Priscilla Star Diaz (born June 13, 1994), known by her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

MISSPSTAR, formerly known as P-Star, is an American rapper, dancer, model, singer, actress, director, and disc jockey. Diaz is best known for her role as Jessica Ruiz in the 2009 PBS Kids Go revival of ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...

'' and as the focus of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Ho ...

'' documentary ''P-Star Rising''.

Early life

Diaz was born to parents Jesse Diaz, a former rapper, and Doris Diaz, a heroin addict. Diaz grew up in Harlem with her older sister Solsky. Through her mother, Diaz and her older sister have a younger half-sister named Sinclair who later became adopted by Diaz's father. Diaz was born of paternal Puerto Rican and maternal Cuban descent. Due to her father serving time in jail, Diaz and Solsky lived in a

foster home Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...

until their father gained custody of the girls and raised them as a single father in Harlem. At the age of seven, Diaz decided she wanted to become a rapper to make a better life for herself and her family after her father's music career had failed and Diaz and her family found themselves living in a shelter.

Career

Diaz began her rap career at the age of 9 in after hours nightclubs in Harlem, battling against other rappers twice her age. She won the Citywide Hip Hop competition in 2005 and became the youngest female entrant. That same year, Diaz recorded an album with Reggaeton Niños as the main vocalist and appeared in the music video for "Oye mi Canto". She signed a recording contract with independent label Hunc Records in 2007 and released her first album titled ''Welcome to My Show'' the same year with the song "Biggie Bounce" released as a single. Diaz directed her music videos for "Don't Stop the Dance" and "Sukoshidake Katamomoi". P-Star released two versions of herself singing in English and Japanese. She appeared in the

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production of ''Take the Train to Maine'', 2005's short film ''Sita'' and as Jessica Ruiz in the 2009 revival of ''

''. Diaz has modeled clothing for Royal Addiction,

Baby Phat Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons is a privately held American apparel brand established in 1999 by fashion model, creative director, and entrepreneur, Kimora Lee Simmons. Initially launched as a womenswear offshoot of the menswear label, Phat F ...

, J. Lo, and

Rocawear Rocawear (Stylized Roc-A-Wear) is an American Clothing Brand founded in 1999 by Roc-A-Fella Records Co-Founders Damon Dash and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. The brand has had annual sales of $700 million. Rocawear expanded through licensing to sell affo ...

. In 2008, Diaz released her exercise DVD "P-Star Workout DVD: Exercise Your Body and Mind, Vol. 1" to help fight childhood obesity. In 2017, P-Star released her comeback single "Don't Sleep On Me" through SoundCloud. Diaz released the single "Broke" under the new stage name 'MISSPSTAR' in 2018 and directed the music video to accompany the single. This was followed by her third single "Left, Right".

Personal life

Diaz was accepted to

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

in Ohio in 2015, majoring in theater and education. While in attendance at the school, she was a cheerleader and worked as a DJ for the school's radio station. In May 2017, Diaz graduated from Denison University with a BA in Theatre and Education. Diaz started a podcast titled Restless Mother regarding motherhood after the birth of her first child.

Discography

Albums

*''Welcome to My Show'' (2008)

Singles

* "Biggie Bounce" (2008) * "Wanna Make You Dance English" (2008) * "Wanna Make You Dance Spanish" (2008) * "Don't Stop the Dance" (2011) * "Sukoshidake Katamomoi" (2011) * "Don't Sleep On Me" (2017) * "Broke" (2018) * "Left, Right" (2018) * "2276" (2018) * “I Rather Fail (Than to Surrender)" (2019)

As a Featured Artist

*"They Won't Play Us" (with Kafir) (as P-Star) (2015) *“Ego” - (Kash featuring MISSPSTAR) (2019) *”Grnd On Me” - (Loco Ninja featuring Kash and MISSPSTAR) (2019)

Soundtracks

*''P-Star Rising'' (2007)

DVDs

*''P-Star Workout DVD: Exercise Your Body and Mind, Vol. 1'' (2008) *''P-Star Rising'' (2009)

Compilation albums

*''Niños Vol. 1'' (Reggaeton Niños), 2006

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:MISSPSTAR Living people Denison University alumni 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American rappers Actresses from New York City 1994 births Film directors from New York City American child actresses American child singers American film actresses Hispanic and Latino American rappers American television actresses American people of Cuban descent American people of Puerto Rican descent American beauty pageant winners American stage actresses American women rappers American female dancers Rappers from the Bronx People from Harlem American radio DJs Rappers from Manhattan American reggaeton musicians Songwriters from New York (state) Spanish-language singers of the United States Puerto Rican women rappers Pop rappers Dancers from New York (state) 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers American women radio presenters American women podcasters American podcasters 21st-century women rappers