A well-rounded second soprano vocalist with the vocal range of Christina Aguilera, the raw emotion of Mary J. Blige, and the musical talent of Alicia Keys, the Young Diva Tess is finally ripe for success. Writing and performing her own music, Tess rejects the cookie cutter sounds that have flooded the R&B scene and instead incorporates Rock, Hip Hop, and soul, tapping into her Latin roots to interpret the most powerful elements of each. The end result is a sound that recording artist Musiq Soulchild calls "the future" and Ne-Yo calls "the truth". Indeed, the Young Diva strokes the musical chords of Hip Hop heads, musicians, and crooners all the same. But the genres of music that Tess pulls from isn’t as impactful as the passion behind the singer. From Tina Turner and Mariah Carey to Sade and La India, Tess blends styles from 80's rock and rap to redefine what rhythm and blues means today.
A Washington Heights and Bronx native, the Hip Hop in her shows itself on the freestyles she records for DJs across New York City, though she admits as a perfectionist she often wants to go back to edit songs. The Young Diva Tess has had several promotional songs air on New York’s Hot 97 FM radio station over the past year and was made it through the final auditions to tour with Musiq Soulchild as a background singer. Along with LifeStar Management, Tess has international DJs BeyondRest behind her, who were recently nominated for an acclaimed Just-O Mixtape Award. The bilingual songstress has not been impressed with her R&B and pop Latina predecessors and awaits the opportunity to record in Spanish without sounding like a cross-over pop ballad or a slighted attempt to ride on the coattails of Reggaeton’s success. When asked to sing spontaneously, Tess replies "Oh, I’m not gonna sing that song, that’s not aggressive enough", and bolts out a Chaka Khan classic.
Although Tess was a good student growing up, she often had her head in the clouds, focused on music and art instead of her studies . After years of private singing lessons and music theory classes, Tess’s vocal range has expanded to five octaves and her desire to perform blossomed as well. All grown up and teetering between innocent and sexy, Tess’s approachable presence is a throwback to TLC’s Crazy Sexy Cool, gaining her cool points with girls and leaving the fellas caught between wanting her for themselves and treating her like a sister. From block parties to concert halls, the performer in Tess spoils her audience with her on-stage exuberance.
A producer’s dream, Tess pens lyrics that bring out musical elements that many artists don’t even hear. In a comeback track she wrote with the legendary Roberta Flack in mind and a radio-ready single for The Pussycat Dolls, Tess’s versatility allows her to create and shop around songs that capture other artists’ personalities. Showing off her ability to make a track sound powerful and smooth at the same time, Tess’s lead single "Backstabbers" creates a groove-filled bounce behind mesmerizing lyrics and a captivating hook, ripping into a girlfriend who puts a man before her. In her most popular ballad "Last to Know", the Young Diva worked with producer Sherrod Barnes, the creator behind Beyonce’s Speechless, and creates a classic and soulful track. In the catchy and inspiring "Swagger Back", Tess appeals to anyone who’s been off the scene or out of the mix with lyrics like "no I don’t care about you or anything you have to say/ my time is now and frankly you’re just in the way".
Not willing to play it safe, Tess refuses to follow a universal formula for success and is up for the challenge of bringing together producers, writers, musicians, and singers from various genres of music to work beyond their comfort zone and create original music. But it’s the ambition behind the talent that’s made Tess want to one day open a nonprofit school for the arts to help talented youth perfect their craft. As much as she rejects the image of a typical R&B artist, the Young Diva Tess encompasses the precise blend of passion, range, and talent, reflecting what many artists aspire to be- a singer, songwriter, and performer.
