The Onez

Carmen Berretta "The Music Inside Her Soul"
Feature by Stacy Christoforidis
It’s a fundamental given that artists struggle days, nights to reach a position near the top. Write, record, produce, promote, perform, invest, and the same routine recycles itself when over. A large portion of these performers give up before they move forward, afraid or disappointed by the massive amount of work necessary to succeed. Female artists face the harshest criticisms and have the larger barriers to overcome. Carmen Berretta, a young, outgoing and inspiring R&B vocalist and songwriter,
decided a long time ago that this was meant to be her struggle. Blessed with multi-talents in writing lyrics, singing and dancing, consequently being a satisfying performer, this 21-year-old Bronx-born diva-in-the-making works endless days to satisfy her hungry desire for music in every sense. With her album circulating iTunes and Yahoo and her jam-packed video underground, it’s hard not to know about Carmen. And as down to earth, spunky, energetic, but, most of all, real as she is, music mainstream would be brighter with her in it.

MH2: Growing up, you witnessed rough surroundings, however, went through a nourishing childhood. Do you regret anything in the way you were raised?

CARMEN: Oh, no, no! I was raised and built like this for a reason. You know, this business is not easy and I’ve been struggling for a couple of years now trying to make it. I guess I’m built for it. I’m used to all the roughness and having to stand up for myself and stand up for what I believe in. My struggle made me want things a whole lot more. I’m really hungry right now; I’m a hungry and struggling artist right now.

MH2: What’s something you’ve learned growing up that you use today as an inspiration or a motivator to keep you grinding?

C: Basically, at the end of the day, it all depends on yourself, whether you really want to do it or not. You can have the help from everybody around you and if you don’t have the will, you won’t get anywhere. That’s what I learned growing up: nobody’s going to do anything for you. If you really want something, you’re going to get up and do it yourself. That’s the one thing that I learned growing up in the surroundings that I did that is helping me and has helped me.

MH2: What makes you different from any other female R&B artist out now?

C: Well, one thing is that I’m a Hispanic girl doing R&B. I guess that’s one thing that makes me different. As for my voice, I haven’t heard anyone who has the specific tone that I have, so that’s different. My lyrics, of course, I haven’t experienced everything that everybody else that’s been in the business has. A lot of those girls have been in the business for a couple of years already; I haven’t. I’m still hood, I’m still street. So I guess I have an advantage where I’m closer to the street, so I can bring a
real hood side to R&B. I can almost get as a rapper but still stay true to R&B.

MH2: Being a Latina, you have a lot to be proud of, seeing how far Latinos have come in music within the past few years. Besides singing in English, do you sing in Spanish as well?

C: Well, when I was young, I sang at church. That’s how I learned Spanish, to read it, write it and sing it. Do I prefer to sing in Spanish? I prefer to sing in English because I consider myself to be Latin-American. I’m a New Yorker. I speak English and that’s my first language. I can sing in Spanish and I do sing in Spanish but I prefer to sing in English. It’s just more comfortable for me as an artist.

MH2: Being the nosy person that I am, I stumbled across your MySpace and saw you ended a blog with the words My Style, My Words, My Voice. You tell me the first words that come to mind when I say ‘your style:’

C: Unique, rough.

‘Your words:’

C: Rough, rough around the edges, not metaphorical. I like to be direct, very direct. If I’m writing a song about how much I hate you, I’m going to say how much I hate you. As I’m writing or recording, which Max, my producer, he knows firsthand, if the song has a certain feel to it, whether it be angry, sad, I get into that mood, the emotion comes out. So if I’m writing a sad song, I am sad. I bring the emotions forward. So when you hear my style, my music, if I’m angry in a song, you’re going to hear me pissed off. If I’m happy, you’re going to sense it. That’s another thing that sets me apart from everybody.

‘Your voice:’

C: My voice? I’ve been singing since before I can talk. I love singing. Even if I wasn’t a good singer, I’d still be singing. It’s just a feeling that I get. I’m a songwriter so I’ve been around a lot of singers as well. I’ve worked with Huey Dunbar, and he has an amazing voice, but I don’t think there’s anyone that sounds like me.

MH2: Tell me about your album, The Music Inside. Why didn’t it make it to stores?

C: The Music Inside of My Soul is only available online right now. We have it available on iTunes, on Yahoo! Music and a couple of other sites. You can also get it on MySpace. I have a store on my page where you can download the songs or download the whole album if you’d like.

MH2: You’ve worked with a couple of big timers like Big Tigger. What are some other names you’ve worked with, whether it be collabo or production?

C: I’ve worked with, production-wise, Bryan Michael Cox. He does production for Usher, Mariah Carey, a lot of R&B from the south, Keisha Cole. I’ve also worked with Cuban Link, Noriega, a lot of Spanish rappers, guys who are famous in Ecuador, etc. I want to be all over the place. I want ot be in everything.

MH2: Who do you look up to in the industry?

C: If anything, I look up to my producer, Max. He is someone who has had the opportunity to have his song played on the radio and has done well and the album has sold. He also has a very humble sense. And I see that and I want to be that. I think someone who inspires you is someone who has qualities
that you see and you want in yourself and he has a lot of good qualities: the humbleness, the fact that he’s around big stars all day, every day and he does not act like it. He’s such a real person, real down to earth. At heart, he’s still hood because he’s from out here in the Bronx, the projects. But he’s done stuff in his life. And he’s never forgotten where he came from and I really look up to him for that.

MH2: Since you’re still in the molding stages where you have to keep hustling, you write and sometimes record in the same day. Is it overwhelming?

C: No! I’m naturally hyper. Just the way I am, I’m off the wall. I have a lot of energy. I’m used to writing and working very fast. So I’m used to writing, recording and then going performing the same day! It’s not overwhelming, I actually love it. And then, when it’s not hectic, I feel weird.

MH2: What keeps you going, besides your energy?

C: Besides my natural energy, music. I love music. I listen to everything from classic to rock to hip hop to soul to old school, new school, stuff from the Middle East, African music,everything. I love that so I think that’s the only thing that keeps me going, the fact that I want to be a part of that, too. I want to have music that people want to listen to.

MH2: You take a lot of pride in your fans. What do they mean to you and what do you hope they take out of your music? How do you wish to touch them?

C: I see my fans as family members; they’re just extended family members of mine. When I write music and when I do stuff, some of the stuff I write about, I experience myself and some of the things I write about, I see happening to other people. Crazy as it is, sometimes, a lot of us go through the same situations and the same emotions. I try to reach out to everybody. When I write these songs, the response that I want to get from my fans is,
‘You know what? I understand that, I’m going through that right now.’ I have a song called, “The Music Inside My Soul” which talks about how music has been the rock, the guiding force in my life that has kept me in line. I’m from the hood; there’s a lot of opportunities out there for me to do a bunch
of negative things. But, music has put me in a positive path and I’m glad for that. And I want my music to be positivity for my fans.

MH2: Besides Max, who are some people who are supporting you and helping you?

C: My family is just a formal group of people that I’m related to, not related to, but I’ve known for years. I have Eddie, Eddie Santiago, he’s a big, big Latin engineer. He came and he saw me and said, ‘I want to invest my time in this project.’ There’s a lot of people who have seen me that don’t know me, met me recently and have seen my project and they love it and they want to be a part of it. I’m just lucky to have people that like my music and like me as a person and as an artist.

MH2: What’s it you’re working on now?

C: Right now, we’re trying to push the project out and push it into stores. We just did the video for “Sweat,” which is the single that we’re promoting right now, and I’ve gotten a lot of responses on that, which is wonderful. I’m doing a lot of shows. I have a show this Friday at an industry showcase.

MH2: What’s typical day like for you?

C: Typical day, um. I wake up around 6, 7 o’clock. I put on music and I review the songs I have to record that week. After that, you know, hustling to make that extra money. After that, I’m in the studio and then, I go to dance rehearsals. I rehearse for about 3-4 hours. After that, it’s either back in the studio or on a show, depending on what day of the week it is.

MH2: Crazy! Finally, what are your goals, your dreams, what your heart wants?

C: I think I want my goal, what I’m working for, is to be the best songwriter/singer that I can be, as best as I can be. I’m going to try to learn as much as I can, I’m going to try to work as hard as I can and I’m going to give 110% in every project that I do. I just want to grow more as an artist. I want to be a songwriter, I want to be a producer. I want to be, of course, a singer, an artist, a performer, so I think, in every aspect, I just want to learn and grow more.

MH2: No doubts in my mind this girl will go far. - Morehiphop.com