Wallpaper. To Release Debut Album -- Ricky Reed Is Real -- On July 23rd

LOS ANGELES, June 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Genre-defying pop band Wallpaper., which is the brainchild of Oakland-based rapper/songwriter Ricky Reed, will release their debut album, Ricky Reed Is Real, on July 23^rd on Epic Records/Boardwalk Music Group. The album will be available for pre-order on iTunes beginning June 18^th. Those who pre-order will receive an instant download of the upcoming new single "Drunken Hearts."

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130613/NY31700)

Known for his dry-humored raps, hard-hitting beats, and absurdist world-view, thanks to such releases as Wallpaper.'s breakout EP #STUPiDFACEDD, Reed says recording the band's recent single "Good 4 It" was the beginning of his creative renaissance. "I knew I wanted to make a great blue-collar pop record of this generation," he says. "I wanted to tell my real story and deal with real s**t," adding that exploring mortality is a recurrent theme. "There are songs about dealing with loss but there are even more songs about not taking anything for granted, especially your weekends and close friends. If you are stuck at a dead-end job, or you know your friends are bringing you down, the time to act is now. You don't know how much time you've got left."

Reed describes the sound of the Ricky Reed Is Real, which he recorded with engineer Drew Kapner at Larrabee Studios in North Hollywood, CA, as "fat, wide, and deep. At points, it sprawls like a neon jungle, and at other times, it's infinitely small and calm. Real 808 drum machines also give a new depth to that low, low end people know me for."

Reed launched Wallpaper. on his own in 2006 and was eventually joined by Arjun Singh, Tom Peyton, Derek Taylor, and vocalist Novena Carmel (daughter of soul-R&B legend Sly Stone). The band began attracting major buzz in 2011 with #STUPiDFACEDD -- a joint effort between MTV's Hype Music and Evan Bogart's Boardwalk Records, leading to syncs on Jersey Shore and The Real World, hundreds of thousands of downloads at MTV's soundtrack blog, and an "Artist To Watch" designation by the network. Reed also co-wrote and produced "Anyway" with Weezer's Rivers Cuomo for Cee Lo Green's platinum album The Lady Killer. His remix of Das Racist's "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" led to his deal with Boardwalk Records. In 2012, Wallpaper. signed to Epic Records.

In the last year, Wallpaper. has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Last Call With Carson Daly, been nominated for a "Breaking Woodie" at the Woodie Awards, and performed a well-received set at Coachella. Nylon remarked last summer: "Wallpaper. is a bonafide hustler and gifted producer, expertly blurring glittery pop and raunchy rap with authentic rock and electric funk."

Wallpaper. join the Vans Warped Tour line-up this summer. See below for tour dates.

The track-listing for Ricky Reed Is Real is as follows:

RRiR
Geek Out featuring E-40
Last Call
Drunken Hearts
Hesher
The Underdog
Let's Get Away With It
Good 4 It
Puke My Brains Out
Life Of The Party
WHO RLY CRS
You n Me n Everyone We Know

Wallpaper's upcoming shows on the Vans Warped Tour are as follows:

www.thisiswallpaper.com

www.twitter.com/wallpaper

www.instagram.com/wallpaper

SOURCE Epic Records

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