Martika

Marta Marrero, known as Martika (Los Angeles, May 18, 1969) is an American singer and actress.

Biography

Childhood

Martika is the daughter of a Cuban couple (oriundos, in turn, from the Canary Islands), who emigrated from the island to the United States in 1959. From a very young age, she felt attracted to music. Already at the age of four, she began to take singing and dance classes. At the age of 13, she made her debut as a dancer in the film "Annie" (1982), directed by John Huston. Before she had participated in numerous television programs, including "Kids Incorporated" (Children's version of "Fame" and US version of & # 34; Chiquilladas & # 34;).

Beginnings of his musical career

However, it was a British artist with an outgoing and ambiguous personality, and great musical talent who made her discover her true calling. "I wasn't sure what I wanted to be, then I saw Boy George and I said to myself: That's what I'm going to be, a pop star," declared Martika. With a bit of luck, CBS decided to sign her with the aim of turning her into a Madonna-style star. Martika was going to take over from other teen singers like Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.

For their debut in 1988 they chose the song “More Than You Know”, which followed the patterns of that type of music: happy and catchy. It did well commercially and reached number 20 on the popularity charts. The second song, “Toy Soldiers” (A somber ballad about drug use and abuse) was a hit. In the summer of 1989 it topped the US Billboard chart for two weeks and due to its impressive success, it was recorded in Spanish and Japanese. The ground was prepared for the release of his first album, "Martika" (1989), which sold more than three million copies worldwide.

After that good takeoff as a singer, he tried again with the interpretation in the television series “Wiseguy, the astute” (1990), together with Steven Bauer. There she played Dhalia Mendez, a jazz singer who is brutally murdered (she participated in 4 episodes).

Martika's Kitchen

On her second album, she enjoyed the immense luck of becoming one of Prince's so-called 'Protégés'. The talented musician composed one of the songs for her, "Martika's Kitchen" and signed three others with her: 'Spirit', "Love... Thy Will Be Done" and "Don't Say U Love Me”. However, commercially, "Martika's Kitchen" (1991) was a flop, selling just over a million copies worldwide, although some of the songs played a lot on radio stations. In that same year, she participated in the Viña del Mar International Song Festival, a contest held in Chile.

Like the previous album, it sold better abroad. After that, her name faded into oblivion.

Later projects

During these years, Martika has written songs for some films and has collaborated with soloists and groups such as: Luis Miguel, María Conchita Alonso, Los Amigos Invisibles, The Conga Club and C&C Music Factory. During the Latin explosion that began with the success of Ricky Martin, she tried to redirect her career, but none of the record companies dared to bet on her.

In 2003, she joined forces with her husband, Michael Mozart, and formed the band “Oppera”. They released their first album, "Violince", in 2004, in the vein of gothic pop, being a resounding commercial failure. In the same 2004, the rapper Eminem uses a sample of his song Toy Soldiers for the song Like Toy Soldiers.

In 2009, he changed his name to Vida Edit, which he uses in the credits of his independent series called J8ded. It tells two parallel stories that are intertwined by the fact that David and Clarke are twins. Lolly and David (Vida "Martika" Edit and Michael Daemon) are the members of J8DED a famous duo in the UK.

In October 2011, Martika stopped using the stage name of Vida Edit and launched a new website. She started uploading video blogs promising an upcoming album. In November 2011, she announced that it would be released in early 2012 and would consist mainly of house and dance music titled "The Mirror Ball". She then announced the first single, "Flow With the Go". The release was delayed for personal reasons. On October 1, 2012, her tour of Australia was cancelled. In 2014 she performed in Chile with Rick Astley and Debbie Gibson.

Discography

• 1989 - Martika
• 1990 - As toy soldiers
• 1991 - Martika's Kitchen
• 1997 - The Best of Martika:More than you know
• 1998 - I feel the Earth Move
• 2004 - Violince (with the group "Oppera")
• 2005 - Toy Soldiers: The Best of Martika
• 2005 - Love... thy will be done (compiled)
• 2005 - Oppera (with the group "Oppera")