Ricardo

This R&B artist’s name is Ricardo Bailey and he is an aspiring R&B/Hip-hop singer/songwriter. Ricardo has always had an interest in music. He looks at music as the soundtrack to life, and as a release from stressful and difficult situations. Ricardo was constantly exposed to music from an early age. His mother would play records by Otis Redding and the Temptations as well as other soul artists from the 60’s and 70's. Ricardo also sang classical music in various school choirs while in elementary, middle and high school. During his junior year in high school he was selected to participate in a choir which performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City. In addition, Ricardo has sung in his church choir during his childhood and teen years. During his childhood and adolescent years he became very influenced by R&B and hip hop artists who came out during the late eighties through the early part of the 2000’s. Now as an adult, Ricardo is still influenced by hip-hop and R&B today.

In the fall of 1998, Ricardo entered St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and began singing in the university gospel choir. He now lives in Philadelphia and has a degree in Marketing (May 2002), and it is his dream to make music his career. In 2004, Ricardo competed in and was a finalist in an Apollo styled talent show sponsored by Miss Jones formerly of WPHI FM in Philadelphia, now of Hot 97 in New York. After this performance, he met a producer who told stated to him that he should start writing and recording his own songs. After this encounter, Ricardo began to work on songs of his own. He has also performed at the “Five Spot” and “Warmdaddy’s” in Philadelphia during open mic nights. In addition, Ricardo has also performed at the “Cutting Room” located in New York City in January 2005. Currently he is working on an album and collaborating with local emerging rap artists in Philadelphia on their projects. Ricardo’s motivation for making music would be to touch people’s emotions.