Robyn

Robyn (2008) and Logo

Robin Miriam Carlsson (born June 12, 1979 in Stockholm ), better known as Robyn , is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter and music producer.

Life

Robyn was born on June 12, 1979 in Stockholm , Sweden. As the daughter of two actors, she grew up in an artistic and creative environment.

Career

1991–1993: Discovery and Beginnings

Robyn at the Arvika Festival

In 1991, at the age of 12, Robyn recorded the theme song for the Swedish television series Lilla Sportspegeln . The song is titled Du Kan Alltid Bli Number Ett . She sang her first self-composed song on another television show, Söndagsöppet . She was later discovered by the Swedish singer Meja . Meja and her band Legacy Of Sound visited Robyn's school for a musical workshop. Meja was so impressed with Robyn's talent that she contacted her management and arranged for a meeting with Robyn's parents. Robyn then got a record deal with Ricochet Records , a subsidiary of BMG .

1994-1997: Robyn Is Here

Robyn started her career in the pop music business at the age of 16. She signed a recording deal with RCA Records in 1994 , where she released her first single You've Got That Somethin ' in Sweden. The breakthrough in Sweden came in the same year with the single Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect) , which reached number 2 on the local single charts. Robyn was nominated for three Grammys, but received nothing. The singles became part of the album Robyn Is Here , which was released in October 1996. Furthermore, Robyn took part as the author and producer of the song Du Gör Mig Hel Igen in the preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. The song, interpreted by Cajsalisa Ejemyr , landed in fourth place.

Robyn's breakthrough in the US came with the songs Show Me Love and Do You Know What It Takes , both of which reached the top 10 on the Billboard charts. She sang the song Show Me Love on the American children's series All That , a sign of her growing popularity there. The songs also placed well in the UK charts. Robyn's breakthrough single Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect) was then re-released, but the desired success failed to materialize.

Robyn's notoriety and popularity continued to grow around the world until she returned to Sweden to recover from exhaustion. A planned US tour with the Backstreet Boys had to be canceled.

1998–2004: My Truth and Don't Stop The Music

Robyn began recording her second album in 1998. My Truth was released in Sweden in May 1999, followed by other releases in Europe. The single Electric was a hit across Europe and placed the album at number 2 on the Swedish album charts. My Truth contains many autobiographical elements, including the songs Universal Woman and Giving You Back , which is about her secret abortion . Despite the success of Robyn Is Here in the US, My Truth was not released there. Robyn's US label did not consider the album to be suitable for the climate and suggested that parts of the album be re-recorded. However, Robyn decided against it and the album was not released internationally. In 1999 she was appointed a UNICEF ambassador and toured the world for two years.

In November 2002, Robyn changed labels within BMG - from RCA Records to Jive - and released the album Don't Stop The Music in Sweden. The singles Keep This Fire Burning and Don't Stop The Music were top 10 hits.

In May 2004 the best of album Robyn's Best was released in the USA. The album contains the most important songs from their debut, later albums are not included. After her departure from BMG, the album Det Bäste Med Robyn was released in Sweden in 2006. This album contained material from all three of Robyn's albums, but the singles from Don't Stop The Music were missing.

2005-2008: Robyn

Robyn at a concert in Karlskrona, Sweden

Robyn's contract with her label was terminated in 2004. When the label's people were negative about the single Who's That Girl? reacted, which had a new electro-pop sound, Robyn bought herself out of her record deal and founded her own music label, Konichiwa Records , in order to be able to publish her music independently. The singer then announced that her new album would be released earlier than planned and listed some well-known co-authors, including Teddybears , the Swedish duo The Knife and producer Alexander Kronlund.

Robyn released the single Be Mine! in March 2005. A month later, their fourth album Robyn was released, which was their first album to top the Swedish charts. Robyn received invariably good reviews from the press and in 2006 received three Swedish Grammy Awards for best album, best songwriting and best female artist. The album also sparked worldwide interest in Robyn. The later released singles Handle Me and Crash & Burn Girl enjoyed great popularity in Sweden.

In December 2006, Robyn released the Rakamonie EP in the UK as a foretaste of upcoming material. Robyn was then re-released, with a changed track list and two new songs: With Every Heartbeat , a collaboration with the Swedish musician Kleerup , and Cobrastyle , a cover of the Teddybears song of the same name . The former was released in the UK in late July, where it became Robyn's first number one hit. Performances and promotional events continued to follow. Robyn's Singles Handle Me , Be Mine! , Who's That Girl? and Dream On became top 30 hits.

Robyn was also represented in the US market. She sang in the background of Britney Spears ' single Piece Of Me and recorded the duet Sexual Eruption with rapper Snoop Dogg . She also did a short US tour to promote her album.

In 2008 Robyn appeared at selected European concerts supporting Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour .

2009-2010: Body Talk

Robyn at a concert in June 2010

In January 2009 Robyn received a Swedish Grammis for Best Live Act. In her address, she said that the award was due to Madonna.

The news blog ArjanWrites revealed the singer that she would like to start recording a new album in early 2009 and that she will work with various producers, such as B. Kleerup or Klas Åhlund will work.

In June 2009 the song The Girl And The Robot was released. This is a collaboration between the Norwegian duo Röyksopp and Robyn and was released as the second single from their studio album Junior . It reached number 2 on the Norwegian singles chart and was highly praised by critics. Popjustice called the song "an insane, choral, electronic masterpiece" and "brilliant extravaganza ".

“The Body Talk series is not a concept album, I don't have a master plan. I wanted this type of publication mainly because I was looking for ways to work more organically. After the last album, I was on tour for four years without being able to record new material on the side. I definitely didn't want to fall back into this pattern. "

- Robyn in The Mirror

In an interview with Swedish magazine Bon , Robyn announced that he would release three new albums in 2010. To promote the album trilogy, Robyn released the promo singles Fembot , Dancehall Queen and None Of Dem . To further promote the album, Robyn went on the All Hearts Tour with the American singer Kelis , during which she toured nine American cities.

Body Talk Pt , which appeared in June, gave the starting signal for the Body Talk series . 1 . The album was preceded by the single Dancing on My Own , which was Robyn's first number one hit in Sweden, and also in the United Kingdom and in the United States could reach the top 10 of the charts. The British daily The Guardian and Slant Magazine rated Dancing On My Own as the best song of 2010. In addition, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Dance Recording .

Body Talk Pt. 2 was released worldwide in September 2010. This album was also preceded by a single release. Hang With Me , an electro version of Body Talk Pt's acoustic song . 1 , reached number 3 on the Swedish singles charts. In addition, Pt. 2 a duet with the American rapper Snoop Dogg . That same month, Robyn appeared with Deadmau5 at the MTV Video Music Awards , where she performed the song Dancing On My Own .

The single Indestructible was released in November 2010. There is also an acoustic version of this song; this can be found on Body Talk Pt. 2 . The new version was praised as "a pulsating full-fledged version in which Robyn expresses every spark of emotion and creates another extraordinary disco pop song". In October, Robyn revealed the artwork and tracklist for the new album Body Talk . It contains five songs each from Body Talk Pt. 1 and 2 as well as five new songs, including Time Machine co-produced by Max Martin . Martin previously wrote Robyn's breakthrough singles Do You Know (What It Takes) and Show Me Love . In addition to the Body Talk compilation, the EP Body Talk Pt. 3 , which only contains the five newly recorded songs.

Since 2011: world tour and eighth studio album

The Body Talk Tour took place from October 2010 to June 2011. Robyn was to appear at a total of 61 concerts worldwide. Some of them had to be canceled due to illness.

In January 2011 Robyn began work on her eighth studio album. She also stated that she would like to continue the way she worked on the Body Talk series: “Releasing albums like this allows me to go to the studio more often and write new songs between records, which I couldn't before. And hopefully I can release shorter albums this way, but more regularly. "

The song Call Your Girlfriend was released as the second single from the album Body Talk in spring / summer .

plant

music

Influences

Robyn's musical influences include David Bowie , Talking Heads , Kate Bush , Peter Gabriel , Mantronix , SNAP! , TLC and Ace of Base . At work, she takes inspiration from both new and old music.

Konichiwa Records

Logo of the label Konichiwa Records

After a dispute with her former label Jive , which disagreed with her music change towards electronic pop music , she bought herself out of her contract with the record company and founded her own music label in 2005 with the name Konichiwa, a deliberate misspelling of the Japanese greeting "Konnichiwa". The name is derived from the song Konichiwa Records , which in turn is based on a sketch by Dave Chappelle . After the label was established in Sweden, Robyn was looking for a label partner in Great Britain, but she felt that no one understood the concept of her album Robyn . Many found it too trendy and too crazy. She then began releasing songs through her website and MySpace presence and playing several shows in London, growing in popularity. Eventually she signed a deal with Island Records to release her music in the UK. Robyn said: “I can now keep my independence, but at the same time work with a major label - and that on my terms. It's the best I've ever done. ”The first work released under the label was Robyn's successful international debut album, Robyn . Other releases were the Body Talk albums in 2010. Robyn explained that she has no plans to sign other artists as she doesn't like the idea of ​​playing the "label boss".

Discography

→ Main article : Robyn / discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	SE
1995	Robyn Is Here	-	-	-	-	US57 platinum (54 weeks)US	SE8th platinum (41 weeks)SE	First published: October 13, 1995
1999	My Truth	-	-	-	-	-	SE2 platinum (27 weeks)SE	First published: May 17, 1999
2002	Don't stop the music	-	-	-	-	-	SE2 platinum (47 weeks)SE	First published: October 30, 2002
2005	Robyn	-	-	CH52 (1 week) CH	UK11 gold (29 weeks)UK	-	SE1 platinum (36 weeks)SE	First published: April 27, 2005
2010	Body Talk Pt. 1	DE46 (2 weeks) DE	AT40 (1 week) AT	CH90 (1 week) CH	UK47 (2 weeks) UK	US97 (2 weeks) US	SE1 gold (35 weeks)SE	First published: June 14, 2010
	Body Talk Pt. 2	DE47 (1 week) DE	AT50 (1 week) AT	CH91 (1 week) CH	UK38 (1 week) UK	US41 (2 weeks) US	SE1 (24 weeks) SE	First published: September 6, 2010
	Body talk	-	-	-	-	-	SE2 (18 weeks) SE	First published: November 22, 2010
2018	Honey	DE65 (1 week) DE	AT49 (1 week) AT	CH46 (1 week) CH	UK21 (2 weeks) UK	US40 (1 week) US	SE1 (20 weeks) SE	First published: October 26, 2018
2019	Body Talk (RSD 2019)	-	-	-	-	-	SE21 (1 week) SE	First published: April 12, 2019

Awards and nominations

Tabular overview of awards and nominations
year	Award	For	category	result
2009	Grammi	Robyn	Best Live Act	Won
	Grammy Awards	Robyn	Best Electronic / Dance Album	Nominated
2010	MTV Europe Music Awards	Robyn	Best Swedish Act	Nominated
2011	Grammi	Dancing On My Own	Song Of The Year	Won
		Robyn	Female Artist Of The Year	Won
		Robyn, Klas Ahlund	Composer Of The Year	Won
		Body talk	Album Of The Year	Won
	Grammy Awards	Dancing On My Own	Best dance recording	Nominated
	BRIT Awards	Robyn	Best International Female	Nominated
2012	Grammi	Call your girlfriend	Music video of the year 2012	Nominated
2014	Grammi	U Should Know Better ( feat.Snoop Dogg )	Music video of the year 2014	Nominated
2015	Grammi	Monument (together with Röyksopp )	Music video of the year 2015	Won
		Sayit (together with Röyksopp)	Music video of the year 2015	Nominated
2019	Grammi	Honey	Pop of the year 2019	Won
		Missing You	Song of the year 2019	Won
		Honey	Artist of the year 2019	Nominated
		Honey	Album of the year 2019	Nominated
		Honey	Composer of the year 2019	Nominated

Web links

Commons : Robyn  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)
• Konichiwa Records (English)
• Literature by and about Robyn in the catalog of the German National Library
• Robyn in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Robyn at ByteFM

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Allmusic: Biography
2. ↑ ^{a b} According to: biography
3. ↑ New York Time Out: 'Swede Relief'
4. ↑ Robyn Ǻrets Liveakt - Tackade Madonna ( Memento of the original from June 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Quickdraws . Retrieved January 13, 2011.
5. ↑ Interview With Robyn . ArjanWrites . Retrieved January 13, 2011.
6. ↑ Röyksopp feat. Robyn - "The Girl And The Robot" . Popjustice . Retrieved January 13, 2011.
7. ↑ I enjoy having a strong will
8. ^ Robyn Plans Three Albums For 2010 . Pitchfork
9. ↑ Kelis And Robyn Announce Dates For "All Hearts Tour" . Idolator . Retrieved January 13, 2011.
10. ↑ Final Nomination List . (PDF; 152 kB) Grammy Awards . Retrieved January 13, 2011.
11. ^ Indestructible Release . Robyn / blog . Retrieved January 13, 2011.
12. ↑ Robyn Reaveal's New Album, Tour Plan . Digital spy . Retrieved January 13, 2011.
13. ↑ ^{a b} MyVideo: Robyn Interview Part 1 . Retrieved January 14, 2011.
14. ↑ Exclusive: Video interview ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Intro . Retrieved January 14, 2011.