As Senegal kicked off the month of April by celebrating the 50th anniversary of its independence on April 4, Golden ICONS ends the month by highlighting a rising Senegalese singer/producer: ISSA.
ISSA (pronounced “ee-sah”) is a rising singer/songwriter/producer on the Portland music scene as well as internationally. Born in Dakar, Senegal, his musical style blends various styles, including contemporary R&B, pop, and reggae. Since making his way to the U.S. a few years ago, his star has been on the rise. In addition to playing in venues around the world, in August of 2008, ISSA was selected as BET’s Ya Heard? Break-out Artist of the Month for ”Used to Be the One,” the first official single and video from his upcoming album ”The Rules of Attraction.” ISSA also has several of his songs featured on the Nigerian filmmaker Pascal Atuma’s popular comedy film “My American Nurse 2.”
Things continued to heat up in the summer of 2009 when ISSA was selected as a top finalist in LL Cool J’s First Annual Boomdizzle All-Star Competition to discover the next great artist. An all-star panel of music legends and industry experts—including LL Cool J, DJ Cut Creator, Marley Marl, and Violator Management—chose ISSA as one of the finalists to compete for a major record deal and a chance to perform with superstar LL Cool J. ISSA was chosen from thousands of artists for his modern rendition of Phil Collins’ Grammy-winning hit song, “Another Day in Paradise.”
As part of his summer club tour, in July 2009 ISSA performed in Portland as the opening act for recording artist Jay Sean’s single release party for the hit single “Down.” Later that summer, ISSA was selected by Portland radio station Jammin 107.5 as one of eight top finalists competing for a chance to open for LMFAO at their summer 2009 Dew Tour concert.
2010 kicked off with ISSA continuing his popular streak with the radio stations. In January, Akon announced ISSA as the challenger artist to be featured for week 11 on Akon’s new Hitlab Radio Show on Virgin Radio 99.9 FM, on which ISSA’s single “Blowin up My Phone” was featured. Later that spring, ISSA was selected again by Jammin 107.5 as a top finalist—this time in their contest to open for Snoop Dogg.
In anticipation of his upcoming mixtape “Reach the Starz,” ISSA has produced a hot remix of Rihanna’s #1 Billboard hit “Rude Boy.” Titled “Rude Girl,” ISSA’s male version of the song has been well received by music fans and industry insiders alike, and within days of release, the song received over 10,000 views on YouTube. Further supporting its popularity, the song has been added to the playlists of radio and club DJs from the U.S. to Europe and Australia. “Rude Girl” is available as a free download on ISSA’s website: http://rihanna.issamusic.com.
For more information on ISSA, visit http://www.issamusic.com.
Join ISSA on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/issamusik
Follow ISSA on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ISSAmusic
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Click play to listen to: Another Day in Paradise [sc_embed_player_template1 fileurl=http://goldenicons.com/audio/ISSA/Another_Day_in_Paradise_ISSA.mp3]
VIDEOS:
“Rude Girl” (“Rude Boy” remix):
“Used to Be the One” (BET Official Selection):
