Freeload: Charles Hamilton, “Barbara Walters”
- story THE FADER
This may or may not be the first single from Charles Hamilton’s upcoming official debut The Perfect Life, releasing (according to his blog) on June 23rd. Now normally, that would’ve put him in contention for the summer music issue, but we just gave him a cover, so yea, that’s probably not going to happen. On “Barbara Walters” young Charles goes on record about some things we talked about when we interviewed him—things that made us sad at first but then better knowing that he was getting ready to release an album on Interscope. Hamilton’s dependable introspection aside, he still packs a punch, rattling off lines like I’m a lost traveler, but the best bar battler/Charles, bar for bar, Attica.
Download: Charles Hamilton, “Barbara Walters”
Freeload: Charles Hamilton Well Isn’t This Awkward Mixtape
- story THE FADER
Charles Hamilton is in love with Rihanna. We’ve actually known this for some time now. It was supposed to be some kind of secret, but then he made a mixtape not so subtly dedicated to her and named a song on it after her. In light of recent events and her subsequent disappearance, this may be the best or the absolute worst time to release this. Either way, he’s all in so we’re rooting for our little buddy.
Download: Charles Hamilton Well Isn’t This Awkward Mixtape
Freeload: Charles Hamilton, “Scorpion”
- story THE FADER
Hey surprise, Charles Hamilton, one of our current covers, has another mixtape coming out — this one inspired by love and Chris Brown. “Scorpion” is the first official leak from Well Isn’t This Awkward, to be released on Valentine’s Day, a tape purportedly having something to do with Masterpiece Theatre and paranormal romance, but if Charles’ blog reveals what it seems to reveal, it might be less para and more normal, as in Rihanna’s got a not-at-all secret admirer:
But f*ck that. It’s my GIRL we talkin about… to quote Ne-Yo, “Ehbahdy knoe dah maahne!!!!”. I was in the studio, FUMING mad. And that’s before the Hennessey kicked in. Rihanna, wherever you are, my prayers are with you, and my skinny, short ass is gon hold you down if need be. Chris, your mother.
February 13th, Rihanna. I will say all that I couldn’t say at that Gucci event… holla back…
Sorry to get gossipy, but it’s not like we get a lot of Teen Beat moments around here. And just in case you’re already clamoring for the mixtape after Awkward, Charles is recording the Flourescent EP with MC Lyte right now.
Download: Charles Hamilton, “Scorpion”
FADER 59: Charles Hamilton Cover Story
- story Felipe Delerme
- photo Gabriele Stabile
For the covers of our newest NOW Issue, we chose two youngsters who’ve effortlessly mastered the art of internet self-promotion via prolific, enthralling DIY artistry. One of those covers, Charles Hamilton, released eight great mixtapes on eight different sites last year and frequently puts his taste for Sonic the Hedgehog on blast on charleshamilton.blogspot.com, but we still felt like we didn’t know who he was. FADER editor Felipe Delerme went up to Harlem for a few days to shadow Hamilton at his home and high school and came back with a story not only about uptown’s youngest, nerdiest star but the Harlem hustlers who will join his play for reign in 2009: Ron Browz, Jim Jones and Max B. Read the full story after the jump and keep checking TheFADER.com for Charles Hamilton exclusives.
Freeload: The FADER Issue 59 Podcast
- story THE FADER
This year’s NOW issue (free download here) is basically our way of putting love on paper. The stories are all the result of romances with music that we think will hit you hard in 2009 — Charles Hamilton, Little Boots, Blank Dogs, Electrik Red — and those are just the features. But since it’s difficult to express our feelings without you hearing the songs, we put together another podcast of music from the issue, including jams from Woolfy, Amazing Baby, De Tropix, Wavves, Lauren Flax, Antony and Homebwoi that will make your little blog heart flutter. Get the podcast below and check the tracklist after the jump.
Download the FADER 59 mix as an mp3 (right click, save as)
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Check the tracklist after jump.
Live: FADER 59 Issue Release Party
- story THE FADER
We had a party in Brooklyn last night to celebrate the release of our annual NOW issue, this time around with Little Boots and Charles Hamilton on the covers. LB couldn’t make it from the UK, so Charles went solo and pulled out all the tricks, namely shredding on a Hello Kitty guitar (We stole it from a little girl on the subway for him). F59 Gen Fer Lauren Flax played records for everyone to rub shoulders to while they knocked back some free Bud American Ale, and by the end of the night we were roasting our nuts over Union Pool’s fire pit. Camp FADER! After the jump, check out a whole bunch of pictures from the packed party, and keep checking TheFADER.com for more exclusives.
The FADER Issue 59 Free Download
- story THE FADER
Our annual NOW issue is the result of countless hours combing websites, stacks of promos and our own brains to figure out what new artists are going to blow us away over the next 365 days. We chose Harlem’s prolific Charles Hamilton and Blackpool, England’s techno tinkerbell Little Boots for the covers because they best represent what it means to be an emerging pop star in this day and age. In the second half of 2008, Hamilton released countless free mixtapes online, earning fans and a record deal in the process, while Little Boots launched her career with a series of intimate bedroom cover songs on YouTube and a nearly perfect pop song of her own. In 2009, we can only see them growing and improving, and the same goes for everything else between the covers of FADER Number 59, whether it’s Blank Dogs’ bedroom goth-pop or Electrik Red’s raunchy R&B experiments, Wavves’ fuzzed out beach bum rock or De Tropix’s blend of soca and grime. It’s all here, PRINTED ON DIGITAL PAPER. Download FADER 59 below, and check back daily for stories from the magazine and other exclusives only here on TheFADER.com
Get Issue 59 now on iTunes,
subscribe via your favorite RSS reader here,
or download the individual F59 full-issue PDF here.
EXCLUSIVE! Charles Hamilton and Little Boots Cover The FADER’s NOW Issue!
- story THE FADER
In case you didn’t know from the interskreets, aka Charles Hamilton’s blog or Little Boots’ myspace: Our annual NOW issue, in which we intuit whose cassettes we will be maxing in our Walkmen for the entire year, is all about the flash and shine of Harlem delight Charles Hamilton and London glitteratess Little Boots. FADER 59 will hit newsstands and your doorstep in a few short days, and we’ll be posting the entire thing here on Tuesday, January 13, exactly one week before the Inauguration. It’s our time!
Video: Charles Hamilton, “Brooklyn Girls”
- story THE FADER
At the most, there might have been like two EVR shows this summer where we didn’t play Charles Hamilton’s “Brooklyn Girls.” Probably even less than that if you count what Julianne was listening to on her iPod on the way to the station. This video, which comes just as we were starting to forget what summer felt like, makes us feel a little less guilty about wearing sunglasses in the club, and by less guilty we really mean we still don’t give a shit.
Freeload: Charles Hamilton f. Max B, “The North Pole”
- story THE FADER
Though it’s only the upper part of Manhattan, seasonally, Harlem can feel a lot like a poorly insulated bedroom: way too hot in the summer and cold as hell in the winter. We wouldn’t go so far as to equate it with the North Pole, but then again we don’t live there. Charles Hamilton and Max B both live there, but until this song, probably wouldn’t even have appeared on the same mixtape. Charlie Wilson isn’t from Harlem, but The Gap Band’s family reunion staple, “Outstanding” brings Charles and Max together like long lost brothers.
Download: Charles Hamilton f. Max B, “The North Pole”
