Melanie Fiona

Melanie Fiona
Melanie Fiona in 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Melanie Fiona Hallim
Also known as	Syren
Born	(1983-07-04) July 4, 1983 (age 28)
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	R&B, soul, jazz, reggae
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2002–present
Labels	SRC, Universal Motown, Universal Republic, Roc Nation
Website	melaniefiona.com

Melanie Fiona Hallim (born July 4, 1983) is a Canadian R&B recording artist. She was born and raised in Toronto.^[1]

Fiona's debut album The Bridge was released in 2009, having collaborated with Future Cut, Vada Nobles, Stereotypes, J. Phoenix and Peter Wade Keusch. The debut single "Give It to Me Right" was sent to radio stations on February 28, 2009, and peaked at number 20 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart and number 41 on the UK Singles Chart.^[2] The second single, "It Kills Me", became her breakout song on the Billboard Hot 100 where it entered the Top 50, along with topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song earned Fiona a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The Bridge also earned her a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding New Artist. In 2012 Fiona won two Grammy Awards for Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song "Fool for You" with Cee Lo Green.

Life and career

1983–2005: Early life and career beginnings

Melanie Fiona Hallim was born on July 4, 1983, in Toronto, Canada.^[3][4] She is the daughter and second child of Guyanese immigrant parents, who immigrated to Canada in the late 1970s.^[3][5] Her parents are of African, Indian, and Portuguese descent.^[1] Her father was a janitor before working in finance, and her mother worked in banking.^[3] Hallim began writing songs at age 16.^[6] Living in a music filled household, Hallim says she always knew music was her passion. Her father was a guitarist in a band and would allow her to sit on the stage when she was younger as he practiced, and remembers her mother playing music at home; from The Ronettes to Whitney Houston.

In 2002, Hallim was briefly involved with girl group X-Quisite.^[7] She was also in a group called The Renaissance with rapper Drake. Early in her career, she would perform at nightclubs in Toronto.^[8] In 2005, Hallim traveled to Los Angeles, in search of a recording contract. According to Hallim, record labels "loved" the way she looked and sung, but she "knew that the minute I worked with them or would have signed with them, they would have tried to change me into someone else completely different. That was something that I didn't want to do."^[7] She went on to co-write songs for recording artists Rihanna and Kardinal Offishall.^[7] Hallim also recorded the reggae song "Somebody Come Get Me" under the stage name Syren Hall, which was included in the Reggae Gold 2008 compilation album.^[9][10]

2007–2010: The Bridge

Fiona performs in Bern, Switzerland at the club Bierhübeli in 2009.

Entrepreneur Steve Rifkind discovered and signed Hallim to SRC Records and Universal Motown through Title 9 in 2007.^[3][7] She went on to tour with Kanye West in his Glow in the Dark Tour^[9] Prior to completing her debut album, Hallim met with recording artist Jay-Z and his friend Tyty. She played them some of her music and was then signed to be managed by Roc Nation.^[11] She released her debut album, The Bridge, in June 2009, which has sold 248,000 copies in the United States.^[9] Beyond Race Magazine ranked Hallim among "50 Emerging Artists" of 2009.^[12] Several singles were released from the album, including "It Kills Me", which topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for 10 weeks and earned her a Grammy Award nomination at the 52nd Grammy Awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.^[7][8] Other singles that were released were "Sad Songs" was released in April 2009 in the UK only as a digital download, with the reggae-tinged songs "Somebody Come Get Me" and "Island Boy" as B-sides. "Sad Songs" did not chart in the UK. "Give It to Me Right" was the first official single from The Bridge. The song peaked at #41 in the UK but failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It did, however, reach #57 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and at #41.

"Monday Morning" charted in Switzerland and Poland at number 1[13][14] and in Austria at number 5. It was released as the third U.S. single, however, "Bang Bang (Melanie Fiona song)"[1] was sent to radio as the second Canadian single for Canadian top 40 & hot AC play, but due to "Priceless" not being released in Canada, "Monday Morning" will serve as the fifth single in Canada due to hot adult contemporary radio station CKZZ-FM (Virgin Radio 953) in Vancouver having the song on its playlist. "Ay Yo" was released as the fourth official single from The Bridge, according to Hallim's website and Twitter. The music video premiered on April 12, 2010. "Priceless" will be the fifth U.S. single due to airplay on urban adult contemporary stations. Due to "Priceless" not being released in Canada, "Monday Morning" will be serviced to Canadian stations as the fifth single, even though "Monday Morning" was released as the third American single.

Hallim participated in "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" to benefit after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. She began touring with Alicia Keys as an opening act on The Freedom Tour in 2010.^[13] The album spawned six singles with one being "It Kills Me" which reached the top spot on US R&B chart.

2011–present: The MF Life

In 2011, Hallim began recording her second studio album. The lead single was entitled "Gone and Never Coming Back." The single peaked at 37 on US R&B chart becoming her second highest peaking song on the R&B chart so far. Later on that year Fiona released her second single, "4 AM" was sent to urban stations on August 30, 2011.^[14] 4am peaked on the US R&B chart at #8, the song was about a lover who had gone out and was cheating on her. The album is scheduled to be released on March 20, 2012.^[15][16][17]

On January 2, 2012, she performed "O Canada" at the NHL Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers at Citizens Bank Park.^[18]

Artistry

Musical style and influences

Hallim cites Whitney Houston, Sam Cooke, Sade, Amy Winehouse, India.Arie, Patsy Cline and Bob Marley as her musical influences.^[5][6][10] She also cited Janet Jackson's career as inspirational, who she called an icon.^[19] She called Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill the album that changed her perspective, calling it an "amazing body of work".^[6] She attributes her parents for her vintage sound. Her father was a guitarist in a band, while her mother would sing around the house. She explained that "[m]y parents were big music lovers and played soul music all the time", who would play The Supremes, The Ronettes and Cooke, as well as Caribbean music like soca, calypso and reggae.^[3][20]

Hallim's occasional songwriting revolves around her personal experiences. She stated that she attempts to "keep [the songs] as universal as possible, unless I am writing about something very personal, even then the themes are universal".^[5] She has received comparisons to Amy Winehouse, Lauryn Hill, Macy Gray, Chrisette Michele, Marsha Ambrosius and Jill Scott.^[21]

Discography

• 2009: The Bridge
• 2012: The MF Life

Awards and nominations

• BET Awards^[22]
  • 2010, Best New Artist (nominated)
  • 2010, Best Female R&B Artist (nominated)
  • 2010, BET Centric Award (nominated)
  • 2010, Video of the Year "It Kills Me" (nominated)

• Grammy Awards
  • 2010, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: "It Kills Me" (nominated)^[7]
  • 2011, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: "Wake Up! Everybody" with John Legend, The Roots & Common (nominated)
  • 2012, Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Fool for You" w/ Cee-Lo Green (won)
  • 2012, Best R&B Song: "Fool for You" w/ Cee-Lo Green (won), presented to the songwriter

• NAACP Image Awards
  • 2010, Outstanding New Artist (nominated)

• Juno Awards
  • 2010, R&B/Soul Recording of the Year: The Bridge (nominated)^[8]
  • 2012, R&B/Soul Recording: Gone and Never Coming Back (won)

• Soul Train Music Awards
  • 2010, Best New Artist (won)

• Eska Music Awards
  • 2010, Best Album: The Bridge (won)^[23]

References

http://freshndef.com/?p=14408

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Melanie Fiona

• Official website
• Melanie Fiona at the Internet Movie Database