Five years after being named by New Musical Express as one of the Top 20 coolest people in rock, Dev Hynes continues to make a name for himself.
When we first became aware of Dev Hynes, he was the with-it British dude behind the 2008 album Falling Off The Lavender Bridge. He called himself Lightspeed Champion back then.
More recently his collaborations with singer-songwriter Sky Ferreira and the hip R&B songstress (and Beyoncé-sister) Solange Knowles have garnered him acclaim. When Hynes appeared with Solange on the Late Show with David Letterman early this year, he seemed content in the background, decked out in a fedora and situated as the Ike Turner to Solange's Tina Turner.
Recently, however, Hynes, seemingly feeling he hadn't received enough credit for Knowles's sublime 2012 EP True, said so long to Solange, their relationship ending publicly in a fractious Twitter exchange.
Moving on, Hynes recently released Cupid Deluxe, his second album under the moniker Blood Orange. The disc is a sexy, stylish, laid-back affair of alt-R&B. Five years after being named by New Musical Express as one of the Top 20 coolest people in rock, Hynes continues to make a name for himself.
Brad Wheeler