Veronica
She is beautiful. Intelligent. Incredibly sexy and abundantly skilled. She is street wise, down to earth and filled with straight up Nuyorican attitude and universal appeal. She IS Veronica, and her HOLA Recording debut release entitled ... RISE. As befitting the woman who made it, Rise is a sultry, moody and soulful sensuous R&B experience with serious Hip-Hop and Latin flavors. With 13 smoking cuts, 9 of which Veronica co-wrote herself, Rise is the album she was born to create.
The first single is the funked up title track, a song that Veronica considers to be an anthem for all Latino people. Produced by HOLA Recordings President, Jellybean Benitez (Madonna and Whitney Houston) and D-Moet (Foxy Brown and Kurupt) and boasting a rap from Fat Joe, "Rise" is a party song with a message of empowerment. "It's about Latinos going for theirs." Veronica offers. "So it's very close to my heart". Also close to Veronica's heart is thumping "No One But You". The song charted earlier this summer and features rapper Craig Mack.
Veronica was born and raised in the Bronx and began singing when she was all of five years old. She regularly performed at Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, belting out hits from her vocal idols Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Barbara Streisand. "I always knew I wanted to make performing my life". Veronica declares and she set about making that a reality by taking her dream very seriously. She attended the renonwned LaGuardia High Scholl (School of the Performing Arts) where she studied classical music and performed opera and gospel solos.
Veronica got her big break when college classmate, Lakei Strong (Uprising Worldwide Entertainment, Inc.) heard her sing and brought her to the attention of Mercury Records. Shortly after the release of her critically acclaimed first album, "V As In Veronica", she severed her relationship with Mercury Records. She began to work towards finding a new deal and solidifying herself as an artist and songwriter. On the strength of "No One But You", written by Veronica, she obtained a songwriter and recording artist deal with Jellybean Benitez.
Deal in hand, Veronica began preparing herself for re-entering the studio, "I had to psyche myself up again", she recalls. "I had to convince myself that what had happened before wasn't my fault. That all of the chaos at my old label was due to corporate things and that my abilities were not in question". Encouraged by Lakei Strong and Jellybean's faith in her both as a singer and writer, Veronica decided to join HOLA in 1996. "This is the Home Of Latino Artists and I knew that here, nobody would try and make me into something I wasn't or something generic," Veronica explains. "I've always said that being Latin is a blessing and at HOLA I knew that I was with people who shared that belief."
In the spring of 1997 Veronica began work on Rise, knowing precisely what she wanted, "I wanted this record to have more personality and identity than my first one. Something that came from me, which is why I did a lot of writing this time." Contributing to Veronica's creative vision are Rich "Younglord" Frierson (Bad Boy Entertainment), D-Moet, Dave "Jam" Hall, who credits include Mariah Carey, Madonna and Mary J. Blige, and Jellybean Benitez, who also serves as executive producer, along with Lakei Strong.
One of the first songs that Veronica wrote was "Inspired Me" which she lovingly refers to as "my baby". "The song just flowed. Writing it was fate, it's beautiful." Another favorite is the up tempo track "Some 1 2 Hold" which Veronica describes as being "very me".
Keeping true and being herself is paramount to this 23 year old singer. Ask Veronica what she wants people to get from Rise and she answers quickly. "I want people to listen to Rise and know that this is me. This is how I get down, this is how I live, love, party. Rise is the music of my life."
The first single is the funked up title track, a song that Veronica considers to be an anthem for all Latino people. Produced by HOLA Recordings President, Jellybean Benitez (Madonna and Whitney Houston) and D-Moet (Foxy Brown and Kurupt) and boasting a rap from Fat Joe, "Rise" is a party song with a message of empowerment. "It's about Latinos going for theirs." Veronica offers. "So it's very close to my heart". Also close to Veronica's heart is thumping "No One But You". The song charted earlier this summer and features rapper Craig Mack.
Veronica was born and raised in the Bronx and began singing when she was all of five years old. She regularly performed at Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, belting out hits from her vocal idols Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Barbara Streisand. "I always knew I wanted to make performing my life". Veronica declares and she set about making that a reality by taking her dream very seriously. She attended the renonwned LaGuardia High Scholl (School of the Performing Arts) where she studied classical music and performed opera and gospel solos.
Veronica got her big break when college classmate, Lakei Strong (Uprising Worldwide Entertainment, Inc.) heard her sing and brought her to the attention of Mercury Records. Shortly after the release of her critically acclaimed first album, "V As In Veronica", she severed her relationship with Mercury Records. She began to work towards finding a new deal and solidifying herself as an artist and songwriter. On the strength of "No One But You", written by Veronica, she obtained a songwriter and recording artist deal with Jellybean Benitez.
Deal in hand, Veronica began preparing herself for re-entering the studio, "I had to psyche myself up again", she recalls. "I had to convince myself that what had happened before wasn't my fault. That all of the chaos at my old label was due to corporate things and that my abilities were not in question". Encouraged by Lakei Strong and Jellybean's faith in her both as a singer and writer, Veronica decided to join HOLA in 1996. "This is the Home Of Latino Artists and I knew that here, nobody would try and make me into something I wasn't or something generic," Veronica explains. "I've always said that being Latin is a blessing and at HOLA I knew that I was with people who shared that belief."
In the spring of 1997 Veronica began work on Rise, knowing precisely what she wanted, "I wanted this record to have more personality and identity than my first one. Something that came from me, which is why I did a lot of writing this time." Contributing to Veronica's creative vision are Rich "Younglord" Frierson (Bad Boy Entertainment), D-Moet, Dave "Jam" Hall, who credits include Mariah Carey, Madonna and Mary J. Blige, and Jellybean Benitez, who also serves as executive producer, along with Lakei Strong.
One of the first songs that Veronica wrote was "Inspired Me" which she lovingly refers to as "my baby". "The song just flowed. Writing it was fate, it's beautiful." Another favorite is the up tempo track "Some 1 2 Hold" which Veronica describes as being "very me".
Keeping true and being herself is paramount to this 23 year old singer. Ask Veronica what she wants people to get from Rise and she answers quickly. "I want people to listen to Rise and know that this is me. This is how I get down, this is how I live, love, party. Rise is the music of my life."