Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Hungry? UK Spotlight.....


Hey, since everyone knows we love hip-hop, punk over here, we wanted to interview someone from another music genre that we love. Actually two, which is reggae and R&B. I was put up on this artist over a year ago and she keeps burning the net up and plus I have family in the UK so I cant stop hearing about her, and we have had the chance to catch up with this busy and very progressive artist. Enough of the talk here you go....

Hungry?: Coraleena tell us about yourself?

Coraleena: I was actually born in the UK to West Indian parents. I lived a very sheltered life growing up "I was very sickly" and my
parents were considered "well off" because they owned their own home. (lol) I began singing in the Pentecostal Church where my mother was a pastor and I sang in the choir. We emigrated to the USA when I was 14. I returned to the UK and sang for a while until age 21 when I "retired" and returned to the USA.

Hungry?: Well first off I heard your music through a friend of mine a year ago when you did a track with a lady female rap artist, which was super dope. Tell me more about your history in this music game?

Coraleena: That track was my first collaboration with a rap artist. Mz Dyzihre is an excellent artist. She approached me and asked to work with her on the track "Smile". Five years ago, I returned to the UK and was in the studio with a US rapper who lives here in the UK named Jersey Villian. I started singing and before I knew it, I had recorded a cover version of "Wishing On A Star" A promoter heard it and the rest is history. He asked me to perform at a small show that was taking place in two weeks, except it wasn't a small show it was a large event with over 5,000 people!! It all snowballed from there, local radio stations started playing my music and its just been getting better and better.

Hungry?: Since R & B has been on a decline in the states other than Keshia cole, hows the uk?

Coraleena: R & B has also been on the decline in the UK. Its funny you mention Keisha Cole because my lyrics have been compared to hers (lol). I guess its the whole, man hurt woman thing.... The music industry has a way of packaging everyone and after a while it all begins to sound the same, so people became less interested. Keisha works because she is bringing something different to the table. In the UK we have Estelle. If you want to succeed in this industry you have to be able to stand out from the crowd.

Hungry? Since there is a big buzz for you in the UK, how do you plan to make that happen here in the US? Being the market here for r and b, music period here has been on a major slump?


Coraleena: I love the buzz!!! its amazing and I am just riding high right now. I just finished a show in Louisiana which was a huge success. I already have a following there as well as here, as I have been working both sides of the Atlantic for a while now. My music is being played on the mainstream and underground radio stations here in the UK. I am also being played over the net and on Shockout Radio in the States. I think will be able to make things happen in the States because I also bring something different to the table. R and B with a reggae flavor. I am different, I dont want to be like everyone else, and that I believe helps me.



Hungry?: any plans to work with any other Rap, R & B, Pop or Reggae artist thats here in the states?

Coraleena: I am working on a collaboration with a R and B artist in the States right now by the name of K.F.K. , I have already done a couple of collaborations with Rap Artists in the USA. One by the name of Kal, with a track called "Drama" which I wrote and another with an artist named Beastman called "Feeling You". I am hoping to work with some of the reggae artists there and am in negotiations with one artist who I will not name as yet, but its coming.



Hungry?: Also since you mainly live overseas, do you have a marketing team here in the states? Also are you with any label?

Coraleena: I have no marketing team in the States right now, I have been doing it all by myself, but its getting harder now, I am going to have to get some people in to help me. I recently signed with a label in the States named Moiko Records out of Atlanta and we just finished working on my first complete reggae album, also a compilation cd which I had the pleasure of being of the producers on for the label.


Hungry?: How is the music scene for independent music artists, fashion designers/brands, grafitti/street art scene? Whats the major diff since you live in both overseas and in the states?

Coraleena: As far as being independent, I believe its easier to make it in the UK than the USA. There are more opportunities and there is a great deal of funding to be had if you know how to work the system. The same can be said for fashion designers/brands etc. They are always looking for young people to invest in. As far as grafitti/street art is concerned, it is not so easy, the system is very much against it. I guess its a case of the UK still being old fashioned and stuck in their ways as far as street art is concerned.

Hungry?: Lifestyles how do they differ?

Coraleena: The way of life here in the UK is a great deal different to the USA. The USA is the land of opportunity, and everyman has a chance to make it there. Here it is very socialized, people rely on the system to help them get along, they really dont know how to do for themselves. Which means that even though opportunities are there, most dont know how to use it to their advantage.


Hungry?: What advice for a US music artist to break big in the uk music scene underground or major?

Coraleena: Use the Internet as much as possible. There are many sites where you can place your music for free. Take advantage of these sites, network with as many djs as you can. Dont wait to be approached, approach them, ask them if they are interested in your music. Work the underground music scene, that is where all the best new artists are coming from, not local radio stations, internet stations, and (underground radio stations) never stop pushing. Find the best artists in your ` field, and dont be afraid to ask them if they want to collaborate. Its surprising how many of them will work with an up and coming artist.


Hungry?: Hey any last words?

Coraleena: I just want to thank you for giving me this opportunity. Its hard but is not impossible to make it. You just have to bring something different to the table and that is what I have tried to do. Without the help of my sons, friends and the fans that have been there before I even had my first track played on the air, I would not have come this far. I feel really truly blessed.

www.myspace.com/coraleenehotmailcom
www.myspace.com/carolellis

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