+crystal-sierra.com
In a music world filled with derivatives, she stands apart, a singer / songwriter who melds contemporary hip-hop and R&B with the infectious flavor of Latin rhythms drawn from her own roots. Blessed with natural beauty, Crystal Sierra doesn't have a neatly defined word to describe her distinctive brand of music: "It's a mixture of urban and Latin styles. Although there are artists who have fused pop and Latin music together and there have been Latin rappers, I've had the idea of putting R&B and hip-hop and Latin sounds together for a while."

Indeed, Crystal Sierra's Morena album is a sizzling tour-de-force, a creative exploration into uncharted territory and, at the same time, a record with undoubted appeal to mainstream, urban, Latin and pop music buyers alike. From the instant feel of the upbeat track "Whatcha Wanna Do" (co-written by Lil'Mo from Missy Elliot's camp) to the heartfelt acoustic ballad "Could It Be" (produced by Greg Charley, whose credits include work with Whitney Houston, Gerald Levert and 702), Crystal Sierra's first outing has a decidedly personal edge. "It took sweat, tears...and a lot of migraines!" smiles the personable Baltimore native, "but I really feel like I fulfilled my vision and accomplished what I set out to do with this record."

Standout cuts like the too-tough jam "Hold Me Down" (produced by Kike Santander and Steve Morales) and "To Fit In" (based on "La Murga," an 80's hit by Willie Colon, produced by Cuban brothers Richard & Nelson Marquez) have a strong autobiographical slant for Crystal Sierra, who contributed her songwriting skills to all but one of the album's eleven songs. "Some people said that mixing Latin music and hip-hop couldn't be done, so with courage in both hands, I had to start off being the first female artist to bring cumbia and vallenato music to the pop world. 'Hold Me Down' is my way of asking people to embrace me and my music," she explains. "As for 'To Fit In,' well, I come from a racially mixed family - my father is from Colombia and my mother is American. I grew up speaking English so when I was around family members who spoke Spanish, I questioned where I fit."

On her auspicious Virgin Records debut, Crystal Sierra brings not only her background as a trained musician, but also her experiences in dealing with the challenges of creating a career as a recording artist and performer. It's been quite a journey. "I was five when I got my first microphone," she recalls with a grin. "It was orange-colored and it was called 'Mr. Microphone'! All I wanted to do was sing." Coming from a musical background, Crystal Sierra was exposed to a wide range of sounds from an early age. "I loved La Lupe (a major Cuban diva), Celia Cruz, Angela Carrascó, and oh, Stevie Wonder, he was it for me! I also loved Patti LaBelle, Aretha...I heard all kinds of music."

Innately drawn to singing, Crystal Sierra attended Baltimore's High School for the Performing Arts. "It was a 'Fame' type of school and you had to have a good grade average," she says. "I studied harmony, ear and voice training."

A hard-earned scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston gave Crystal Sierra her first opportunity to stretch out and begin shaping her own musical terrain. "While I was going to college, I started to tune in more to Latin music. My whole family would go to Colombia and Miami in the summer so I absorbed a lot of the music there-the cumbia and vallenato styles lived in my head," she notes. "I was also trying to find my own sound and to start out, it was a mix of the blues of Aretha, and the scatting of Celia Cruz; I was like a chameleon transforming and absorbing all the sounds."

Seeing the possibilities of fusing urban and Latin cultures through music, Crystal Sierra began her quest for a record deal in earnest. A short-lived stint with a female trio named HANDS ON for Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records gave Crystal Sierra her first taste of a recording contract. After a year of soul-searching, she concluded that it was time to take action on her goal of pioneering a new musical style: "I went to this industry dinner and met an A&R representative from Virgin Records, and a week later, we were talking about my idea of incorporating Latin rhythms with R&B and hip-hop."

Finally putting her ideas on tape, Crystal Sierra's enthusiasm for creating a new musical style led to a record deal in 1999. "I realized I was doing something different," she recalls. "So I just began making a list of producers and songwriters I wanted to work with. There weren't any producers or artists I could name who had created this style of music so I had to put producers together [Latin vs. urban]."

Her wish list included Swizz Beats (from the Ruff Ryders camp, known for his work with DMX and Eve) with whom she worked on "Get Up," which "is about my girlfriends who flew in from Cartagena (in Colombia)...We'd get dressed and hit the clubs, on the prowl, looking for sexy papis!" she smiles. "It's a very urban track and we have a rap on there from Cross of Ruff Ryders."

Recording her all-important first album in both Miami and New York, Crystal Sierra worked with Ellis Pacheco, the son of Johnny Pacheco (the famed Latin saxophonist and producer), co-writing three songs which he produced. The slow groove, "Thank You Mi Amor," she says, "is about a relationship I had that didn't work out." The track features rapper Cuban Links from the Terror Squad. The standout cut, "Playa No More" (featuring a rap by Styles Skillz) is the perfect blend of salsa and hip-hop beats: "Lyrically, the song is expressing my anger about a guy who just won't do what he said!" she laughs. Her third collaboration with Pacheco is "Caliente," a steamy, provocative funky groove that features the Terror Squad: "The word means 'hot' and that says it all. It's sexual, passionate, fun, tropical...you know, all of that!"

Fulfilling her desire to bring together the best possible creative teams to work on her album, Crystal Sierra was responsible for teaming Kike Santander (from Emilio Estefan's Miami camp, named by Billboard as the "No. 1 Latin Songwriter" of 1999, and noted for his work with Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Gloria Estefan) and New York producer Steve Morales, who's worked with Jennifer Lopez and Jon Secada. "It was a great match," she says. "And we got two tracks from their collaboration, 'Hold Me Down' and 'Damelo,' which gives you the traditional Colombian sound with an accordion and gita pipe. It's a real love song."

Rounding out the groundbreaking debut album, Morena, is "Promises," a hypnotic contemporary urban cut with the hit-making "Darkchild" sound supplied by producer Fred Jerkins. "That's one song that is about a situation I've gone through. It's about a long distance relationship and cheatin' - and that's all I'm gonna say!"

Reflecting proudly on her first album for Virgin Records, Crystal Sierra states, "I really believe that the public is always in search of something new and I'm giving people something they haven't heard before. I know I'm taking a risk by mixing two different genres of music, but I love both styles, Latin and hip-hop...and I have to be true to myself. There's no way I can do one without the other."

Pulsating, rhythmic, full of flava and beats, Morena is an introduction not only to a new sound with global appeal, but to the talents of pioneering, multi-talented artists. In her own words, she smiles, "there's so much more to come...I've only just begun!"