Listen Up - ZZ Ward

Any time I find a pop(ish) artist who is doing something different and new, or even just taking the genre of pop and stretching it to include whatever else they can get their hands on, I feel the need to write about them. As long as they are doing it well and are pretty, of course.

That hat is kind of her thing. Think of her as a female Bruno Mars...in terms of style.

Today’s artist is ZZ Ward. She takes the ZZ from Top, I assume. Maybe not, I haven’t asked her. Her parents were musicians, so maybe ZZ really is her name? No way to know (yes there is, we could ask her).

ZZ wouldn’t call herself a pop artist, but I will go so far as to say she fits in to the new, broadened definition of pop. We gave Amy Winehouse and Adele pop Grammys, so I think ZZ has a place on this blog. Plus, something this good, I’ll find any excuse to write something about.

ZZ Ward is making a mix of R&B and soul with a pop sensibility to it. It surely isn’t the pop we are used to, but it has a certain quality to it that gets stuck in your head and has you moving. She says she is also inspired and moved by the hip hop world, which you can hear bits and pieces of on here, but I would say she focuses on the soul more than anything.

Good thing too, cuz she’s killing it in the soul department.

ZZ Ward has so far released an EP (back in May) called the ‘Criminal EP’. It is only four songs long, so why don’t you give it a listen:

ZZ Ward just exudes the soul, and she at no point seems to lose herself in the music. Usually I love to see this happen, but she seems to be in control and she has it together at all times. There is something so different about her…hard to articulate what it is, but I know it is great.

‘Criminal’ is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Explicit/dp/B0081OD07C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344661762&sr=8-1&keywords=zz+ward">available now</a>, and her debut full length should be out later this year.

<a href="http://www.facebook.com/ZZWard">ZZ Ward Facebook</a>