SO SMOOTH
Find inner peace in the sultry, genre-bending sounds of Grace Jones with So Smooth. A serene counterpoint to the pistol-toting warrior Princess Leia in Next Rebel, Johnny Romeo’s seductive rendition of Grace Jones epitomises supreme coolness. Bathed in the kaleidoscopic lights of the Studio 54 dancefloor, the legendary Pop star gazes smoulderingly to the onlooker while smoking a cigarette and resting a white dove in her right hand. The motif of the dove as a symbol of peace and love showcases Romeo’s uncanny knack for Pop culture mashups, as he fuses together the seminal cover of Grace Jones’ record ‘Nightclubbing’ (1981) with Richard Avedon’s timeless portrait of Ringo Starr holding a dove for ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ (1967). Conceptually, Romeo’s intertwining of Jones and Ringo Starr runs deeper, as the artist positions the singer in the same lineage as The Beatles as a creative trailblazer who changed the face of music. While a key figure of the Studio 54 disco scene, Grace Jones’ music transcends genre, spearheading a new wave that fluidly blends reggae, funk, disco and post-punk. Much like Amy Winehouse, who noted her as an inspiration, Jones possessed an incomparable voice and sense of style that harmoniously brought together disparate sounds. In this sense, Grace Jones is so much more than ‘So Disco’, she is a Pop pioneer who makes musical innovation ‘So Smooth’.