Money can be a powerful force in getting ahead in the music business, this is often a case for a lot of the music I cover here. For some, a lot of money can be a big break in getting their voices out there. In 2006, Heiress Paris Hilton turned her efforts towards the music industry, in her eponymous debut into the music business, Paris.

The album is a standard-length collection of 11 songs or 16 if you brought the deluxe edition. Some are covers like Rod Stewart’s Do You Think I’m Sexy, but the majority are original compositions. Sonically and lyrically they feel like what you would expect from Paris Hilton, I guess this is why the album is eponymously called Paris.

Like a lot of pop records, its slick production helps capture the zeitgeist of the pop music scene in the mid-2000s before electronic music had its second comeback. It has been described as having a more R&B influence, and it can be heard with the higher thumping bass and extended danceable beats. I was kind of surprised by the instrumentation going into this album, as the songs have a wide assortment of styles, such as a retro disco sounding homage with violin stabs that were de rigueur at the time. Slide guitars also feature prominently in this New Yorker’s album along with the expected mid-2000s assortment of samples and instruments that can be found on a lot of hits of the time. Her voice is not as auto-tuned as you would expect, there is some processing, sure, but a lot of Paris’s natural quality can be heard.

Remarkably, the album was going to be different before meeting with producer Scott Storch, while it would be interesting to ponder what that would be like, the finished product is found not wanting. The collection rightfully chooses Stars Are Blind as a single, an anthem that evokes Blondie’s Tide Is High and other Reggae inspired classics. It is a song that neither she wrote nor produced, but she delivers. Her production efforts can be heard on the Lead single, Turn It Up, a sonic impact that kicks off the album well. Notably, the infamous track, Screwed, also made it on the album, even after the legal difficulties, but upon listening, I think the song is best served in the hands of Paris Hilton.

For the fans of pop music, this is another great record, and those casually listening on the radio will be surprised how indistinguishable Paris’s attempts were to other musicians at the time, apart from here uniquely minimally processed vocals, giving the album a distinctive quality as a whole. Paris is currently Paris’s only studio offering. A shame as this release shows the socialite has some potential for the charts, that could be molded into a musical force to be reckoned with. As the hit single famously states the Star Are Blind, but in Paris case, they still shine.

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