MELISSA JIMENEZ

“My mother told me long ago / Look inside yourself / And then you’ll know / You have the strength / To reach your dream.” (from album song: “I’ll Try”)
*BACKGROUND HISTORY*
Melissa Jiménez hasn’t been singing since she was born… it just seems that way. The 23-year-old New York native, New Jersey-raised performer says her parents swear she was carrying a tune by the time she was one, but it wasn’t until Melissa was 14 that she joined her father Horacio’s 10 piece Orchestra, stepping in for her mom Maria and never turning back.
That story begins with a young Melissa curious about her father’s job and dreaming about following the footsteps of her musical idols, like Janet Jackson as a young girl, before she discovered jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James and Billie Holiday, and then emulated multi-octave belters such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey.
She began putting her thoughts on paper and writing songs at 14, shortly after joining her father’s orchestra. Melissa learned the basics of playing the piano and enjoyed taking a variety of dance lessons in ballet, jazz, modern, African, mambo and hip-hop. At the age of 13, on her very first opportunity to sing on a big stage and open to criticism, she auditioned amongst hundreds of older candidates. She made the cut to perform on an amateur night at the world-famous Apollo Theater in Harlem. She received a standing ovation and the next day her first recording contract offer. Melissa stayed in High School and went on to be named one of the top soprano vocalists in New Jersey.
There is always a National Anthem performance in the lives of talented singers and in Melissa’s case that experience is not an exception. She has a collection of performances at very prestigious venues leaving thousands of people asking; Who was that girl?. Her renditions of the National Anthem created a demand and as of now she has performed for tens of thousands at venues like Giants Stadium for the Giants vs Jets game and other important professional soccer matches, at Madison Square Garden for a World Championship fight, and in 2002 at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the 9/11 memorial, where in the presence of government officials including N.Y. Governor George Pataki and N.Y.C. Mayor Rudy Giuliani, her rendition of “Amazing Grace” brought many in the crowd to tears.
“Performing live is the easiest thing for me,” she says. “I love it. If you need me to sing, don’t hold back from putting me on the spot. I’m ready at a moment’s notice. This is what I was born to do.”
*CREDITS*
While she was still in High School, the Sugar Hill label took notice of Melissa and she went on to do some recordings with them, then she moved on and hooked up with the Ruff Ryders posse, appearing on albums by Drag-On and working with Styles P and Swizz Beatz. Some time later connected with former Roc-A-Fella founder Damon Dash, working with N.O.R.E. and rapper Beanie Sigel. Credited as Melissa, she appeared on Sigel’s hit single and video, “Feel It in the Air,” from his 2005 Platinum-certified album The B. Coming. Melissa also wrote and performed “Dance With Me,” on the Forest Whitaker-directed major motion picture First Daughter, with Damon Elliott, son of Dionne Warwick. A connection with producer Swizz Beatz led to her appearance on “Take the Lead (Wanna Ride),” with Bone Thugs N Harmony and Wisin & Yandel featuring Fatman Scoop, used in the Antonio Banderas film, Take the Lead.
Melissa is featured in two songs on Wyclef Jean’s “Carnival Vol.II Memoirs of an Immigrant” currently in stores. One of the songs is called “Selena” and is a tribute to the late Tejano singer Selena. She went on a mini US and Europe tour promoting the album and the song “Selena” receiving a great reaction from the crowds. You can also see the performances on line, Yahoo Live, AOL Sessions and Soundcheck sponsored by Walmart, amongst others.
*THE SIGNING*
After all the great experiences and still looking for the right situation Melissa’s cd ended up on the desk of an ambitious intern at SRC Records named Jamaal Meeks aka Reality (now her A&R rep), who managed to get the label’s renowned head, legendary hip-hop executive Steve Rifkind, to take a listen. “Jamaal believed in it the moment he heard it,” she says, and so did Rifkind, who asked that a meeting be arranged with the artist.
In a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction scenario, shortly after hearing the demo, Rifkind attended a wedding at which, unbeknownst to him, Melissa was singing as part of her father’s orchestra. He tried to talk to her at that time, but she had already left the building. When Melissa showed up to Rifkind’s office for the arranged meeting, the executive realized she was the same singer he had seen at that wedding. Before she knew it, Jiménez was belting out Whitney Houston’s “I Believe in You and Me” in front of a conference room full of executives including Universal Music Group Chairman Doug Morris and Universal Motown President Sylvia Rhone. She was signed on the spot.
“They wouldn’t let me out of the building,” marvels Melissa. “They just welcomed me to the label. It was the best day of my life”
*THE ALBUM*
That journey will culminate with the release of her impressive SRC/Universal Motown Records debut album, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” hits the stores. This will mark the arrival of this multi-talented artist who is equally adept singing, dancing, songwriting, arranging and producing, a combination that has industry insiders captivated. Her voice alone has listeners calling her a cross between Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. “MJ”, as her close friends call her, worked with a variety of collaborators to produce this album, from well-known producer/writers like Grammy-winning Bryan Michael Cox (Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown), Grammy-winning Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, etc..), Mario Winans, Trackmasters, KNS to up-and-comers like her longtime partner Tyrice Jones, with whom she first recorded the soaring ballad, “I’ll Try,” five years ago before nailing it for her major-label bow.
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered” shows off her skills, with high-energy club buzzers and a nod to her Latin roots, soulful emotional R&B ballads and the autobiographic epic “I’ll Try,” sporting a wide-screen production and massive vocal choir.
“I took a real aggressive approach to making this album,” she says. “I don’t like to just sit there and have someone feed me a song. I prefer being part of the energy, part of the creative process. This album holds emotions I've encountered and some that I personally lived through.”
“When people ask me what this album is about, I just tell them that since I was a baby music always brought joy into my life and it kept getting better and better each day. Each time I heard a song I heard a story embraced by music. I always felt that was the coolest thing in the world. Ever since I started to put two and two together, I knew what I wanted to do in life. So I hope you don’t think it’s generic but the album is about fun, romance and high emotions, about your everyday ordinary people, but making you feel good. Sometimes a fairy tale, sometimes a true story. There’s nothing fake about it. I could sit here and tell you -it’s all about “me, me, me- but naa’, it’s about many people … including me … LOL!”
*IN RETROSPECT*
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered” is the result.
“My inspiration was to make an album in which every song is special, with no filler,” explains Melissa. “I wanted to challenge my abilities as a singer, songwriter and producer. I put a lot of pressure on myself.”
Melissa Jiménez took her time learning and working for this moment and enjoyed every second to get to this point.
“I could have had a record deal when I was younger, but I feel I’m better able to appreciate it now,” she says. “Things were not handed to me on a silver platter. I’m keeping myself close to the ground because nothing has really happened yet. I have ideas, visions and dreams of what I’d like to do, but right now, I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to make this album a success.”
“It’s a beautiful thing playing all those events and weddings,” she laughs. “I already know what I would want for my own.”
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*SHOWTIME*
*THE INDUSTRY*
*GOODTIMES*
*LATIN BILLBOARD AWARDS WITH THE KUMBIA ALL STARZ*
*KUMBIA ALL STARZ VIDEO & TOUR*
*DREAMS COME TRUE; WITHOUT THAT POSSIBILITY, NATURE WOULD NOT INCITE US TO HAVE THEM*
-John Updike