MAAD introducing the Official Music Video for new single, ‘BAAD’
If you didnβt already know that the New York-born, Los Angeles-based pop-soul singer MAAD was a DJ as well as a recording artist, youβd be able to figure it out from the songs she makes. Her discography is comprised of records that sound contemporary, but which make their debt to the classic sounds of the past evident. Her slinky, synth-spiked, bass-driven songs fit into modern R&B playlists perfectly β but listen carefully, and you can hear echoes of Donna Summer, Diana Ross, and vintage Stax and Motown sides, too. So no, MAAD doesnβt have to boast about the depth of her record collection or the many contexts in which sheβs spun vinyl, which include shows for Tiffany, Cartier, Samsung, Instagram, and others. Her impeccable taste is apparent in everything she does. (Her sense of history is, too.)
Consider, for instance, βBAAD,β her latest single. Sheβs coaxed a couple of frequent collaborators to the producerβs chair: Raleigh Dunn, Songwriter, Producer & Co-Founder of THEVAMP collective / indie label, and Amsterdam-based electronic artist Midas Hutch, whose 2018 single βIβll Go Thereβ featured a stunning vocal turn by MAAD and engineering by Dunn. Hutch, who co-produced the track alongside Dunn (THEVAMP), is an acknowledged master of β80s-style pop-funk and R&B, and together theyβve brought a period-specific sheen and a club-floor bounce to MAADβs sultry modern soul. And while MAADβs vocal performance is an undeniable come-on, it also crackles with an electric edge that hints at jazz and vintage rock. These musicians are drawing from a big, overstuffed crate, and everything in there is worth spinning.
βBAADβ builds on the success of MAADβs debut EP Le Funk, which was praised for its retro sound by High Snobiety and ThisIsRnB.com, and follow-up single βNew Religion,β which demonstrated her facility for electropop and cutting-edge R&B. βBAADβ splits the difference between the two approaches, and testifies to the breadth of the singerβs skills. Itβs no wonder sheβs worked with such an impressive array of artists in her young career β A$AP Ferg, The Stereotypes, Ro James, many others β all of whom have recognized her talent and her creative flexibility.
Sheβs also brought back the director of βNew Religionβ to shoot the clip for βBAAD.β In Paulo Berberanβs last MAAD video, he placed the singer in a post-apocalyptic desert scenario; for βBAAD,β heβs aiming for a different sort of provocation. MAAD plays a video girl selling fantasies over the Internet to men who find her irresistible. The visual showcases a fusion of female empowerment and the current state of our collective human social & economic behaviors. While in character sheβs generous enough to give her clients options: American Girl (complete with flags), a splash setting in a kiddie pool, a Million Dollar Bae at a stripper pole. As a visual metaphor for MAADβs versatility, itβs an effective one β and a sexy one, too.
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