A-Love is a female Australian-based MC from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Her debut album, ''Ace of Hearts'' was nominated 'Best Urban Release' in the

ARIA Music Awards of 2008 The 22nd annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) took place on 19 October 2008. The nominees for all categories were announced on 10 September, while the winners of ...

Biography

A-Love was born Antonella Formosa in Rome, Italy on 21 March 1983. Formosa's father is

Ric Formosa Riccardo Formosa (born 1 September 1954) is an Italian-born Australian musician and composer. He was the lead guitarist of the pop band Little River Band from 1975 to 1976 and recorded their first two albums, ''Little River Band'' and '' After Hou ...

, a composer/arranger and an original member (lead guitarist) with the Australian band

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a Rock music, rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studi ...

and her mother, Vicki Formosa, was an R&B singer. She attended

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

Secondary College, graduating in 1999. Whilst her first experiences of playing music were with an all-female band, which never made any public performances, she also discovered hip hop in high school and soon found herself waxing lyrical over beats. In January 2000, Formosa met Draino from the Puah Hedz. He was keen to check out her writing and despite her reluctance, he made her feature on a track. The second track that she had ever recorded was with Muphin, which later became "Some People" which featured on the album ''Despite the Odds''. She has since appeared numerous times on

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

's 'The Hip Hop Show',

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

' 'The Formula' (now 'Hittin Switches') and 'Auscultation',

RRR RRR may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''RRR'' (film), an Indian Telugu film Industry film ** ''RRR'' (soundtrack), soundtrack album of the film of the same name * RRRecords, a record label * '' Roots Rock Riot'', a 2007 album by Skindred * ...

's 'Wordburner' and RMIT University's SRA FM. She was progressing towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

from

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria a ...

and for two years she was the co-host of a hip hop radio show at La Trobe University. May 2002 marked A-Love's official solo introduction to the Australian hip hop and media circles, with her song "Petty" from the album, ''Culture of Kings Volume 2'' (the first ever Australian hip hop feature album on Triple J). "Petty" was put on medium rotation on

. Formosa was a winner of the Nescafe Big Break competition in 2002, earning $20,000 with which to start up an independent record label and distribution company, Duality Records. As time progressed, she juggled the twin responsibilities of building a label and working on her own debut as an artist. Formosa released her debut album, ''Ace of Hearts'' on 24 November 2007, on Crookneck Records. The album was produced by BVA (Mnemonic Ascent) with additional beats from

Suffa Matthew David Lambert (born 6 May 1977), better known by his stage name Suffa, is an Australian rapper and producer best known as one of the members of the hip hop group Hilltop Hoods. He has produced tracks for other artists, such as Funkoar ...

(

Hilltop Hoods Hilltop Hoods is an Australian hip hop group that formed in 1996 in Blackwood, Adelaide, South Australia. They are regarded as pioneers of the " larrikin-like" style of Australian hip hop. The group was founded by Suffa (Matthew David Lambert ...

) and Jase. Guests include

Yungun Yungun (a.k.a. Essa) is a British hip hop artist. He released his debut album ''The Essance'' on Janomi Records in 2004. He was born in North London where he currently works and resides. Bio He was educated at Eton College. He began his musi ...

(UK), Raph (Mnemonic Ascent),

Spikey Tee The TC Energy Center is a highrise that represents one of the first significant examples of postmodern architecture construction in downtown Houston, Texas. The building has been formerly known as the RepublicBank Center, the NCNB Center, the ...

(UK) and emerging indigenous MC Jim Blah. It was Triple J's 'Album of the Week' just three days after its release and was nominated for the 2008

ARIA Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austra ...

in the category of 'Best Urban Release'. She was also nominated for two at the

Jägermeister ( , ; stylized Jägermeiſter) is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. Developed in 1934 by Wilhelm and Curt Mast, it has an alcohol by volume of 35% ( 61 degrees proof, or US 70 proof). The recipe has not changed since its creation ...

AIR (Australian Independent Record Labels Association) Awards in 2008, in the categories of 'Best New Independent Artist' and 'Best Independent Hip Hop Artist'. Formosa has performed with Mystik Journeymen (US),

Anticon Anticon (often styled as anticon.) is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1998 by seven musicians and manager Baillie Parker. It is now collectively owned among six musicians, co-founder Parker, and ma ...

Pegz Tirren Staaf, otherwise known as Pegz (or MC Pegasus), is an Australian hip hop artist and producer hailing from Melbourne, Victoria. He was the CEO of Obese Records—the record label responsible for artists such as Hilltop Hoods, Downsyde, ...

MC Layla Layla Rose Hanbury (born 5 October 1982), known mononymously as Layla, is an Australian hip hop singer-songwriter and MC from Perth. In January 2005 she released her debut solo album, ''Heretik'', on Obese Records. She is a member of Syllabolix ...

, Kowhai, Bliss n Eso, Scarz on 45, MC Que, TZU, Bias B and DJ Brand (Canada).

Awards

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - , rowspan="2" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, A-Love , Best New Independent Artist , , - , ''Ace of Hearts'' , Best Independent Hip Hop Album , , -

Discography

Albums

* ''Ace of Hearts'' – Crookneck Records/Shogun Distribution (November 2007)

Contributions

* ''Get The Picture?'' – Draino ("Out of Place") – Puah Head Constructions (2000) * ''Despite the Odds'' – ("Some People") – Puah Head Constructions (2000) * ''Culture of Kings – Volume 2'' ("Petty") –

Obese Records Obese Records was a record label that released music from the Australian hip hop genre. It was the largest Australian independent hip hop label, including performers Pegz, Thundamentals and Dialectrix. Obese Records also operated two retail ...

(2002) * ''Obesecity'' – ("Rapunzal") – Obese Records (2002) * ''Straight from the Art...'' – ("Movin'") –

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

(2003) * ''Straight from the Art 2'' – ("Captains of...") – Warner Music (2004) * ''The Enthusiast'' – Evil Ed ("Captains of...") – Janomi (2004) * ''Beat the Hedz Vol 1'' – Jase ("Sincerely Yours") – Obese Records (2006) * ''Diggi Down Unda'' – Mystro ("The Beaches") – Grindin Records (2006) * ''Good Vibrations 2008'' – ("So Easy") –

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

(2008)

References

External links

The Age review of Ace of Hearts (22 November 2007)

Planet Urban album review

PBS article
{{DEFAULTSORT:A-Love 1983 births Living people Australian hip hop musicians Australian women rappers Obese Records artists Rappers from Melbourne Musicians from Rome Australian expatriates in Italy