Imani Coppola

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Imani Coppola
Coppola sings with "Peeping Tom" at Milan in November, 2006.
Coppola sings with "Peeping Tom" at Milan in November, 2006.
Background information
Born April 6, 1978 (1978-04-06) (age 30)
Origin New York City, United States
Genre(s) Alternative rock, pop, Alternative Hip Hop
Instrument(s) Vocals, Violin, Acoustic Guitar
Years active 1997–present
Website Official Site

Imani Francesca Coppola born on April 6, 1978 in New York City is a singer/songwriter/violinist probably best known for her 1997 hit "Legend of a Cowgirl" which sampled the instrumentals from "Sunshine Superman" by Donovan.

Contents

[edit] Early Life and Education

Coppola grew up "on the wrong side of the tracks" in Long Island, New York.[1] "I grew up in a ... white trash neighborhood surrounded by a bunch of uncultured, untalented, middle-class people," says Coppola.[2] Coppola says the experience gave her a wealth of self confidence that she draws on as an artist.[1] "We were poor," Coppola says.[1] "I was in a white neighborhood, and I was from a mixed family, and I didn't dress like everyone else. We were considered weird and made fun of. We were scrubs, poor, on welfare - whatever other dumb, stupid kid names they could come up with."[1] "My mom, black, my dad, Italian, and five multiracial kids running around, and it was sort of hard growing up there. We were very, very different from everybody else and they didn't understand, so their way of dealing with that was just calling us names."[2] "But having no money, no TV and no phone forced us to be creative."[1]

Coppola grew up on the water and played outside a lot.[3] "I grew up in Long Island by the water," says Coppola.[3] "We played outside a lot, swimming, exploring, digging holes looking for artifacts, building forts, sailing, fishing, fighting, arts and crafts, summer music, finding turtles, riding bikes. roller skating. Playing games on the Commedore 64 (an old computer)."[3]

Coppola's father is a jazz musician and her mother plays Bass.[4] All Coppola's brothers and sisters are musically inclined.[4] Coppola began playing violin at the age of 6.[4] Coppola studied studio composition at the State University of New York at Purchase.[4][5] Coppola attended college for one year but didn't like it.[2] "I hated it. I hated living there," said Coppola, referring to the State University of New York at Purchase.[2] "There was nothing to do, it was ... cold all the time. There was a bunch of weird artists, weirdos ... it's very artsy."[2]

Shortly after enrolling at Purchase, Coppola made some demos and passed them on to her older sister Mia who is a singer-songwriter in the music business.[5] Mia passed them on to her boyfriend music publisher Ross Elliot who got Coppola together with producer Micheal Mangini at Digible Planets.[5] Coppola's contract with Columbia Records was the result of three demo tracks she cut with Digable Planets producer Michael Mangini while she was still in college.[6] The studio work with Mangini started a studio bidding war for Coppola and she accepted a recording contract with Columbia Records.[5] "At the time I wasn't really grateful," said Coppola.[7] "I knew how much it meant to be signed, but I didn't know what it was like to struggle to be signed and I will never know."[7]

[edit] Contract with Columbia Records

In 1997 Imani Coppola gained a record contract with Columbia Records for her surrealistic, sample-laden pop/rockvision of hip-hop, linked to Digable Planets as well as Neneh Cherry.[8] Her debut album, Chupacabra, released in 1997, featured the MTV hit "Legend of a Cowgirl".[8] Coppola says the name of her debut album means "goat sucker" in Spanish.[9] "It's a reference to what some people believe are demons, or beings from outer space, who come and suck all the blood out of goats," Coppola says.[9] "But it was recently discovered that, in fact, the goats were probably just being preyed on by some regular old earthly organisms. I still don't know for sure."[9] Ann Powers wrote in the New York Times in 1997 that Coppola's album was bouyed by "fanciful raps and supple vocals as she establishes her identity as a modern-day flower child with common sense."[10] Coppola said the album is "a good way to start off my future career -- whatever that may be."[2]

[edit] Legend of a Cowgirl

In 1997 Coppola had a big hit with “Legend of a Cowgirl,” a pop hit that mixed a sample lifted from Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman” with "with a sassy rap and a catchy hook."[6] Coppola said at the time she recorded "Legend of a Cowgirl" that it was a fantasy about doing whatever she wanted and that now she was stuck with it.[9] "In 'Legend of a Cowgirl,' I talk about riding a horse. It's a metaphor for doing whatever I want, about having sex with whoever I want and not feeling guilty, and riding on to the next town and starting all over again," said Coppola.[9] "The song began as an idea for a movie: a fantasy about women who love 'em and leave 'em and ride off into the sunset. It was just a fantasy I was having for about a week," she says with a sly grin, 'and now I'm stuck with it.'"[9]

Part of Coppola's marketing included a music video for “Legend of a Cowgirl,” that received heavy rotation on MTV.[7] The video showed Coppola in dream sequences as a a biker chick, a catsuit-wearing alien-type and a diva in heels and a huge afro.[7] In one scene Coppola dismounts her bike, marches up to a hitchhiking cowboy and plants a major kiss on him.[7] "It wasn't that good of a kiss," says Coppola.[7] "It was just like a big joke."[7] In another scene Coppola, clad in a skintight, shiny black catsuit, is surrounded by nearly-naked dancing men in silver bodypaint and Speedos[7]. "It was very uncomfortable 'cause we had no room and their penises and their buns are just flopping around," says Coppola.[7] "It was like, 'Whoops, sorry. Didn't mean to touch you!' But they were all gay, so it didn't really matter. They were cute though. It was a shame."[7]

[edit] Lilith Fair

In 1998 Coppola played Lilith Fair but had few kind things to say about Lilith founder Sarah McLachlan before the tour.[7] "I think she's a good songwriter, at times, and singer. She's boring to watch live, though," said Coppola.[7] "God damn! I went to see Sarah (at Madison Square Garden) and, oh my God! She has so many fans that are just infatuated with her -- 'Sarah, I love you!' I was making fun of them the whole time -- 'Oh, Sarah! Yay!' And by the second song we left, we couldn't take it anymore. It was just boring."[7]

[edit] Parting with Columbia

After the release of Coppola's first album, she parted ways with Columbia Records.[11] "By the time I was 22, I had no record deal, and I was a struggling musician in New York City," says Coppola.[11] "That made my experience there very difficult; they wanted an artist who was going to be the pawn, and I was like ‘I have so much to learn. I haven't even listened to any music yet! I don't know shit about music. I don't know shit about songwriting. I don't know shit about art... and here I am, doing it professionally?[11] Coppola says that it was hard after she left Columbia Records.[12] "Well, after the Columbia experience, I was 22, and I felt so much older than any other 22-year-old that was just graduating college. I dropped out of college to tour the world," said Coppola.[12] "It was really hard for me to identify with people my age and it’s been hard for me to identify with people my whole fucking life."[12]

Coppola says the Columbia experience came out of nowhere and it ruined her perspective on being an artist.[11] "I was very rebellious," says Coppola.[11] "They wanted me to do samples. I wanted to write the whole song myself, you know? What the fuck? I can! So between me and the label...we kind of made it all go away."[11] Coppola says that her initial success came too easily.[11] "I've gone from one end, with absolutely no experience - I had never had a band before - and got signed," says Coppola.[11] "The only performance I had ever done singing was musical theater in high school. I kind of got it without wanting it...without being hungry for it…without starving for it."[11]

In 2000, she teamed with the Baha Men for the European and Australian Top 10 hit You All Dat. After her one big hit, Columbia Records dropped her in 2000, subsequently shelving her second studio album, Come and Get Me... What?!. Without a major label behind her, Imani started recording music at home and in 2001, Imani released Little Red Fighting Mood through independent distribution. She toured with Sandra Bernhard singing back ups and playing violin in 2001.[citation needed]

In 2001 Coppola was part of the band supporting Sandra Bernhard in her off-Broadway production of "The Love Machine."[13] Other band members included Mitch Kaplan, Robin Macatangay, Ann Hairston, and Alex Elena.[13] The New York Times said that the band was "fine and occasionally hot, but dozens of music clubs offer better."[13]

By 2004, Coppola was playing acoustic guitar in small clubs like Forum in New York City with her drummer Alex Elana, in the Two Shadow Posse.[14] "Yeah, about seven people came, all my sister's friends," said Coppola.[14] "It was more like a rehearsal in a dark, vibeless venue. I hated it, actually."[14] Coppola said her priority was not be have chart toppers.[14] "All I can figure from my own personal, spiritual experience is that I'm not supposed to be famous in that sense," said Coppola.[14] I think I'm a lot deeper than what you typically see on television, and anything I'd ultimately put out there in the world I wouldn't want filtered through television."[14]

Coppola sings at a show in Milan in November 2007. "All my experimentation was fused through a pop hook, so this kind of shaped me as a songwriter," says Coppola. "I don't think it has gone away, and I think it will never go away. I think it's kind of a blessing now, now that I have committed to making a living as a songwriter. I realize that there are rules; there's a formula. And if you can find a way to be you and unique in that formula, I think you're doing something pretty amazing.”
Coppola sings at a show in Milan in November 2007. "All my experimentation was fused through a pop hook, so this kind of shaped me as a songwriter," says Coppola.[11] "I don't think it has gone away, and I think it will never go away. I think it's kind of a blessing now, now that I have committed to making a living as a songwriter. I realize that there are rules; there's a formula. And if you can find a way to be you and unique in that formula, I think you're doing something pretty amazing.”[11]

[edit] Recent Musical Activity

[edit] Self Published Albums

In 2005, Imani launched her own website and also opened an online music store where she released Small Thunder and The Vocal Stylings Of Imani Coppola, and three new singles. Also, Come and Get Me... What?! was finally made available to the public. Imani wrote and performed the bone chilling song entitled "Freedom Come" for the very successful independent film On the Outs in 2005, she also co-wrote Maia Sharp's single "Fine Upstanding Citizen". 2006 Imani contributed two of her own songs, "Woodstock" and "Fake Is The New Real" and arranged all of the strings for artist Alice Smith's debut album For Lovers, Dreamers and Me She can also be heard singing back up vocals and playing strings on several songs of the album.[citation needed]

In an interview with Erin Broadley in November, 2007 Coppola was asked if she had been doing work that was personal and that boosted her self-worth as an artist after she initially left Columbia Records to put out music on her own and Coppola said that her views had changed.[12] "I mean, my story has definitely changed since that whole mantra. When you’re younger you have a little more fire and you haven’t been beaten down so much by economical, financial crisis in your life," said Coppola.[12] "You know, you approach 30 and you realize you’ve got to get your shit together for your future, for the sake whether or not you plan on having kids all that stuff."[12]

Coppola sings at a show on tour with Mike Patton's Peeping Tom at the Detour Festival in October 2006. "Mike Patton creates this palette and people who can just be themselves, you know, and not have to mold themselves into [something else]. It's a completely artistic method of self-expression," says Coppola. "He lets you be you and everyone got to be themselves, so it was really cool. We did several tours that were very long and we became family and it was fun."
Coppola sings at a show on tour with Mike Patton's Peeping Tom at the Detour Festival in October 2006. "Mike Patton creates this palette and people who can just be themselves, you know, and not have to mold themselves into [something else]. It's a completely artistic method of self-expression," says Coppola.[12] "He lets you be you and everyone got to be themselves, so it was really cool. We did several tours that were very long and we became family and it was fun."[12]

[edit] Touring with Peeping Tom

On May 26, 2006 Coppola performed with Peeping Tom on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The other musicians involved in the performance were Rahzel, Dan The Automator, Rob Swift, Dub Trio, and Mike Patton. She is currently touring with Peeping Tom, providing both vocals and violin. During this tour, Imani has performed songs from her album The Black & White Album.[citation needed]

In an interview with Erin Broadley in November, 2007 Coppola talked about working with Mike Patton's Peeping Tom project and touring with Peeping Tom.[12] "It was good. Definitely the touring and the traveling and working with different kinds of artists, DJs ... everyone was so quirky and themselves," said Coppola.[12] "Mike Patton creates this palette and people who can just be themselves, you know, and not have to mold themselves into [something else]. It's a completely artistic method of self-expression. He lets you be you and everyone got to be themselves, so it was really cool. We did several tours that were very long and we became family and it was fun."[12]

[edit] The Black and White Album

Coppola's eighth studio album The Black & White Album was released digitally on January 14, 2007 and released through Ipecac Recordings on October 30, 2007. Also in 2007, Imani was signed to S-Curve Records under the alias Little Jackie, and will be releasing an album produced by Chupacabra producer, Michael Mangini. She continues to write, record, and produce music for herself and other artists, and to perform locally in the NYC area.[citation needed]

Bill Braun wrote in Amplifer Magazine in November 2007 that Coppola's The Black and White Album has an organic nature that reflects America's diversity.[11] "Only a culture so diverse - and so at odds with itself - could till the soil for such an exquisite beauty to flower," wrote Braun.[11] "The album tackles themes that remain close to the heart of modern Americans and cultures worldwide, regardless of on what side of the fence one stands: diversity (“Woke Up White”), superficiality (“I Love Your Hair”), and hope (“Raindrops From The Sun”) among others."[11] The Globe and Mail wrote that The Black and White Album as a "brutally honest album that's fun to hear."[15] "The whole record seems to issue from an uncomfortably bohemian life scraped out in the company of people who mistake shared assumptions and common lies as the truth'" wrote the Globe and Mail.[15] "But there are no sermons here."[15] Bret McCabe wrote in the New York Sun on November 13, 2007 that in The Black and White Album Coppola mixed musical genres like Brazilian pop wizard Tom Zé.[16] Coppola "mixes every genre imaginable into her songwriting, and something fresh comes out almost every time — with each song serving as a mini essay from the singer-songwriter's mind," writes McCabe.[16] "Ms. Coppola's new album fearlessly tackles the cultural spaces that separate the races, but like the biracial Ms. Coppola herself, the music isn't simply part black and part white, but a refreshingly different color altogether."[16]

In November, 2007 Coppola told Erin Broadley in an interview that she was unsure if she was going to tour to support The Black & White Album.[12] "If it generates the money where I’m able to. But I’m a one-man band and I don’t know if anyone will tour with me for free," says Coppola.[12] "I don’t even have a car. I don’t know, I would love to put together at least one banging show together for this album. Definitely, it deserves that."[12]

[edit] Little Jackie

Coppola has signed a contract with S-Curve, an independent label owned by Steve Greenberg, to issue an album in July 8th, 2008 (the same time as their television debut on Late Night with Conan O'Brien) as one half of the duo Little Jackie, along with DJ/programmer Adam Pallin.[17]

The album will be promoted by Nabbr, a company that has created viral-video campaigns for Justin Timberlake and Amy Winehouse.[6] "Being on S-Curve is going to ensure that my face is all over the Internet like a disease," says Coppola.[6] "I’ve been on the side a lot for the past couple of years, and you get kind of used to it. It’s going to be nice to get back to the center."[6]

Coppola says that in signing with another major label, she is going to approach the music business differently than she did when she had her first major label contract with Columbia records in 1997.[12] "I’m going through the major label process once more with the wisdom I have from being an independent broke-ass artist, you know, poetic but pathetic. I’m taking it to a mature level and I’m going to look at it as a job and just a stage and a method of expression, with not so much hatred for commercialism and being exposed at that level," says Coppola.[12] "I’m just trying to look at it as a method to be able to express and teach. I’m trying not to look too deeply into it. It’s just time, I’m really ready for a paycheck. I’ve learned. I’ve paid my dues."[12]

[edit] Songwriting and Artistic Vision

Coppola says her songwriting is fused through a pop sensibility.[11] "All my experimentation was fused through a pop hook, so this kind of shaped me as a songwriter," says Coppola.[11] "I don't think it has gone away, and I think it will never go away. I think it's kind of a blessing now, now that I have committed to making a living as a songwriter. I realize that there are rules; there's a formula. And if you can find a way to be you and unique in that formula, I think you're doing something pretty amazing.”[11]

Coppola says that her tastes in music are very diverse.[12] "I love all genres," says Coppola.[12] "I love experimenting with all genres and part of the problem with flirting with major labels and the managers who are all male and everything is they really, really want you to be one thing."[12] Coppola says it has been challenging to maintain her artistic identity.[12] "I just decided that I was a songwriter at a certain point because I wanted to write in every genre. I knew how to write a pop song and I knew how to write an alternative song and I was like, 'How am I ever going to pull all of this off as an artist?' It’s just not possible," said Coppola.[12] "So I decided to write whatever the hell I wanted to, for myself. It was just like, "Let’s have some fucking fun. Let’s kill it." I’ve just been hustling so long, it gets pretty exhausting. Your brain takes in too much clouds and disappointment and you get burnt out, basically, but every now and then something restores why you’re doing it."[12]

Coppola uses a different process when she is songwriting for herself than when she is songwriting for another artist or writing on spec.[12] "I’m a unique individual and I know that I come up with some unique shit. There’s a very clear line between when I’m writing for another artist, or when I’m shooting a commercial or I’m asked to do something on spec," says Coppola.[12] "My brain changes, my thought processes, my body language changes, the way I work changes. If it’s just for me, typically it just comes naturally when I'm cleaning up, waking up, drinking coffee, playing with my cat, something comes out of my mind. But, when I have to write something for another artist, I get online, I do research, I listen to iTunes top 10, I friggin go to websites that rhyme. When you do work for other artists, it’s definitely more of a job and it requires a lot of tools."[12]

Coppola considers herself lucky to be an artist even though being an artist sometimes has a downside.[12] "It’s a weird thing being an artist -- you have so much time thinking about what you need, what you want, what your vision is," says Coppola.[12] "It’s kind of like a privileged place to be, whereas in any other sort of job you don’t have that. I’m lucky but I also think there’s a dark side to [having] all of that time to yourself [because] it can get to you."[12]

There is a strong visual aspect to Coppola's live performance.[5] "There's a very campy, theatrical vibe going on with Imani," said her manager, Scott McCracken in 1998.[5] "Not only is she captivating musically, but she's incredibly interesting to look at. She's always got a different color wig on, and she's always experimenting with makeup and all sorts of things. She's very creative visually, which I can't say for a lot of artists out there. And it ain't manufactured--it's what she does."[5]

There is a strong visual aspect to Coppola's live performance. "There's a very campy, theatrical vibe going on with Imani," said her manager, Scott McCracken in 1998. "Not only is she captivating musically, but she's incredibly interesting to look at. She's always got a different color wig on, and she's always experimenting with makeup and all sorts of things. She's very creative visually, which I can't say for a lot of artists out there. And it ain't manufactured--it's what she does."
There is a strong visual aspect to Coppola's live performance.[5] "There's a very campy, theatrical vibe going on with Imani," said her manager, Scott McCracken in 1998.[5] "Not only is she captivating musically, but she's incredibly interesting to look at. She's always got a different color wig on, and she's always experimenting with makeup and all sorts of things. She's very creative visually, which I can't say for a lot of artists out there. And it ain't manufactured--it's what she does."[5]

[edit] Personal Life

Coppola's father is a jazz musician[6] and Coppola's mother is also an artist who plays Bass.[12][4] Coppola says her first musical memory is of her "Father playing “Bessie’s Blues” on a severely out of tune piano" and that her father was her biggest musical influence.[18] "I’m weird because my parents are both artists and we starved, we went through a lot of fucking difficulty growing up because of their choices in life," said Coppola.[12] "But I have mad respect for that, you know."[12] Coppola wonders if she should be an artist the way her parents were.[12] "I have a little resentment because when it comes down to making important decisions about my life and my foundation, you know, their artistic side haunts me," says Coppola.[12] "Like maybe I should just do what they did."[12]

Coppola has four siblings and is the second youngest.[3] Coppola's older sister Mia is also a professional singer-songwriter.[5]

Coppola was born into a biracial household.[6] Coppola's father is Italian and her mother is Black.[4] Coppola has issues with racial friction she has endured over the years, both in the white suburb where she grew up and in her current home of Bedford-Stuyvesant.[6] "I have issues with white people and with black people," Coppola says.[6] "Black people make fun of my ass: Apparently it’s not big and round enough for their approval. There’s this double standard where the white world went out of its way to stop making fun of black people, but black people feel entitled to make fun of white people and other kinds of people. I’m speaking emotionally, because I’m a little raw and salty from living in the ’hood and not fitting in."[6]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

  • "Legend of a Cowgirl" (1997) #36 US, #32 UK, #20 NZ

[edit] Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e Los Angeles Daily News. "Singer-Rapper Coppola takes her shot" by Fred Shuster. January 20, 1998.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Associated Press. "Imani Coppola: Eclectic talents, eclectic album" by Nekesa Mumbi Moody. 1998.
  3. ^ a b c d Imani Coppola. "22 Questions by Sasha" March 13, 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Gracenote. "Imani Coppola Biography"
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Los Angeles Times. "She's a Rainbow; Imani Coppola makes a splash with her sunny pastiche that sends pop, hip-hop and jazz through a psychedelic spinner." January 25, 1009.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Time Out. "Loose canon" by Steve Smith. November 8, 2007.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Toronto Sun. "Singer/violinist Imani strikes gold without even trying" by Jane Stevenson. December 11, 1997.
  8. ^ a b "All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip-Hop" By Vladimir Bogdanov. Published 2003 by Backbeat Books
  9. ^ a b c d e f Lilith Fair. "Imani Coppola" 1998.
  10. ^ New York Times. "Pop CD's; Take a Little Sass, Add Sunshine" by Ann Powers. November 4, 1997.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Amplifier Magazine. "Imani Coppola: Unique Formula." November20. 2007.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai Suicide Girls. "Imani Coppola" interviewed by Erin Broadley. November 7, 2007.
  13. ^ a b c New York Times. "Has Bernhard Turned Tame? She's Still Here, Gosh Darn It" by Neil Genzlinger. January 16, 2001.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Chronogram. "The Faith of Afrodite" by Sharon Nichols. December, 2004.
  15. ^ a b c The Globe and Mail. "Brutal honesty and bouncy fun" November 20, 2007.
  16. ^ a b c The New York Sun. "Right There In Black & White" by Bret McCabe. November 13, 2007.
  17. ^ http://www.myspace.com/littlejackiemusic
  18. ^ Amplifier Magazine. " Artist Driven: 11 Questions with Imani Coppola"

[edit] External links

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