Go hard or go home!!
That’s not just the title of her brand new mixtape — it is also the philosophy of Lafonda, a Bronx R&B singer who is about to make the world her stage.
The recipient of the 2006 Best R&B Female Artist at the Underground Music Awards hosted at B.B. King’s, Lafonda continues to strengthen her presence with appearances on BET’s 106 & Park, interviews on MTV3 and articles in Xpoz Magazine and Streets Enigma Magazine.
According to Lafonda, the singer who calls 174th Street her home, she’s “just getting started” and credits her upbringing for her success.
“In order for you to get somewhere, you always have to look back at where you came from,” she said. “Living in the Bronx with my mother has been a great experience for me, and it has definitely influenced my music. I like to write about what I’ve been through and I love the Bronx and the opportunities it continued to provide me.”
Lafonda likes to keep her songs clean and positive, and discusses one story from growing up in the Bronx that led to her recording the song, “Positive Things.”
“It’s a true story based on this guy who lived in the same neighborhood as me,” she starts. “He was selling drugs, and in the record, I talk about how he got killed and how we, as adults, should be role models.”
Lafonda has had her share of role models, crediting Patti Labelle, Anita Baker, Michael Jackson, Toni Braxton and her mother as being her main influences.
“Those singers are icons,” she said. “I love them all, but my mother was a singer and she has been my greatest influence.”
afonda began her career at age eight and performed shows and plays until she came up with a song that got her a shot at superstardom.
“I created ‘Ooh Ahh’ about a guy who I ran into on my way to the grocery store,” she said. “He was this gorgeous guy and all the females had this big crush on him. But I am not the type of girl who likes popular guys who think they have game.”
That last comment is an actual line from “Ooh Ahh,” which the artist performed on college radio and various showcases before competing against other aspiring music artists for a spot on BET’s “Wild Out Wednesdays.” Lafonda made it far enough to perform the single in front of an allegiance of 106 & Park viewers, winning a new slew of fans in the process.
Lafonda has taken it one step further, working with producer Playboy-Chi and Sleepless Productionz to create her first LP, Go Hard or Go Home. The CD was released earlier in the summer and has received positive reviews from DJ Bedtyme357 — Remy Ma’s official DJ — as well as DJ Wayne McDonald in the UK.
Lafonda is also putting together a video for her next single, “Built Like That,” which focuses on men who try to impress women with material things while all Lafonda wants is love.
The Bronx singer hopes to get involved in movies and Broadway, but is currently concentrating on her music.
“I am really pushing the mixtape,” she said. “It’s on CD Baby and a number of other websites, including Lafondaforever.com.”
The enthusiasm with her product and her career has led many in the industry to call her The Bronx Bombshell.
“The name has spread around the industry and now that is what everyone calls me,” she said. “I love it. The Bronx is where I’m from and it will help take me to where I go.”
Lafonda is taking her life in the Bronx and turning it into a positive R&B career.
