Date Signed: February 2025
Label: Empire Records
Type of Music: Dance
Management, A&R: Thomas Goodin, allaboutthatmusic@yahoo.com
Publicity: Edna Sims - ESP Public Relations, esppr@mac.com
Web: kendraerika.com
Dance artist Kendra Erika started singing and performing at a very young age, initially in community and school theater.
“I was trained classically at the age of eight, due to being tone deaf in my very early childhood,” Erika says. “The writing and playing aspects commenced when I was in my mid-teens, when I was given the opportunity to play at top local restaurants and bars primarily doing American songbook and jazz standards. I was simultaneously getting into the studio with different producers, writers, and engineers in the South Florida area to do more pop and dance material. It became serious around college time, and then even more serious after I graduated.”
Erika describes her sound as having classic vocal elements and a developmental dance/house edge.
“Evolutionary speaking, my voice and my sound has cultivated more depth as I’ve grown and matured, plus the classical training has really been integral in ensuring that foundation to pull from,” she says.
It’s been working; Erika has already had five Billboard top 10 dance hits, and “Self Control” topped the chart in 2019. The artist found herself signed to Empire Records this year, with a deal that is a true collaboration.
“My team approached me, Edna Sims (ESP Public Relations), Janie Jennings (Industry Works), and Thomas Goodin (manager and vice president of A&R for Oyster Shell Music) with the distribution deal and partnership with Empire, and my independent label signed and joined forces with them.”
To celebrate the deal with Empire, Erika has released the “Dance in the Fire” single, destined to be a dancefloor fave as we enter the spring months.
“’Dance in the Fire’ was written and recorded only two months ago in L.A.,” she says. “Shortly after the fires, I wanted to utilize that studio time I had and that afro-house inspired track to vehicle a driven message for those affected, and even those who paid witness to the events. GRAMMY-nominated producer Luigie ‘LUGO’ Gonzalez, 2024 GRAMMY winner Will Gittens and myself put our heads together to write this one.”
It's a solid way to kick off this chapter of her career with Empire Records, and there’s certain to be more to come. “More music, more projects, and more for the senses—stay tuned,” Erika says. We most certainly will.
