Don’t let the good looks fool you: Dionyza (dee-on-juh) has the whole package The daughter of Motown singer/songwriters Michael and Brenda Sutton, Dionyza was named after a character in Shakespeare’s Paraclese. And she has followed her literary namesake’s independent character and has fashioned a solid career as a backing vocalist for such artists as Babyface, Christina Aguilara and Jon B. She has also been a familiar voice in the Bratz cartoons and in Disney’s High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls.
Over the course of this decade, Dionyza appeared on a number of minor albums, including the soundtrack to the movie Running Down A Dream, and also recorded tribute albums to Whitney Houston and Enya. But she never had a true debut album until December 2008. And quite a debut it is. Dionyza has been around professional musicians all her life, and that experience helped fashion her approach to her first major solo foray. Working with an impressive list of collaborators, including Rashod Holiday & Sauce (Ne-Yo), David Frank (The System), Jared Gosslin (Macy Gray) and Nate Butler (3LW), Dionyza released Quite Like Me, on Little Dizzy Records. The disc is a step above the typical debut, as Dionyza displays a solid vocal style and a keen sense of melody that made virtually every song on the disc memorable. Aimed at a younger R&B crowd, but with the hooks, production and alluring vocals of a classic soul gem, it was an auspicious debut for a singer with a long musical legacy and a bright future.
By Chris Rizik
