Colette Carr

Los Angeles singer/songwriter Colette Carr first entered the music scene by fusing pop with rap before pivoting toward confessional synth pop. During childhood her listening habits ranged widely across the Smiths, Jimi Hendrix, Gwen Stefani, and Talking Heads until rap caught her ear. In 2008 she was spotted at a Game concert amid its intensely hardcore rap atmosphere when an open call for audience freestylers pulled her onstage. Her performance impressed onlookers enough to earn an invitation backstage, where producers that included the Cataracs handed her their contact information. The following year she issued her first single, “Back It Up,” which spread virally and drew Nick Cannon’s notice, leading him to place her on his N’Credible imprint. “Bitch Like Me” arrived in 2010 alongside the mixtape Sex Sells Stay Tuned. Her full-length debut, Skitzo, surfaced in 2013, featuring production by the Cataracs, RedOne, and FrankMusik plus appearances from rapper E-40 and industrial pop singer Porcelain Black. She sustained her work with FrankMusik while steering into more introspective territory, previewed by the early-2016 single “Play House.” The Static.Start. EP appeared several months afterward.