Rex Orange County

Rex Orange County
Background information
Birth name Alexander O’Connor
Born (1998-05-04) May 4, 1998
Origin Grayshott, Hampshire, England
Genres
Years active 2016–present
Associated acts Tyler, the Creator, Benny Sings, Marco McKinnis

Alexander O'Connor (born May 4, 1998), better known by his stage name Rex Orange County, is an English recording artist and songwriter who grew up in the village of Grayshott near Haslemere, Surrey.[1][2]

Name

The name Rex Orange County is based on a teacher given nickname, the OC, after O'Connor.[3]

Education

At the age of 16 he went to the BRIT School, starting there as a drummer, one of four percussionists in his year. The relative rareness of his primary instrument provided him with wide exposure to various projects of others in his school. Rex Orange County is a multi instrumentalist, and in addition to blending in his voice and playing drums, guitar and piano, he produces his own projects.[3][2]

Work

Rex Orange County shared online the DIY "UNO" recording in 2016 when he was 18. Clash magazine wrote, "the buoyant keyboard riff underpins a hypnotic half-spoken vocal, one that veers from topic to topic in a hazy burst of creative mania."[4]

Bcos U Will Never B Free was released by Rex Orange County in 2016 on SoundCloud.[2] In 2017 he released his second album Apricot Princess.[5] Three months after the release of his second album, Rex Orange County was featured on Tyler, the Creator's album Flower Boy; he contributed vocals to and co-wrote the songs "Boredom" and "Foreword".[5] Tyler picked up on O'Connor because of his debut album, reached out via SoundCloud and brought him to Los Angeles.[2] His work has been compared to "other artsy, post-genre teen artists".[6]

As of 9 May 2018, the most popular track by Rex Orange County on Spotify is "Loving Is Easy" created in collaboration with the Dutch artist Benny Sings.[5] The song was covered by the Swedish singer Tove Styrke.[7] On April 16, 2018, Rex Orange County performed the song in his television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[8] On May 31, 2018, Rex Orange County released a cover of "You've Got a Friend in Me", performing along with Randy Newman, the creator of the song.[9]

Awards

In January 2018 O'Connor came in second in the BBC Sound of 2018 award after Norwegian singer Sigrid. [10]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details
bcos u will never b free
Apricot Princess
  • Released: 2017
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, CD, vinyl

Singles

  • "Uno" (2016)
  • "Best Friend" (2017)
  • "Sunflower" (2017)
  • "Untitled" (2017)
  • "Edition" (2017)
  • "Loving Is Easy" (2017)
  • "Corduroy Dreams" (2017)
  • "Television/So Far So Good" (2017)

Music videos

  • "Loving Is Easy" (2017) (directed by Chris Ullens)[11]

References

  1. ↑ Dunn, Frankie (May 11, 2017). "10 things you need to know about rex orange county". Vice.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Rex Orange County: The Emotionally Visual Mastermind of the Next Generation". noisey.vice.com. Ryan Bassil. 11 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 "One to watch: Rex Orange County". The Guardian. 18 Nov 2017.
  4. ↑ "Rex Orange County Shares 'UNO'". Clash. 17 Dec 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "COLUMN: Rex Orange County is an artist that cannot be labeled". Indiana Daily Student. 23 Mar 2018.
  6. ↑ http://www.thefader.com/2017/05/25/rex-orange-county-apricot-princess-interview-gen-f
  7. ↑ "Tove Styrke covers Rex Orange County". ABC News (Australia). 13 Apr 2018.
  8. ↑ "Rex Orange County performs "Loving Is Easy" on 'The Tonight Show'". Substream Magazine. 17 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "Rex Orange County and Randy Newman – "You've Got a Friend in Me"". Spin. 31 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "The Longlist, Meet the 16 longlisted acts for BBC Music Sound of 2018". BBC.
  11. ↑ It's Nice That | Chris Ullens directs charming stop-motion music video for Rex Orange County
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