MUSIC BOX: Lumidee

Things were not always peaches and cream for hot R&B singer/songwriter Lumidee. Born Lumidee Cedeño in Spanish Harlem, her father died in 1995 and her mother was incarcerated for much of the young girl’s childhood. Consequently, Lumidee and her four other siblings were raised by their grandparents. She began rapping by the time she was 12. Two years later, at age 14, she was first misdiagnosed with lupus, then later correctly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. So severe was her illness that she was confined to her bed. She missed three years of high school, and had to be home-schooled. Doctors predicted she would soon be unable to walk.

But Lumidee would not be deterred. She used the forced bed rest to focus on, and develop, her writing. She eventually returned to school while still maintaining a demanding recording schedule. And she had hip replacement surgery in 2002, which enabled her to dance and perform.

That’s a lot of drama and setbacks for a girl not yet out of her teens. But there was hope and success as well. The singer eventually began spouting rap tunes with the likes of Fat Joe, Gwen Stefani and other notable artists. At age 19, her 2003 debut hit “Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh!)” soared to #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100. In Germany and other European countries, it reached #1. Her second album, the prophetically titled Unexpected, was released just a few months ago.
All this has helped the beautiful Puerto Rican descendant to finally realize what’s really important in life.

“You go through different stages, and different emotions in life, so it kind of all shows in your music,” she explains. “I’ve definitely grown a lot since my last album (Almost Famous, 2003). I’ve experienced different things that I think have made me a better artist. It has made me a better person.

“I’d gotten that writer’s block thing after my first album,” she continues. “I went through a bad situation with the people that I was with. I got to the point that it was, like, really hard for me to do music ‘cause I got a little bit turned off by the music business. It kind of dirtied up everything in music for me and made me feel different about it for a minute.”
But with her energetic persona, Lumidee is hitting the road running. She knows that from here on out, life and her music can only get better.  

“I snapped out of it and I realized, ‘Listen, you know we love this. This is what you do. You know, get it together; bring it back and just build a whole new circle. Everything is not always gonna be nice, peaches and cream. Everything is not gonna always go so great, so you have to learn how to grab the right energy from sometimes negative things.”

Another energizer for the saucy singer is her hip-hop style of being.  “It’s not only the music,” she notes. “It’s the lifestyle. Sometimes people could sing about being in love, and they have never even been in love for real. In the hip-hop thing, it’s more of a lifestyle. It’s the thing that you see; it’s life experiences. It’s the things you want to see; it’s the things you want out of life that you talk about.”

But although this vivacious singer loves the hip-hop style, she refuses to party like a hip-hop star. “I’m a regular around-the-way girl,” she insists. “I definitely don’t go out a lot. I like to cook. I like to hang out with my friends. Everything is real regular about me.”

When asked about her sexy sense of fashion and her thoughts on world beauty, Lumidee smiles and explains,  “Different colors make you feel a different kind of energy. It’s being natural. I’ve always loved pink and yellow. When I first started, I was performing on stage with sweat suits and a new pair of sneakers. And then I realized – I’m a girl! This is not what people really want to see. I’m feeling more feminine, more like a female, more like a woman. And I’ve definitely grown a big love for shoes!”

But rising fame and success have not displaced the most important thing in her life – family. “Learn how to love your family,” she says seriously. “Build with your family, grow with your family. It’s all about people helping each other and trying to get along.  That it.”