Dev

Devin Star Tailes (born July 2, 1989), better known by her stage name Dev, is an American singer and songwriter. She was discovered by the record label, Indie-Pop, and The Cataracs via MySpace after her friend Shane Crislip, posted her singing to some beats. Dev's song "Booty Bounce" was sampled in Far East Movement's hit single "Like a G6" which reached number 1 in the US, and sold over five million downloads in the country. Dev was signed to Universal Republic in October 2010, and released her debut single "Bass Down Low" in November 16, 2010. Dev was scheduled to release her debut album The Night the Sun Came Up on September 5, 2011. The album was pushed back and will be released in the United States on March 27, 2012. The second single "In the Dark" peaked at number 11 in the US chart, making it her most successful solo single to date.

Early life and career beginnings
Dev was born in Tracy, California to Lisa, a real estate agent, and Riki Tailes, a painting contractor. Dev's family is from Costa Rica, but grew up in Manteca, California and is of Portuguese and Mexican descent. She has two younger sisters, Sierra Sol and Maezee Luna. At the age of four, she started swimming and was part of the U.S Olympic development program. She attended Brock Elliott elementary and graduated from Sierra High School in 2007, where she was a member of band and choir. She attended San Joaquin Delta College, studying English and art history.

She made a cover of an Amy Winehouse song that she described as being "super-weird and super-different". She recorded the song off her and made it in response to her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend, calling it a "diss track". It was later revealed that the song was "Blonde Trick". A friend of hers posted the song onto MySpace, and production team The Cataracs noticed it and contacted Dev. She dropped out of college during her freshman year to pursue her singing career and was then signed by the Los Angeles based record label and management team, Indie-Pop, who also discovered The Cataracs. Six months later, Dev and The Cataracs' song "2Nite" began to gain exposure on the radio, the television channel MTVU and the Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart. In 2009, Dev moved to Los Angeles to produce music with the Cataracs and work directly with Indie-Pop.

In 2010,the Cataracs produced "Like a G6" with Far East Movement and decided to use a verse from Dev's single "Booty Bounce" as the chorus. The two songs were made in the same summer, at the time where Dev and the Cataracs "were grinding it out in the studio pretty tough together," making a couple of "simplistic random tracks." "Like a G6", which features Far East Movement and Dev, was released in April 2010, and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song went on to sell over five million downloads in the US.

2010–present: The Night the Sun Came Up
In August 2010, a music video was made for "Booty Bounce" directed by Ethan Adler, and uploaded it onto YouTube, where it has generated over ten million views. In October 2010, Dev was signed to Universal Republic and her first official single, "Bass Down Low", was serviced to rhythmic radio stations in November. It was released digitally in select territories on December 6, 2010 and one day later in the United States. The song reached sixty one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number two on the Heatseekers Songs chart. In Canada, the song peaked at number thirty five in its fifth week on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. The second single from the album "In the Dark",was released om April 25, 2011. Dev's debut album The Night the Sun Came Up has been released in United Kingdom on September 20, 2011. Since 2009, Dev has been working on her debut album with main producers, The Cataracs. In March 2011, Dev and The Cataracs traveled to Costa Rica for three weeks where they recorded and produced most of the material for the new album. She said of the album's genres, "[t]ypical pop music is not what I am only good at doing; I have a lot of ideas and hip-hop influence records, some electro ballads." In March 2011, New Boyz's single "Backseat", featuring Dev and The Cataracs, was released. The song peaked at number thirty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100. She was featured on Demi Lovato's album "Unbroken" on a song called "Who's That Boy". She also featured on a single by British boy band JLS, "She Make Me Wanna", which reached number one in the United Kingdom. Dev also released two more promotional singles through Twitter, "Poison" and "Call Me" both covers of Bell Biv Devoe and Blondie respectively. She also featured in house music artist David Guetta's album, Nothing But the Beat on a song called "I Just Wanna F" with Timbaland and Afrojack. Dev has also featured on a single by Swedish singer Eric Saade, "Hotter Than Fire" which was released on November 2, 2011 in Sweden. Dev is featured on a remix of Girls' Generation's song "Bad Girl" by The Cataracs, featured on their Japanese remix album and Dev was also featured in Timbaland's single "Break Ya Back" for his upcoming album "Timbaland Presents: Shock Value III" which is set to be released in June 2012.

The American version of The Night the Sun Came Up was released on March 26, 2012 in the United States, which include new tracks compared to previous releases of the album. Dev has teamed up with singer Enrique Iglesias on a track called "Naked" which is produced by The Cataracs and will be the third single from the repackaged album.

Musical style
Dev's electro style and "sing-talk" vocal style have been compared to fellow pop singer Kesha. Dev responded to this, saying, "I'm confident enough in what I do that people will see me for who I am ... I get why people compare us but once people see me live they won't connect us as much." While comparing her to Kesha, Idolator wrote that "Dev's beats come off a bit more mellow and her songs a little bit more electro than pop." In response to being compared to both Kesha and Uffie, Dev said, "I just feel that I have a lot more to say and the ability to have an eclectic sound, I'm not bashing either artist, but I'm going to be able to give you a little bit more than what you've heard on those records. When my album comes out, hopefully I won't have to hear another reference or comparison." Much of Dev's music is inspired by rap music, as she believes that fans respond to "pop music but with rap roots". She said, "I've always been into hip-hop. Eminem changed my life when I was younger." The Hollywood Reporter compared her "futuristic" and "pulsing" sound to underground electroclash musicians Peaches and Yelle. Dev's musical genres have been cited as electro-crunk, electropop, and electro hop.

Personal life
In September 2011, Dev publicly announced that she and her fiancé Jimmy Gorecki were expecting a baby girl due December 24, 2011. Dev gave birth to Emilia Lovely Gorecki on December 9, 2011 at 5:28 am.

Discography

 * The Night the Sun Came Up (2011)

Awards and nominations
Dev has won 2 awards from 9 nominations she has been named one of the artistes to watch in 2012 by MTV. She has won a MuchMusic Video Award with Far East Movement and The Cataracs. She has been nominated for Billboard Music Awards, mtvU Woodie Awards, 4 Music Honors, MTV Video Music Awards Japan and Britain's BRIT Awards. This table shows all awards and nominations received by Devin Star Tailes.