Biography
When you think of Boston music, you might think of New Edition or New Kids on the Block. The other name you should know is Phaedra. Brought centerstage by Maurice Starr, the producer who discovered these other iconic, Boston-bred stars, Phaedra was off to the races from the start of her career, making a splash with the group Lady Soul with a RIAA-certified gold record on the Whoopi Goldberg's Sister Act 2 film soundtrack. She was catapulted into world tours, performing alongside superstars like Joey McIntyre (New Kids on the Block), Stevie Wonder, and Chaka Khan.
Anything to escape and block out the songstress's life at home, where things were far from golden for the young biracial Phaedra, who grew up in Boston, MA with an absentee mother. After Phaedra's grandmother disowned her mother for having a black child, her mother isolated herself and spiraled into a life of drug addiction. Amidst a traumatic childhood that would've broken most young females' spirits, Phaedra pressed forward. She taught herself how to channel and express her femininity on her own, and continued to solidify her studio work, recording with the likes of jazz luminary Walter Beasley, and recording multiple tracks for the soundtrack to "Hairshow," starring Oscar Award-winning actress Mo'Nique.
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After a dance with global success and accolades, Phaedra returned back to Boston in 2009 to recalibrate and carefully design her next steps. Her sophisticated beauty and four-octave vocal range quickly locked her status as the pearl of the Boston music scene, where she was a loyal, vibrant staple to the community and was awarded a key to the city, a NAACP Award, and a Hall of Fame Award from Cambridge Rindge and Latin (her high school alma mater – something she shares with fellow colleagues Patrick Ewing, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck), among other honors. In 2010, Phaedra co-founded a digital and experiential platform for the discovery of new musical talent. The company, ARTIST LIVE GLOBAL VILLAGE, founded and put Joelle James (CBE/Roc Nation) on her first stage, and in front of a global passcode audience.
In 2013, Phaedra served as a Music Supervisor for global superstar comedian Kevin Hart's massive hit movie LET ME EXPLAIN. By 2016, Phaedra herself earned a major feature on the Kevin Hart: WHAT NOW? The Mixtape Presents Chocolate Droppa (Motown/Artist Live) with the contagious, upbeat "LOVE O'CLOCK" (and it was Joelle James who penned the magnetic urban AC hit!). The project released the same day as the monster film KEVIN HART: WHAT NOW, which broke the record for highest grossing opening weekend for a stand-up comedy film.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.