NEW YORK — It wasn’t the Sex Museum, but the mood was decidedly sensual at the aptly named Art of IV Play Gallery on Wednesday night. The-Dream turned up to celebrate and stream his May 28 release and yeah, the girls were fanning themselves, but it wasn’t just the tepid air conditioning: The superstar producer/singer’s album packs that much heat.
An organizer for the album “listening experience” revealed to MTV News that they briefly considered hosting the event at New York’s Museum of Sex, where visitors can take classes on, um, fellatio at an “oral fix bar” or catch an exhibit on fantasy in the Internet age. Fitting for an artist who’s spent the better part of five albums plumbing the depths men and women go to in the name of love, sex and desire. And in fact IV Play tracks like “Pu–y” and the pounding “Slow it Down” (featuring Fabolous) underscore that point.
Ultimately, though, the Helen Mills space in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood was cleverly transformed into a gallery; oversize reproductions of Dream’s erotic album art were mounted on the walls. And large projections of his “Roc” video (kind of like video installations) played behind a bartender who grew panicked as the Ciroc supply began to run dangerously low by hour two. But this was The-Dream’s night, and the North Carolina native, dressed in a black, was in good spirits, turning on his Southern charm as he graciously posed for a stream of Instagram uploads with fans and industry folk.
With lines snaked around Seventh Avenue, a surly bouncer and RSVP-lacking revelers pleading to get in, it was important to remember that this night was about the music. A Def Jam exec introduced a three-part documentary on the singer/songwriter behind massive hits like Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.” In the preview, we hear Terius Nash musing in voiceover about how was unsure what he would grow up to be; “a firefighter?” he recalls wondering. The music gods had other ideas.
IV Play drops on May 28, and The-Dream and Kelly Rowland are on the road for their Lights Out Tour, including stops this week in Washington, D.C. on May 26, Baltimore, Maryland, on May 28 and NYC on May 30.
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