Kuky

Lucero Rodriguez was born in California's San Fernando Valley, her mother originally from the Mexican state of Sonora, a hotbed of musical creativity which has produced some of the country's finest and most popular musicians. Rodriguez grew up watching her mother sing mariachis in rodeos and festivals throughout the region, traveling on weekends to see her perform. Lucero came to be known as Kuky in high school, earning the moniker for her clownish and sardonic personality. She seldom sung in her early years, occasionally delivering the national anthem for sporting events but little more. After graduation, Kuky started investing more and more time developing herself as a vocalist and musician, spending free time in local recording studios learning to sing backup and in choirs. It was in that environment that she met Sergio and Francisco Gómez of Latin hip-hop duo Akwid. Kuky was invited by the brothers to share the stage with them at some local shows. Sergio and Francisco were so impressed with her stage presence and passion that they encouraged her to go solo, rooky or not. Their connections opened doors at Universal Music's urban latino subsidiary Machete Music, who offered the young artist a deal for her debut album. Though apprehensive at first, Kuky took the task upon herself to write all of the repertoire in Spanish, having been raised speaking mostly English. Her self-titled debut features two guest appearances from Akwid, the first collaboration in their sizable recording careers. The record hit shelves in November of 2006, introduced to urban latino audiences by the national radio hit "Ya No." ~ Evan C. Gutierrez