NEW YORK, June 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The FADER, the definitive voice of emerging music, today announces the release of its annual Summer Music Issue. In the publication's 92^nd issue, The FADER has expanded its usual two cover artists per issue to four, documenting musicians Lana Del Rey, Sam Smith, Ty Dolla $ign, and Popcaan in exclusive, revealing interviews, available now at TheFADER.com.

The four cover stories from this issue are available to pre-order here and online in their entirety. Included in the issue is a touching interview with singer-songwriter Sam Smith in his first cover story, written by The FADER executive editor Jessica Robertson from a hotel room in West Berlin. In this exclusive interview, ahead of the release of his debut album In The Lonely Hour, Smith, for the first time, opens up about the inspiration behind his music. In The FADER's 92nd issue, the 22-year-old Smith discusses his recent brush with his first love, and how his debut LP is about a man that he fell in love with last year, who didn't love him back.

"I am comfortable with myself, and my life is amazing in that respect," says Smith. "I'm very comfortable and happy with everything. I just wanted to talk about him and have it out there. [The album] is about a guy and that's what I wanted people to know—I want to be clear that that's what it's about. I've been treated as normal as anyone in my life; I've had no issues. I do know that some people have issues in life, but I haven't, and it's as normal as my right arm. I want to make it a normality because this is a non-issue...I've made my music so that it could be about anything and everybody— whether it's a guy, a female or a goat—and everybody can relate to that."

Also from this issue, The FADER senior editor Duncan Cooper spent time with Lana Del Rey for what has become one of her most revealing interviews yet. The artist, whose debut album has sold more than Beyoncé's last two albums combined, and whose second major-label album, Ultraviolence, is only a couple of weeks away from release, opened up about her once bristling critics that led to a severe dark period in her life, the support of her billions of fans, and her mixed reviews on feminism. 

"For me, the issue of feminism is just not an interesting concept," she says. "I'm more interested in, you know, SpaceX and Tesla, what's going to happen with our intergalactic possibilities. Whenever people bring up feminism, I'm like, god. I'm just not really that interested...My idea of a true feminist is a woman who feels free enough to do whatever she wants."

Also in this issue, writer Julianne Escobedo Shepherd spent time in Fresno, California with the burgeoning R&B superstar Ty Dolla $ign in his first solo cover story in the midst of his first headlining tour, The Beach House Tour. On the heels of his track "Paranoid" going gold, Ty opens up about childhood, his music, and his daughter, Jailynn. On The FADER's fourth cover, writer Jesse Serwer flew to Jamaica for an unruly week with dancehall's brightest artist, Popcaan.

Celebrating its 15^th year, The FADER has long been recognized for providing in-depth reporting, aggressively covering the most dynamic breadth of topics and bringing some of the most underground artists to the forefront of the mainstream. The FADER is credited for giving early exposure to top artists, including Kanye West, Bon Iver, Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Outkast, The Strokes, Drake and The White Stripes. The FADER's Summer Music Issue is on newsstands July 8 and available to pre-order now.

About The FADER

Launched in 1999 and founded by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen, The FADER is an award-winning, ahead-of-the-curve, music, style and culture publication and the unofficial guide to what's next in music. Led by President and Publisher Andy Cohn, The FADER is credited with giving early exposure to top artists including Kanye West, Bon Iver, Kendrick Lamar, Outkast, The Strokes, Drake and The White Stripes. The FADER brand has expanded in innovative ways, providing a cross-platform reach across print, digital, experiential, mobile, and social media realms. The FADER and its network of partners speak to a combined audience of 2 million influential young adults monthly, and include Insound, Afropunk, 1200Squad.com, Oh My Rockness, and The Cornerstone Mixtape.

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