These days, more pop hits than not seem to boast that ubiquitous tagline, “featuring so-and-so” after the main artist credit. And that’s how 22-year-old California singer Devin Star Tailes, better known as Dev, got her biggest break. After being discovered on MySpace by the hip-duo The Cataracts, Dev and The Cataracts were “featured” as guest contributors on the Far East Movement’s chart-topping 2010 hit ” Like a G6.”
But Dev has bigger things in mind than merely being a featured footnote on someone else’s song. Accordingly, she’s now launched her own solo career. And she’s employed a time-honored attention-getting formula to do so: being very naughty. Just as pop provocateurs such as Madonna, Prince, Britney, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry have done before her, Dev’s more than willing to exploit herself sexually for the sake of success.
So much so, in fact, that both the lyrics to this song and the video that accompanies it are difficult to address at all without repeating at least some explicit sexual content. So if all you need to know is that this young new singer is deeply infatuated with the subject of sex, take this opportunity to move on to, say, our review of Kelly Clarkson‘s latest.
If you’re still with me, I’ll start with the song’s racy lyrics. Here’s what’s quotable: Dev brags, “I got a sex drive that’s push to start.” Here’s what isn’t: The balance of the song, which involves not-so-subtle references to masturbation as Dev fantasizes about an absent lover.
Likewise, the video relies on provocative images to bring the singer’s illicit fantasies to celluloid life. Among them: A repeated visual features a completely unclothed Dev lying in a sea of hands that barely cover crucial bits of her anatomy. Elsewhere, she undulates and pouts suggestively on the dance floor as she sidles up to another woman who reciprocates those sensual advances (never mind that the song itself talks about a “boy” who satisfies her).
On the chorus, Dev sings, “Tell me, baby, if it’s wrong.”
OK. It is.
After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.
