Lumidee Cedeño (born October 13, 1984), known

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

ously as Lumidee, is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. She is best known for her 2003 single "

Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh) "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" is a song by American recording artist Lumidee, released as her debut single on May 12, 2003, from her first album, ''Almost Famous'' (2003). The official remix features Busta Rhymes and Fabolous. "Never Leav ...

", which peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and led her to sign with

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. The song preceded the release of her debut studio album ''

Almost Famous ''Almost Famous'' is a 2000 American comedy drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe, starring Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Patrick Fugit, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It tells the story of a teenage journalist, played b ...

'' (2003), which saw mixed to negative critical reception and moderate commercial performance. Her second album, '' Unexpected'' (2007) saw a critical improvement despite a commercial decline, and was supported by the

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

single "

She's Like the Wind "She's Like the Wind" is a 1987 song by American actor and singer Patrick Swayze from the soundtrack to the film ''Dirty Dancing''. The song features additional vocals from singer Wendy Fraser. The ballad reached number three on the US ''Billbo ...

" (featuring

Tony Sunshine Antonio Cruz (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Tony Sunshine, is an American R&B singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known as a member of Fat Joe's hip hop group Terror Squad in the late 1990s, and notably guest appeared on ...

Early life

Cedeño was born in the

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...

neighborhood of

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, 110th Street (the northern boundary of Central Park), 1 ...

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 ...

, of Puerto Rican descent. After her father died in 1995, she and her four siblings were raised by their grandparents. She began singing and rapping at the age of twelve. She was diagnosed with

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

at the age of fourteen, after she was misdiagnosed with

lupus Lupus, formally called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common ...

Career

2003–2006: ''Almost Famous''

After graduating high school, she collaborated with a local neighborhood producer named DJ Tedsmooth to record her debut single for an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

called Straight Face. She signed with

, where she released her debut album titled ''

'' on June 24, 2003. Her debut single, "

", peaked at number 3 in the United States and number 2 in the United Kingdom, but it was her only hit until the 2007 release of "

". According to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...

, ''Almost Famous'' sold 276,000 copies in the U.S. For the next few years, Lumidee was not in the mainstream music industry in the U.S., instead veering more towards

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

and

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

music. After her hit single "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" faded, Lumidee went overseas to continue her musical career in Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. She released multiple mixtapes during the years, which was a mixtape consisting of new material, freestyles, and tracks from Lumidee was also featured on several tracks in this area, having some success in Europe. In 2006, Lumidee released a song for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

album soundtrack entitled "

Dance! Dance! may refer to: *Dance! (Lumidee and Fatman Scoop song) "Dance!" is a song credited to Goleo VI featuring Lumidee and Fatman Scoop. It is included on the FIFA World Cup 2006 soundtrack album and contains Scorccio sample replays of the chor ...

". It featured a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

's song, "

I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" is a song recorded by American singer Whitney Houston, the leading single from her second studio album, '' Whitney''. The song was aimed to bring Houston a more accessible pop sound after having hits ...

". The song was a club hit around Europe, successfully entering the charts in the countries where it was officially released. In the summer of 2006, Lumidee was featured on

Frankie Cutlass Frank Javiel Malave (born January 16, 1971), better known by his stage name Frankie Cutlass, is an American Grammy nominated and award winning DJ, record producer, songwriter, and remixer from East Harlem, New York City. He was a member of the F ...

' 2006 remix of his classic club hit anthem, "Puerto Rico" (featuring

Joell Ortiz Joell Christopher Ortiz (born July 6, 1980) is an American rapper and former member of the group Slaughterhouse. Raised in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn's Cooper Park Houses, he first gained recognition after appearing in the Unsigned Hype colu ...

Voltio Julio Voltio (also known simply as Voltio; born as Julio Irving Ramos Filomeno on June 11, 1977) is a Puerto Rican former rapper. An early pioneer of reggaetón—a modern genre of Latin music originating primarily in Panamá and Puerto Rico, ...

, and

Yomo Toro Víctor Guillermo "Yomo" Toro (26 July 1933 – 30 June 2012) was a Puerto Rican left-handed guitarist and cuatro player. Known internationally as "The King of the Cuatro," Toro recorded over 150 albums throughout a 60-year career and worked exte ...

2007: ''Unexpected''

In 2007, Lumidee was named youth ambassador of the New York

Arthritis Foundation The Arthritis Foundation is a nonprofit organization addressing the needs of people living with arthritis in the United States. The Arthritis Foundation works to provide information and resources, improve access to care, make advancements in sc ...

's Arthritis Walk. On April 17, she released her second album, '' Unexpected'', under

TVT Records TVT Records, originally Tee-Vee Toons, was an American record label founded by Steve Gottlieb in 1984. Initially created to release the '' Television's Greatest Hits'' series of classic TV theme tune compilations, the label would expand into ra ...

. In an interview with ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'', Lumidee spoke about signing with TVT stating, "TVT Records is the perfect way for me to come back and again I'm coming out of left field, just like with "Never Leave You (Uh Oh)," Nobody ever thought of me coming back on a street credible label like TVT, alongside acts like

Pitbull Pit bull is an umbrella term for several types of dog believed to have descended from bull and terriers. In the United States, the term is usually considered to include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American B ...

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...

and the

Ying Yang Twins The Ying Yang Twins are an American hip hop duo consisting of Kaine (born Eric Jackson on December 16, 1978) and D-Roc (born Deongelo Holmes on February 23, 1979). Despite the name, the duo are not twins, brothers or related in any way. They d ...

. Actually, nobody ever thought of me really even coming back, period." The U.S. single, "

", peaked at 43, but it was not released in Europe. There, the label released the single "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...

" (featuring Pitbull), which had moderate chart success in Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom. Lumidee made an appearance on ''

MTV Cribs ''MTV Cribs'' (also known as ''Cribs'') is an American documentary television show that originated on MTV and features tours of the private homes of celebrities. It originally aired from 2000 to 2010. In 2017, MTV produced short-form episodes of ...

'', showing her

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

home, which aired on August 6, 2007.

2009–present

On May 13, 2009, Lumidee released a mixtape called ''I'm Up, Vol. 1'' from her label, Logy Music Entertainment. In late 2009, Lumidee worked on another mixtape entitled ''Luminadee'', which was released exclusively on Coast2CoastMixtapes.com in early January 2010. Lumidee was working on an album which was set to be released sometime in 2010, but ultimately it did not materialize. In 2011, she appeared in a re-work of

Remady Marc Würgler (; born on 12 December 1977), better known by his stage name Remady, is a Swiss music producer from Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. ...

's dance hit "No Superstar". In 2011, she collaborated with rapper Somaya Reece on the single "Dale Mami". The video debuted on

mun2 Universo is an American pay television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises subsidiary of NBCUniversal. The network serves as a companion cable channel to the NBCUniversal's flagship broadcast television network NBC and, to som ...

's ''The Urban Tip'' on January 11, 2012. Universal Australia, Toughstuff Germany, and Sony Scandinavia signed "Ring My Bell" by Michael Fall (featuring Lumidee, Rick Elback, and Aziza) for release in 2014. On June 24, 2014, in an interview with Kevin Apaza of Directlyrics.com, Lumidee mentioned starting her own label Logy Music Entertainment. After leaving her previous major label, she will release her EP ''La Luz'' through her label Logy Music Entertainment.

Artistry

Lumidee cites

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a ...

, and

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

as her major influences.Lumidee - biography, photos and more
''eJams.com'' Retrieved 09-16-10

Discography

* ''

'' (2003) * '' Unexpected'' (2007) * ''10 13'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lumidee 1984 births Living people People from East Harlem American women singers American contemporary R&B singers American musicians of Puerto Rican descent Hispanic and Latino American rappers Hispanic and Latino American women singers 21st-century American women rappers Rappers from Manhattan TVT Records artists Universal Records artists 21st-century American rappers