk of punk rock, has been heard on TV\u2019s American Idol<\/em> and America\u2019s <\/em>Next Top Model<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Dobson, whose influences range from Michael Jackson to Jim Morrison, insists on blazing her own trail. As a young black singer drawn to rock music, she knows she\u2019s something of a misfit among her fellow 20-something ingenues. \u201cI\u2019ve never wanted to blend in,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve always chosen to do the opposite of what\u2019s expected. Some people think I do it just because I get a kick\u00a0 out of it or I\u2019m trying to be different, but\u00a0rock \u2019n\u2019 roll has always been what speaks to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Blake Boldt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FEFE DOBSON Making the most of an unexpected second chance at stardom Toronto native Fefe Dobson appeared poised for a major breakthrough in 2003\u2014her song \u201cTake Me Away\u201d was climbing the charts, she scored endorsement deals with Tommy Hilfiger and the Got Milk? ad campaign and was picked as the opening act for Justin Timberlake\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[2287,623,10156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3067"}],"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=3067"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3069,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3067\/revisions\/3069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}