Pushing The Buzz: Singer Christian TV

Singer Christian TV seemed to burst out of nowhere with his summer performance on So You Think You Can Dance of “When She Turns 18”, a supremely catchy piece of business (with a video that shows the creative use of a photocopier) which I will definitely associate with Summer ’10.  As will, apparently, Britney Spears, who complemented the buzz by tweeting about it.

But everyone comes from somewhere, and in the case of LA-based Christian, he hails from the Detroit east side, and formed a band in the middle of the last decade called Love Arcade.  They got signed to Atlantic and issued a self-titled album, with songs from which you can certainly find on You Tube.  While the group had a strong fan base, multi-instrumentalist and singer Christian Berishaj had to reinvent himself to continue, so with proceeds from a rowdy song called “Candy” from the “American Pie 6” soundtrack came Christian TV, “When She Turns 18”, and the subsequent and free-for-download mixtape “Who The Fuck Is Christian TV?”.

This bold mixtape, presented by DJ Skee and featuring an intro from rapper Paul Wall, certainly slides down deep into an urban sound that’s pretty far removed from Love Arcade.  It gets a tad explicit (with a definite humorous side) for youngin’s but there be more versatile pop roots in the midst on tracks like “Never Shoulda Let You Go” and particularly “Part Time Girl”.  “When She Turns 18” helps crank up the party right after the track that sets the tone for the mixtape, “Let’s Just Fuck” (view the uncensored video here), which places Christian as the younger, grittier, waiting-in-your-face side of Robin Thicke.  And that’s not a bad thing.

A full album, though, is on the way, so I’m expecting some really great pop tunes and I’ll probably have a few things to say about them.  While his brashness might have got unwanted buzz and attention 10 or 15 years ago, it can now push the buzz comfortably and generate some street cred for Christian TV.  I’ll wager that come the time of his debut album, those really great pop tunes should hold their own.