You’re an up-and-coming artist. You’ve traveled half across the world to pursue your dream of becoming the next best music sensation. You’re in one of the biggest cities in the United States that holds hundreds, maybe even thousands of hopeful artists trying to catch their big break. You hear one of the biggest hip-hop/edm rap artists is in town for an ESPY awards after party. Let’s just say his name is a major state. Being the bold go-getter type chick that you are, you strut your stuff down to the party. Not to see Kobe Bryant or Lebron James. Not to find your next baller husband. Not to dance your butt off or show off your new dress you bought and have been waiting for the perfect event to wear it-but to introduce yourself…No, scratch that! You walk in that party to declare your position in the music industry. And what better way to secure your spot as the next best thing to hit the stage than introducing yourself to none other than Flo-Rida. This is exactly what Natalie La Rose did in 2011 at an after party for the Espy’s. Her fierce, bold attitude landed her a musical and amicable relationship with the rapper. Want to know more about the young lady who’s all bark and bite? Look no further. RnB magazine has the exclusive with the beautiful Natalie La Rose.
Born and raised in Amsterdam, Surinamese beauty, Natalie La Rose has known music was something she wanted to pursue at a very young age. “I knew at a really really young age already. As a little girl maybe 9 or 8 years old I created my own song. I used to force my little sister to dance and sing with me. She didn’t always like it but she always had to. I was always into dancing. I could never sit still. I used to be in the grocery store making cartwheels in the middle of the aisle and my mom would get mad. So my mom really knew what time it was. She had to put me on dancing or singing where I could release my energy so that’s what she did. I was 10 years old and I started acting, dancing, and singing in an arts academy, Lucia Marthas Dance Academy, in Amsterdam; that’s where I grew up.” Her musical talents stem from listening to artists from the 80’s such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Michael and Janet Jackson. She also revealed her love for the 90’s era artists like Usher, Mary J. Blige, Blackstreet and Boys II Men.
Amsterdam is known for being an amazing party city that attracts thousands of tourists each year. Being in a major party city such as this can cause some to get engulfed in the “turn-up” life. But not for Natalie. While the world was partying around her, she was too busy doing what she loved, making music. She describes Amsterdam, “It was pretty peaceful. I was living in Southeast Amsterdam. I’ve been living there all my life. I actually still live there. When I’m home I live with my parents in Southeast Amsterdam. All my life actually I’ve been dedicated to music and dance so I was pretty focused growing up doing music and then piano lessons and everything like that so I didn’t really go out that much. They say Amsterdam is a crazy city but I wasn’t into the crazy life that much. I left that to my friends and other people.” The only partying the artist was doing was making music for the party animals to listen to. With her head on her shoulders, she was prepping herself for a lifetime of success.
After graduating high school, the young star packed her bags and made that long trip to Los Angeles. Since childhood, she promised herself, and her parents, she would move to the states and pursue her dream of becoming the next big superstar. She kept that promise and years later, she was off to L.A. This interest to move from her hometown to the fast-paced city of L.A was sparked, “When I was 10. When I started doing music and dancing for real, I told my parents. I was always inspired by music videos from artists from America so I told my parents that’s what I want to be doing and when I graduate school I will move to the states. I was 10 years old and I told my parents I will move to the states when I graduate and that’s exactly what I did. I was done with my school so I was basically open to do whatever I wanted to pursue my dreams and I just moved. I was alone. I went there. I didn’t really have anybody but I was so determined to make it happen that I just went.” Luckily for the beauty, this move turned out to be one she will never regret.
Like many artists, Natalie dabbled in performing in a duo with her best friend. Some of the biggest artists have started off performing with a group. Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, and R. Kelly, just to name a few, were part of major groups during the 90’s and early 2000’s. Being in these groups helped mold them into the successful artists they were today. Learning to work collectively and being team players landed them a successful solo career. Looks like Natalie is on the right path! As just a teenager, she was already performing shows and writing music as a singer in the duo Amsterdam. “That was a duo with me and my best friend. We started it when we were 12 years old. We started writing together, composing on the piano. We did a few performances in Amsterdam. I actually loved what we had going on. We both loved it. Eventually it didn’t work out. It wasn’t the right timing for us. But we’re definitely looking forward to working together when we have time because we’re both busy.”
What was next for Natalie after leaving her home, parents, friends, and life in Amsterdam? The possibilities were endless and the young woman was not going to make this trip a waste of time, money, and energy. She was going to fulfill that promise she made as a 10 year old girl in Amsterdam. She was going to make it big and make her parents proud. So how did she make this dream possible? How did she ensure she would be singing on stage in front of thousands of fans jamming to her music? I’ll tell you how; by approaching one of the biggest entertainers in the game. Natalie heard there was a big party going on for the Espy’s and made her way down to meet the man who would later become her mentor and friend. Flo-Rida is his name and we all know who he is and what he is capable of. “I met him in about 2011. I was living in la and I heard he was performing. I went to the place where he was performing and walked up to him and I said “Hey Flo. My name is Natalie and I think we should work together. I think he was really surprised by that and he was open to listen to my music so I played my music for him. I showed my dance video and he was so impressed that a few weeks later he invited me on tour to perform as his female lead singer; which was amazing because my first performance was in Brazil with a crowd of 4000 people. We did an hour long show and I did all the female parts of his songs. Before you knew it, we went to Australia so I really had the chance to showcase myself in all these wonderful places. That went so well that afterwards I signed to his label I.M.G.”
Was she nervous? Not at all. “I was determined. I’ve always been so determined. I was on a mission. Everything that I was doing in la I was like “ok what is my mission today? What do I want to accomplish?” That day it was Flo and I’m just happy it turned out the way it did.”
Flo-Rida could have completely ignored her. He could have told her he wasn’t interested and went about his business, but he didn’t. He saw something in her and loved her forwardness. Sometimes all it takes is a risk and opportunity and Natalie was not going to let this slip out her hands.
Working with Flo-Rida has been a life experience and the artist is learning a lot about the industry with him as her mentor. “He is a huge inspiration and example for me. He is a mentor. He gave me the chance to experience what his life is about as a superstar really. I’ve been all around the world with him. He has a crazy schedule when he’s on the road, doing interviews, doing shows. He’s working so hard In between he’s always working. And in between, he has so many hits already but still when he’s at home he’ll go to the studio. He’ll write all day, all night to create a hit song. That inspires me to work so hard too. I’m so passionate about what I’m doing and I know I work hard to make it happen.”
Good luck is definitely on the singer’s side. Not only does her talent and beauty strike anyone she comes across, her good spirit captures everyone around her. All Natalie had to do was perform a few songs for Republic records and they were ready to sign her on the same day. How can an artist walk in a record company and leave being an artist on their label? Let’s ask Natalie. “We created a song “Somebody” last year and it got in the hands of Republic records in November. Charlie Walk who’s over at Republic records was like “We love this song. Who’s the girl Natalie La Rose? We don’t know her.” They got to my management and they were like “We want to have this song.” My management was like, “Yes but you’ll get the artist with it. This is her song.” And they were like, “But we don’t know her.” My management said, “Go to YouTube, google her and check her out because she’s been on the road with Flo-Rida for the last few years.” So they looked me up and they were really excited about what they saw and a few days later they flew me over to New York. I performed six songs for them. They loved it so much that I signed the same day.”
“Wow” is the only word I can come up with to describe the success this artist has had since her move from Amsterdam to LA. She has melted the hearts and “turned-up” the ears of many industry professionals and has been working tirelessly to ensure her success presently and in the future. Her single “Somebody” has already rocked the air waves and the video is just as sexy as the song. So how did the new artist come up with the Whitney Houston inspired melody? “A huge inspiration for the song is obviously, “I wanna dance with somebody” by Whitney Houston. We actually didn’t plan it to be like that. It just actually came to be like that. I just told Flo and the writer I was working with that I want to make a fun party anthem about good times and dancing. We started writing. We didn’t have the hook. The hook was empty. We were sitting in the studio for hours thinking how we can make a catchy song out of this and then all of a sudden organically Flo was like “hey I know something. I wanna rock with somebody.” And we were like “Yes. We love it and let’s keep it like that.”
The single has been heard all over the radio, in the clubs, bars, and just about everywhere. If you’ve heard the song, you should have recognized the familiar male voice that is spread throughout. That voice has only been heard on almost every radio station and in the clubs as you’re “twerkin’” and getting your party on. This popular voice I’m speaking of is only from the one and only Jeremih. How does a fresh face like Natalie link-up with Mr. Birthday sex himself, “Initially it was me on the song. I was singing the whole song and we all agreed we needed a male presence for the song just to give it a little more flavor and Jeremih was actually the perfect person that we had in mind for it because he had a huge hit on the radio and he has this perfect radio voice. He sounds so good. So we were like “let’s ask him. Let’s play the song for him.” He was actually in Miami. He came over to the label I.M.G and we asked him “Do you want to jump on it?” and he said “Yes let’s do it.” So he recorded it right away and he sounded so good. He was so quick and professional. We all loved it so we knew then that the song was ready to go.”
The beauty has already started off 2015 successfully. “Somebody” has over 10 million views on youtube and is the official “turn-up” song. Touring is something we can look forward to in the near future for Ms. Natalie. Her tour with Flo-Rida was so successful, she got signed to his label right afterwards. What does this tell you about Natalie? I don’t know about you but I’m sold on the idea of her getting signed by both Flo-Rida and Republic records in a matter of days. She must put on an exciting and entertaining show. The singer told RnB her touring plans and what she hopes to accomplish this year. “Definitely releasing an EP which is coming. I’ve been recording a lot lately. There’s been a couple offers for it. I’ll definitely be doing a lot of performing probably in the US and outside the US because it’s been picking up so I’m definitely looking forward to a lot of performances and releasing new music.” From her track record, I know we will be seeing a lot from her this year.
When she isn’t making music and blowing us away with her angelic voice, the Dutch singer enjoys doing the simple things that makes life so sweet. “I love to travel so actually that’s part of my job too. I have to say I have the greatest job because I’m traveling for work and I do what I love. I live in Miami so I really love to hang out at the beach. I just got an apartment and I look straight out at the beach when I look outside my window which is really really nice. And I love to spend time with my family and going on adventures and making crazy and great memories.” Even when she’s not working she’s working. She’s just like us only has an amazing voice, can dance her butt off, and can ink a deal faster than we can say achoo!
Stage fright? What the heck is that? After performing in front of thousands of fans all over the world with Flo-Rida, Natalie has become accustomed to entertaining her crowd. When asked if she ever got stage fright she responded, “I do. It’s funny because for me it’s scarier to perform for small groups of people opposed to a big group of people. Whenever I get really nervous I take a deep breath in and out and once I’m starting on stage it’s all gone. It’s more of the moments before.” Once she hits that stage, any fear she had leaves instantly and she puts on a jaw-dropping show fans will remember the morning after.
What’s on Natalie’s playlist of “turn-up” music? “Definitely Sam smith. You’ll hear some Kendrick Lamar. Some Michael Jackson. Some Drake. It’s actually a little bit of everything. I’m looking at my playlist right now, I see Big Sean, Musiq Soulchild, Usher, Ty Dolla Sign, Whitney, Pitbull. It’s a little bit of everything.” Her good choice in music tells us something about her swag. She definitely doesn’t lack in the swag department. When asked in one word how she would describe her style, she replied “I would say fun, worldly. I’m an overall person. I love to be around people. As far as my music, rhythmic. I just wanna make people dance. I wanna put a smile on people’s faces and inspire other people.” Putting smiles on our faces is something she definitely has no problem doing. Each time I hear “Somebody” I want to get up dance.
One thing’s for sure, Natalie La Rose is one of the most pleasant, fun, good-spirited people I’ve talked to. As much success she’s gained, she remains humble and thankful for everything she’s been blessed with. I asked her if there was anything she wanted to add and she said,” I just wanna say I’m super excited about releasing my ep. I’m so happy about the positive reactions that I get about “Somebody” and it’s doing so well on the charts already. I’m very happy with the video that we released for it and I’m definitely in good hands with Republic records and Flo-Rida’s label I.M.G.”
What makes an artist is not just their talent, but their spirit and personality that comes along with it. I can see what attracted so many people to her.
As I conclude, I just want to thank Natalie for allowing me and the world to get to know her better. RnB magazine wishes you the best in your future endeavors.
By: Simone Grant
