Shamir: Unplugged On NPR

For the latest installment of NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series, dance sensation Shamir performed three tracks from his critically-raved debut album. NPR's Bob Boilen writes:

When I first saw Shamir at NPR Music's SXSW showcase, the 20-year-old singer popped on stage with a Yo Gabba Gabba T-shirt and proceeded to light up the night with his disco-infused funk and joyful energy. Cut to this Tiny Desk Concert. Shamir Bailey is sitting alone on a stool with an acoustic guitar — hardly recognizable except perhaps for the green painted fingernails, until he began to sing. At that point, he put his fragile but confident countertenor to work in "Darker," from his debut album Ratchet, and I knew we were in for something special.

Last month I attended Shamir's riotous sold-out concert in Brooklyn, where young fanboys crowded the stage and sang along to every word. The tour returns to the US late next month and there will be another NYC date on November 16th.

Dance Sensation Shamir Rocks Brooklyn

Last night I trekked out to Brooklyn with my buddies Mike and Anthony for the New York City debut of 20 year-old queer sensation Shamir, the unabashedly fey singer/rapper whose clear falsetto has drawn many comparisons to Sylvester. The sold-out audience at the Music Hall of Williamsburg ranged from front-row adoring fanboys to Manhattan nightlife figures such as Double-Headed Disco duo Noel Alicia and Jeff Jackson. (And a surprising number of bears.) While the comparisons to Sylvester's voice are well-founded, Shamir's style is more appealing awkwardness than sassy bravado, which he underscored when introducing the track Hot Mess as "autobiographical." Reviews for Shamir's debut album, Rachet, have been raving and his profile got a major boost this spring when his percolating rap single On The Regular soundtracked the release of the Google Smart Watch. Shamir's tour continues tonight at Philadelphia's Voyeur. Below is part of his set earlier this year at SXSW. 

Shamir - Call It Off

Via Stereogum:

Earlier today, the young Vegas disco-pop phenom Shamir Baily shared the giddy, propulsive new track “Call It Off.” And now, the video has gone up online as part of the YouTube Music Awards’ strategy of carpet-bombing us all with great videos at this exact moment. In director Philip Hodges‘ clip, Shamir, on some sort of desert vision quest, hallucinates himself, and an entire boutique full of fashionistas, transforming into muppets. The puppets come from Jim Henson Studios, and they have the level of personality you’d expect from those guys. This is a ridiculously fun and charming video, a fitting successor to Shamir’s instantly iconic “On The Regular” video.

My first post on Shamir is here.

Shamir - On The Regular

Via Stereogum:

Las Vegas gender and genre bending diva Shamir recently announced his debut full-length, Ratchet, and it seems like plenty more big looks are on the way for him. The album’s rubbery lead single “On The Regular” is now soundtracking a Google Smart Watch commercial. It’s just a coincidence that Google debuted this commercial on the same day that Apple announced their own smart watch is out 4/25, right? Tech wars, man.

The Google ad is here, but let's hear the full thing. I like this.

RELATED: NPR wrote about Shamir in October:

Newly signed to XL Recordings, the smoking-hot label launching pad of acts like Adele, Vampire Weekend and Jai Paul, Shamir — dreadlocked, lanky, stylish and decidedly feminine — is quickly earning cred in what I've previously referred to as the post-closet black overground, populated by queer and queer-ish 21st century acts like Azealia Banks, Zebra Katz and Mykki Blanco. Shamir's real claim to fame is his high-pitched, almost pre-pubescent tenor. It's immediately distinctive and arresting, though it will only really unsettle or disturb if you've never heard singers like Jermaine Stewart, Sylvester or Antony Hegarty before. Shamir's newest single, "On the Regular," marks the first time we're hearing him rhyme over a beat instead of croon. With its cowbell-prominent production and optimistic synth changes, "On the Regular" is the exuberant sound of a novice exploring the possibilities of alternative electronic dance music with no real rulebook or manual at his disposal