Anoop Desai

ROB BRAYL: First things first, you’ve really surprised me with the direction of your new single Love War. I’m hooked! I love that you’ve broken the mold of American Idol. Was it always your intention to steer towards electronic music?

ANOOP DESAI: Not consciously, no. It was really a process of musical evolution for me. Going to shows, being around music as a professional, advancing as a writer, etc. It was an organic process for me, just trying to find my voice within the genre for the past three years. People may have a memory of me from “Idol” that seems different from the new sound, but it’s really just filling a niche in EDM that I felt was there for the taking. My rule when making this latest record was that I could only make music that I personally liked. It was a decision that seems to have led to a wider appreciation of my music, which I’m thrilled about.

RB: The video treatment for the song is incredible. I’m really impressed with everything your doing at the moment. Can you tell us a little about the visuals in the clip? (I’ve noticed some horses and country scenes which I think are cool, meshing with your North Carolina upbringing.)

AD: We filmed parts of the video in the North Georgia mountains, parts of it on a white backdrop with cool lighting, and of course there’s the military footage in there. It’s meant to be jarring but also visually clear. And you sort of hinted at it, the idea is that the song is referencing a past gone by while really trying to express the reality that struggle still plays in everyday life. Essentially, no one comes out unscathed from a Love War.

RB: What artists have you been inspired by with regards to this new sound/style?

AD: This answer really changes weekly for me, but I think at the time I was writing Love War I was listening to a lot of Bassnectar, The Weeknd, the first Ellie Goulding record, and because I was a recent Atlanta immigrant, LOTS of hip hop. I’m in a space right now where I’m really into James Blake, Kishi Bashi, Purity Ring, Active Child, M83, etc. (and still a lot of hip hop), so we’ll see how that affects the next batch of stuff I’m working on.

RB: You must be stoked about your debut album? Any idea/timeframe as to when it might drop?

AD: So stoked. I think I owe it to myself and my fans to make sure that it has everything behind it that it deserves, so there’s of course a financial and promotional element there that we need to set up when it’s done. We’re already done with half of it, and I’m personally aiming for late this year or early next year. In the meantime, I’m releasing a new remix package of Love War in June.

RB: Like most girls and soccer moms, I loved you on American Idol! [Laughs] What I don’t love is hearing that you experienced some racism after the show. That sh*t really bothers me. But major kudos to you for being able to be vulnerable and real and open about it. I think that type of honesty encourages change.

AD: Thanks. It’s nothing new, although it was new to me at the time. I don’t think it’s headline news that there are dumb people in the world, but it’s always weird when that kind of stuff is directed at you. I’m fully aware that I don’t get as much of that stuff as a lot of other people. As messed up as it is, sometimes people have to be peer pressured into acceptance. (I hate the word “tolerance”.) Hopefully, the kind of mainstream success I am working towards can be part of that pressure.

RB: Do you feel like your experience on the show pushed you in a way to break away from the more safer styles/genres the show seems to embrace/push winners towards? Meaning, there’s not many artists from the show who are doing what you’re doing right now, which is making really rad electro music!

AD: In a way… I tried to do the “safe” thing at first and it just didn’t really work for me. On a critical and personal level. Like I said earlier, my rule for the new sound was that I had to like everything that I was putting out there. I didn’t have that rule before, and I think it showed. At first, I pushed myself towards that bubblegum ideal because I felt like that was what my audience wanted. Whether that was smart or just pandering, I don’t know, but it definitely didn’t get me where I wanted to go. As I’ve begun to write more and really focus on the craft above anything else, I’ve evolved as a musician and as a fan of music. And, of course, that will never stop.

RB: This is a staple in questions I ask artists: What’s a few of your current guilty pleasures? Music or non?

AD: The new will.i.am album, bourbon barrel-aged imperial stouts, and peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

RB: Last album you purchased.

AD: James Blake – Overgrown. It’s just complete mastery. I went to his show at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC the other night and it was literally awesome. Although I’m also a fan of the new Charli XCX, Django Django, and Major Lazer records.

RB: Are you planning on touring with the upcoming album release?

AD: This fall, but no dates are set in stone yet.

RB: Finally, I wanted to say that BiggerThanBeyonce focuses a lot of energy spotlighting incredible indie artists like yourself. Although difficult at times, do you feel a sense of personal triumph and victory being free to make the music you love?

AD: Of course! It is difficult at times, but that’s going to make what’s ahead even sweeter. - biggerthanbeyonce.com

Today Anoop Desai tells us about his new single "Love War" featuring ADHD. The single precedes the release of his debut album, which will be released later this year. Here is the story:
I started working with producer and DJ ADHD in the Fall of 2011 on some material we originally thought would be for a mixtape, but ended up being my EP "3 Cheers". ADHD had sent over a few tracks to see if I had any topline melody or lyric ideas for them, and one happened to be an early version of the "Love War" track. That version was a lot busier in the verse sections, but we thinned those parts out when we decided to make it a vocal song. I was struck immediately by the synth line in the buildup and the drop. It's this eerie organ synth that bears down on you as the hook progresses. It builds and builds so that by the time the drop happens, you're just marching lockstep right along with it...one of those melodic motifs that you catch yourself humming days later without being able to remember where it came from. So off the bat, we had an amazing foundation for the song.

The concept of "Love War" is a pretty universal one, but the music just brought that imagery to mind right away. There was this vision of two people alone on a World War I battlefield, just entrenched in their own conflict while the world went on around them, paying no mind. The last two soldiers in a war everyone else had forgotten about. I knew that I wanted to let the track shine as much as possible, so I made the verses as simple as I could. I'm a writer that tends to add a lot of flourishes to pop songs, so it was an exercise in restraint for me. When we got into the studio to record vocals, I had a sketch of what I wanted to say, but the final lyrics were written almost on the fly in the control room. If memory serves, we were recording two or three songs that day. It was a long process so we stopped briefly to pick up a couple six packs of beer. Upon returning to the studio, ADHD and I sat and talked about the song and it kind of went into this story time about past relationships. I think we've all been in situations where we wish we didn't care about a person so much, especially romantically. I, for one, have never been good at stepping away and detaching myself from a bad situation. Instead, I tend to get stuck in these wars of love. And at the end of the day, they're really wars of pride and selfishness. Either each person is trying to prove something, or one doesn't care and the other does, etc. Inspired and a little tipsy, I wrote probably six verses inspired by a girl in my past. It became a pretty personal narrative for me at points, but the two verses we kept were the two I felt gave listeners an opportunity to apply the song and that initial imagery to their own story. That, to me, is one of the beautiful things about pop music. - antimusic.com

Singer-songwriter Anoop Desai, known the world over as the first-ever 13th finalist on American Idol, teamed up with ADHD and the band Phive for the new single ‘Love War.’

If today’s free MP3 sounds great on headphones or your computer speakers, it translates even better to Desai’s live show, as he explains.

“It was almost like you could sense a change in brain chemistry when the song came on,” Desai says. “Girls would jump on stage and start dancing; everyone was jumping with their hands in the air.”

“As a performer, I know the difficulties of getting this reaction when your audience knows the song intimately,” he adds. “To get it with a brand new song let me know we were on to something.”

The humble singer was pleased with the production of the tune.

“Later in the tour, we started performing the song with live drums, electric guitar and keys,” he says. “Adding the additional live elements helped put the whole vision into sync … DJ and electronic shows [give me a] sense of camaraderie and total immersion in the music that I’ve only ever felt in that genre. That’s why it’s my home now. I feel, hear, smell and think the music in those environments.”

“I’m so excited about ‘Love War,’” Desai concludes. “It’s an expression of the sound I’ve heard in my head for a while now, so it’s amazing to see it come to life!” - diffuser.fm

Following up on two highly successful EPs, Anoop Desai is kicking off his newest venture into Electronic Dance Music with his latest EP 3 Cheers, available now via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/3-cheers-ep/id572946684. In support of this release, Anoop will be hosting a record release show on Thursday, November 29th at the infamous Cats Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina.

Seizing the opportunity to showcase his skills and growth as an artist, Anoop, incorporates a wide range of electronic-infused styles on 3 Cheers. Launched with the monstrous title track “3 Cheers”, Anoop’s industrious collaboration with Atlanta-based producer ADHD has produced an album that crosses the EDM soundscape. The duo further delves into a bass-bumping mix of electro and dubstep with the track “Rocket Man”. Further pushing the boundaries of dance music, “Love War” is a vibrant house anthem built for the dance floor. The high-octane single packs a powerful punch with electrifying synths and pulsating drums, entitling it as a certified club banger.

Anoop’s captivating vocals on “Crystal Ball” lures in listeners while hooking them with the song’s ambitious, rock n’ roll edge. Flipping over to the heartfelt “Love Lost”, the track boosts a sense of nostalgia while keeping up with hard-hitting, driving rhythms. Overall, the record is a cross-genre spectrum of sounds, creating a unique experience for the listener. 3 Cheers is a culmination of energy and persistence into five, momentous tracks. “This EP is my manifesto on youth, love, and the power of self-evolution,” says Anoop. “3 Cheers is the next step forward.”

Track Listing:
Crystal Ball
Love War
Love Lost
Rocket Man
3 Cheers
Click HERE to Stream 3 Cheers - Electronicalife.com

Since Adele's #1 hit "Rolling In the Deep" was so widely covered, it is no surprise that her next single "Someone Like You" would be a target for re-interpretation as well. An early version out of the box is a tear worthy cover by former American Idol contestant Anoop Desai. He may have only finished sixth in 2009, but his good looks and soulful voice make him one of the more memorable singers on the show in recent years. This version of "Someone Like You" and the accompanying video is haunting with its approach that falls midway between classic doo-wop and contemporary R&B. Anoop Desi's falsetto just might give you chills when it arrives late in the song. The original version of "Someone Like You" by Adele surges into the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. It is likely to go significantly higher on next week's chart since the song has been lodged at #1 at iTunes all week. Watch and listen to Anoop Desai below.


- About.com

Since Adele's #1 hit "Rolling In the Deep" was so widely covered, it is no surprise that her next single "Someone Like You" would be a target for re-interpretation as well. An early version out of the box is a tear worthy cover by former American Idol contestant Anoop Desai. He may have only finished sixth in 2009, but his good looks and soulful voice make him one of the more memorable singers on the show in recent years. This version of "Someone Like You" and the accompanying video is haunting with its approach that falls midway between classic doo-wop and contemporary R&B. Anoop Desi's falsetto just might give you chills when it arrives late in the song. The original version of "Someone Like You" by Adele surges into the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. It is likely to go significantly higher on next week's chart since the song has been lodged at #1 at iTunes all week. Watch and listen to Anoop Desai below.


- About.com

Aw, what a sweet song/video combo from American Idol Season 8 contestant Anoop Desai. Tell him what you thought of the song by tweeting him @AnoopDoggDesai. - Wetpaint

Aw, what a sweet song/video combo from American Idol Season 8 contestant Anoop Desai. Tell him what you thought of the song by tweeting him @AnoopDoggDesai. - Wetpaint

Former American Idol contestant, Anoop Desai is doing pretty well for himself. Making waves in the Pop/R&B music world, Anoop Desai's debut EP 'All Is Fair' breaking #14 on the Pop iTunes Chart. “All Is Fair” almost made #1 on Clear Channel’s Top 20 On Demand. Now Anoop Desai is working on a trilogy of EPs called 'Zero.' The first leak off of this EP is 'Want Your Love' (which you can listen to below) which was written and co-produced by Anoop and Sake Pase, producer of Rihanna's 'Man Down.'

Anoop is definitely trying to experiment with his music for 'Zero' and for this mixtape/EP, he is working closely with DJ Trauma to work on different ideas, sounds and lyrical concepts. Anoop explains '0 is cyclical, a start and an arrival. It's an origin—you can't have something without nothing. I want to play in both fusion and extremes with sound and subject matter.' Every Wednesday, Anoop will be releasing another track from his EP check out his #WantItWeds song leaks on his twitter. 'Zero.0' drops March 23rd for free on www.anoopdesai.com, iTunes and Billboard.

- Global Grind

Former American Idol contestant, Anoop Desai is doing pretty well for himself. Making waves in the Pop/R&B music world, Anoop Desai's debut EP 'All Is Fair' breaking #14 on the Pop iTunes Chart. “All Is Fair” almost made #1 on Clear Channel’s Top 20 On Demand. Now Anoop Desai is working on a trilogy of EPs called 'Zero.' The first leak off of this EP is 'Want Your Love' (which you can listen to below) which was written and co-produced by Anoop and Sake Pase, producer of Rihanna's 'Man Down.'

Anoop is definitely trying to experiment with his music for 'Zero' and for this mixtape/EP, he is working closely with DJ Trauma to work on different ideas, sounds and lyrical concepts. Anoop explains '0 is cyclical, a start and an arrival. It's an origin—you can't have something without nothing. I want to play in both fusion and extremes with sound and subject matter.' Every Wednesday, Anoop will be releasing another track from his EP check out his #WantItWeds song leaks on his twitter. 'Zero.0' drops March 23rd for free on www.anoopdesai.com, iTunes and Billboard.

Read more: http://globalgrind.com/channel/music/content/1908768/anoop-desai-introduces-his-weekly-music-leak-photos#ixzz1bRzRebnL
- Global Grind

Every week, Anoop Desai has been hitting fans with drops from his forthcoming Zero.0! EP. This all leads up to the project's March 23 release. The uptempo "Worth The Wait" is the latest Complex premiere, produced by Anoop himself and Wonderberg. Don't surprised if you hear it on the airwaves sooner than later. - Complex Magazine

First off, I'm ecstatic to be doing this weekly series with Ology this month. My goal is to let my fans and Ology readers into my world a little. To let you experience my triumphs and learning moments, my days and nights; in a word, my life. After my experience on American Idol a couple seasons back, a lot has happened for me. I've been lucky to have fans that are energetic and sincere about helping me achieve all my post-Idol dreams. But there's only so much that Twitter, Facebook, and the like can get across, and as I gear up for the release of Zero.0 on iTunes this month, I wanted to delve a little deeper.

Let's back up for a minute though. A lot of you don't know my story. After Idol, I moved to LA where I began to learn that the music industry is not what I expected it to be. Idol was an amazing experience, but it's not real life. My time in LA was naïvely spent being surprised by the fact that my chosen profession is not an easy one to master, even if you were just on TV in front of 30 million people. That was two years ago. I've since moved back east to Atlanta--an amazing city where my music and I have been embraced with open arms. Atlanta is my launching pad, and I couldn't be happier to be here.

Specifically, Atlanta is the launching pad for my new project, Zero.0. It is the first of three albums I will release this year as part of the Zero Trilogy. I'm proud of this new music. It's diverse, it's me, and it's getting an amazing amount of support from all of you--the most important thing in my eyes. Although Zero.0 is up on iTunes this month, it's been available for free for over a month. A lot of folks don't understand why I want to do it this way, and all I can say is that it just makes sense. I want people to experience and love my music before they buy it. I want people to tell their friends and family about it. In other words, I firmly believe that you have to give before you get. And I intend on getting everything I've ever wanted.

As I read this last sentence back, I'm reminded of the people since my time on Idol who have called me cocky or worse for trying to express this sentiment. I recently gave an interview where I said that the hardest but the most valuable part of Idol is that you get to know what people actually think about you. There's no filter. I'm fine with that now, but the cocky thing has always stuck in my mind. I don't care if you think I can't sing, but I have no tolerance for making it about me personally. And honestly, if cocky means that I know what I want and I have enough confidence in myself to know that I will get it... yeah, I'm cocky. Too many people go their lives not being cocky enough. (Of course, the opposite is also true.) And they fail. No one ever got anywhere by being dishonest with themselves and the people around them about the dreams they intended to achieve. And I'm just being honest. I write songs that delve into my inner thoughts, so I'm not in the business of lying to anyone. - Ology

Anoop Desai’s new single, “OoWee” is getting people excited all around the music world.

Desai is most recognized from season eight on American Idol. He was favored by many people to win but finished with a respectful sixth place finish.

Desai has set forth to prove he is more than just a singer. He is fixed on breaking the chains from his days on American Idol by becoming a more versatile artist.

He is moving in the right direction as he has recently released his EP titled, Zero.0.

The first single off this EP is his exciting new song, “OoWee.” It has a mix of pop vocals over a dominating techno beat.

So if you’re ready to dance, pop this baby in because as the songs says, “You make me want to say OoWee.”

When you’re out there lighting up the dance floor, I’m sure you’ll be shouting oowee all night long. - Celebrity Cafe

Check out Anoop Desai's cover of Adele's Someone Like You. I especially like the vocal harmonies on the chorus, which hark back to the Season 8 American Idol finalist's college vocal-group days. Plus, there's a nice falsetto bit -- and I can't ever get enough of that. - USA Today

Anoop Desai, who first came to our attention on season eight of American Idol, is full of surprises. On first glance, one wouldn't expect this UNC-graduate to possess such an effortlessly smooth voice, but he does. Since leaving Idol, he's been on his grind, releasing music and taking up producing and songwriting. We recently had the chance to sit down with Anoop Dogg (as AI's Randy Jackson coined him) to chat about the hardships of breaking into the music industry Post-Idol,bringing back the fidelity of the human voice, songwriting, Idol, and his upcoming mixtape Zero, which is currently scheduled for release early next year.

Global Grind: For our readers who aren't familiar with you, could you briefly introduce yourself?

Anoop Desai: My name is Anoop Desai, I was on season eight of American Idol. I came out with an EP a couple of months ago, and I'm working on a mixtape right now - I'm a musician.

GG: Cool, to start - Were you Team Glambert [Adam Lambert] or Team [Kris] Allen?

Anoop: Well, I was team me at the time! [laughs] You know, we're all such good friends to this day, so it was one of those things where you're in the heat of competition and once you're out you're going for your friends to do as best as they can, so it wasn't really something where I was going for one person or the other. It was fun to watch them duke it out, and it's fun to see everyone embark on their own thing now. I think everyone has found their own lane and is doing really well. I'm always happy for all of those guys.

GG: What made you audition for idol?

Anoop: I was graduating from college, auditions were in August '08 and I graduated from UNC in May, and it was just something that I wanted to do before grad school. My friends and my parents and everyone had kept encouraging me to do so for a while, and one of the people who had encouraged me always—one of my biggest supporters when I was in college and singing, was one of my friends Eve, and she passed away the spring before we graduated, so it was also my way of doing something that I thought would make her happy, make her proud. She was always on my mind throughout the entire process. It was one of those things where I wanted to pay homage to her, and I wanted to do something for myself before grad school. I didn't want to think, today, 'Man I wish...'or 'What if I would've done something like this,' because singing has always been my dream and my passion.

GG: So you went into it totally serious about your chances, not as a joke?

Anoop: It was a little of both. I'm the type of person who likes to downplay everything I do. Like most people, I never want to be disappointed about anything. At the same time I'm also a very competitive person, so I went into it knowing that the odds weren't in my favor, but I wanted this a lot. It's funny, when I went into my first audition I saw person after person audition and get destroyed by the judges and leave crying and stuff like that, so I was like 'Well, I've got nothing to lose now' so I think that actually calmed me down a little bit and allowed me to do a little better in my audition.

GG: Out of curiousity, if you were to have gone to graduate school, which program would you have been in?

Anoop: I was in the Folklore program at UNC. I was studying, basically, how people create and maintain culture in their communities. It is actually a field of study that is really increasingly important now, and to me, I still go back to that sometimes. Because music is, to me, one of the most important cultural.

- Global Grind

The season 8 finalist offers his insight on life after 'Idol' as he launches an ambitious roll-out of new music dubbed the "Zero" project.

American Idol Season 8 alum Anoop Desai is launching an ambitious roll-out plan of his new music, dubbed the “Zero” series. Over three EPs released in succession this year, the singer will deliver an array of new tunes, recorded by the likes of Calvin Matthews and Sak Pase (Rihanna). This way, he reasons, his music is as fresh as its gets -- as in, still warm from the recording studio to your hard drive.

A North Carolina native, Desai lived in Los Angeles for a stint post-Idol, but ultimately decided to return east, settling in Atlanta. “L.A. was so big and a little cliquey,” he says. “I just wasn’t feeling it and I missed home.”

The south is also where Desai feels most productive and inspired. “Musically, Atlanta is a lot more diverse than Nashville,” he says. “But the level at which all these different types of music are happening is like in LA.”

What other music industry insights has Desai picked up since being wild carded in 2008? Read on and check out his latest batch of just-released songs on iTunes.

The Hollywood Reporter: One of the things that’s instantly noticeable about Zero.0 and your music in general is how you can navigate multiple genres and different sounds that go beyond pop-R&B.

Anoop Desai:I listen to everything. Going though my iTunes, I have Frank Sinatra, then Adele, then Mumford and Sons, T-Pain, Avril Lavigne Radiohead... I think most people are like that -- they crave variety. But look at pop radio right now and it's the same stuff over and over again. I was looking on Mediabase the other day -- yes, I'm a nerd – and there are songs from 2009. It just seems slow to react, and as a songwriter, singer and performer, I never want to be slow to react, but at the end of the day, I want to be a Top 40 artist -- adult contemporary and urban-leaning.

THR: What’s the thinking behind this roll-out?

Desai: It started as a mix tape with DJ Trauma. I've always been about wanting people to spread my music and share it. This way, it allowed me to adapt in real time. So while there’s stuff going up on iTunes May 11, the second album is already written and the third album is halfway done, too.

THR: What is your process when it comes to writing and working with producers?

Desai:It’s like dating -- it sounds strange to say that, but you have to test people out. You have to be like: A) I like your music. B) I like you, you're a good person. C) Let’s hang out and see if we can work together. And that is where music comes from. That's where the best stuff I've written has come from -- it's a very natural organic process of feeling people out.

THR: The music industry is looking at ways to collect money for music, yet you’re for giving it away. How do you reason?

Desai:If you only have the mind of, “We have to sell this music and I have to make money on this music,” then it's not really about the music anymore; it's about the money. I'm not saying I don’t want to make money, but I'm thinking a little more long-term than just making a buck today.

THR: Do you feel like you have a good grasp of how the business works?

Desai: When I went to LA, I didn't have this grasp, I had American Idol, which although it's an amazing experience and I've learned so much from it, it's not real life. So I didn’t have any of these insights into how you can be successful. Naively I thought, “OK, I was just on TV in front of 30 million people, I can sing, where do I sign?" And in the two years since then, it's really been a growing process for me in terms of songwriting and performing.

THR: It’s ironic, but in a way, isn’t it harder to try and launch a career after Idol?

Desai: I remember when we got off the tour, everyone saying, “Don't worry, we just went through this process, we’re good, you'll be fine..." That's about the dumbest thing that we could've said at the time because you begin to believe that and internalize it, and the truth of the matter is, you have to work harder than everyone else. Because whether the viewing public knows it or not, in the industry, there is a stigma associated with American Idol. There's no other way to say it. You hear these people sing for a maximum of a minute and a half every show. As a contestant, you have to say, “All right, I was on the show, awesome, what a great perk, now let me work.” Once you step on that Idol stage, you have the potential to play with the big boys, to do what Adam Lambert has done, it's just harder to get there.

THR: That’s true now more than ever with The Voice and soon X Factor crowding the talent show space…

Desai: But what we're seeing is Idol maintaining 23 to 24 million people every night. The Voice is doing healthy but X Factor will be insane. I will go on record and say that, when all is said and done, X Factor for the 2011 year will probably be more successful than Idol. But I think it also hurts the contestants of those shows. When I got off Idol, there were some 80 people who had competed before me, that was hard enough. Now you have a top 10 for three shows and that goes for another eight seasons? That's 240 people who've done exactly what you've done. Idol has the benefit of brand recognition and loyalty, which I think is really important, but there have been superstars that have come out of X Factor, too.

THR: The Voice is welcoming former Idols with open arms, any temptation to try for a second chance?

Desai: Absolutely not. Just... no. - Hollywood Reporter

It has always puzzled that me that in 10 seasons, "American Idol" has never spawned a truly modern-sounding R&B male star. Sure, we had Ruben Studdard way back in Season 2, but he always brought to mind throwback soul stars like Luther Vandross (a comparison later earned by last year's Michael Lynche and this year's Jacob Lusk). This season offered two great "R&P" (rhythm & pop) male hopes, Jordan Dorsey and Jerome Bell, but Jordan infamously blew it the minute he hit the big stage, and Jerome inexplicably didn't make the top 24 at all.

Really now, in a pop age dominated by post-Chris Brown/Justin Timberlake/Usher types like Drake, Jason Derulo, Jay Sean, Taio Cruz, B.o.B., Bruno Mars, and even Justin Bieber, why has "Idol" never come up with an equivalent? Well, maybe Season 8's Anoop "Dogg" Desai will fill that "AI" void, now that he's finally releasing original music.

Making up for lost time since his "Idol" run ended in 2009, the ever-ambitious Anoop is planning a series of no fewer than three EPs this year, with the first one, Zero.0, available on iTunes April 20. However, thanks to Billboard.com, the EP can be streamed and download for free now!

I must say I'm impressed by what I hear here. The doo-woppy opener "I'll Come Running" (a Sam Cooke cover) is a nice nod to Anoop's collegiate a cappella days, "All Is Fair" and my fave track "Oo Wee" sound like lost Usher cuts, and I'm digging the Hi-NRG '90s club vibe of "Perfect Way." This sounds current, fresh, relevant...all the tick-the-box adjectives the "Idol" judges keep harping on when looking for a new superstar.

R&B and pop fans: Get with the Zero now! - Yahoo Music

Anoop Desai may not have won Season 8 of "American Idol," but the up-and-coming pop/R&B artist is set to prove himself a champion with his new "Zero" series.



Following the release of his debut music video "All Is Fair (Crazy Love)" in February, Anoop unveils the next phase of his unique musical vision with "Zero.0," the first in a series of three EPs set for release in 2011. DJ Trauma Present Anoop Deasi "Zero.0" won't be available on iTunes until April 20, but you can download the EP right now for FREE, exclusively on Billboard.com.

"The whole concept of 'Zero' is talking about the power of music to describe a moment in time, not necessarily a singular emotion," says Desai, who served as the principle songwriter of the project which meshes the smooth vibes of classic crooners like Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye with the modern musical approach of current R&B superstars like Usher and Justin Timberlake.


Rather than following the traditional album format, Desai set out to create a work that would give him the freedom to experiment with different sounds, textures and lyrical concepts.



"0 is cyclical, a start and an arrival. I want to play in both fusion and extremes with sound and subject matter," he explains. "DJ Trauma (the project's co-executive producer) … and I came to the consensus that there was a lot of great material that we had, so we're breaking it up into 3 EPs."


"Zero.0," which was also co-executive-produced by Calvin Matthews and features productions by Sak Pase (Rihanna), Wonderberg and the Big Shots, contains nine tracks, including a remix of "All is Fair." Anoop (is also giving fans something new to wait for: an additional song, "Wait," will added to the official iTunes release on April 20. "Zero.1" is expected to be released in July 2011, with "Zero.2" following three months later. - Billboard.com