Major Minors

FIONA APPLE

CURRENT EVENTS: Her gold-selling debut, Tidal, washed up reviews that divas twice her age would drown for, with the word preternatural popping up to describe her smart, sultry torch balladry. HOME EC.: The Manhattan-bred 19-year-old has squatted with her dad in L.A. since getting signed two years ago. Her parents' divorce may have abetted her precociousness: "I've been a marriage counselor, sure." POP QUIZ! Ever have the sense of too much, too soon? "It does have its price.... I'm making all my mistakes with everyone watching. I can't have any training wheels, and I'm up there expected to do wheelies." WHOM SHE CRIBS FROM: Billie Holiday, Laura Nyro, Tanita Tikaram. MOST LIKELY TO... Still be a critics' favorite at 40. AMBITION: To be as mature as everyone thinks she is. "I'm not that mature! I'm writing about things that probably 14-year-olds feel. In the whole scheme of things, I don't know s--t about anything." HOW SHE'S SPENDING HER SUMMER VACATION: Touring with the Wallflowers and with the all-female Lilith Fair tour.

BEN KWELLER

CURRENT EVENTS: Radish, the 16-year-old Kweller's pop-rocky trio, signed with Mercury for a reported $2.5 million after a heated bidding war. Their debut album, Restraining Bolt, was released in April; the band recently completed a video for the single "Little Pink Stars." HOME EC.: Kweller, reared in Greenville, Tex., is the son of a physician dad and a counselor mom. Dad now comanages Radish. POP QUIZ! How would you describe Radish's sound? "We call it 'sugar metal.' It's a cross between nerd rock and the Monkees with loud guitars. It's all about fun." WHOM HE CRIBS FROM: The Beatles, Nirvana, Weezer. MOST LIKELY TO... Fight off the advances of groupies twice his age. AMBITION: To get his GED. "That way, when we go on the road I won't have to take homework with me." HOW HE'S SPENDING HIS SUMMER VACATION: "We hope to be on the road from now until summer '98."

RAY J

CURRENT EVENTS: A Top 40 hit, "Let It Go," and a recently released debut album, Everything You Want. HOME EC.: Born Willie Ray Norwood Jr., in McComb, Miss., the 16-year-old is the little brother of teen sensation Brandy (Moesha). Schooled at home by mother/manager Sonja Norwood. Now living in Woodland Hills, Calif., where his father leads a church choir. POP QUIZ! Do you feel grown up? "Yeah. This business [exposes] you to an older audience. You're performing at, like, 12 at night in clubs, moving to different places, meeting new people. It's not like I'm missing my childhood, though. This is fun; you just have to know that it's work." WHOM HE CRIBS FROM: Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Bobby Brown. MOST LIKELY TO... "Get on stage, go crazy, and get everybody moving. Word up!" AMBITION: "I want to get into directing movies and videos, as well as producing [music]." HOW HE'S SPENDING HIS SUMMER VACATION: Planning a late-summer/early-fall tour; following in his sis' footsteps, he's also angling for his own sitcom.