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Recent Natalie interview she had
Now before you bash me, read the whole thing first.
Natalie Speaks
The Houston pop star talks about music, dancing, and the competitive nature of the music biz.
by Spence D.
October 17, 2006 - When it comes to the rash of modern day R&B-***-Pop singers, especially those of the female persuasion, the words "diva," "untalented," and "disposable" are what usually spring first to mind. Let's face it; the young pop oriented femme fatale has always been more about the soft sell of sex than actual singing ability. Luring the young girls and perverted men into the bubblegum fold via sensual videos and airbrushed album covers has become the norm. Given the current climate of such things, it would be all too easy to lump Houston's Natalie into just such a category. After all, she strikes some rather suggestive poses on the cover (and subsequent gatefold insert) of her self-titled sophomore album. One would naturally expect her to be rolling deep with an entourage, ducking paparazzi while slipping the tongue into the mouth of her latest male conquest.
How refreshing to actually get a direct call from the triple syllabled, one named pop starlet herself. No intermediary, no hour delay, but instead a prompt, cheerful call. What's more is that she called on her day off. And not just any day off, but one in which she had been spending some much needed quality time with her mom and sister at home (they went to lunch at Mama Sita's, which Natalie claims "is the best Mexican food, ever"). Yes, this is not your typical pop starlet in training. One reason for this might be the fact that while her peers are barely out of their teens, Natalie is a rather mature 27. Sure, 27 seems young, all things considering, but in pop years it's actually quite old.
"I think definitely everybody has their timing," she muses. "At 27, and I mean there are artists who are older than me in the industry, but everyone now is around 24, 25, and have been doing it for three or four years. I have been trying to get into the business for a very long time, since I was like 18 or 19-years old. I think it's all about timing. No matter how old you are, it's all about how you act and how you carry yourself. I think being 27 in this business at this time and at the rate that I'm going, my mind is more clear, I'm more focused and I understand what I need to do for my career. I think 27 for me is a good age to be in this industry."
Another thing that sets Natalie apart from the other pop singers currently inhabiting the charts is that she didn't get her start in the clubs or on some Disney Channel sitcom. Instead she came up from the ranks of the Houston Rockets cheerleading squad. If you were to comment on the similarity between Natalie's career and that of a certain Ms. Abdul, you'd be rather prescient, indeed. "She was definitely an influence and an inspiration to me," says Natalie. "I remember watching her videos and signing her songs when I was in Junior High. It's so funny because when I joined the Houston Rockets and I was dancing for their dance team, I didn't even want to be an entertainer at that time. My first couple of years I was so into choreography. I wanted to choreograph for artists like Janet Jackson and J-Lo and I wanted to go on tour with them. I was the one girl that was always singing and dancing at the same time on the team and then I eventually started to sing. I always remembered that the only person who had ever done this that I know of that jumped into the music industry out of cheerleading, was Paula Abdul. I was like 'Man, if she can do it…'Here was this girl who was just a Lakers' girl and then…I' d watched behind-the-scenes footage of her and her story was very similar to mine. So I was like 'Wow, I can do this!' So she was definitely an inspiration."
An alternate avenue of inspiration is her music itself. Natalie more or less envisions dance moves to each of her songs while she's creating them. "I'm a dancer at heart and any time I hear a beat that's gonna make me move, I automatically [break out dancing]," she laughs. "It's like writing a song to me. I can hear a song, especially a song off of my album, and I have so many ideas running through my head of what it should look like on stage or for a video or how I would want to move and create movements to my words. I was doing a lot of the choreography for the dance team when I was with the Houston Rockets. I used to say 'One day I'm going to choreograph my own music.' I wanted to do it so bad that I knew one day I was gonna dance to my own songs and have my own dancers. Now here I am."
Writing and singing your own songs is one thing. Coming up with your own dance moves is another. But the real capper is that Natalie is an accomplished shower singer. Yes, she sings in the shower, guys! "I sing in the shower like crazy," she says somewhat sheepishly. "It's never my own songs, either. It's always like the hardest songs, ever, like a Celine Dion song or something crazy just to throw my range out there and see if it's possible. And it always sounds better in the shower. It really does!"
Sudsing up and singing in the warm mist of a morning shower aside, Natalie takes her job seriously. Whether it's her former connection to professional sports that creates the analogy, she views the whole process of being a pop singer as just another form of competitive interaction. "This is a competition," she says of the music world. "We're all trying to play on the same team and we're all trying to be starters. Every day you always have to remember that there's someone better than you, someone prettier than you, someone that's gonna want this more than you. But, you know, I'm a fighter. I definitely know that there's competition out there, but all I can keep doing is being me and do my best at it and keep shooting for the stars, basically."
I know Natalie can do it. If she has the right management, and she is promoted properly....she's gonna become a big name soon enough.
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