Post by Adam B on Jan 12, 2006 10:31:26 GMT -5
Natalie Interview
by Adam Bernard
Fantasies can be very powerful. Some people fantasize about fame and fortune, others fantasize about celebrities or high school crushes. Then there are the rare times when fantasy meets reality, like when the phone rings in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday and "Goin Crazy" singer Natalie is on the other line. What's Natalie doing right that very second? "I'm laying on my bunk in the tour bus talking to you." How does one respond when a 25 year old former Houston Rockets dancer who's latest single, "Energy," is getting major radio spins says something like that? One thing's for sure, the only way it could have gotten any better was if the bus was headed to my place.
Of course, it wasn't, but Natalie continued "I am very single. Not to say that I'm not ready to look for the right one but I just haven't found him yet. I like someone who can make me laugh, someone who's very spiritual, has their own goals, someone who can accept what I can do. I'm real big on anyone who can be funny. Happiness is everything."
Personal happiness varies, however. I, of course, enjoyed hearing that she was laying on her bunk talking to me. Natalie's happiness, too, ironically enough, comes from being on the tour bus. Actually it's the reason she's on the tour bus, her suddenly hot singing career. "I always said the only way I'd quit the Rockets is if the singing started doing well.," Natalie explains noting that she was dancing for the team "up until Jan 27th of 2005." "This is something I've always wanted to do," she continued, "I started doing freestyle rapping." Her rapping led her to a friendship with Baby Bash. "I was doing the vocal mixtapes in Houston and I eventually started singing hooks. Bash and a good friend of my mother's recorded me for 'Goin Crazy' and they said I should sing."
Singing complete songs, however, was a new experience for Natalie. She notes "I didn't start singing until a good two or three years ago. 'Goin Crazy' is actually the first song that I wrote that I consider a full singing song which is why that second verse still has that kind of rapping verse that I just sing and put a good melody to." The second verse could almost be considered transitional for Natalie who explains "with the rapping, I'll never forget that because that's how I started." She adds, however "my dream is to be a pop star. Not just another girl who could rap and all that would have stood out was that I'm Hispanic."
Another item that stands out is that she's an NBA dancer turned singer, reminiscent of current American Idol judge Paula Abdul. Natalie is not phased at all by comparisons to Abdul, saying "it feels good to say that I'm the second NBA dancer to do this, following her." "I think it's a good comparison. She did her thing and I remember watching her and thinking I want to do that one day."
Natalie's thing, however, is slightly different from what Abdul's was. The songstress notes that her work is different from Abdul's in that "I don't consider it straight pop and I would say more R&B than anything. There are, I think, one or two songs that are pop songs that are on the album. I don't try to think 'I'll try to make this a pop record' or an R&B record. I'm such a Hip-Hop head it's in me. The way I write, because of my background, it's a little different." She also feels her mid-tempo beats lend more of an R&B feel to her work as well as the subject matter. "The majority of the songs are about love and relationships and that's what I feel R&B is."
The topic matter of her self-titled debut is basically what she's seen in her 25 years. "Everything that I write is pretty much something that I've been through or that I am going through," she explains. "When I get a beat I don't hold back I really do honestly write what I'm feeling. It could be something from four years ago that I'm just feeling at a time." One of her personal favorites from the album is the song "Stay." Her idea for the song was "someone staying with someone forever and you just see happiness in their eyes." "I took everything, family, a relationship that I haven't been in yet but I picture and I see, and people that are married."
There's that happiness factor again. Despite being cooped up in a tour bus Natalie's plenty happy right now. She's busy touring America and her music is already making an impact on radio. Just a handful of months ago she was dancing for sold out crowds, now she's got sold out crowds dancing for her.
by Adam Bernard
Fantasies can be very powerful. Some people fantasize about fame and fortune, others fantasize about celebrities or high school crushes. Then there are the rare times when fantasy meets reality, like when the phone rings in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday and "Goin Crazy" singer Natalie is on the other line. What's Natalie doing right that very second? "I'm laying on my bunk in the tour bus talking to you." How does one respond when a 25 year old former Houston Rockets dancer who's latest single, "Energy," is getting major radio spins says something like that? One thing's for sure, the only way it could have gotten any better was if the bus was headed to my place.
Of course, it wasn't, but Natalie continued "I am very single. Not to say that I'm not ready to look for the right one but I just haven't found him yet. I like someone who can make me laugh, someone who's very spiritual, has their own goals, someone who can accept what I can do. I'm real big on anyone who can be funny. Happiness is everything."
Personal happiness varies, however. I, of course, enjoyed hearing that she was laying on her bunk talking to me. Natalie's happiness, too, ironically enough, comes from being on the tour bus. Actually it's the reason she's on the tour bus, her suddenly hot singing career. "I always said the only way I'd quit the Rockets is if the singing started doing well.," Natalie explains noting that she was dancing for the team "up until Jan 27th of 2005." "This is something I've always wanted to do," she continued, "I started doing freestyle rapping." Her rapping led her to a friendship with Baby Bash. "I was doing the vocal mixtapes in Houston and I eventually started singing hooks. Bash and a good friend of my mother's recorded me for 'Goin Crazy' and they said I should sing."
Singing complete songs, however, was a new experience for Natalie. She notes "I didn't start singing until a good two or three years ago. 'Goin Crazy' is actually the first song that I wrote that I consider a full singing song which is why that second verse still has that kind of rapping verse that I just sing and put a good melody to." The second verse could almost be considered transitional for Natalie who explains "with the rapping, I'll never forget that because that's how I started." She adds, however "my dream is to be a pop star. Not just another girl who could rap and all that would have stood out was that I'm Hispanic."
Another item that stands out is that she's an NBA dancer turned singer, reminiscent of current American Idol judge Paula Abdul. Natalie is not phased at all by comparisons to Abdul, saying "it feels good to say that I'm the second NBA dancer to do this, following her." "I think it's a good comparison. She did her thing and I remember watching her and thinking I want to do that one day."
Natalie's thing, however, is slightly different from what Abdul's was. The songstress notes that her work is different from Abdul's in that "I don't consider it straight pop and I would say more R&B than anything. There are, I think, one or two songs that are pop songs that are on the album. I don't try to think 'I'll try to make this a pop record' or an R&B record. I'm such a Hip-Hop head it's in me. The way I write, because of my background, it's a little different." She also feels her mid-tempo beats lend more of an R&B feel to her work as well as the subject matter. "The majority of the songs are about love and relationships and that's what I feel R&B is."
The topic matter of her self-titled debut is basically what she's seen in her 25 years. "Everything that I write is pretty much something that I've been through or that I am going through," she explains. "When I get a beat I don't hold back I really do honestly write what I'm feeling. It could be something from four years ago that I'm just feeling at a time." One of her personal favorites from the album is the song "Stay." Her idea for the song was "someone staying with someone forever and you just see happiness in their eyes." "I took everything, family, a relationship that I haven't been in yet but I picture and I see, and people that are married."
There's that happiness factor again. Despite being cooped up in a tour bus Natalie's plenty happy right now. She's busy touring America and her music is already making an impact on radio. Just a handful of months ago she was dancing for sold out crowds, now she's got sold out crowds dancing for her.