Robin Carlsson
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Image:Robyn, Karlskrona, augusti 2005.jpg
Robin Miriam Carlsson aka Robyn (born June 12, 1979) is a Swedish singer and songwriter, living in Stockholm. She is best known in the US for her 1997 song "Do You Know (What It Takes)".
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Biography
Robyn's parents are actors, and she was herself involved in the acting business at the age of 9, having a extra role in Kronbruden at the Swedish theatre Dramaten. She was discovered by the Swedish singer Meja when singing with Legacy of Sound about her parents' divorce. She left gymnasium after only three days to focus on her passion, music.
Career
In 1991 and at the age of 12, Robyn recorded the title song for the Swedish television show Lilla Sportspegeln, named Du kan alltid bli nummer ett ("you can always be number one"). This song was never released, and can therefore not really be considered a part of her professional career as a singer. She also performed her first self-written song at this age in another TV show called Söndagsöppet.
Her debut single You've Got That Something was released in Sweden in 1995. Later the same year, her Swedish breakthrough came with the single Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect), it was slightly less successful in the USA in its 1997 release. These singles became part of the album Robyn Is Here.
Robyn had her US breakthrough in 1997 when the singles Show Me Love and Do You Know (What It Takes) were released. These singles ended up on the Billboard top 10. She followed those two singles with the slightly less successful Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect), which was the lead-off single for the 1995 Swedish release. It was ineligible for the Billboard Hot 100 at the time since it was not released as a retail single in the U.S., but did reach #32 on the Hot 100's Airplay chart. The album offered the standard version and a remix causing the album to be re-released with this remix on it.
Her following album My Truth was released in May 17, 1999, but not in the US (though it was promised to be) because her American record company RCA didn't think the album contained any potential hits. The album won rave reviews and is referred to by fans as her best album to date, even garnering her a Grammy (as did Robyn is Here both in the US and Sweden).
In 2000, Povel Ramel gave her the Karamelodiktstipendiet; a scholarship for her musical achievements where most of the reward lies in the prestige and honor, not the money.
In 2001, she contributed the song Say You'll Walk The Distance (written by Jörgen Elofsson) to the soundtrack On The Line.
In November 2002, she changed labels (from RCA to JIVE) and released the album Don't Stop The Music in Sweden. This album was also promised a US release after a few minor changes were made to it. These changes were never made and it has yet to see an American release. The title track was later covered by Swedish girl group Play, and album track "Keep This Fire Burning" was a single for British soul singer Beverley Knight.
In May 2004, the CD Robyn's Best was released by BMG. It is a shortened version of her first album and contains no material from her other two albums that had been previously released. It is considered by fans to be a poor attempt by her past record label to pass the album off as a greatest hits album.
In 2005, Robyn released her new single Be Mine, and a month later the album titled Robyn. This music was released by Konichiwa Records, a record label she started in 2004 for the sole purpose of releasing her music. Konichiwa (Misspelling of Japanese 'Konnichi wa' (こんにちは), which means "Hello") is a reference to the phrase "Konichiwa bitches!" by the comedian Dave Chappelle. It is also the name of a rap song in the end of her self-titled album, which is considered to be a little controversial for this young pop singer. The album entered at No. 1 on Swedish charts on May 5th, 2005. This year, she also wrote the song Money For Nothing for the Swedish pop singer Darin Zanyar, his debut single. Darin also later recorded his own version of Walk The Distance.
UNICEF ambassador
After the release of her second album in 1999, My Truth, she became a UNICEF ambassador and visited, among other countries, Kenya and Tanzania. During her two years of dedicating herself to this work, she intended to draw attention to UNICEF and their worldwide work for children in need of aid. She was happy to emphasize the need of taking responsibilities to help, and tried to make herself a good example for the young generation.
Discography
- Robyn is Here (1995, US release 1997) #57 US (Platinum); #8 SWE
- My Truth (1999) #2 SWE
- Don't Stop the Music (2002) #2 SWE
- Robyn's Best (2004)
- Robyn (2005) #1 SWE
Singles
| Year | Title | Album | US | UK | Sweden |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "You've Got That Something"</sup> | Robyn is Here | - | 54 | 24 |
| 1995 | "Do You Really Want Me (Show Me Respect)"</sup> | Robyn is Here | 28* | 20 | 2 |
| 1996 | "Do You Know (What It Takes)"</sup> | Robyn is Here | 7 | 26 | 10 |
| 1997 | "Show Me Love"</sup> | Robyn is Here | 7 | 8 | 14 |
| 1997 | "Don't Want You Back"</sup> | Robyn is Here | - | - | - |
| 1999 | "Electric"</sup> | My Truth | - | - | 6 |
| 1999 | "Play"</sup> | My Truth | - | - | 31 |
| 2000 | "My Only Reason"</sup> | My Truth | - | - | 53 |
| 2000 | "Main Thing"</sup> | My Truth | - | - | - |
| 2002 | "Keep This Fire Burning"</sup> | Don't Stop The Music | - | - | 3 |
| 2002 | "Don't Stop The Music"</sup> | Don't Stop The Music | - | - | 7 |
| 2005 | "Be Mine"</sup> | Robyn | - | - | 3 |
| 2005 | "Who's That Girl"</sup> | Robyn | - | - | 37 |
| 2006 | "Handle Me"</sup> | Robyn | - | - | - |
| 2006 | "Crash And Burn Girl"</sup> | Robyn | - | - | - |
- "Do You Really Want Me (Show Me Respect)" peaked at No.28 on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay Chart, a commercial single was not released at the time.