Swedish Electro-Pop singer I.D.A. may be an unusual artist to be talking to HipHopDX. Still, the Los Angeles transplant is presently the next pupil of star Nelly [click to read] and One Republic vocalist and producer Ryan Tedder. With her recently released EP Zero To Psycho available digitally [click here], the aspiring Pop princess spoke to DX about her sound which is a lot closer to Hip Hop than one may think, and a strangely sabotaged release with Paris Hilton and SwagHouse Media.
With Zero To Pysco making its digital rounds, I.D.A. spoke with DX late last week about the project’s unique title. “I think the title is positive. I’m from Sweden, I’m coming to this big country (America). Sweden has nine million people; [Los Angeles] has 11 million people.” The project is five tracks, released on Bolu Music. “The zero means I’m coming from zero – nothing. I really believe in the team behind me and the feedback I get from people. With that, it means that music has the chance to go from ‘zero to psycho.’ We want to be a worldwide hit.” “There aren’t artists out that are mixing Pop with Rock with Electro. Every song has a climax, where everything is going, pretty much…crazy.”
That team, who worked closely with Nelly and Timbaland, is namely Ryan Tedder. Just as One Republic’s 2007 “Apologize” was an unlikely hit for urban radio, I.D.A. hopes to penetrate the urban marketplace. “I grew up in church, listening to Gospel music. I think Hip Hop – some Hip Hop, comes from that. A lot of the rhythm comes from the church and the Blues, and I have that in me. Some of the beats on my EP have [Hip Hop] in them as well. They have the potential to be remixed in so many ways, and the [spectrum] of today’s Hip Hop is so wide too, from commercial Hip Hop to the underground, gangsta rap.” “I would love to have a rapper jump on my single.”
Beyond potential Hip Hop elements, I.D.A. says she’s set on deepening the integrity and responsibility of Pop music. “My message in my songs in my songs has a little bit more than [Britney Spears‘] ‘Oops, I Did It Again.’ As an artist, I have to have a message out there. I want to be able to be a good role model.”
Although 2009 has found the Swedish songstress releasing her debut, she did explain how her 2008 release was controversially killed. “They just loved me and the music,” I.D.A. said of her introduction from producers and management to Paris Hilton and the staff at SwagHouse. The introduction led to a deal. “We had a release date and everything. We did a [EPK too].” However, as Hilton pursued her own music career, I.D.A.‘s project was shelved last year. “Then, it didn’t happen. According the company, it was because Paris was intimidated and jealous of me and my music. I can understand that, ’cause my music is some hot shit. [Laughs]” Admitting that the incident did help her with publicity, I.D.A. today speaks positively of the outcome, “That was a difficult [time], but you’ve got to stay positive. It was not the right home for me at that time.”
I.D.A.‘s Zero To Psycho is available on iTunes now.
