Who Is She?

Deviva is a singer/songwriter who best expresses the poetry of her lyrics in a blend of sounds which merge soulful R&B with world music and pop.  Most have found it hard to compare her unique and emotional voice to any well known artist, but some have compared it to Sade and Cher.  Deviva (Jennifer De Vivo) was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico and raised in Orlando, but strangely enough her music career really started when in 2000 she decided leave the U.S. and live in Rome, Italy.  Deviva’s multinational background has inspired her artistry in an eclectic way by mixing genres and cultures.   Deviva is also an avid writer and poet.  Her lyrical inspiration comes from her dreams and life experiences of which she keeps in several little journals tucked away all over her home.  In fact she never leaves home without a small journal to catch inspirations  wherever she goes.  She sees herself as a soul in search of love and truth and intimacy with God as expressed in the supernatural song of the spirit

Background

Deviva grew up in a strict Christian home and was never allowed to listen to any music except for classical and traditional hymns.  But even then she was always involved in choir and would frequently perform in front of the church with her father accompanying her on accordion. When she was 10 her parents divorced and she was exposed mainstream music which changed her life.  Artists such as Whitney Houston, Sade and Prince were some of her first influences.  She continued to be very active in music in school and church always participating in choirs, ensembles and making solo appearances in different functions around the city.  She honed her skill further by working with vocal coaches who versed her in Jazz, Broadway, Rock and Classical genres.  She began writing music 1995 with the intent to bridge the gap between secular and  inspirational music and started sending out demos. 

Career Highlights

Moving to Rome, Italy in 2000 proved to be her best career move.  She started out doing voice overs for local Radio station Radio Centro Suono Due by hooking up with GB Studios and DJ Luciano Mancini.  Together they released “The Joining” a dance single which was played on the Mix Bit program for several weeks.   

With GB Music

Soon after Giacomo Bondi of GB Music asked her to collaborate on a new project called Lolight.  This album is an experimental project exploring lounge and chill out music.  The project was signed to Ocean Trax and independent label owned and managed by the internationally renowned Bini and Martini who made their name in the European Dance Industry.  Ocean Trax is owned by Do It Yourself one of Italy’s top Dance labels. The album, released in 2003, features remixes by well know DJ’s Ricky Fara and Ohm Guru.  Deviva sings and writes the lyrics for 50% of the songs on the album, of which the remaining part is largely instrumental.

The Lolight music tracks that Deviva sang on received much attention even before being signed to a Record company.  The music was highlighted on a special program of the Psychedelic Chill Out show of Radio Lotte in Germany.  Andre Ganesh, host of the show found the music on Vitaminic.Com, Europe’s largest MP3 internet website, where Lowlight had been spotlighted and ranked first in their category (lounge/chillout) on multiple occasions in multiple countries.  Lowlight music also won a contest held by Music Dal Vivo.com spotlighting new and upcoming artists in Italy.  Lowlight music won the contest and its music along with Deviva’s image was featured in Shot Magazine.16, a CD Rom magazine national distributed throughout Italy.  Over 120,000 copies were sent out.  Recently, “Coast to Coast” one of the album’s singles was put on the soundtrack to the DVD documentary of the life of Paulo Maldini, one of Italy’s most favorite soccer players. 

Deviva continued to collaborate on several different projects with GB Music, most notably was her work on the Brazilian flavored Latin Vibe album which was published by Antibemusic and distributed by Family Affair.  The album was released in several different countries to much critical acclaim. Although, she is only featured on one track “Sunset on Ipanema Beach”, that on track was included on several different Brazilian Jazz compilations that have been sold worldwide.

With Go-1 Productions

Through her friend and collaborator DJ Luciano Mancini, she was introduced to Andrea Caressimi of Go-1 Productions.  They formed a fast friendship and began to collaborate on several different projects spanning pop, dance, and R&B.  Together they formed a creative group called Radium and released their first single “Panic Love” with Do It Yourself Records, one of Italy’s largest labels and partners with Ocean Trax.  “Panic Love” was released in the Fall of 2003 and made headway on several different charts throughout Europe and received heavy rotation on several of Italy’s national radio stations.  They then started a pop project of which the single “Rainy Days” has received major label interest and is currently in negotiations. 

While in Italy, Deviva gained much experience on stage by touring all over the country as the opening act for Anonimo Italiano, a nationally recognized solo artist.  She also achieved national exposure when she was featured in the leading female role for his video “Dimmie che Ami il Mondo”.  The video received national play on music video station Video Italia.  It was also featured on national television stations like Rai and national talk shows such as Buona Dominica.  

Where Is She Going

 In the fall of 2003, Deviva decided to return to Orlando, Florida and continue pursue her music career in the areas of R&B, Pop, and Christian music.  While she continues to go back and forth between Orlando and Rome, she is currently focusing on working with local producers in the Orlando area on Neosoul/Christian projects.  Her goal is to collaborate with great producers, create new projects, and find a record label that will take her career to the next level.  Most recently Deviva signed under CLK management and will be working with Andrew Lane a well known American producer.