Nayobe - Nayobe (1986) & Promise Me (1991) DOUBLE POST!!

It's due time to feature a lady who is considered by many the first true queen of freestyle.  It is believed that she is the first Latin woman to have a freestyle hit, and second woman overall, after Shannon.  Whether this is true or not, any fan of freestyle knows exactly who Nayobe is.  Brooklyn born Nayobe Catalina Gomez burst on the scene in 1985 with the song "Please Don't Go", arguably the first vocal 'Latin Hip Hop' song.  Before then, after performing in talent shows and off-Broadway appearances as a young girl, she met manager Sal Abbatiello when she was 14 at a skating rink.  Hearing her singing aloud, he asked her to join a talent contest at the popular Dance Fever club.  She won ten times in a row, which resulted in her being signed to Sutra Records and back-up singing gigs with hip hop acts like Lovebug Starski, The Fat Boys and Kurtis Blow.  She was presented with "Please Don't Go" and loved it, and it was an instant club hit, reaching #23 on the Billboard Dance charts.  She even perfromed it in the film Krush Groove.  Though the freestyle sound was a big hit, the label chose to release the 60s R&B flavoured "School Girl Crush" as the next single.  When it failed to hit, they went back to the freestyle formula and released "Good Things Come To Those Who Wait" and "Second Chance For Love", both of which were also Billboard Dance hits, reaching #15 and #30, respectively.  Her self-titled album was also released, as was another single, the ballad "Guess I Fell In Love", but it failed to chart.  However, her dance chart success led to her being signed to Epic offshoot WTG, and the track "It's Too Late" was included on the soundtrack to the movie Twins.  It became her biggest hit, reaching #5 on the Billboard Dance charts.  In an attempt to widen her audience, the label then set her up with top R&B producers like Teddy Riley, Frankie Blue, Les Pierce, David Frank and Mic Murphy.  The result was a new jack swing album, far from the sound of her debut.  With a change of sound and image, her fans didn't embrace (or perhaps even notice) her new sound, and though the first single, "I Love The Way You Love Me", managed to hit #14 on the Billboard Dance charts and was a minor R&B hit, the album and follow-up single "I'll Be Around" were fairly unsuccessful and she was dropped.  Nayobe took some time off, but returned with the single "All Night Long" in 1995, a remake of the Mary Jane Girls classic (according to Nayobe, it failed because Mary J. Blige released her version the same year). She also recorded a new freestyle track that same year, "What Am I To Do", for the Freestyle Lives compilation. Then, thanks to the label's president, she signed a two album deal in 1997 with Sony's Latin division to release Latin music, but after the president was fired, she was dropped before her album Dame Un Poco Mas could be properly promoted.  Luckily, during that time a friend got her a gig dubbing Salma Hayak's singing voice in the movie 54 for the song "The Night I Fly".  After changing management, Nayobe signed with Platano Records in 1998 and released a self-titled salsa album the following year.  It was not a huge success, and Nayobe claimed that if it failed, she'd either give up music or focus on house music (something that she dabbled in in 1991 with the song "Good Love").  Luckily, instead of retiring, she returned in 2005 as a featured artist on the #19 Billboard Dance chart house hit "You're My Angel" by DJ Mike Cruz.  Since then Nayobe has been touring the hugely popular freestyle concert circuit with many of her contemporaries, garnering new adoration and even receiving the first Fever Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this year.  You can bet we haven't heard the last of Nayobe's incredible voice blaring through clubs the world over.

Video tribute

Download Nayobe
(Note: This is the 1991 reissue of the album entitled Please Don't Go, which contains bonus tracks)
 

1		Please Don't Go
2		Good Things Come To Those Who Wait
3		Guess I Fell In Love
4		Roses
5		School Girl Crush
6		Second Chance For Love
7		The More I Need (The Less I Have)
8		I Don't Have To Make Believe
9		No Te Vayas (Please Don't Go)
10		Please Don't Go (Remix)
11		Please Don't Go (Dub Version)

Download Promise Me

1		I Love The Way You Love Me
2		I'll Be Around
3		Can't Let Go
4		You Are You
5		You Are Everything
6		Who Do I Call
7		Some Kind Of Emotion
8		Promise Me
9		Main Squeeze
10		Have I Said I Love You Lately