DRAM is back. After experimenting with a name change — I sense some music industry rights issues behind that — the Virginia crooner has returned to the persona that first made him a playlist while carrying over the straight-soul trappings of his last album. Today, he released a new single, “Let Me See Your Phone,” and announced his third studio album, What Had Happened Was, coming on October 27 via Waver Records.
“Let Me See Your Phone” is a slow-burning ballad in the vein of tracks like “Exposure” and “Cooking With Grease” from his 2021 album Shelley FKA DRAM, which should have absolutely killed that tired “R&B is dead” argument in its cradle. The new track is produced by Rory Farrell — that’s right, Rory from the New Rory & Mal Podcast actually makes music too — and finds the Hampton, Virginia native making a plaintive request to confirm his suspicions about a disengaged lover. It’s reminiscent of the Erykah Badu duet “WiFi” from his 2016 debut Big Baby DRAM, only from the perspective of the end of the relationship rather than its potential beginning.
In a press release, DRAM calls What Had Happened Was his most “raw and open album yet.” It’s described as “both a review of personal traumas he had to overcome, and how he’s been able to evolve as a person.” You can pre-save it here, listen to “Let Me See Your Phone” above, and see the tracklist below.
1. “Vibe of the Year”
2. “Ride Or Die”
3. “Wham”
4. “3s Company”
5. “Let Me See Your Phone”
6. “Where’s My Sunshine”
7. “Best That I Got”
8. “Can’t Hold You Down”
9. “Bad News”
10. “Angry”
11. “A Mother’s Love”
12. “Note To Self”
13. “Soul to Take”
14. “Big Baby DRAM”
15. “Ppl”
16. “Reflections”
17. “First Time Again”
18. “Wwyd”
19. “Wham (Remix)”
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Shelley — the Virginia artist formerly known as DRAM — is not in the midst of a rebrand. Those who met the singer-slash-rapper with his breakout single “Broccoli” or even his groovy fun-spirited effort, “Cha Cha,” might think so, especially after finishing his second album, Shelley FKA DRAM. However, a deeper look into his discography brings us to efforts like “Caretaker” and “Best Hugs,” proof that Shelley’s soulful agenda has long been entwined in his DNA.
So what do we make of Shelley’s new album? Perhaps it’s a new chapter in his career, but that again plays into the “rebrand” idea that underscores the aged talents he presents on Shelley FKA DRAM. Instead, settling on an acceptance of one’s identity seems to be a much more fitting label for this project. Its ten songs detail Shelley’s shoulder-shrug that precedes a cannonball jump into a journey through the good and bad of love.
Shelley FKA DRAM tells a story of a love so beautiful and wholehearted that it’s worth spending a lifetime dreaming about. Its delicate songwriting wraps its warm hand around the tender production Shelley uses to paint a picture of intimacy to a degree so high that it often seems too good to be true. “Exposure” delivers words that would easily land you the woman or man of your dreams, no matter how many leagues away they might be. “The Lay Down” with HER brings the sounds and atmosphere of bedroom magic for a fiery and passion-exploding anecdote that ends with the fireworks of Watt’s searing electric guitar solo.
In between these songs comes a thought from Shelley. “Isn’t love just beautiful?” he ponders at the end of “Something About Us.” “I mean, every aspect of it / From the pursuit, you know the cold sh*t part / To actually feeling and embracing it.” And you know what? Shelley’s right. It is beautiful to sprout a connection, taking a romantic trip to wherever the heart chooses to go. Unfortunately, the journey isn’t guaranteed to last a lifetime, and the second half of Shelley FKA DRAM sees him become victim to what proves to be a flimsy promise in companionship. It all crashes and burns on “Cooking With Grease” and while he dusts himself off to start all over on “Remedies,” things aren’t the same.
Shelley approaches love with no guard to get around and without a wall to climb over. He makes it quite clear just minutes into the album. “Since we not stoppin’ ourselves,” he sings on “All Pride Aside” which features a sultry contribution from Summer Walker. “I’ll keep lettin’ you if you keep lettin’ me.” Pride blocks some of a relationship’s most necessary qualities from existent: vulnerability, communication, and compassion, just to name a few. Disposing of it is always easier said than done, and when one does, the highs of love feel really high, but its lows hurt more than anything else.
There’s a line on “The Lay Down” that sticks out to me like no other on Shelley FKA DRAM. “Can’t blow my high on airplane mode,” Shelley and HER sing at different points of the song. Life’s moments are what you make of them and not for anyone else to dictate. Keep your head in the clouds because anyone who’s up there with you understands the absolute glory in that. As for those stuck on the ground, they’re not to be worried about because you’re too out of reach for them to pull you down. This same philosophy takes life with Shelley’s sophomore album. As many may have tried to box him in as the artist we hear on “Broccoli,” he dictated his own life and artistry, accepted an identity he always knew he had, and gave the world an album that came from the heart’s core.
Shelley FKA DRAM is out now via EMPIRE/Atlantic. Get it here.
Shelley is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
In his return to Tiny Desk Concerts, the newly rechristened and slimmed-down Shelley invites viewers into a softly-lit study for a simmering performance of songs from his upcoming album, Shelley FKA DRAM. Thanks to Tiny Desk’s “(At-Home)” designation, the Virginia native gets extra comfy, donning a set of food-patterned PJs that works just as well as an eye-popping suit, packing his band into the smaller confines, and delivering soulful renditions of songs like “Exposure,” “The Lay Down,” “Cooking With Grease,” and the debut of “Rich & Famous.”
The last time Shelley played Tiny Desk — way back in 2017 — he was promoting the lighthearted, melodic hip-hop debut album Big Baby DRAM. He makes note of the change during his return performance, reintroducing himself as Shelley — his government name — and calls the moment “a new beginning. Full circle.”
Shelley first showed glimpses of the shift in 2018 with his That’s A Girl’s Name EP, shifting to groovy but still swaggering R&B. Then, in 2019, he shared “The Lay Down” with HER (who’s now an Oscar and Grammy winner), presaging the new, grown-and-sexy direction he’s adopted for his next project, which releases April 29 in honor of his mom’s birthday.
The Chicks and Lady A were among several musicians that decided to change their name in 2020, mostly due to the fact that their monikers were problematic in nature. DRAM was another musician that changed their name, choosing to go by his first name Shelley and announcing an album, though the shift wasn’t tied to controversy. Now under his new name, Shelley offers a taste of his upcoming project with a performance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
The singer brought his charming single “Exposure” to the late-night set. Throughout the tender track, Shelley sings of learning to be vulnerable with his lover and making sure to respect their boundaries in the process. “Let me love you inside-out and outside-in / Let me touch your soul just like I touch your skin,” he sings.
Shelley’s upcoming album is aptly titled Shelley FKA DRAM. The release date is set for April 29, which is his late mother’s birthday. According to Shelley, he hopes to honor his mother’s memory with the LP’s release. “Before she passed I played her my upcoming album and I begged her to promise she wouldn’t play it for anyone else. She held her promise and took the music with her beyond this life,” Shelley explained. “Her birthday is April 29th, so I’m pushing my album Shelley FKA DRAM’s release date to April 29th as not only my gift back to her, but my promise to play it for the world.”
Watch Shelley perform “Exposure” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert above.
Shelley FKA DRAM is out 4/29 via Atlantic Records. Pre-order it here.
Shelley is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Shelley — FKA DRAM — has a new album dropping in April, his first in over four years. Since then, he’s gone through a musical reinvention, a physical transformation, and a couple of name changes, but the biggest change to his life was the passing of his mother last year. The duo was close; in 2017, they released a holiday EP together, dueting on the Christmas classics “Silver Bells.” According to Shelley, she’s also the reason for his upcoming album’s release date, April 29.
Posting a photo of the pair on Instagram, Shelley explained that he pushed back the release date of his album to his mother’s birthday in honor of a favor she did for him before her death. As he expands in the caption, “Before she passed I played her my upcoming album and I begged her to promise she wouldn’t play it for anyone else. She held her promise and took the music with her beyond this life.”
For Shelley, the new release date is his way of paying her back. “Her birthday is April 29th, so I’m pushing my album Shelley FKA DRAM’s release date to April 29th as not only my gift back to her, but my promise to play it for the world.”
To promote the upcoming album, fittingly titled Shelley FKA DRAM, Shelly has presented the rollout in the form of a mock late-night talk show, which provided a smooth framing device for the videos for singles “Exposure” and “Cooking With Grease.”
The rapper and singer formerly known as DRAM is turning up the heat on his release rollout, sharing the video for “Cooking With Grease.” Continuing the “Shelley Show” conceit from his last single release, “Exposure,” Shelley once again frames the video as a live performance on a fictional late-night talk show. Backed by his band, Shelley shows off his falsetto on a seductive, R&B throwback that portends more midnight storm-style jams to come.
Ever since officially changing his performance name on DSPs and social media, Shelley has leaned more than ever into his R&B side, which he previously teased on his debut album, Big Baby DRAM, his 2018 EP, That’s A Girl’s Name, and on singles like “The Lay Down” featuring H.E.R. and Watt. The “Shelley Show” rollout has cleverly addressed the musical shift as well, letting Shelley “interview” DRAM for more insight into the reasoning behind it.
“Cooking With Grease” also has a clever double meaning thanks to Shelley’s new quarantine hobby. He’s turned that hobby into a self-shot food show on YouTube called “Cooking With Grease,” in which he demonstrates his favorite healthy recipes, which helped him lose weight during the pandemic and emerge as a whole new man, figuratively and — well, also figuratively.
Watch the “Cooking With Grease” video above.
Shelley is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The artist formerly known as Big Baby DRAM began 2020 by launching a new chapter of his career, one that with a name change. The Virginia native now goes by his legal first name of Shelley. While the change may have signaled that new music was on the way, fans failed to receive that last year. The only piece of content he delivered was a jazzy cover of “Feliz Navidad” with Young Rog for LVRN’s Home For The Holidays compilation album. However, with a new year comes new opportunities and it seems like Shelley will make his presence felt this year as he returns with a new single.
Shelley enters 2021 with “Exposure,” a track that comes just before the love-themed month of February comes to a close. On the track, he asks his love interest to allow him to explore what lays beneath their physical features. “Let me love you inside-out and outside-in,” he begs on the song. “Let me touch your soul before I touch your skin.” The track also holds a double meaning of sorts with Shelley wanting to learn more about her personality at one point while hoping to engage in a moment of naked intimacy at other points of the song.
In case you’re a bit behind on Shelley’s music, make sure to revisit “The Lay Down” with H.E.R. and his That’s A Girls Name EP.
