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Dan Black

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For the baseball player, see Dan Black (baseball). For the economist, see Dan A. Black.

Dan Black
Black with The Servant live in Rome, 2007
Black with The Servant live in Rome, 2007
Background information
Birth nameDaniel Emmett Black[1]
Born (1975-11-16) 16 November 1975 (age 48)
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Genres
Years active1998–present
Labels
Websitewww.dan-black.com

Daniel Emmett Black (born 16 November 1975) is an English singer-songwriter and vocalist. He was a member of alternative rock band the Servant, before their split in 2007. He is also a vocalist for the Italian British group Planet Funk. After releasing his breakthrough song "HYPNTZ", he signed to The:Hours, releasing his first two singles – "Alone" and "Yours" – in 2008. The following year, he released his most commercially successful single to date, "Symphonies".

Career

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Early career

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Black was originally a guitarist in Minty, the former band of the late Leigh Bowery. He was also a founding member of Massive Ego, a late addition to the Romo scene,[6] of which Minty had previously been cited as a core band by music magazine Melody Maker.[7] Black was later the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of alternative rock band the Servant. He was a member of the band from their conception in 1998 to their split in 2007.

2008–2012

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In 2008, Black released a solo single, "HYPNTZ". The song's lyrics were taken from rapper The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize", while its instrumental sampled a cover of "Starman" by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Apple Inc's "Vintage Funk Kit 03".[8] used. The single received positive reviews, with one critic commenting: "It achieves its magic formula in a manner that is both arbitrary and obvious, which is a part of its brilliance. The Umbrella break + Starman soundtrack + a beautiful melodic rendering of a gangsta rap staple: we know exactly what has been done here, and this is why it sounds so good".[9] However, before a planned music video could be shot, The Notorious B.I.G.'s estate informed Black's team of their objection to the use of the "Hypnotize" lyrics. The "HYPNTZ" single was consequently taken out of circulation and the video scrapped.

Black later signed a deal with The:Hours, releasing two singles, "Alone" and "Yours". He gained further popularity in 2009 when his track "U + Me =" was chosen as the UK iTunes Store's "Free Single of the Week". It was later used as the signature tune for BBC Switch's The Cut. Signing a deal with A&M, his debut album UN was released on 13 July 2009.[10] The album was preceded by a single, "Symphonies", which was released after a successful performance at Glastonbury 2009 in the John Peel Tent. Black also performed on the Freeze:Freesports on 4 main stage at London Battersea Power Station in November that year.[11] Other acts performing at the same event were Friendly Fires and Chase & Status.

"Symphonies" was released as the U.S. iTunes "Single of the Week" for the week of 28 December 2009, and the video was released on iTunes for free for the week of 15 March 2010. UN was released in the United States on 16 February 2010, containing three bonus tracks, including a remix of "Symphonies" with American rapper Kid Cudi.[12] "Symphonies" was serviced to American alternative formatted radio stations in its original version, peaking at #34 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. The "Symphonies" video was nominated for Best Special Effects in a Video and Breakthrough Video at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost in both categories. Symphonies was also put onto the popular video game NBA 2K11

"Symphonies" also won the coveted prize "The Christmas Song" in 2010.

Black toured the U.S. and U.K in February 2010, including a showcase performance in March at SXSW 2010 in Austin, Texas.[13] He also performed at Camp nou in 2011, and at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October 2010, and was captured "photobombing" a number of attendees.

In 2011, he was featured on Kaskade's album, Fire and Ice on the track "Ice".

On 31 July 2012, Black released "Raw", a single promoting the new Absolut flavor of vodka, Caipiroska. In 2012, Black's production was featured on American record label GOOD Music's compilation album Cruel Summer, on the song "Creepers", performed by Kid Cudi.

2013–present

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Black's second studio album was tentatively set for release in 2013 with the original lead single "Hearts" dropping in mid-2013.[14] That same year, Black stated the working title is Do Not Revenge.[14] In February 2017, Dan Black began teasing the release of the album.[15] The album was released on 7 July 2017.

Discography

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Albums

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Studio albums

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  • UN (2009)
  • Do Not Revenge (2017)

EPs

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Mixtapes

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  • Weird Science (2010)[19]

Singles

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  • "Alone" (2008)
  • "Yours" (2008)
  • "HYPNTZ" (2008) (limited release)
  • "Symphonies" (2009)
  • "U + Me =" (2009)
  • "Symphonies" (Remix, featuring Kid Cudi) (2010) #34 Billboard Alternative Songs[20]
  • "Ghost" (with Kidz in Space) (2010)[21]
  • "Sunlight" (with Bag Raiders) (2010)[22]
  • "Raw" (2012) (promotional release)[23][24]
  • "Hearts" (featuring Kelis) (2013)
  • "Toy Spark Gun" (with SALM (SomethingALaMode)) (2013)[25]
  • "Farewell" (featuring Kelis) (2017)
  • "Headphones" (2017)
  • "Wash Away" (2017)

Other appearances

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Writing and production credits

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The following songs and albums were written and/or produced by Black for other artists.

References

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  1. ^ "BANANAS". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  2. ^ "allmusic". allmusic. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  3. ^ "Electric dreams for pop in 2009". BBC News. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  4. ^ Sound of 2009 top 10: One year on BBC, 7 December 2009. BBC News (7 December 2009). Retrieved on 2012-12-22.
  5. ^ "Ultra Music: Artists". Ultra Music. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  6. ^ The Big I Am – Massive Ego live review from Club Skinny by Simon Price, Melody Maker 30 March 1996
  7. ^ Minty feature by Everett True, Romo special feature, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 11
  8. ^ "From GarageBand Loop to Grammy Award: A Look Back at Rihanna's "Umbrella"". 23 August 2019.
  9. ^ Niven, Alex (29 May 2011). "POP UTOPIA #948". The Fantastic Hope. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Review of Dan Black – 'Un'". BBC. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
  11. ^ "Freeze Line Up". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 23 August 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  12. ^ Tovar, Luis (29 December 2009). "Dan Black 'Symphonies' iTunes Single of the Week at PMA". Pretty Much Amazing. Archived from the original on 30 December 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  13. ^ "Dan Black Offers Tour Dates for Delhi,india; Debut Album & Single Details". TheMusic.FM. 16 December 2009. Archived from the original on 21 December 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  14. ^ a b Makarechi, Kia (17 July 2013). "Dan Black on 'Hearts,' Finding 'The Truth of Me' and Prepping an Album". Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  15. ^ Black, Dan [@danblacksound] (28 February 2017). "dan-black.com "DO NOT REVENGE" 12 Songs/12 Experiences... OMG finally....The countdowns begin...!" (Tweet). Retrieved 1 March 2017 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ "Dan Black – Album Sampler". Discogs, Sony / ATV Music Publishing, Polydor Ltd (UK). 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  17. ^ "Dan Black – Dan Black". Discogs, Sony / ATV Music Publishing, Polydor Ltd (UK). 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  18. ^ "iTunes Live: London Festival '09 - EP". iTunes, Apple Inc., Polydor Ltd. (UK). January 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  19. ^ "Dan Black Weird Science Mixtape". SoundCloud, The Hours. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  20. ^ Dan Black. billboard.com
  21. ^ "Kidz in Space - Ghost (feat. Dan Black)". YouTube, Move The Crowd Records. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  22. ^ "Bag Raiders-Sunlight (Feat Dan Black)". SoundCloud, modularpeople. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  23. ^ "Dan Black "Raw" Music Video". YouTube, Tristin Rupp, Absolut Vodka. 3 September 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  24. ^ "Dan Black - Raw (Jimmy Carris Remix)". Vimeo, LWZ, Ultra Music, Absolut Vodka. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  25. ^ "Toy Spark Gun (feat. Dan Black) - EP - SALM". iTunes, Apple Inc., Salm. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  26. ^ "Nolwenn Leroy - Gemme (chanson)" (in French). lescharts.com. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
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