So believe it or not, there’s a lot going on in the land of Backstreet. Yeah we know the In A World Like This era is officially over. What started in a Boys Only recording session in the summer of 2012 ended in the summer of 2015. One of the longer album eras when you think about it. Anyway, despite that, a lot is happening. No, I’m not talking about Nick’s movie Dead West (I’m still fangirling over that by the way). And no, I’m not talking about Nick’s untitled solo album to which he’s rumored to tour in 2016.
I’m talking in this case, about our so-called “bad boy”, AJ.
We here at The Dark Side want to look at what each Boy is doing or will be doing outside the world of Backstreet. We might do it weekly, or monthly, not too sure yet. But this is the first of what I’m sure will be many in our Solo Synopsis series focusing on a summary of each Backstreet Boy’s current solo project or more accurately, projects. After Nick, AJ might be the busiest one right now. Hard to tell, Kevin keeps his stuff close to the vest. And Howie is well, Howie. (We love you Howie!) Besides, not everyone is as deep into the fandom of Backstreet as I am (not sure if I should be proud or scared…) and having all the information you want or need in one post seems pretty convenient.
So what’s AJ up to?
We know he’s bulking up and getting ready to act in the youngest Boy’s zombie epic. But what else is he doing? Well, I can tell you. AJ is recording a solo album. Actually, no scratch that. He has a fully completed solo album ready to go according to Jordan Omley, one of many who have been collaborating with him on this follow up to his first album Have It All which was sadly only released in Japan. Don’t believe me? Look at this Instagram link for proof and the full tracklisting!
https://instagram.com/p/yx3QigFnLl
The album will be called The Anthem. He’s worked with Zaya Leavitt, has Blake Lewis contributing beatboxing and possibly raps on one or more of the tracks. What might be the most exciting was the news that Shawn Stockman of one of Boys II Men would be contributing vocals. The song is beautiful. It was for awhile posted on The Jam Music though was later taken down.
For his first single, Live Together, AJ put together what we believe will be a massive music video. He took in as many fans as he could. He also created a new foundation called Live Together. By ordering a t-shirt fans not only donated to this cause but the first several hundred were able to be extras in the video. They also received a free mp3 of the new single. The video promises to be crazy, epic, and featuring explosions as told by fan extras and AJ himself.
Soon enough People posted the new song for fans to hear as well. It’s managed to be different even from the eclectic album of Have It All, and it’s encouraging to see him constantly testing himself to try new and different styles of music.The song itself reminded me a little bit of Queen when I first listened to it. While the new single might possibly be off-putting for some it seems he still doesn’t want settle to a single genre. Good thing too, for fans like myself that happen to love all styles. Why do one if you can do them all?
So what do we know about the songs?
https://instagram.com/p/yVHU3ilnFn/
Fire Breathing Dragons in the fifteen second clip above, is a song about his daughter Ava.
https://instagram.com/p/yLbjgclnDY/
I hear you out there going awwwww! I did too when I first learned that. How can you not? It’s sweet and completely adorable!
Lucky You Love Me we again, only have a fifteen second preview. But there is supposed to be a song about Rochelle on the album. I think it’s safe to bet this is it, given the title.Yep, feel free to go awww all over again.
You is the song from Shawn and AJ. Thanks to it temporarily being posted, YouTube managed to dig their claws into it and there it stays. It’s the only song we have in full besides Live Together. So far it’s personally my favorite. It goes full on old school 90s rnb. The kind of music you wished still got played on the radio and can’t seem to get enough of. The vocals are smooth as silk and I could replay this song for days.
We last heard the album will be out sometime in October. (Just in time for my birthday, thanks AJ!) The music video was supposed to be out in a few weeks (as said at the end of June) so we’re going to go with “Coming Soon”.
Maybe AJ is the reason Backstreet Time exists? The world may never know.
As for yet another project, besides the movie and besides the album… AJ is going to release something fashion related! No, this isn’t old news. The old line has been dropped. The new one will be called Dunny Life. He will be working on them with those he considers his “Dunny crew” such as Jordan Omley.
He also mentioned possibly touring next year.
Personally I kinda hope Nick decides he wants to do another duo tour. I’d love to see he and AJ go around the country together in support of their albums. Who’s with me? Either way, here’s hoping we hear more from AJ soon. I adored some of the tracks from Have It All and I’m in love with the song he did with Shawn. So things are looking pretty good. The album is shaping up to very promising, and very personal. An epic combination when done correctly.
Update 8/26 –Order AJ’s single “Live Together” HERE on itunes!
Late 2015 and 2016 seems to be the era of great solo projects guys! Who’s excited?
The Dark Side 
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