Lisa Velez (born January 15, 1967), better known by her stage name Lisa Lisa, is an American singer. She rose to fame in the 1980s as one-third of the band

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam were an urban contemporary band and one of the first freestyle music groups to emerge from New York City in the 1980s. Cult Jam consisted of vocalist Lisa Lisa (born Lisa Valez), guitarist/bassist Alex "Spanador" Moseley, a ...

Early life

According to ''Spin'' magazine, Velez was born in 1967 in

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

in New York City as the youngest of ten to a religious mother, who supported the family by

babysitting Babysitting is temporarily caring for a child. Babysitting can be a paid job for all ages; however, it is best known as a temporary activity for early teenagers who are not yet eligible for employment in the general economy. It provides auton ...

, and an absentee father. Of Puerto Rican descent, Velez learned to speak Spanish at home and English in school. She sang in her church choir, at the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, along with her six sisters, and was an A student at

Julia Richman High School The Julia Richman Education Complex (JREC) is an educational multiplex located in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Named after the district superintendent of schools, Julia Richman, it houses six autonomous small sc ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. At Sacred Heart she studied alongside several future members of the Irish American criminal organization, The Westies. In school she was also part of a traveling singing group that sang

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

hits and songs from old

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

Career

was founded when Velez successfully

audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

ed for the Brooklyn production team

Full Force Full Force is an American music group of hip hop and R&B singers and producers from Brooklyn, New York. Members *B-Fine (Brian George) - drums and drum programming, backing vocals *Shy Shy (Hugh Junior Clark) - bass guitar, backing vocals ...

. She met drummer Mike Hughes at Funhouse, a Manhattan

underage In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. ''Minor'' may also ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

that she frequented to be discovered. She described the atmosphere as, "a young place, no liquor served in that place at all, so I kinda liked it. I used to dance a lot, but I was always aware of where I was turning, so I would watch and find out who's who, where's where." Hughes spotted her, finding her attractive and asked her to audition for the production team. She took the subway to a house in Brooklyn, her first trip to the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

, without her protective older brother, who was to later become her

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

. With Hughes and Alex "Spanador" Moseley, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam recorded their debut single, "I Wonder If I Take You Home", soon after forming in 1985, releasing it as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

single. The group quickly signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, which re-released the single, and it climbed into the R&B top ten in the US and the

top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

in the UK. The group amassed a number of

hit song A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s throughout the 1980s. Velez said of her moniker "I guess they had the type of idea like, okay,

he U.T.F.O. hit He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

' Roxanne, Roxanne' worked, why not Lisa Lisa? I thought it was cute because I knew it would cause controversy, talk." About getting paid, Velez expressed "I don't think about the money. I'm not doing this for the money. I was pulling in 600 to 700 a week when I was working at Benetton, so it doesn't mean shit to me. I'm just doing this 'cause I want to sing." By the end of the '80s, however, the group's success had begun to decline. Their fourth and final album, ''

Straight Outta Hell's Kitchen ''Straight Outta Hell's Kitchen'' is a 1991 album by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. It is best known for the lead track " Let the Beat Hit 'Em" which reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B and Dance charts. The only other single released from the album w ...

'', was less of a commercial success, though it did include a hit with "Let the Beat Hit 'Em", which reached the

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

on the US pop chart and was a hit on both the R&B and club charts. The group disbanded in 1991, and Velez pursued both solo singing and acting careers, and Moseley and Hughes went on to do other projects. Lisa Lisa released a

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

called ''

LL77 ''LL77'' is the solo debut album by Lisa Lisa, released in 1994. Production The album was produced by Guru, Nona Hendryx, and Junior Vasquez, among others. It was Lisa's intention to move away from the Latin bubblegum style of her past by craftin ...

'' in 1994, which included the moderate club hit "When I Fell in Love" (which was remixed by

Junior Vasquez Junior Vasquez (born Donald Gregory Mattern, August 24, 1949) is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He has been referred to as one of the only DJs of his time to gain international attention. Career Mattern moved to New York City a ...

) and the notable single "Skip to My Lu", which hit No. 38 on the R&B chart. She resurfaced circa 2001 on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

series '' Taina'', in which she played the title character's mother. On June 24, 2008, Lisa Lisa presented an award at the

BET Awards The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which are presented annua ...

, sparking interest that she may be plotting a comeback. In 2009, she released ''Life 'n Love'', a full-length album of new material on Mass Appeal Entertainment featuring the single "Can't Wait" with guest

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

. The album also features a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song "Stand" which was originally performed by

Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in 1987 after her debut single " Tell It to My Heart". Dayne achieved six additional U.S. top-10 singles, including "Love Will ...

on her 1998 album ''

Naked without You Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

''. In March 2014, she appeared with Stevie B., TKA,

Sa-Fire Wilma Cosmé (born 16 January 1966, in San Juan, Puerto Rico), better known by her stage name Sa-Fire, is a Puerto Rican singer. Sa-Fire is one of the few freestyle singers to cross over into the pop world. She has been featured in various mag ...

, and others at the eighth annual Forever Freestyle showcase at the Lehman College Center for the Performing Arts in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. In June 2019 Lisa Lisa signed with Snoop Dogg's Army, part of the

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

Entertainment Company.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

Television

Personal life

Lisa turned down the role of “Lisa” in the movie ''

Coming To America ''Coming to America'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis and based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, who also stars in the lead role. The film also co-stars Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Head ...

'' offered to her by Eddie Murphy. Velez married Antonimar Mello in 2005.

References

External links

*
Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam Biography at Billboard.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisa, Lisa 20th-century American pianists American women pianists 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American women rappers Hispanic and Latino American women singers Hispanic and Latino American musicians American musicians of Puerto Rican descent American women singer-songwriters American hip hop singers American soul singers American contemporary R&B singers Freestyle musicians Living people 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers 1967 births 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American pianists People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Julia Richman Education Complex alumni Singer-songwriters from New York (state) 21st-century women rappers