Porcelain Black

Life and career

Early life and career beginnings

Black grew up in and spent most of her life in various parts of Metro Detroit, Michigan. Her mother is an accountant; her father was a hairstylist. Her mother is of Polish descent and her father is Scottish-Albanian. He owned a hair salon and brought her along to fashion shows and photoshoots. Her father died when she was sixteen.

Black had taken part in national competitive dancing, taking jazz, hip-hop, tap, and ballet lessons, since she was young, and, at one point, was training to perform on Broadway. She also considered becoming a backup dancer.

2006–2009: Porcelain and the Tramps

While on a road trip in New York, Black was approached by her first manager, who told her to move to Los Angeles. Three months later, she did so, found her manager, and was signed to Virgin Records two weeks later.

She co-wrote and sang backup vocals for the song "Lunacy Fringe" by The Used. She was approached by Courtney Love on MySpace to provide backing vocals for a solo album she was working on. She was also featured on a song by the Street Drum Corps's "Action!". "How Do You Love Someone?", co-written by Black, Billy Steinberg, and Josh Alexander around the time Black left Virgin, was recorded by Ashley Tisdale for her second album, Guilty Pleasure. Black was initially reluctant to give the song away, but relented and later recorded the song for her own album with production from RedOne.

2009–2014: ''Mannequin Factory''

Through a mutual A&R friend, producer RedOne heard about Black and was interested in meeting her. He asked to meet Black in his studio in November 2009, which led to them writing her debut single "This Is What Rock n' Roll Looks Like" the next day. RedOne helped Black break away from her contract with Virgin Records and signed her to his Universal Republic imprint, 2101 Records. He introduced her to a new manager, Derrick "EI" Lawrence, who also managed Lil Wayne. Wayne invited her to join him on his I Am Music Tour after meeting her.

She changed her name to Porcelain Black, as it caused confusion to people who thought Porcelain and the Tramps was a band. Her stage name came from her childhood nickname, Porcelain, which was due to an extensive collection of porcelain dolls given to her by her aunt. Her aunt thought that the dolls resembled her in appearance, with strawberry blond hair and pale skin. She included "Black" in her name because she felt that it represented the opposite of "fragile" porcelain. She made plans to revisit the Porcelain and the Tramps project in the future.

The songs "King of the World" and "I'm Your Favorite Drug" were remastered for her debut album. Black co-wrote "Lolita" for Mexican pop singer Belinda. She made appearances in the music videos for Travie McCoy's "We'll Be Alright", Swizz Beatz's "Rock 'N' Roll" and Jeffree Star's "Get Away With Murder" in 2010. The song was written by Adam Anders and Desmond Child. Along with RedOne, Black composed "Save You Tonight", the closing song for One Direction's debut album, Up All Night.

Black appeared on Oxygen's Best Ink, where the working title of her debut album was said to be Mannequin Factory. Challengers on the show were tasked with creating cover art for the album in a style that Porcelain Black termed "stripper couture". and has not yet been released. Initially, RedOne was said to have produced and co-written all but one of the tracks with her. She made her television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman on July 21, 2011. After "This is What Rock and Roll Looks Like", "Naughty Naughty", the second single from her album, was released at the end of 2011. "This Is What Rock n' Roll Looks Like" was a modest hit on Billboards Dance Club chart while the second single peaked at number 6 on the chart. Black featured in the song "DNA" for rapper Rye Rye's debut album, Go! Pop! Bang!. At some point succeeding the release of her singles, 2102 Records became an imprint of Capitol Records when Universal Republic went under, further delaying the release of any new material by the industrial singer.

During the summer of 2013, Porcelain Black performed a private gig in West Hollywood, featuring all-new material. Of the songs performed, "Rich Boi" and "Mama Forgive Me" received critical commentary. Popjustice hosted the songs "Rich Boi" and "One Woman Army" as their weekly Big Songs.

Later in 2013, Black announced through French radio station Skyrock that the album had no confirmed title, revealing she had considered the names Black Rainbow and Mannequin Factory, but that those titles might not make it to the album as she had recorded more songs.

In the 2010s, Porcelain Black's record label released an updated version of Deadmau5's "Arcadia" instrumental, featuring Black's vocals per request of Deadmau5's record label. Black was initially opposed to featuring her vocals on the song yet after pressure from her record label she finally agreed to the collaboration. The lyrical version was renamed "Sweeter". Idolator, a music-reporting website, called the track a "...sizzling electronic kiss-off with shady lyrics like "I bet the bitch you're with in the club is dancing to this right now!" Sounds like a surefire winner?" Deadmau5 rejected the collaboration as copyright infringement.

2015–2019: Departure from 2101 Records and ''313''

After many internal conflicts between Porcelain Black and her long-time collaborator, RedOne, the artist announced via social media that plans to release her long-anticipated album were cancelled. Plans to release a new album, in the vein of her previous project, Porcelain and the Tramps, was expected for late 2017.

2020–2021: Independent full-length debut album

On February 5, 2020, through her Twitter account, Porcelain Black posted she was almost done with her first album, which needed mixing and mastering. After that post, she tweeted every song title, thus publishing the track listing of her upcoming record, yet to be titled. The project was expected to be released in 2020, and to include different genres, according to the singer.

On December 3, 2020, Black unexpectedly released self-produced demos of three new songs directly on her YouTube channel: "Thorns", "I Will Never Feel Like Home", and "C.U.N.T"; "Hurt" and "My Love's a Lie" were subsequently released on December 10. This release features elements of electronic music, among other genres, and includes singing, rapping, and screaming. In August 2021, Black stated via her Instagram that she was working with Rich Skillz on finishing up the production of "Thorns" and would soon release it.

Personal life

In April 2012, she married model Bradley Soileau, who has appeared with singer Lana Del Rey in the music videos for "Blue Jeans", "Born to Die", and "West Coast". They divorced in 2014.

Artistry

Musical style

Black's voice has been described as raspy, death growls often appearing in her music. In an interview with The Advocate, Black revealed that she has always had this talent and that it is something she has never practiced. RedOne, the producer who signed her to his label, says that Black's voice and attitude reminded him of Joan Jett. He concluded that "[s]he can scream and do things with her voice that nobody can do. She is uncompromising in pursuing her own creative vision. She's taking everything that's old and making it futuristic and bringing rock and roll back in her own way." Black styled her musical genre "horror-pop". It has been described as the love child between Marilyn Manson and Britney Spears, a fusion of dance-pop and darker industrial themes. Black cites that Spears inspires her deep love for choreography, while Manson inspires the sound and attitude of her lyrics and performance style.

Recalling the songwriting style she used when she had collaborated with RedOne, Porcelain Black said she would enter the studio with an idea she had come up with on her own at the piano and play it for RedOne. At other times, RedOne would play a beat he had constructed for her, and she would listen to it and see what vibes emerged from hearing it. Black usually creates a song title, then forges the song around that. She finds the most difficult songwriting process to be starting with melody, because making the syllables of her lyrics match the melody produces an effect that sounds forced and contrived. When working with RedOne, Porcelain Black said they would construct the melodies together, but all of the song lyrics were written exclusively by her; RedOne did not contribute to her music lyrically while they were working together on her first attempt at a debut album. Black writes all of her own songs. On the topic, she has said: "I write all my own stuff. I don't understand artists that don't write their own songs. I'm thankful for artists like Britney, but I don't understand how you can't write your own music. It's such a personal way of expressing yourself."

Public image

Critics have noted that her sound is more pop than rock, but Black is militant about her rock and roll image, saying "...I know I'm rock n roll." When asked about what it means to be rock and roll, she stated:

Genre-wise, her sound has been described as "industrial pop", a fusion of pop and industrial metal. Her flashy and irreverent image has been compared to the work of many other artists. She is often compared to Lady Gaga, and Nicki Minaj. Black disavows the association as completely unfounded, specifically saying, "She's a [expletive] cartoon. Are you serious?" Black calls her fans "trainwrecks", alluding to the tattoo on the inside of her middle finger. Malcolm Harris, writing for The Huffington Post, discovered Porcelain Black on the cover of UnSound and reacted to her image:

On the subject of her sexuality, Black said she was an "equal opportunist". Thematically, her music has been said to resonate with LGBT and adolescence, gaining her notoriety as a gay icon. On this subject, Black has said:

Popjustice writer Peter Robinson said Porcelain Black was one of pop music's most confusingly styled artists, attributing the shift from her edgier, rock-inspired look to one resembling Jennifer Lopez as an attempt by her team to make her image more marketable. Despite the appraisal, he critiqued her song "Rich Boi" as being influenced by rock icons, Def Leppard and Steve Miller Band. Stylistically in vein with Porcelain Black's pop rock genre hybrid, "One Woman Army" contains rapping, which Robinson said was "completely ridiculous and we love it." Blogging "What a chorus!", he called attention to the chorus, saying "...haven't we all at some point in our lives been on a battlefield like 'oh my God'?"

Influences

Black's biological father's love for rock music by Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and Jimi Hendrix influences her. She has listed Nine Inch Nails and its frontman, Trent Reznor, Björk, Fiona Apple, Aaliyah, The first concert she attended was an AC/DC concert with her father. Recalling the experience, she told Revolver, "...I was like, when I grow up, this is what I want to do!"

Discography

Albums

• Porcelain and the Tramps (2007)
• TBA (2025)

EPs

• 313 (2017)

Singles as lead artist

Singles as featured artist

Guest appearances

Videography

Filmography

Tours

Opening act

• 2011: I Am Music Tour (Lil Wayne)

Footnotes

References

References

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81. "JERMAINE JACKSON JUDGES TATTOOS INSPIRED BY THE LATE KING OF POP MICHAEL JACKSON ON OXYGEN'S "BEST INK" AIRING TUESDAY, MAY 8 AT 10 pm ET/PT". [[NBCUniversal]].
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