CiCi Bella
Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2020 | INDIE
Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
CiCi BELLA
Home
Back
Next
Acclaim
Bio
Photos
Video
Contact
Bio
Some might consider North St. Paul native CiCi Bella to be a late-blooming artist because she didn’t release her first EP until she was 26. There’s an explanation for that: Her emergence as an artist is an extension of CiCi beginning to conquer her struggles with self-esteem, a process that involved her losing 90 pounds in 2014 after becoming vegan. “When that weight came off, I felt better, I felt invincible,” she remembers. Friends and family knew she was a capable singer, hearing her sing along to the radio and around the house. When a boyfriend convinced her to finally start writing music and others in her circle supported her, it was all systems go.
CiCi’s music is influenced by contemporary R&B and jazz, though she also listens to indie, country, and more. “All of those influences, collectively, influence the way I create music,” she says. She’s a gifted vocalist, with an alto mezzo soprano vocal range -- the same as some of her favorite artists, including Toni Braxton and Christina Aguilera. Still, she’s determined to take care of and improve her voice.
In her relatively short time making music, CiCi has developed her artistry. She writes her own songs, but aside from that, she knows that bringing her music to fruition involves investing in herself and taking herself seriously. To her, that’s the “number one” way to convince others to do the same. She records in an established professional studio and makes sure her songs are mixed and mastered properly with help from collaborator Stephen Helvig, who also arranges and produces some of her music. It all adds up to fully formed songs that don’t lack in any aspect.
That’s evident throughout her self-titled debut EP, written during a period of homelessness -- technically, she lived in a recording studio, where she listened to countless instrumentals and wrote to them. With the EP, she wanted to capture a range of styles. “So High,” the first song she ever recorded, is heavily influenced by Braxton. “Walking Alone” is built on a rap instrumental, though it ended up as an R&B song. CiCi’s “absolute favorite” song on the EP is the jazz number “Mr. Right,” written during a time in her life when “guys kept letting me down.” She adds, “I felt like if I wanted anything, I had to do it myself.”
Beneath the surface of CiCi’s music, her music rewards close listening. CiCi firmly feels that mainstream popular culture can be toxic. “I’m very empathetic, so I always think about what other people are thinking,” she says. “When I look at things on TV, even though I don’t have kids, I’m always thinking, ‘What is the adolescent learning? What role models do they have? What are we teaching them?’ Everything that is in the media is so bad, it’s so negative, and it’s so blunt, and it’s so sexual and drug-related or crime-related. There are more things in life than twerking. You can get an education and be smart and independent, and no one can take that away from you.”
Those feelings inform CiCi’s music, but she’s not anti-fame. In fact, there’s a song on her EP called “Celebrity,” inspired by a dream where she was hanging out on the red carpet with celebs including Rihanna and Jessica Simpson. “I do believe that my music is good enough to one day be on the red carpet,” she says.
Truly, CiCi doesn’t seem to have a ceiling as an artist. At the same time, she’s prepared for anything, “win, lose, or fail.” She adds, “I would suggest this to any person trying to pursue music: As long as you have invested in yourself, and you can listen to your music, your songs, your art, whatever it is, and you can say, ‘I tried my hardest, and I did the best I could, and I’m satisfied with it,’ then everything should be OK.”
As of August 2018, CiCi’s immediate future in music involves the making of her debut album, playing shows, and shooting videos to accompany her songs.
-Interviewed & Written by Mike Madden, City Page Journalist - Mike Madden, City Page Journalist
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Some might consider North St. Paul native CiCi Bella to be a late-blooming artist because she didn’t release her first EP until she was 26. There’s an explanation for that: Her emergence as an artist is an extension of CiCi beginning to conquer her struggles with self-esteem, a process that involved her losing 90 pounds in 2014 after becoming vegan. “When that weight came off, I felt better, I felt invincible,” she remembers. Friends and family knew she was a capable singer, hearing her sing along to the radio and around the house. When a boyfriend convinced her to finally start writing music and others in her circle supported her, it was all systems go.
CiCi’s music is influenced by contemporary R&B and jazz, though she also listens to indie, country, and more. “All of those influences, collectively, influence the way I create music,” she says. She’s a gifted vocalist, with an alto mezzo soprano vocal range -- the same as some of her favorite artists, including Toni Braxton and Christina Aguilera. Still, she’s determined to take care of and improve her voice.
In her relatively short time making music, CiCi has developed her artistry. She writes her own songs, but aside from that, she knows that bringing her music to fruition involves investing in herself and taking herself seriously. To her, that’s the “number one” way to convince others to do the same. She records in an established professional studio and makes sure her songs are mixed and mastered properly with help from collaborator Stephen Helvig, who also arranges and produces some of her music. It all adds up to fully formed songs that don’t lack in any aspect.
That’s evident throughout her self-titled debut EP, written during a period of homelessness -- technically, she lived in a recording studio, where she listened to countless instrumentals and wrote to them. With the EP, she wanted to capture a range of styles. “So High,” the first song she ever recorded, is heavily influenced by Braxton. “Walking Alone” is built on a rap instrumental, though it ended up as an R&B song. CiCi’s “absolute favorite” song on the EP is the jazz number “Mr. Right,” written during a time in her life when “guys kept letting me down.” She adds, “I felt like if I wanted anything, I had to do it myself.”
Beneath the surface of CiCi’s music, her music rewards close listening. CiCi firmly feels that mainstream popular culture can be toxic. “I’m very empathetic, so I always think about what other people are thinking,” she says. “When I look at things on TV, even though I don’t have kids, I’m always thinking, ‘What is the adolescent learning? What role models do they have? What are we teaching them?’ Everything that is in the media is so bad, it’s so negative, and it’s so blunt, and it’s so sexual and drug-related or crime-related. There are more things in life than twerking. You can get an education and be smart and independent, and no one can take that away from you.”
Those feelings inform CiCi’s music, but she’s not anti-fame. In fact, there’s a song on her EP called “Celebrity,” inspired by a dream where she was hanging out on the red carpet with celebs including Rihanna and Jessica Simpson. “I do believe that my music is good enough to one day be on the red carpet,” she says.
Truly, CiCi doesn’t seem to have a ceiling as an artist. At the same time, she’s prepared for anything, “win, lose, or fail.” She adds, “I would suggest this to any person trying to pursue music: As long as you have invested in yourself, and you can listen to your music, your songs, your art, whatever it is, and you can say, ‘I tried my hardest, and I did the best I could, and I’m satisfied with it,’ then everything should be OK.”
As of August 2018, CiCi’s immediate future in music involves the making of her debut album, playing shows, and shooting videos to accompany her songs.
-Interviewed & Written by Mike Madden, City Page Journalist
Links
