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Livvi Franc

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Livvi Franc

Olivia Charlotte Waithe (born 1988) better known by her stage name Livvi Franc, is an English-Barbadian R&B, soul, and Pop singer. Her debut single, "Now I'm That Bitch" was released in the summer of 2009.

Life and career

1988-present: Early life and career beginnings

Franc spent the first five years of her life in Harrogate, North Yorkshire,[1] England with her English mother, Bajan father[2] and elder sister. At five, the family moved to her father's homeland of Barbados, after her parents decided their daughters should fully experience their Barbadian heritage.[1] She would return to England during the summers.[3] She used to attend Queens College.[4] Her stage name was inspired by her late maternal grandfather, Frank Wilson.[3]

Franc wrote her first song at age eleven and learned the guitar at fifteen.[1] She would sing in school talent shows and pagaents.[5] Her first manager discovered her when a friend of Franc's who babysitted for her gave her one of Franc's cassette tape demos.[1] She then went on to record proper demos in studio in Barbados and in Miami where she met her next manager. Soon after she was in New York, meeting label heads and auditioning.[1] She signed with Jive Records in 2007, after months of negotiations,[2] after singing an Etta James song for them.[3]

Prior to signing with Jive, Franc had gone through three years of artist development[2] and attended workshops on it.[4] Franc was featured on the J-Co song "Pon Fire".[2] Livvi Franc is also a songwriter, having written most of the songs from her forthcoming debut album. Jordin Sparks recorded a song written by Livvi Franc, "Walking On Snow",[6] she has also written for Cheryl Cole ("Rain On Me"), Marie Digby ("Overboard"), Jay Sean and Michael Jackson.[3]

Her debut single, "Now I'm That Bitch" was released on June 15, 2009 to radio and was digitally on June 23, 2009. The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.[7] Her song "This is a Raid" appeared on the 2009 reboot of Melrose Place.[7]

Artistry

In an interview with Flavour Magazine, Franc listed Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys, Alanis Morissette as her biggest musical inspirations.[3] Speaking of the range of musical styles to be found on her debut album, she told Blues and Sould Music Magazine, "[b]ecause I've grown up listening to so many different styles, I'm very limitless when it comes to music. Like living in Barbados, I heard the Caribbean styles like dancehall, soca and calypso. Then, with me growing up spending my summers in the UK, I'd hear the dance and more retro-type sounds. While being in The States more recently, I've heard the more commercial pop stuff. So my album is basically like a fusion of all those three - and a perfect representation of who I am." On comparisons with fellow Barbadian singers Rihanna and Shontelle, she said, "we’re from Barbados, we’re both in the same music genre... Though I do think people will compare less when they hear more of my music, and get to know me better as an artist through my album."[1] On the subject of her songs, she remarked to Honey Magazine, "[m]y main inspiration is just life and people around me and the things that I go through and things people around me go through."[6]

Discography

Albums

  • 2010: Livvi Franc

Singles

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Pete, Livvi Franc: Franc exchange, Blues and Soul Music Magazine, retrieved 2010-01-03
  2. ^ a b c d Livvi Franc Bio, StarShine Magazine, 12 July 2009, retrieved 2010-01-03
  3. ^ a b c d e Foster, Leonard (19 October 2009), Livvi Franc: She’s a babe in total control, Flavour Magazine, retrieved 2010-01-03
  4. ^ a b Springer, Michelle (2009-07-12), "Livving it up!", Nation Newspaper, Nation Publishing Company Limited, retrieved 2009-08-16
  5. ^ Limelight Spotlight: Livvi Franc, Neon Limelight, 25 May 2009, retrieved 2010-01-03
  6. ^ a b Let’s Be Franc, Honey Magazine, 16 November 2009, retrieved 2010-01-03
  7. ^ a b {{citation|title=Coffee Shop: with Livvi Franc|publisher=Blue Wolf Media Inc.|work=[[Ocean Style Magazine|accessdate=2010-01-03|url="http://www.oceanstylemagazine.com/cms_splash/content_view.php?temp_id=21"}}
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