NEW SOUL SIREN ON THE BLOCK

Dreams do come true, they say, if we at least make the effort to try (and try again) until the fantasy is finally realized. And with no guts, as the old familiar saying goes, there’s no glory. For Nina, Warner Music Philippines’ newest contract singing sensation, this adage holds more than a grain of truth.

"It’s been a life-long dream of mine to have my own album. So I submitted a demo tape with three songs to Warner without any real expectations," says the former Essence band member. "Then I got the call, and they signed me in without even seeing me." It was a move, nothing short of gutsy, that fortunately and fatefully, worked for the benefit of both the fledgling artist and the veteran recording company. Warner’s leap of faith paved way for a decisive turning-point in Nina’s career, but this should come as no surprise, given the sultry singer’s life, lived literally with (and for) music since an early age.

She dedicates her fist solo album, Heaven, to her late father once, a former singer for the Bayanihan Dance Company, who discovered Nina’s singing prowess when she was five years old, while belting out alongside a Lea Salonga single over the radio. "That was when my dad discovered I could carry a tune," she recalls. "From then on, he encouraged and honed my talent for singing and performing."

Born Marifil Nina Girado, now denominated simply as Nina, the gifted vocalist had a childhood occupied predominantly by rigorous lessons in singing and dancing, and was always willing to perform for a crowd whenever the opportunity arose. Turning professional after high school, Nina had a to juggle college academics with stints in bands such as Big Thing, Silk, and Essence. But despite an impossible and near-immutable schedule that entailed doing her homework in dressing rooms in between sets, she managed to finish her business degree from Miriam College. She’s a major in accounting, too! How’s that for difficult. Definitely no small feat for the soulful siren.

Describing her music as "a mix of pop and R&B," Nina’s labor of love, Heaven, released last month, features 10 smooth and euphonic tracks infused with an eclectic blend of styles ranging from rap to romantic. Armed with a panoply of fleeting ballads for lovelorn (and lonely-hearted) listeners, the album also boasts rap styling remixes by Artstrong and DJ Lowkey lending the compilation a true trip-hop, R&B feel. Heaven is a sleek production that it is at once swinging, sentimental, and soulful.

It surely, without doubt, must be heaven on earth for the young Nina, now that she has witnessed mere day-dreamed fantasy materialize before her very eyes; the first, of perhaps many life-long dreams, fulfilled for this lucky lady. Naming Mariah Carey as her idol and inspiration, she is quick to assert: "But it’s not like I want my career to imitate or even be compared with hers. In the end, I want to be acknowledged as a singer of my own brand of music."