SONG OF THE DAY: Mayra Veronica – Mama Yo

From the ’50s to the ’30s, Mayra Veronica has found a niche and is brilliantly updating iconic music with current styles. As the face for ’50s pinup model Bettie Page’s fashion line, she topped the chart last year with “Mama Mia,” a Latin-flavored jam that started as a club dub and became a pop hit thanks to a topline co-written by Luciana and a sexy video that went viral. For “Mama Yo,” she channels Carmen Miranda and updates her 1939 movie classic “Mam?e Eu Quero” by teaming with ’30s swing revivalists Sweet Life Society and again with Miss Luciana. The results are playful and funky with a modern swing vibe not dissimilar to what Yolanda Be Cool did with “Americano” a few years back. So it comes as little surprise that Mayra reached out to the funky Aussie for a remix and the result is just as fun as the original. The effects and pumped-up energy make “Mama Yo” transcend the swing-house genre to become an instantly memorable pop/dance record that could cross over to mainstream radio all over the world, just like “Americano” did. Don’t worry DJs, if swing isn’t your thing, there are also aggressive electro mixes by the Dutch brothers Ruben and Jente Bootsman, better known as the Boots Men. The bang it out in the traditional Dirty Dutch style while keeping enough of the vocals in place so you know its Mayra in the mix. As Major Lazer says in his track “Buma Ye,” “Watch out for this!”

Image Courtesy of Blanco y Negro.

INTERVIEW: Luciana (2013)

It?s hard not to have a crush on Luciana.??The British minx has sung with her unique chant style on so many of the biggest records of recent memory ? ?Yeah Yeah? (Bodyrox), ?I Like That? (Static Revenger and Richard Vission), ?We Own the Night? (Tiesto & Wolfgang Gartner), and ?Something For the Weekend? (Dave Aude).?In addition to working with all of these massive producers, she also writes for other artists, and if you listen closely you can even hear her influence on pop superstars.??I caught up with her at Promo Only Summer Sessions where her she literally rocked the House of Blues stage.??If she ever performs in your area, be sure to rush to front of the stage because you will definitely like that..

DJ Ron Slomowicz: Hey, how are you enjoying Atlantic City?
Luciana: I am really happy to be in Atlantic City. It was really nice coming from the airport because it started raining and it reminded me of London for those few minutes.

RS: Are you living in London or the US more now?
Luciana: I am in the process of getting my green card, so I am living in Los Angeles and I want to stay, I love the sun.

Continue reading INTERVIEW: Luciana (2013)

SONG OF THE DAY: Mayra Veronica “Mama Mia” (UK Version)

Oh wow, this sounds like it’s gonna be massive! ?Back in January, Mayra Veronica released the spanish-flavored “Ay Mama Mia,” which we described as having the festive vibe of classic Miami Sound Machine songs updated with modern elements and sounding like “Get Get Down” from Paul Johnson.? After topping the Billboard Chart, the song got picked up by SyCo for UK pop release.? The new pop version is fully fleshed-out with a two new vocal toplines, both sung by Mayra. The bridge brings in the vocal line “Get Get Down,” turning it into a command to dance while paying homage to the ’90s house classic. The second line has a Luciana-like feel, with playful lines (“hot like jalape?o”), which essentially makes herself her own featuring artist. Rather than bringing in Pitbull or another guest rapper, she did it all herself. It’s not as multiple personality as say an Azealia Banks or Nicki Minaj record, but the distinctly different vocal lines take what was essentially a floor-filling dub with minimal vocals and turn it into a fully-realized pop record. In addition to the updated mixes by Dave Aude, Sick Individuals, Chocolate Puma, Robbie Rivera, and Razor N Guido, a new and aggressive mix by Genairo Nvilla blends the dirty dutch sound with tribal grooves for an energetic take just for big room European clubs. Add up the elements – ’90s house sample, spanish vibe, talk-sing vocals, a latin bombshell artist – and with the promotion power of Simon Cowell’s SyCo label, you got what could be a massive summer radio and club smash around the world.

Image Courtesy of Syco.