Lumidee

Lumidee Cedeño (born October 13, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. Cedeño was born in East Harlem, New York, where she was raised by her grandparents. She quickly rose to fame in 2003 with the release of her song "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)", which reached the top ten in over ten countries and number one in several European countries.

After Cedeño's father died in 1995, she and her four siblings were raised by her grandparents. She began singing and rapping at the age of twelve. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of fourteen, after she was misdiagnosed with lupus.

After graduating high school, she collaborated with a local neighborhood producer named DJ Tedsmooth to record her debut single, "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" for an independent record label called Straight Face. Lumidee cites Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, MC Lyte and Mary J. Blige as her major influences.

2003–06: Almost Famous

She signed with Universal Records, where she released her debut album called Almost Famous on June 24, 2003. Her debut single, "Never Leave You", peaked at number 3 in the United States and number 2 in the United Kingdom, but it was her only hit until the 2007 release of "She's Like The Wind." According to Nielsen SoundScan, Almost Famous sold 276,000 copies in the U.S.

For the next few years, Lumidee was not in the mainstream music industry in the US, instead veering more towards reggaeton and dancehall music. After her hit single "Never Leave You" faded, Lumidee went overseas to continue her musical career in Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. She released MULTIPLE MIXTAPES during the years, which was a mixtape consisting of new material, freestyles and tracks from 'Lumidee was also featured on several tracks in this area, having some success in Europe.

In 2006, Lumidee released a song for the FIFA World Cup album soundtrack entitled "Dance!". It featured a sample of the Whitney Houston track, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." The song was a club hit around Europe, successfully entering the charts in the countries where it was officially released. In the summer of 2006, Lumidee was featured on Frankie Cutlass' 2006 Remix of his classic club hit anthem, "Puerto Rico" featuring Joell Ortiz, Voltio, and Yomo Toro.

2007: Unexpected

In 2007, LUMIDEE was named youth ambassador of theNew York Arthritis Foundation’s Arthritis Walk. On April 17, she released her second album, Unexpected, under TVT Records. In an interview with Vibe, Lumidee spoke about signing with TVT Records stating, "TVT Records is the perfect way for me to come back and again I'm coming out of left field, just like with Never Leave You. Nobody ever thought of me coming back on a street credible label like TVT ... Actually, nobody ever thought of me really even coming back, period." The U.S. single, "She's Like the Wind", peaked at 43, but it was not released in Europe. There, the label released the single "Crazy" featuring Pitbull which had moderate chart success in Germany, Austria and the UK. Lumidee made an appearance on MTV Cribs, showing her New Jersey home, which aired on August 6, 2007.

2009–present

On May 13, 2009, Lumidee released a mixtape called I'm Up, Vol. 1 from her label, Logy Music Entertainment. In late 2009, Lumidee worked on another mixtape entitled Luminadee, which was released exclusively on Coast2CoastMixtapes.com in early January 2010. Lumidee was working on an album which was set to be released sometime in 2010, but ultimately it did not materialize. In 2011, she appeared in a re-work of Remady's dance hit "No Superstar". In 2011, she collaborated with rapper Somaya Reece on the single "Dale Mami". The video debuted on Mun2's "Urban Tip" on January 11, 2012.

Universal Australia, Toughstuff Germany & Sony Scandinavia signed 'Ring My Bell' (Michael Fall Feat. Lumidee, Rick Elback & Aziza) for release in 2014. On June 24, 2014 in an interview with Kevin Apaza of Directlyrics.com, Lumidee mentioned starting her own label Logy Music Entertainment. After leaving her previous major label she will release her EP album titled "La Luz" under her label Logy Music Entertainment.

Studio albums

• Almost Famous (2003)
• Unexpected (2007)

Singles

• Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh) (2003)
• Crashin' A Party (Feat. N.O.R.E) (2003)
• She's Like the Wind (2007)
• Where I Wanna Be (2014)