R+P Post 12: Artists/bands that have influenced my ideas

Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo stands out by breaking the conventions that R&B male artists are sexualised and shirtless in many of their music videos. Ne-Yo said about his album Year of the Gentleman that it "is all about a persona, a swag and a charm. I made an assessment of the music business. And, in my personal opinion, the essence of the gentleman is absent right now. Everybody kinda looks the same, everybody's kinda doing the same thing, everybody's rude and full of themselves. Whereas a gentleman is calm, courteous, kind and charming...So that title basically represents me trying to lead by example, and showing these cats what it is to be a gentleman in this business still". In a similar way, I would like our artist to be different and represent something that isn't being seen in the R&B genre as much as well as being a role model. Additionally, Ne-Yo's iconic hat is also something we are influenced by. We would like our artist to have a fashion item that represents him, like a hat. Although we would like to add something to it that is personal to our artist, for example his initials or name. 

Year of the Gentleman Album Cover

Raleigh Ritchie

I have also been influenced by Raleigh Ritchie (the name actor Jacob Anderson uses for his music). In particular I like the way the he presents himself on social media and his personality as well. From looking at his Instagram account he shows that he has a cheeky almost goofy personality which in my opinion shows him to be very down to earth and relatable, characteristics we definitely want to have for our artist. However when it comes to his music and videos, the songs are very emotional and personal which shows that there is more to him than just the fun-loving side. In addition to his persona, I love his fashion style as well. It's simple, casual and comfortable meaning it doesn't draw any attention from his music. I would definitely want our artist to be styled in a similar way as I find it really effective. 

Examples from Raleigh Ritchie's Instagram