Known as
the "Queen of Reggaeton", Ivy Queen, born Martha
Ivelisse Pesante on March 4, 1972 in Añasco, Puerto
Rico but raised in New York City.
She began her music career writing songs for other artists
and competing in various talent shows with great success.
At age 18, she decided to pursue her musical career in
earnest. She went to Puerto Rico where she met well known
impresario, DJ Negro, who invited her to join a rap group
known as "Noise". Ivy Queen wrote and performed
her first hit song, "Somos Raperos Pero No Delincuentes",
with that band, effectively launching the professional
career she longed for.
Ivy Queen
released her debut album, En Mi Imperio
in 1997, with hit songs "Pon Atención"
and "Como Mujer". The album clearly showed
a style that was based on lyrics not dependent on
the crude language so typical of the genre and enabled
the artist to focus on her message. As a positive
voice for her generation, her album was well received
and was a solid start for her budding career.
Having firmly
established herself in the world of reggaeton and
rap, the debut album also afforded her opportunities
to expand her musical horizons. Ivy Queen recorded
with noted salsa star, Domingo Quiñones, with
the band, DLG and a duo with singer and former Miss
Universe and wife of Marc Anthony, Dayanara Torres
on the hit song, "Jerigonza".
In 1998,
the Queen released her second album, The Original Rude
Girl, on Sony Records, with hit songs such Interlude
in the Zone, and "Sabes Que Tu". The collaboration
with rap star, Wyclef Jean figures prominently in this
album. This collaboration was born of the chance meeting
of the artists at a Wyclef concert where Ivy Queen joined
him on stage for an improvised "rap". The
encounter demonstrated her ample talent to Wyclef and
the appreciative public.
At a later
event at Madison Square Garden, Ivy Queen invited Wyclef
to join her on her upcoming Rude Girl project.
Her most
recent album, Diva was released in 2003 on the Real
Music label, winning a great reception among her growing
fan base. The album included all original songs penned
by the Queen herself but performed with the collaboration
of several well-known reggaeton artists, including El
Mexicano, K-7 and Gran Omar, who was also the producer.
As with previous
efforts, Queen Ivy clearly speaks on behalf of her native
Puerto Rico and particularly for women. This was particularly
evident in the song "Tuya Soy" which takes the
prespective of the wife in marital relationships that
often juxtopose her life with a husband that does not
or cannot understand or respect her her role.
On January
27, 2004, Ivy Queen releases her new album under the Universal
Latino label, "Diva Platinum Edition", the Puerto Rican
Diva
brings contagious
rhythms and more, with her greatest hits "Papi te quiero",
"Tu no puedes" and "Quiero bailar". The album features
22 tracks including "Tuya Soy", "Guillaera", "Alerta",
"Venganza", "Bailame", "Subelo" and remixes like "Babe",
"Papi te quiero" and "Tu no puedes".
Last
updated October 3, 2005 - More coming soon...
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