Cinnamon Fusion for Global Hip-Hop Soul
By Kandis Knight
When East Indian, Asian and Afro – Caribbean cultures meet, the exotic fusion is nothing short of dynamic, enter 26 year-old Amsterdam songbird, Cindy Limon, a.k.a. Cinnamon Brown. This spicy hip-hop/soul singer’s cultural identity is no doubt a beautiful, exotic fusion. Wait until you hear her unique melodies over saucy beats.
“Cinnamon’s music creates a combustion that is so dynamic, many cultures will be fused together under the sound of her music, much like the way the spice, cinnamon, joined people together in the ancient world,” explains her manager, Karl Sutton. “The spice was once valued more precious than gold, so will be her gift to the world.”
Cinnamon’s Myspace mantra reads “I am so focused” and this multi-lingual (English, Surimese, Dutch), multi-talented songstress has proven time and time again that she has what it takes to “explode” out of the box, like the taste of cinnamon explodes in your mouth.
“I think that Cinnamon was 2 years-old when she started singing. By command she would sing and dance. At this age she also sang Indian songs. It was our grandmother who taught her songs by making her watch Bollywood (Indian Hollywood) movies. When she got older she would only sing English songs,” explains her sister, Sharon Blijd -Limon.
At just 8 years-old, while kids in her region were singing Dutch nursery rhymes, Cinnamon was busy writing her own R & B songs and translating them to English so she could bring her talent to the world.
“I never wanted to put myself in a box. I did not want to limit myself by singing exclusively in Dutch. English allows me to reach the world market, I want the entire world to hear what I have to say and I knew that when I was just 8 years-old” smiles the potent diva.
“I have been studying artists like Aretha Franklin, Minnie Ripperton, Lady Saw since I was a kid, I also really admire Faith Evans, Jill Scott, Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige.”
Much like Mary J. Bilge, Cinnamon Brown is a powerful hip-hop/soul singer with a vocal range that will expand your ears, like the spice does on your lips, all she needs is her own “Puff Daddy” to propel her to the next level. However while she awaits that day, she has been busy recording hip-hop collaborations that already straddle continents as the spice trade did centuries ago.
“When Mary J. Blige released her first single Real Love, Cinnamon had her first real idol. In her bedroom and at school festivals she would sing Mary’s songs,” her sister fondly recalls. “She even performed one song, Sweet Thing, for Boys II Men whom she was introduced to at an after party in Amsterdam when she was real young,” recounts Blijd-Limon.
With all the American influence in her early upbringing, it is no wonder Cinnamon Brown has her eyes firmly planted on the U.S. market and so far, the US market has been showing her love in return. Cinnamon is receiving a great response from her US fans including some globe trotting A-list artists and celebrities who are first introduced to her flavor on foreign shores. Counted among her adoring fans is actress Meagan Good, a big fan, whom Cinnamon mutually admires.
If you have never had a taste of Cinnamon Brown, all of that will change, summer of 2007 when her entire camp will be relocating to Atlanta, GA. There will even be a Youtube channel set up to broadcast her adventures as a young international artist courting the Atlanta music industry.
"I am relocating to Atlanta because the music there really inspires me, not just the music but the scene keeps you motivated because people are constantly on their grind, I look forward to finding work and working with artists like Lloyd , Monica, or T.I. because they inspire me and they sound different from the rest."
Although she will be a new transplant, Cinnamon is no newcomer to the music industry. She has been penning songs for BMG Europe under contract for some time now, however she admits there are roadblocks in Amsterdam when it comes to breaking into the industry.
“We have major companies like EMI and BMG but I want to be released worldwide so I have to make some major noise first,” says Cinnamon, who has been making noise since 1993 when she gave her first live performance.
It was an explosive rendition of Real Love by Mary J Blige that sent shocks through her Dutch high school and knocked down doors for her ever since. Only four years later, the preteen was on national Dutch television singing Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers for a captive national audience of thousands.
Cinnamon kept her career on the fast track and in 1999 she was on a Dutch high school tour with Organized Mastaz. “I was at a radio station and I helped a couple djs out with their show and the radio host asked me to freestyle and they liked me.”
Next thing she knew she was a featured artist on The Social Life Tour. The tours did not stop and performing before crowds of thousands became an addiction. In 2003, Cinnamon toured Europe with the RMXCRW. In 2003, she hosted Innercity (The biggest international dance event on the planet).
“Hosting Innercity 2003 was a great experience, there were hundreds of thousands of people in one place. To be on a stage that huge and to see my face on a huge billboard was an incredible experience. I even had a chance to interview Biz Markie and DJ Kool,” she giggles.
While only in her teens Cinnamon was making major contacts with the music industry and Amsterdam radio, she was also making connections with European scenesters, producers and musicians such as QF, Pimpaclawz, Mr. Probz, Odessah, as well as Dutch rapper SugaCane and many others. Most recently Cinnamon has been laying vocals in the European studio of THEprinceOFbeatz.
With so much promise, ambition, talent, life and business experience, Cinnamon Brown’s unique style, taste and lyrics are destined to make their way to an international audience real soon. “I feel that I am a human being first and an artist second. My music reflects that. I can’t and won’t make a whole album with just party tracks. I want people to know who I am.”
From, Dancehall, Reggae, Afro-Caribean, Hip-Hop, R & B, Alternative, Rock, Pop, the flavor of the new millennium is Cinnamon and she will take hip-hop soul musical fusion to the world market, representing many styles, Cinnamon Brown is the spice of the new world, a true world class citizen, after all who does not like a little cinnamon spice?
Also featured on:
Da Social Life album - Sugacane ft. Cinnamon - Ghetto Star
RMXCRW - " Da Soundtrack "
The Ultimate Urban Invasion
DJ Law's mixtape - First Assignment Mixtape
DJ Vicious mixtape
DJ Waxfiend vol. 4 & 5 - Waxtrax 5
Black Mosart's 4 Da Streetz part 2
Check out Cinnamon's Sonic Bids Page
Add Cinnamon as a friend on her Myspace Page
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