Élan Luz Rivera (born June 1982) is an American

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

singer and actress. She is one-third of Latin hip-hop trio The D.E.Y.

Early life and education

Rivera was born and raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. As a child she worked as an actress, appearing in the movie, ''

Life with Mikey ''Life with Mikey'' (also known as ''Give Me a Break'') is a 1993 American comedy film directed by James Lapine and written by Marc Lawrence. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Cyndi Lauper and Christina Vidal in her film acting debut. ...

'', and also made a

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

on the television series, ''

Ghostwriter A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...

''. Elan attended LaGuardia High School for Music and Art and Performing Arts (The "Fame" School).

Career

She made her first appearance on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

as Cookie in the

musical play Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

'' The Capeman'' from 29 January to 28 March 1998 at the

Marquis Theatre The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater on the third floor of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1986, it ...

in New York, From 26 April to 13 May 2001 she played Susie Rogers in musical comedy ''

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (also simply known as ''Tom Sawyer'') is a novel by Mark Twain published on June 9, 1876, about a boy, Tom Sawyer, growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1830s-1840s in the town of St. Petersbu ...

'' at the

Minskoff Theatre The Minskoff Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the One Astor Plaza office building in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1973, it is operated by the Nederlander Organizatio ...

in New York. In 2005, Divine introduced her to rapper Yeyo. During the making of their album, she worked with the American pop singer

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles on-screen and in theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatric ...

in the

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

for her 2007 hit song " He Said She Said" and wrote "Fuego" for The Cheetah Girls' with producer J.R. Rotem and songwriter Evan Bogart. Rivera was featured and wrote on The 2008

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

album ''

Exit 13 ''Exit 13'' is the twelfth studio album by American rapper LL Cool J. It was released on September 9, 2008, on the record label Def Jam Recordings. It was his last album release with the label before his return 16 years later with The FORCE. Pr ...

'' under the name Elan of The Dey.

Artistry

Rivera has formal training in singing in Hindi, German, Italian, Spanish and Sanskrit.

Voices

* '' Sunny Day'' - Rox * '' Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony'' - The People of Liberty City * ''

Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's ''Grand Theft Auto: San And ...

'' - Carmen Ortiz

References

External links

Sony Japan The DEY Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Elan Luz 1982 births Living people 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Actresses from the Bronx American women pop singers American film actresses American Latin pop singers American television actresses American video game actresses Singers from New York City Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni