The Study of Racialism

G-Man · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2992 }

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1225203,00.html

Language Art
Introducing reggaeton's secret star: Deevani -- otherwise known as record label CEO A. Ines Rooney -- lends eclectic, multilingual vocals to hits by Daddy Yankee and others

By Simon Vozick-Levinson
Last summer, Daddy Yankee's ''Mirame'' tossed a new ingredient into reggaeton's sonic melting pot: a delicate Hindi-language hook, sung by someone called Deevani. ''Mirame'' reached No. 5 on Billboard's Latin Tropical Airplay chart. But just whose pitch-perfect Bollywood falsetto was that? Googling ''Deevani'' turned up dead ends. In fact, it was a pseudonym chosen by a shy member of reggaeton's royalty: A. Ines Rooney, the multilingual CEO of influential label Mas Flow. Rooney, who was born in the Dominican Republic but currently splits her time between Puerto Rico and New Jersey, helped her little brother's duo, Luny Tunes, become the superproducers behind ''Gasolina'' and countless other smashes. But years earlier, she became fascinated by her first husband's traditional Bengali heritage. Now, with her voice guesting on another radio hit, Deevani has publicly identified herself for the first time. She sat down with EW.com in New York to talk about her cross-cultural perspective, her upcoming solo debut, and whether she'll ever be totally ready for her close-up.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: ''Flow Natural,'' Tito ''El Bambino'''s new single featuring you and Beenie Man [stream it on MySpace], was in the Top 40 on both Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart and its Latin Rhythm Airplay chart last week. Is it weird that one of the hottest new acts on your label is you?
DEEVANI: That's why sometimes I speak of Deevani in the third person. I'm like, Deevani is just another artist. She has a project, an album, she has to wait in line for producers to have time to record her vocals. When I'm Deevani, I'm not Ines, CEO of Mas Flow, basically.

Do you feel tempted to become Deevani full time?
Not really. I don't think I belong there. I have three children. I know what it's like to be an artist — I manage them, so I know they have to be away from their family. My children already went through their parents' divorce. I don't think Deevani's going to do a tour.

But you're working on a solo Deevani album now, right? What's that going to sound like?
I think I might be writing in maybe seven languages. I'm not going to be shooting at one particular market. Right now I want to write some songs in Bengali, because that's my children's father's language. With all that's going on in the world, the war and everything, I really want people to know that there's more to Asia and the Middle East. There's just so much to learn from their music, what kind of people they are. And really I feel so strongly about it that I am going to sing in Arabic. I'm also thinking of singing some bachata, which is from [the Dominican Republic]. It's kind of like our underground music. Which is no more underground now — it's being accepted more and more in other Latin American countries. So it's going to be a very multicultural album.

How'd you pick up all those languages?
I basically created my own system to learn a language. All I have to do is, first of all, go to the [record] store. I ask somebody, ''What do you think would be the best singer right now? Pop, something that's not going to bore me.'' And I get their music in that language. In French, for example, I bought the entire French album by Celine Dion. She's one of my favorites. And I learned all the songs. That's how I start. I don't learn ''How are you?'' and ''How do you do?'' and the colors and the days of the week. That's not my way.

The parts you sing on ''Mirame'' and ''Flow Natural'' are both taken from Bollywood movies. How'd you first get into that genre?
I am a Bollywood maniac! When I married my ex-husband, he introduced me to Bollywood. I needed that, to learn his language. So I got the Bengali tapes, the soap operas, which are very big in Bangladesh. And then I went to Jackson Heights [in Queens, N.Y.] one day, and I see all these movies. I think I bought 300 the first time.

Has everyone embraced the direction you've taken with your singing?
A lot of people comment. Some people are like, ''Wow, that's great that you know all those languages, and that's great that you sing in Hindi, but does that mean you're forgetting your Dominican roots?'' It's not. I actually think I'm taking my being Latino to a whole new level. I'm showing people that we can really do whatever we want, not only as a Latino person but as a woman.

Have you seen the influence going the other way, from reggaeton to the rest of the world?
All my Indian friends tell me, ''Now I find myself hearing reggaeton, and now I listen to bachata, and oh my God, what a beautiful music it is! And now I go online and I look up the Dominican Republic.'' People from Asia are starting to be interested in my little island out here in the Caribbean. I think that's awesome. I don't want to be a star, but if I can do something and if I can make these people look to other places on the map, I think that's something worthwhile.

Here's a link to Sepia Mutiny discussion about her: http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/004251.html