#LIGHTSPEED GIRLS JANET HOW TO#
#LIGHTSPEED GIRLS JANET PLUS#

#LIGHTSPEED GIRLS JANET HOW TO#

Watching the two sift through a dusty record rack and discuss 505s, 909s, softsynths and how to deal with the ever-shifting music industry, suddenly Freak City – a unique place with an uncompromising aesthetic in an otherwise plastic neighbourhood – feels like a most apt place for these two innovative minds to meet.ĭev Hynes: You’re working with one of my best friends, Adam Bainbridge (aka funk-house pop creator Kindness). “Here, I brought you a little something,” Jam says, passing the surprised Hynes a CD box set.

#LIGHTSPEED GIRLS JANET PLUS#

Plus I’ve never really met one of my idols.” Despite the world of hype that bubbles around him (he can occasionally be found rubbing elbows with Jay Z and hanging out in studios with William Orbit), the sweetly unpretentious Hynes admits to being “a bit nervous. The music is always great – Jimmy JamĪs a producer, Hynes is hotly tipped indeed, he’s almost a one-man new-school Jam & Lewis, simultaneously upholding the underground and invading the charts through production, arranging and vocal work with the likes of Florence + the Machine, Basement Jaxx, Sky Ferreira, the Chemical Brothers and Solange, with whom he worked closely on the EP True and its soulful anthem “Losing You”. The business will drive you crazy, but the music will not drive you crazy. She was in one of my videos (‘I’m Sorry We Lied’ by Blood Orange).” “It’s a complete coincidence. My friend Vally (Girl) owns this place. “I had no idea your star was right outside this store!” the 27-year-old says, adjusting his Knicks hat. Inside Freak City, Dev Hynes – the Essex-born, New York-based singer/songwriter, producer, author, comic artist and general shapeshifter also known as Lightspeed Champion and Blood Orange – is creasing up. There, on Hollywood’s famous “walk of fame”, sandwiched between the stars of Victor Young and Edmund Lowe, the sun lights up a star that reads: “Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis”. “I’ll give you a hint!” he says, and points to the sidewalk. “Hey man, you’re one of those famous guys! Wait – didn’t you work with Janet?” Jam smiles. An aging b-boy (known as Silver because he used to bust his moves painted head to foot in, you guessed it, silver) stops and stares.

With fellow producer Terry Lewis, he created some of the biggest hits of the past 30 years, including 16 #1s, working with just about anyone who’s had a game-changing influence on pop culture (Prince, Janet and Michael Jackson, George Michael, The Human League, Chaka Khan, Spice Girls, Mariah Carey, Usher.).ĭespite the blazing LA heat the 54-year-old is dressed all in black and looks as cool as ever, with not a wrinkle in his custom-made “Jam” suit shirt. Filled with disembodied mannequins, crude graffiti and space-goth gear aplenty, it’s a rather unexpected destination for one of R&B pop’s most noble players.

After parking his Escalade, James Harris III – better known as Jimmy Jam – walks down Hollywood Boulevard towards the appropriately titled shop/fashion gallery Freak City.

Lightspeed girls janet