Every once in a while, a new musical genre emerges and then creates its own offspring.
Electronica is the music industry's latest discovery, and while it's too soon to tell if
it will be the next "big thing," many artists are incorporating its most
interesting elements into their own style, producing new and exciting sounds. Jocelyn
Enriquez is one such artist, combining the influences of pop, dance, trip-hop and
electronica into her own unique blend on her Classified/Tommy Boy debut album, Jocelyn.
Featuring the smash hit, "Do You Miss Me," Jocelyn is
filled with risk-taking, infectious music that moves from the streets to the clubs to the
charts. With electronica-flavored cuts like "Everything I Need" and "Only
You," heartfelt ballads like "Even If," and the intriguing second hit
single, "A Little Bit Of Ecstasy," Jocelyn is a
reflection of an artist willing to push beyond boundaries. "I never want to be just a
pop singer, or just a dance artist. I never want to limit where I can take my voice,"
Jocelyn explains.
Of the selections on Jocelyn, one of the singer's favorites is
"Kailanman," a haunting song sung in Tagalog, one of the main languages of the
Philippines. Jocelyn's cultural pride is foremost in her mind. "My Filipino heritage
is very important to me, which is why I wanted to do at least one song in Tagalog,"
Jocelyn says.
Jocelyn is actually Enriquez' second full-length album. Her first, Lovely, came out in 1994 on Classified Records. Produced by Glenn
Gutierrez and Elvin Reyes, the album featured the dance hits "I've Been Thinking
About You" and "Make This Last Forever." Classified's track record and
Jocelyn's music caught the ears of Tommy Boy execs, who were so impressed they signed a
joint venture with Classified. Now with her new album, produced again by Gutierrez &
Reyes, along with Joey Gardner, Jocelyn has shifted gears and is ready to jump ahead with
what she hopes will be a lifelong career.
It's a move that she's been preparing for her entire life. Born and raised in San
Francisco, Jocelyn was singing by the age of three and performed regularly at church and
family gatherings. Her parents were early believers and gave Jocelyn the support she
needed to establish a career.
With her family in her corner, Jocelyn studied voice with The San Francisco Girls
Chorus and The San Francisco Opera Company. The rigorous classical training gave her an
invaluable musical foundation and helped her unleash the power in her supple voice, but
Jocelyn's heart lay in more contemporary sounds. "Growing up, I trained in classical
music, but listened to Debbie Harry, Annie Lennox, Aretha Franklin and Madonna, and
learned a lot from studying their music", she says.
All those influences helped Jocelyn develop a dynamic stage show, which she perfected
following the release of her first album. She played throughout the U.S. and opened for a
wide variety of acts, including Jon Secada, Crystal Waters, Keith Sweat, Salt N Pepa, The
Fugees and L.L. Cool J. Now a seasoned performer, Jocelyn's stage show is well honed,
energetic and somewhat exotic.
The years of classical training, followed by extensive touring, lay the groundwork for
her new Classified/Tommy Boy album: more polished, more knowing, and more edgy. Jocelyn is as enticing as the young woman behind it.