Entrenched as we are in the Pop Teen Era, it’s not unusual to hear about a young girl with a voice. Mikaila, however, is anything but the typical teen chanteuse. The fact that she’s brunette is just the tip of the iceberg.
"I’m not that . . . sweet!" Mikaila says, pointing out one personality trait that sets her apart—and helps makes her pop music so refreshing. "I love R&B and I love rap, so I want my songs to be a little edgy—to be real, to be cool."
And so they are. Big rumbly drums and quirky-twinkly keyboards set the tone for the first single, "So In Love With Two"—a delicious take on indecision served up true diva style. "Straight to My Face" and "Perfect World" drip attitude and demand respect. Mikaila calls upon fluid phrasing and emotional expression for "The Art of Letting Go," while "Playground" is pop at its most provocative. Even the classic teenage crush song "Talk About Me," and ballads like "My Heaven" and "My Heart Can’t Let You Go," which Mikaila co-wrote, have a depth that belies the Dallas-based singer’s youth.
Yet the "you’re so young!" thing doesn’t hold water as far as Mikaila’s concerned. "A lot of adults underestimate teenagers these days—we know more and have been through more than they may want to think," she says. "Whatever I’m singing about, if I haven’t experienced it, I apply the things I have been through to give feeling to that song. I brought a lot of aspects of my life to this album."
Mikaila’s life has always involved music. "I could sing before I could talk," she says. "At 3 years old, I’d stand in front of the mirror, singing into a candlestick, and tell my mother I want to be a star." Back then, inspiration came from the ruling radio divas—Mariah, Celine and Whitney Houston—as well as contemporary gospel music. Mikaila would sing her heart out in her bedroom and in church, where her mom played piano.
When Mikaila was 9, her family left her Edmond, Oklahoma, hometown for Dallas, where she began showing off her velvety voice at sporting events. Soon she was something of a regular attraction at Texas Rangers games—belting out the National Anthem as easy as if it were the ABCs.
Enter manager Marty Rendleman. "Someone called Marty and said, ‘You have to listen to this girl who sings at the Rangers games,’" Mikaila says. "But she used to manage LeAnn Rimes—and she’d sworn off children. She was like, ‘Call me when she gets her drivers license!’" Ultimately, Rendleman was persuaded to hear Mikaila perform—and she promptly lifted her ban on kids.
Next, Mikaila was appearing on national television and at other events, including her Carnegie Hall debut as the sole featured vocalist with the U.S. Army Concert Band and the 53rd Presidential Inaugural. Not surprisingly, she was courted by many a record company. "We came to New York and in one day had meetings with all the top record labels," Mikaila recalls. She was signed to Island Records by Senior VP Jeff Fenster, who’d come to the label from Jive Records, where he’d brought in Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.
From that moment on, Mikaila’s life has been a whirlwind. "I always knew this would happen, but it’s so much bigger than I ever imagined," she says. "You dream of it, and then one day you wake up and you have a meeting and photo session and a studio session and a dance class . . ." Jet-setting from New York to L.A., Norway to Sweden, hooking up with the hottest pop producers and writers on the scene today, Mikaila began working on her debut. "I told them about myself and what I wanted—hard drums, hip words that people can relate too, nothing too sappy," she says.
Now that the album is finished, Mikaila discusses it with intelligence and poise. "I came up with the concept for ‘So in Love with Two,’" she says of the single. "When I first heard it, I felt the lyrics didn’t go with the music—the music had attitude, but the words were all about lo-o-o-o-ve." As to the suggestive nature of "Playground," Mikaila says forthrightly: "People will probably try to nail me on that song, but it’s about fantasy—and that’s what teenagers do, we fantasize!"
Mikaila’s reality right now is to get out there and strut her stuff live (she’ll tour with Britney Spears this summer). "Being on stage, knowing that people came to see you—that’s the best feeling in the world," she says. As to her effect on her audience, Mikaila adds: "I want young people, especially girls, to be able to relate to me. I want them to know you can do anything if you work hard."
New as Mikaila may be to the pop scene, she’ll be working hard for a long time.
Taken from Mikaila's Official Website.
