- published: 11 Dec 2012
- views: 3465985
Lumidee Cedeño (born August 24, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. Cedeño was born in Spanish Harlem where she was raised by her grandparents. She quickly rose to fame in 2003 with the release of her song "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)", which reached the top ten in over ten countries and number one in various European countries.
Cedeño's father died in 1995, and she and her four siblings were raised by her grandparents. She began singing and rapping at the age of twelve. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of fourteen, after she was misdiagnosed with lupus.
After graduating high school, she collaborated with a local neighborhood producer named DJ Tedsmooth to record her debut single, "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" for an independent record label called Straight Face. Lumidee cites Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliot, MC Lyte and Mary J. Blige as her major influences.
She signed with Universal Records, where she released her debut album called Almost Famous on June 23, 2003. Her single peaked at number 3 in the U.S. and number 2 in the UK, but it was her only hit until the 2007 release of "She's Like The Wind." According to Nielsen SoundScan, Almost Famous sold 276,000 copies in the U.S.