Adassa's Return

You might remember Adassa -- she was raised in St. Croix, the daughter of Colombian parents, had a single called "Kamasutra" that got some spins back in '05 (well, the remix with Pitbull did!!). Anyway, her debut Kamaxutra was, lackluster to say the least -- a damn shame considering that she could have filled a lane that was wide open. People have been clamoring for another female reggaeton star to follow in Ivy Queen's footsteps, and no one has yet to fill that role. Glory had success with "La Popola" but her project wasn't at all promoted properly. Adassa is young, beautiful, has sex appeal, and a pleasant voice. But here's the thing --- she was marketed incorrectly. She's an R&B singer who is influenced by other genres (dancehall and reggaeton being among them) and marketing her as a reggaeton star just made purists like myself raise their eyebrows, like HUH?

But really, what went wrong the first time around? Well, I have my suspicions... For one, the album was produced by her hubby -- not a good move. Two, homegirl was doing press runs dressed in like khakis and cardigans -- nothing about her said sexy or star (and let's face it -- if you got the looks in this biz, you better flaunt them). Three, she was being billed as a reggaeton artist but in reality, she was doing much more singing on the R&B tip than anything else... She wasn't really SPITTIN' at any point. Four, she isn't from PR and didn't grow up with reggaeton, and yes, it does matter when it comes to reggaeton. If you're not from the island or you haven't studied the genre, it will show in the execution. Five, the album was barely promoted (save some half-assed email blasts). Honestly, on a musical level, it was pretty disastrous.

So I was shocked to hear Adassa is coming back, that she has a new album in April, Adassa, out through Universal Latino. She has a much better press team behind her now and I was happy to see they described her as an R&B singer with many influences (FINALLY, some accuracy up in this piece!!) I was even more surprised when I heard the single (check it at http://www.arecards.com/adassa/) -- I don't care for the sappy hook but I must give her props for her flow on this track. She actually shows she does have some potential as a rapera, and she sounds HARD (a necessity). I must say, even coming in as a skeptic, some of my doubts were put to rest... The album featured Rakim y Ken-Y, Wayne Wonder, Mach and Daddy, and Lennox -- should be interesting....

Give me some feedback on her new single, "La Manera" --http://www.arecards.com/adassaemail/mailadassa.html