TIDAL Rising: Leslie Grace

Born in The Bronx neighborhood of New York City and raised in Florida, Leslie Grace is an American musician who draws deeply from her family’s Dominican roots.

Grace came upon her love of music at a very young age, singing first in church and at home with her siblings from the age of two. She would further develop this passion throughout middle school and high school where she actively participated in musical performances, stage shows and otherwise.

Quickly developing into a talent of notice, Grace came to the attention of Latin producer Sergio George who would help focus the young singer primarily on bachata, an extremely popular Dominican genre utilizing a mix of European, Indigenous and African musical stylings to form a sort of Latin R&B.

Fluent in both English and Spanish, Grace made her mainstream debut with a bachata-tinged bilingual cover of the 1961 Shirellas hit “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” The single peaked at number one on both the Billboard Tropical Songs chart and the Billboard Latin Airplay chart, making her the youngest female artist to accomplish the feat.

In 2013, the 21-year-old latin pop star on the rise reached number four on the Billboard Latin Albums chart and number three on the Billboard Tropical Albums chart with her self-titled studio album. Since 2013, Grace has been nominated for three Latin Grammys, more than validating her truly undeniable talent.

We checked in with Leslie Grace to get to know the Rising star just a little better. You can also check out her phenomenal new music video for “Aire,” available exclusively on TIDAL.

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Who is Leslie Grace? Can you introduce yourself?

I’m a 21-year-old girl who has loved music from as far back as my memory goes. There’s never been anything I gravitated to more than music and evoking emotion through performance all my life. I live everyday thankful to be living my dream, fulfilling my passions this early on in life, and making some music that may mean something to someone out there.

You were born in New York and then raised in Florida by Dominican parents. How did this shape you artistically?

I’m a New York girl currently living in South Florida, born of Dominican parents. All of those elements that make up who I am are clearly reflected in my music. I was introduced to the world at the age of 16 with my first single “Will U Still Love Me Tomorrow,” which is a perfect example of the mix of influences I have been exposed to. Growing up in a Dominican household I listened to lots of bachata growing up. But I had an older sister, Annexie, who also sang and listened to lots of old school R&B which soon rubbed off on me. Add that up with all the mainstream, top 40 radio I listened to with my friends on my own time and there you have it… A Carol King 60’s classic covered in the style of bachata-pop interpreted by a 16 year old gal. The fusion between my culture and musical influences has seeped into my music from the onset.

Who were your musical heroes growing up?

My musical heroes varied as widely as my influences did. My favorites growing up included Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Selena, Gloria Estefan, and Juan Luis Guerra.

Name an album, artist or experience that changed your perspective on music?

The night I opened up for Alicia Keys was unforgettable. It was on of my first big shows at a huge music festival in Curaçao, so this was already a dream come true. That very same night I shared a dressing room with another one of my musical heroes, India Arie… Could it get any better?! I got to hear India and her girls warm up and see her perform a full set that night front row. The fact that I had just performed on stage as she was and was now standing in the audience, tearing up as she sang, like any other fan really made something click in me. It was the first time I got to experience both the “artist” and “fan” perspective within the same night. That night I learned music is about connecting the dots between that person on stage and those people in the audience. Though the “artist” and the “fan” may seem really different, both are simply people deeply longing for the same thing – to connect.

You began your career as a Bachata star? What is it and what makes it special?

Bachata is a tropical genre that originates in my blood country, Dominican Republic. Through the decades it’s become internationalized as a genre that’s widely known thanks to artist like Juan Luis Guerra and Aventura/Romeo Santos. What makes bachata most special to me is that it’s a music you can feel. It’s lyrics and melody usually cut as deep as heartfelt ballad would but are paired with the percussive rhythms that get you out of your seat to dance.

As the American-born daughter of Dominican parents, what have you taken from Bachata as you transition to pop? Do you feel your multi-cultural upbringing has made this transition easier?

As I continued to evolve musically, I’m learning how to grow while maintaining my essence. My favorite element when it comes to Bachata is its honesty and that’s what I’ve taken and applied to all the music I’m making now. Honest music is always felt. I also have this sense of fusing tropical sounds with pop melodies that comes very naturally to me when making music even outside of bachata. I definitely owe the comfort I feel in taking these musical steps to my multicultural upbringing. It’s something that comes from inside, I don’t think it’d make sense to do any of this if it didn’t.

What’s your favorite Dominican dish?

My favorite Dominican dish is something we call “La Bandera Dominicana” (the flag) which is white rice, red beans, and chicken. Pretty typical Dominican, huh!

What’s the best new song you recently discovered?

That’s such a hard question. There’s SO much great new music out right now and so many great ways to discover it. One of my favorites would have to be Alicia’s long awaited new single, “In Common”! I’m diggin’ it!

You’ve covered some great ’60s ballads with your own unique twist (“Be My Baby” and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”). Can fans expect more of that?

I’m an old soul so it’s kind of hard for me to stay away from old school tunes. I’m currently dabbling into some possible throwback samples but no promises yet!

How was it collaborating with Colombian reggaeton star, Maluma?

It’s always a blast collaborating with Maluma. He’s so talented and just an overall fun person to work with. When writing “Aire”, we all knew Maluma would be the perfect person to add to the equation.

Any dream collaborations?

Too many! Pharrell, India.Arie, Chance the Rapper, Juan Luis Guerra, all of OVO, and maybe a night by the piano with Brian McKnight?! I could go on and on with this very eclectic list.

What’s next for Leslie Grace?

My sophomore album! I’m currently working on so much exciting new music for a project I feel will really change things up for me. I’ve never had so much fun making music in my life and I can’t wait to share it all. You’ll be hearing lots of urban/pop/tropical sounds coming from me in this new album and in terms of lyrics, you will know what I’m thinking.

And finally, if your music was a physical object – such as a car, tree, animal, food… – what type would it be?

If it were a car, it’d be a foreign.

If it were a tree, it’d be one of those old oak trees with really deep roots.

If it were an animal, it’d be a black lion… Just because a lion is already incredibly cool but a black lion is so rare and cool it doesn’t even exist!

If it were a food, it’d be a “Sancocho” which is a Dominican stew that is made up of basically every good thing that can fit in a pot, which represents the mix of varying sounds in my music.

If it were any object in this world, it’d be my very first iPod. Every single song in it has undeniably played a part in inspiring me to create the music I now call my own.