MAKING ‘WAVES’: Mr Probz
By Geoffrey Rowlands
Mr Probz had the unfortunate knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The man born Dennis Stehr had several important people believe in his music only for them to find new jobs with record companies who were not so enthusiastic about his work.
But as Dennis has now discovered, career setbacks can eventually be overcome. Taking a bullet in the stomach is often a different matter. “I was definitely in the wrong place at that time,” he reflected. “I was an innocent bystander when two guys got into a fight. One of them pulled a gun and it ended up with me getting shot. I could easily have died but I guess fate had other plans for me.”
Those plans included a few highs mixed with some devastating lows. Amongst the latter was the destruction of his home studio.
“It was completely gutted by a fire. But there was one thing about the fire which perhaps pointed to how things were destined to work out. Virtually everything was reduced to charred remains. The sole exception was my laptop computer. That survived with the hard drive still intact so I didn’t lose my songs.”
Now 29, Dennis was a teenager when he got into the hip hop scene in his native Netherlands as a graffiti artist. His progression into music saw him initially become a rapper.
“It seemed like the thing to do. I didn’t really appreciate the quality of my singing voice. Even if I had though, I’d still have been a rapper. Rap stars were my musical heroes.”
Not that hip hop was the only style of music Dennis enjoyed. “Hip hop operated outside the boundaries of conventional music. At least, it did when I was growing up. I was also attracted to artists performing in other genres who were unconventional. The musical style didn’t matter, I was seduced by the idea. Consequently, I was just as interested in listening to Pink Floyd or Nirvana as any rapper.”
His first appearance on the Dutch singles chart came in 2006 as part of the Gangsta Blues movie cast with the soundtrack song, Welkom in ons Leven.
“I was one of several Dutch hip hop artists who got roles in the film. I’d been a guest performer on tracks by other Dutch rappers and my own stuff was available online so I was regarded as a coming man in Netherlands hip hop.”
It would take eight more years and a change of musical direction before his undoubted promise was fulfilled. Along the way, major names in the US music industry expressed keen interest in signing Dennis but the proposed deals all came to nothing.
“I guess everything turned out for the best. If I had signed a deal, I’d probably still have been a rapper rather than a singer and would definitely have hated any interference with my music which might have come from a record label. It’s also much more satisfying to have my success now and know I’ve achieved everything on my own terms as a truly independent artist.”
His single, Waves, not only sits atop the UK chart but also holds the number one spot in numerous countries across Europe. It is an uptempo remix by German DJ Robin Schulz of a song which originally peaked at number five in the Netherlands late last year.
“I prefer to do as much as possible myself. I’m not someone who is happy to have legions of people tinkering with my music in the hope of making it more commercially appealing. But even I couldn’t resist Robin’s remix. It’s such an infectious beat and so different from the original song. I think it’s brilliant and was delighted to sanction the release.”
The smash hit single does not appear on his debut album, The Treatment. All 13 tracks are posted at (no www.) soundcloud.com/mrprobz. Also here is the original version of Waves plus collaborative songs with Lloyd Banks and Joe Budden.
“I’ll probably re-release the album and add both versions of Waves as bonus tracks. At the moment though, I’m working on new material. I hope the popularity of Waves means many more people will be interested in hearing my new songs.”
IN BRIEF
Boots
Beyonce fans may have wondered about the identity of Boots. He co-wrote eight songs and was responsible for producing or co-producing nine of the 14 tracks on her self-titled 2013 album.
Largely unknown before working with Beyonce, Boots was eventually revealed as Jordan ‘Jordy’ Asher. Formerly the frontman in bands such as Blonds, Young Circles, Blond Fuzz and Stonefox, Jordy’s demo CD earned him a publishing deal with Roc Nation and a meeting with Beyonce. This led to his extensive work with the superstar singer.
In recent months, Boots has been releasing his own tracks via Facebook. These have now been collected on his debut mixtape, WinterSpringSummerFall, much of which has been posted on SoundCloud.
Ten of the 16 tracks can be heard at (no www.) soundcloud.com/bootsonboots. Most of the songs are offered for free download.
The exception is Dreams, a duet with Beyonce. A price of $0.99 is being charged for this with all proceeds donated to Day One, a non-profit organisation devoted to the issue of teen dating violence.
Jack White
Jack White released the instrumental High Ball Stepper as the lead single from his forthcoming second solo album, Lazaretto. At least, that’s what was generally believed.
In fact, despite creating a video to accompany the tune, High Ball Stepper was seemingly nothing more than a promotional release. The album title-track will be the first official single from Lazaretto.
As yet, there is no video for the song. An audio posting is available to hear at www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYF0LtfUvJs. The video for High Ball Stepper can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRbnAxrS3EM
Jack’s new album is scheduled for release on
June 9.
Embrace
Anyone could be excused for believing Embrace had broken up. The English indie quintet had issued no new material since 2006 when their fifth studio album, This New Day, shot straight to number one on the UK chart. But the band are back now having just released their self-titled new album. Despite all the success, their lengthy absence is explained by disappointment with the songs on This New Day.
“The last album felt like a bit of a let down,” said singer Danny McNamara. “We lost sight of who we were. We’ve come full circle with the new album. It contains the best 10 of more than 100 songs we’ve written during the last few years. It feels like we’ve re-found ourselves. We’ve again become the band we were before we got our record deal.” The video for lead single, Refugees, is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6sFSdcWNWE. The video for latest single, Follow You Home, can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVIa7WAmv0o
Maybach Music Group
Rap fans should enjoy a new free mixtape featuring artists signed to the Maybach Music Group. All 15 tracks can be heard and downloaded at www.datpiff.com/MMG-Priorities-3-mixtape.597900.html. Contributing artists include DJ Scream, Wale, Omarion, Gunplay, Meek Mill and label founder Rick Ross. The first two mixtapes in MMG’s Priorities series can also be heard and downloaded for free. Volume 1 is at www.datpiff.com/MMG-MMG-Priorities-Vol-1-mixtape.557078.html. Volume 2 is available from www.datpiff.com/MMG-MMG-Priorities-Vol-2-mixtape.576354.html