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-- by Joe D'Angelo, with additional reporting by Mark Bella
Kiley Dean is living proof that if you really, really want something, all you have to do is write a song about it. Direct it to the right person and it just might prove more beneficial than wishing on a star.
Dean's rapidly rising single, "Make Me a Song," is a plea to über-producer Timbaland, who not only fulfilled her request but signed the 20-year-old up-and-comer to his Beat Club Records imprint.
"Can you give me a song like 'Rock the Boat'?/ Can you give me a song that you and Missy wrote?' Dean sings in the chorus, above a staccato beat brushed smooth with an organ flourish. "Somethin' like 'Get Ur Freak On'/ 'Cause Kiley needs something to sing on."
Now, before starry-eyed potential pop stars nationwide start penning appeals to their favorite artists (i.e. "Drum With Me, Dave Grohl," "X-tina Teach Me Dirrty"), it should be noted that Kiley Dean's wasn't exactly a blind submission. The singer's manager first introduced her to Timbaland in 2000 while Dean was working as a backup singer on Britney Spears' tour to support ... Baby, One More Time. When they met in a hotel lobby, Dean auditioned by singing along with the music being played over the PA, and Timbaland liked what he heard.
"She's a natural born star," Timbaland said. "She's a talent. She's so raw [that] without me, she still would be hot."
Not a bad endorsement for a country girl, especially from the man responsible for Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin' " and Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River," as well as the Aaliyah and Missy Elliott tracks referenced in "Make Me a Song." Dean was born in rural Alma, Arkansas (population 4,000), and, when she was 8, moved to popstar training camp Orlando, Florida, where she attended the same high school as 'NSYNC's Joey Fatone.
With chops honed in the church choir, Dean hooked up with Britney after graduation — a higher form of education couldn't be asked for by a performer eager to shine in her own spotlight.
"I just got out of school and the chance to go on this national tour was so huge," she said. "I got to witness how she handled it. I've seen how the road is. I've seen how the touring is. I got to learn a lot from her."
Dean will get the chance to apply that knowledge when she performs at showcases in select cities around the country this summer to coincide with her full-length debut, Simple Girl. Like the single, the LP brims with club-banging beats and hooks as Dean's sweet, breathy vocals float over the top. "America" praises the wide-open spaces of the country; "Cross the Line," warns prospective suitors that she's won't compromise her principles for a night of passion; and "Keep It Movin' " instructs a fellow female to step off and "don't be all up in my face" because Dean's man "ain't goin' no place."
With an arsenal like that, Timbaland predicts Dean's future to be even brighter than his own.
"What we have today are short-term artists," he explained. "She's long-term. When I'm not hot, she'll be hot."
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