Prince Royce
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Royce Rojas known professionally as Prince Royce, is an American singer-songwriter
and record producer
from New York City, New York
. At an early age, Royce took an interest in music and into his teenage years, began experimenting with music and writing poetry. By age nineteen, Royce met Andrés Hidalgo, who became his manager. Hidalgo later introduced Royce to Sergio George
, who immediately signed him to his label after hearing three of his demos.
In March 2010, he released his eponymous debut studio album, which generated two commercially successful singles, "Stand by Me
" and "Corazón Sin Cara
". Both songs reached number-one on the Billboard
Tropical Songs chart while "Corazón Sin Cara" reached number-one the US Hot Latin Songs
chart. The album, itself, was a commercial success, reaching number-one on the US Billboard
Latin Albums and Tropical Albums charts. The album earned Royce three awards at the Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, including Tropical Male Artist of the Year. He also received three more at the Billboard Latin Music Awards
in 2011, which included Tropical Album of the Year for Prince Royce
.
, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the second oldest out four children, born to a Dominican
father, who was a taxi-cab driver, and a Dominican
mother, who worked at a beauty salon. When he was young, he participated in choir in elementary school, competed in talent shows and, at the age of thirteen, began writing poetry which turned into songwriting. Recalling his first time performing before a crowd, he said, "Elementary school, I was singing a Christmas song. I felt really comfortable on stage."\. At age fifteen, Royce had began making music with a partner named Jose Chusan better known as "jino". The duo was also known as Jino and Royce, El Duo Real (www.myspace.com/jinoandroyce). At the age of sixteen royce started making music with long time friend and producer Donzell Rodriguez, known as "L Snipe" Ceo of Snipeproductions. The duo eventually had a meeting with Atlantic record in early 2007. With the decline of the reggaeton music royce made the ultimate decision to focus more on the bachata industry. At age nineteen, Royce met Andrés Hidalgo, who after hearing his previous demo instantly became his manager. Hidalgo began helping Royce work hands-on with bachata music. That was the specific moment in which Royce had decided that pursuing a musical career is what he wanted to do. Hidalgo later introduced Royce to Sergio George
, who immediately signed the former to his label, Top Stop Music
, after listening to three of his demos.
, described the album's musical production as "Bachata with R&B
and Pop
sounds", while AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier credited Hidalgo for the "crisp production job, which is often spare but adds touches of urban beats here and there." Shortly after its release, it debuted on the Billboard
Latin Albums chart at number fifteen. The lead single from the album, "Stand by Me
", a remake of Ben E. King
's 1961 song, peaked at number one on the US Billboard Tropical Songs
chart, and also reached number eight on the Hot Latin Songs
chart. The album's second single, "Corazón Sin Cara
", was released in mid-February 2010 and peaked at number one on both the US Hot Latin Songs and Tropical Songs charts. The album itself had eventually reached number one on the US Billboard Latin Albums chart and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA). In December 2010, Royce recorded a song with Sergio George called "El Campo de Sueños", which is used as the theme song for Domingo de Grandes Ligas on ESPN
.
The album had earned Royce a nomination for Best Contemporary Tropical Album at the 2010 Latin Grammy Awards. Later that night, Royce performed the song "Stand by Me" alongside Ben E. King. At the 2011 Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, Royce had won three awards in the Tropical genre, including Male Artist of the Year, New Soloist or Group of the Year and Song of the Year for "Stand by Me". Royce was also nominated for 6 awards at the 2011 Billboard Latin Music Awards
. Ultimately, he had won three of them, which were Tropical Airplay Solo Artist of the Year, Tropical Album of the Year for Prince Royce
, and Tropicals Albums Solo Artist of the Year. Royce had collaborated with Daddy Yankee
on a song entitled, "Ven Conmigo
", which will be included on the latter's album, Prestige. In May 2011, Royce signed on with Atlantic Records
to released English-language albums. It is a joint partnership between Sergio George's Top Stop label and Atlantic. Royce is currently working on his second studio album, in which Mike Caren
, Executive Vice President of A&R for Atlantic, said will be mostly in English with Latin music influences. It was announced by Enrique Iglesias
that he will be touring with Royce and Pitbull
as special guests during a leg which will begin in mid-September 2011.. Royce's sophomore album is due for release sometime in 2012.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
from New York City, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. At an early age, Royce took an interest in music and into his teenage years, began experimenting with music and writing poetry. By age nineteen, Royce met Andrés Hidalgo, who became his manager. Hidalgo later introduced Royce to Sergio George
Sergio George
Sergio George is a pianist and record producer, known for working with many famous performers of salsa music, although he has worked in other genres as well...
, who immediately signed him to his label after hearing three of his demos.
In March 2010, he released his eponymous debut studio album, which generated two commercially successful singles, "Stand by Me
Stand by Me (song)
"Stand by Me" is the title of a song originally performed by Ben E. King and written by King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller, based on the spiritual "Lord Stand by Me,", plus two lines rooted in Psalms 46:2-3...
" and "Corazón Sin Cara
Corazón Sin Cara
"Corazón Sin Cara" is a Latin pop song by American singer-songwriter Prince Royce. It was written and composed by Prince Royce, and produced by Andrés Hidalgo and Sergio George. The song's lyrical content deals with the self-esteem of girls and their appearance. Royce says that the message of the...
". Both songs reached number-one on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Tropical Songs chart while "Corazón Sin Cara" reached number-one the US Hot Latin Songs
Hot Latin Songs
Hot Latin Songs is a record chart published by Billboard magazine. It is often recognized as the most important music chart for Spanish language Latin music in the American music market. It was established by the magazine on September 6, 1986 with La Guirnalda by Rocío Dúrcal being the first song...
chart. The album, itself, was a commercial success, reaching number-one on the US Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Latin Albums and Tropical Albums charts. The album earned Royce three awards at the Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, including Tropical Male Artist of the Year. He also received three more at the Billboard Latin Music Awards
Billboard Latin Music Awards
The Billboard Latin Music Awards grew out of the Billboard Music Awards program from Billboard Magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The awards began in 1990...
in 2011, which included Tropical Album of the Year for Prince Royce
Prince Royce (album)
Prince Royce is the eponymous debut studio album by American recording artist Prince Royce, released on March 2, 2010 through Top Stop Music. The production was handled primarily by Andrés Hidalgo, with other contributions made by Sergio George, George Meña, Bastiany, Gregory "Greko" Rojo and Napoles...
.
1989–2009: Early life and The career beginnings
Geoffrey Royce Rojas was born on May 11, 1989 and raised in The BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the second oldest out four children, born to a Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
father, who was a taxi-cab driver, and a Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
mother, who worked at a beauty salon. When he was young, he participated in choir in elementary school, competed in talent shows and, at the age of thirteen, began writing poetry which turned into songwriting. Recalling his first time performing before a crowd, he said, "Elementary school, I was singing a Christmas song. I felt really comfortable on stage."\. At age fifteen, Royce had began making music with a partner named Jose Chusan better known as "jino". The duo was also known as Jino and Royce, El Duo Real (www.myspace.com/jinoandroyce). At the age of sixteen royce started making music with long time friend and producer Donzell Rodriguez, known as "L Snipe" Ceo of Snipeproductions. The duo eventually had a meeting with Atlantic record in early 2007. With the decline of the reggaeton music royce made the ultimate decision to focus more on the bachata industry. At age nineteen, Royce met Andrés Hidalgo, who after hearing his previous demo instantly became his manager. Hidalgo began helping Royce work hands-on with bachata music. That was the specific moment in which Royce had decided that pursuing a musical career is what he wanted to do. Hidalgo later introduced Royce to Sergio George
Sergio George
Sergio George is a pianist and record producer, known for working with many famous performers of salsa music, although he has worked in other genres as well...
, who immediately signed the former to his label, Top Stop Music
Top Stop Music
Top Stop Music is an independent record label founded by Puerto Rican producer, Sergio George in 2009.-History:Sergio George was known for producing albums for salsa musicians during his work with RMM Records & Video during the 1990s. Following the purchase of RMM Records in 2001, George left the...
, after listening to three of his demos.
2010–present: Eponymous debut album
Royce released his eponymous debut studio album on March 2, 2010. The album was produced primarily by Hidalgo and Sergio George, with co-production duties by Royce. Carlos Quintana, of About.comAbout.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
, described the album's musical production as "Bachata with R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and Pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
sounds", while AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier credited Hidalgo for the "crisp production job, which is often spare but adds touches of urban beats here and there." Shortly after its release, it debuted on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Latin Albums chart at number fifteen. The lead single from the album, "Stand by Me
Stand by Me (song)
"Stand by Me" is the title of a song originally performed by Ben E. King and written by King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller, based on the spiritual "Lord Stand by Me,", plus two lines rooted in Psalms 46:2-3...
", a remake of Ben E. King
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...
's 1961 song, peaked at number one on the US Billboard Tropical Songs
Latin Tropical Airplay
The Tropical Songs is a record chart published on Billboard magazine established in 1994 with the first number-one song to be published was "En Las Nubes" by Edgar Joel. It features Latin music information from tropical music such as salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia, and vallenato...
chart, and also reached number eight on the Hot Latin Songs
Hot Latin Songs
Hot Latin Songs is a record chart published by Billboard magazine. It is often recognized as the most important music chart for Spanish language Latin music in the American music market. It was established by the magazine on September 6, 1986 with La Guirnalda by Rocío Dúrcal being the first song...
chart. The album's second single, "Corazón Sin Cara
Corazón Sin Cara
"Corazón Sin Cara" is a Latin pop song by American singer-songwriter Prince Royce. It was written and composed by Prince Royce, and produced by Andrés Hidalgo and Sergio George. The song's lyrical content deals with the self-esteem of girls and their appearance. Royce says that the message of the...
", was released in mid-February 2010 and peaked at number one on both the US Hot Latin Songs and Tropical Songs charts. The album itself had eventually reached number one on the US Billboard Latin Albums chart and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA). In December 2010, Royce recorded a song with Sergio George called "El Campo de Sueños", which is used as the theme song for Domingo de Grandes Ligas on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
.
The album had earned Royce a nomination for Best Contemporary Tropical Album at the 2010 Latin Grammy Awards. Later that night, Royce performed the song "Stand by Me" alongside Ben E. King. At the 2011 Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, Royce had won three awards in the Tropical genre, including Male Artist of the Year, New Soloist or Group of the Year and Song of the Year for "Stand by Me". Royce was also nominated for 6 awards at the 2011 Billboard Latin Music Awards
Billboard Latin Music Awards
The Billboard Latin Music Awards grew out of the Billboard Music Awards program from Billboard Magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The awards began in 1990...
. Ultimately, he had won three of them, which were Tropical Airplay Solo Artist of the Year, Tropical Album of the Year for Prince Royce
Prince Royce (album)
Prince Royce is the eponymous debut studio album by American recording artist Prince Royce, released on March 2, 2010 through Top Stop Music. The production was handled primarily by Andrés Hidalgo, with other contributions made by Sergio George, George Meña, Bastiany, Gregory "Greko" Rojo and Napoles...
, and Tropicals Albums Solo Artist of the Year. Royce had collaborated with Daddy Yankee
Daddy Yankee
Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez , known artistically as Daddy Yankee, is a Latin Grammy Award winning Puerto Rican Reggaeton recording artist. Ayala was born in Río Piedras, the largest district of San Juan, where he became interested in music at a young age. In his youth he was interested in baseball,...
on a song entitled, "Ven Conmigo
Ven Conmigo (Daddy Yankee song)
"Ven Conmigo" is the first official single by Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee featuring bachata singer Prince Royce from Daddy Yankee's sixth studio album, Daddy Yankee Prestige . The single was released to radios on April 12, 2011 and digitally on April 19, 2011. The song was produced...
", which will be included on the latter's album, Prestige. In May 2011, Royce signed on with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
to released English-language albums. It is a joint partnership between Sergio George's Top Stop label and Atlantic. Royce is currently working on his second studio album, in which Mike Caren
Mike Caren
Mike Caren is an American Record Producer, Executive Vice President of A&R for Atlantic Records and Co-President of Elektra Records. After completing jobs with SRC/Loud Records and Ruthless Records, he started his career at Atlantic in 1995 at the age of seventeen as Manager of Rap Marketing for...
, Executive Vice President of A&R for Atlantic, said will be mostly in English with Latin music influences. It was announced by Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...
that he will be touring with Royce and Pitbull
Pitbull (rapper)
Armando Christian Pérez , better known by his stage name Pitbull, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. His first recorded performance was from the Lil Jon album Kings of Crunk in 2002, after which he released his debut album in 2004 titled M.I.A.M.I. under TVT Records...
as special guests during a leg which will begin in mid-September 2011.. Royce's sophomore album is due for release sometime in 2012.
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 |
US Latin Albums |
US Tropical |
||||
| Prince Royce Prince Royce (album) Prince Royce is the eponymous debut studio album by American recording artist Prince Royce, released on March 2, 2010 through Top Stop Music. The production was handled primarily by Andrés Hidalgo, with other contributions made by Sergio George, George Meña, Bastiany, Gregory "Greko" Rojo and Napoles... |
|
77 | 1 | 1 |
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : 3× Platinum (Latin) |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Latin Songs |
US Latin Tropical |
|||
| "Stand by Me Stand by Me (song) "Stand by Me" is the title of a song originally performed by Ben E. King and written by King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller, based on the spiritual "Lord Stand by Me,", plus two lines rooted in Psalms 46:2-3... " |
2010 | 8 | 1 | Prince Royce Prince Royce (album) Prince Royce is the eponymous debut studio album by American recording artist Prince Royce, released on March 2, 2010 through Top Stop Music. The production was handled primarily by Andrés Hidalgo, with other contributions made by Sergio George, George Meña, Bastiany, Gregory "Greko" Rojo and Napoles... |
| "Corazón Sin Cara Corazón Sin Cara "Corazón Sin Cara" is a Latin pop song by American singer-songwriter Prince Royce. It was written and composed by Prince Royce, and produced by Andrés Hidalgo and Sergio George. The song's lyrical content deals with the self-esteem of girls and their appearance. Royce says that the message of the... " |
1 | 1 | ||
| "El Amor Que Perdimos" | 2011 | 16 | 17 | |
| "Mi Ultima Carta" | 19 | 4 | ||
| "Addicted" | - | - | ||
Featured singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Latin Songs |
US Latin Tropical |
|||
| "Ven Conmigo Ven Conmigo (Daddy Yankee song) "Ven Conmigo" is the first official single by Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee featuring bachata singer Prince Royce from Daddy Yankee's sixth studio album, Daddy Yankee Prestige . The single was released to radios on April 12, 2011 and digitally on April 19, 2011. The song was produced... " (Daddy Yankee Daddy Yankee Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez , known artistically as Daddy Yankee, is a Latin Grammy Award winning Puerto Rican Reggaeton recording artist. Ayala was born in Río Piedras, the largest district of San Juan, where he became interested in music at a young age. In his youth he was interested in baseball,... featuring Prince Royce) |
2011 | 9 | 2 | Daddy Yankee Prestige |
| "El Verdadero Amor Perdona" (Bachata version) (Maná Maná Maná is a pop rock band from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, whose career has spanned more than three decades. They have earned three Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards Latin America, five Premios Juventud awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards and 13 Premios Lo... featuring Prince Royce) |
- | - | Drama y Luz Drama y Luz Drama y Luz is the eighth studio album released by the Mexican Latin pop/Rock en Español band Maná. This album was released in three formats CD, CD with DVD, and 12" LP vinyl record... |
Music videos
| Title | Year | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| "Stand by Me" | 2010 | Danny Hastings |
| "Corazón Sin Cara" | Danny Hastings | |