| They may
be called The Cheetah Girls, but Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina
Bryan, and Kiely Williams are all grown up! The proof is
in their third CD, TCG. The trio, which became international
sensations on the Disney Channel and have gone on to sell
nearly four million albums, wrote or co-wrote six of the
11 songs on the album.
"This is definitely our most personal CD,"
says the outgoing California girl, Sabrina, who explains
the other two movie soundtracks were all about their on-screen
alter egos. "The fans knew us as our characters Chanel,
Aqua, and Dorinda, but this time around the fans are going
to know us on a personal level and connect with us on
a first-name basis."
The group, whose hit Cheetah Girls movies paved the way
for made for TV movies like Disney Channel's High School
Musical, are already a household name with teens and younger
audiences, grossing $26 million over 86 concerts, selling
$10 million in tour merchandise in a mere five months,
and holding the record for the largest sales in the history
of Houston's Reliant Stadium with an impressive 73,200
tickets sold (the record was previously held by Elvis
Presley in the 1970s).
But with a more diverse sound on TCG (the nickname their
legions of fans gave them on message boards), The Cheetah
Girls are primed for crossover success. Adrienne has brought
her love of salsa and hip-hop to the music, while Kiely
adds her passion for electronica and retro rock, and Sabrina
contributes a pop and house sensibility. Together,
they've created a whole new Cheetah sound.
"I don't think our generation just listens to one
kind of music, so we wanted to mix it up and give people
a taste of all the sounds we like, and hopefully they'll
like them all too," says Adrienne, the savvy New
Yorker. Kiely, the wise-beyond-her years New Jersey native
agrees. "We wanted to work with producers from all
genres of music who could really bring some color to the
album. Each song gives you a totally different feel. We
were in the studio for four months, making sure the sound
was something that people hadn't heard before."
The time and effort paid off. "Fuego," the
party anthem they co-wrote, which kicks off the album,
mixes Latin influences with a Lionel Richie sample from
his '80s hit, "All Night Long," to create a
guaranteed club classic. "It's one of our favorite
songs on the album," says Adrienne about the track
produced by Jonathan "JR" Rotem, who's created
hits for everyone from 50 Cent to Rihanna. "I love
the message about setting a party on fire and having a
good time, because that's what The Cheetah Girls are all
about."
But there are also deep messages woven in between the
good-time tunes. "Break Out This Box"-a piano-ladden
pop track Adrienne and Sabrina collaborated on with writers
including JC Chasez and producer Ron "Neff-U"
Feemster of Jay-Z and Ne-Yo fame-is about not letting
anyone hold you back. "It was important for us to
send a message about reaching for every goal that you
want to achieve in life," explains Sabrina. "That's
how we've lived our lives, and it's worked for us!"
Then The Cheetah Girls switch things up by channeling
another famous girl group, TLC, on an R&B song they
co-wrote. "Uh Oh" explores that feeling of falling
for an ex all over again, even if you know it's wrong,
wrong, wrong. "Who can't relate to that?" asks
Adrienne. "Man, I wish I couldn't!" she says
with her signature laugh.
Continuing the theme of love-gone-bad is "Crash,"
which is written and produced by RedOne, Steve Lunt, and
Kristal "Tytewriter" Oliver. "It's a really
creative song," says Adrienne. "It's happy,
feel-good music, but the lyrics talk about love in terms
of cars-sometimes you take things too fast and you crash.
That's a universal theme."
On the flip side of the relationship spectrum is "Do
No Wrong," a club-banger in the making. "The
intro reminds me a lot of the days of Salt 'n' Pepa,"
says Adrienne. "I just loved the attitude. It's very
old-school hip-hop. I can see me and my girls getting
ready to go out somewhere and singing along to this-it's
just a fun, high-energy song."
"And I love the electronica-style beats," interjects
Kiely. "It's pop with the hip-hop intro and then
electronic beats-it really combines those three sounds
to create something new."
"One of our favorites on the album is 'Who We Are,'"
continues Kiely. "It was one of the first songs we
recorded, and we were all absolutely obsessed with the
lyrics. Every girl questions whether a guy likes her for
who she really is, but this song tells her to be true
to herself, and by doing so she realized her self worth.
It's definitely an empowering song that you listen to
when you first get up in the morning because it inspires
you for the whole day."
"So Bring It On,"which will be the first single
released through the Disney Channel, "has more of
a rocker vibe," says Sabrina. "It's all about
being in control of your life, your destiny, your world-which
is something I think every girl wants to be."
Perhaps the most personal song of all is "Homesick,"
the album closer, which Kiely wrote. Understated and beautiful,
it's the track that's sure to have fans swaying along
with their cell phones in concert. "It's about being
on tour and missing my hometown, my bed-everything that
has made me, well, me," says Kiely.
"What I love about the song," chimes in Adrienne,
"is that it's not just about being on the road, people
who've gone off to college or even summer camp share those
same feelings. We all know what it's like to miss home."
Though everything they've touched seems to have turned
to gold-make that platinum-sales aren't what the group
is most concerned with. "Our main goal is to make
positive, uplifting music that everyone can enjoy,"
says Kiely. "It's not just for young people. But
we want to show people that music doesn't have to be risqué
or provocative to be enjoyable. We've done that with this
album, and I'm really excited to see what our fans and
their friends and sisters, aunts, uncles, and grandmothers
think about the album."
As part of the TCG campaign, Adrienne, Sabrina, and Kiely
will soon appear on 70 million Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
boxes, and there will be Cheetah Girls dolls, a Nintendo
video game, an exclusive line of stationery at Limited
Too, and an exclusive cheetah "bear" at Build-A-Bear
workshops across the country.
Aside from promoting the CD, the girls will be heading
to India in January 2008 to film their third made-for-Disney
Cheetah Girls movie. In the meantime, the girls are each
exploring their own talents. Kiely is writing a self-help
book for teen girls and costarring in the 2008 Adam Sandler-produced
comedy House Bunny alongside Anna Faris, Katharine McPhee
and Rumer Willis. Adrienne is preparing to record her
first solo album, a mix of Spanish and English songs.
Sabrina is co-writing "Princess of Gossip" for
Pocket/MTV Books. Sabrina will also be one of the stars
on "Dancing With The Stars" this fall. Not only
great singers but great role models too, you name it and
these multi-talented girls can-and will-do it!
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