Pink Grenade

Pink Grenade was a nine-member musical group formed by Jonathan Hay and Mike Smith in 2014, featuring Nigerian heiress Bim Fernandez as vocalist, and including actor Johnny Depp, who avoided publicity along with the other anonymous bandmembers.[1] The group released an album, Fear of a Pink Planet, in July 2014.[2] The single "Let's Take It Naked" preceded the album in January 2014, followed by a controversial video uploaded in July which received more than 7.5 million views in its first week on Vevo and WorldStarHipHop.[3] "Lights Out" was the second single, "Gold Blooded" was the third, and the fourth was "Lipstick", which picked up more than 5 million views on WorldStarHipHop.[4] The album included guest appearances by rappers Crooked I, Troy Ave, Dizzy Wright and Royce da 5'9".

Pink Grenade
Background information
GenresHip hop
Years active2014
LabelsSMH Records

Background

SMH Records was founded by record industry publicist Jonathan Hay and producer Mike Smith in 2013, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The label's first artist was Nigerian singer Abimbola "Bim" Fernandez, the daughter of industrialist Antonio Deinde Fernandez, who was the richest man in Africa. Bim Fernandez, age 24, signed to SMH Records in November 2013, with the label paying for the production, not Fernandez.[5] Pink Grenade was formed around Fernandez, with the other eight members staying anonymous.[2] The band's first single was released in January 2014: "Let's Take It Naked".[6] On July 1, 2014, a video for "Let's Take It Naked" was uploaded to Vevo and WorldStarHipHop, amassing 7.5 million views in its first week.[3] The "ironic" video showed fictional scenes of Fernandez partying with boys and cocaine, cooking meth, and playing Russian Roulette, all while showing a prominent pregnant belly – the belly was a prosthetic, Fernandez was not actually pregnant.[7] The high number of online views was observed by Rob Hustle of Rebel Pundit to be possibly artificially inflated, as evidenced by the small number of viewer comments, many negative.[1] "Let's Take It Naked" was partially mixed by Richard "Segal" Huredia, known for his work with Eminem and Dr. Dre.[8]

The second single, "Lights Out", was released on July 17, featuring Royce da 5'9".[9] The "moody" and "atmospheric" R&B/rap song was augmented with blues-style harmonica.[10]

The third single, "Gold Blooded", was co-produced by Justin "Sky" Boller, released with a video on July 21. It gained 2.5 million views on WorldStarHipHop.[11]

A video for the hip-hop single "Lipstick", was released on July 23, 2014, featuring Fernandez singing and playing guitar. Ashlee Holmes, the daughter of Jacqueline Laurita, known for her appearance on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, is seen among a group of women playing with red lipstick and red paint. The "sexually charged" song has lyrics suggesting fellatio, as well as "dissing" Kim Kardashian and her family.[12] "Lipstick" gained 5 million views on WorldStarHipHop.[4]

On July 24, 2014, Pink Grenade debuted the album Fear of a Pink Planet, with CD and vinyl copies sold through Best Buy,[8] distributed by Caroline Records.[13] The album's title is a play on the influential Public Enemy album Fear of a Black Planet (1990).[1] All 18 of the songs on the album were written by Hay, except for "Lipstick" which was written by Hay, Fernandez and Cash Cash (deejays Samuel Frisch, Alexander Makhlouf and Jean Paul Makhlouf.)[14] Guest rappers appear on four songs: "The Mirror" features Crooked I, "Famous as Fuck" features Troy Ave, "3 Days in LA" features Dizzy Wright, and "Lights Out" features Royce da 5'9".[14] Parliament-Funkadelic drummer Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey plays on some tracks.[8]

Personnel
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References
  1. Rob Hustle (August 4, 2014). "Pink Grenade (Dipstick Video); A Sociological Experiment in Hip-Hop Music". Rebel Pundit. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  2. "Pink Grenade: About Us". SMH Records. 2014. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  3. Staff (July 2014). "Billionaire rockstar heiress Bim Fernandez in controversial new music video 'Let's Take it Naked'". The Herald. Nigeria.
  4. SMH Records (July 25, 2014). "Pink Grenade feat. Bim Fernandez – Lipstick". World Star. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  5. Gregory E. Miller (January 20, 2014). "Meet the Nigerian heiress who wants to be the next Rihanna". New York Post.
  6. Hillary Crosley Coker (January 23, 2014). "Meet the Nigerian Heiress Who's Chasing Rihanna's Throne". Jezebel.
  7. Richard Baxter (July 1, 2014). "Video Premiere: Bim Fernandez – 'Let's Take It Naked'". Raw Music Entertainment. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  8. Rud; Tom Moon (July 17, 2014). "Exclusive Interview with Pink Grenade". DUBCNN. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  9. "Pink Grenade Ft. Royce da 5'9 "Lights Out"". All Hip Hop. July 17, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  10. Richard Spadine (July 16, 2014). "Pink Grenade ft. Royce Da 5'9" - Light's Out". DJ Booth. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  11. SMH Records (July 21, 2014). "Pink Grenade – Gold Blooded". World Star. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  12. Amber Ryland (July 23, 2014). "RHONJ's Jacqueline Laurita's Daughter Ashlee Holmes Stars In Controversial Music Video — Disses Kim Kardashian!". Radar Online. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  13. SMH Records (March 20, 2014). "Fear of A Pink Planet: Pink Grenade is About to Explode". Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  14. "Pink Grenade: Fear of a Pink Planet". AllMusic. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  15. "Johnny Depp and Pink Grenade". Sylvia Massy. May 21, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
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