Bio

Sonyae Elise, the ‘Lady Rebel’, was born in Newark, New Jersey and moved around quite often throughout her home state while growing up. Raised mainly by her mother who was a singer/songwriter and model, Sonyae spent a lot of time in recording studios during her younger years. Although her father was not around much due to problems with the law, Sonyae was able to overcome difficult circumstances and follow her dreams. Citing her musical influences as Linda Jones, Tupac, Prince, Nas, Phyllis Hyman and Barbara Streisand, Sonyae states, “My intentions are to provoke the very emotion in people that made me fall in love with this art form.” Sonyae began writing songs at the age of seven, and began working in musical theater in the third grade. During middle school, Sonyae intensified her study of musical theater and gravitated toward on and off Broadway performances of musicals such as Lion King, Grease, Little Shop of Horrors and Rag Time. At the age of 15, Sonyae linked up with multi-platinum production duo Midi Mafia (50 Cent, Jennifer Lopez, Fantasia, Justin Bieber and more) at Sony Records in New York City. “I just gave them some music, they fell in love with it and we have been family ever since,” says Sonyae. Since then, she has collaborated with some of the most sought-after producers in the game, including  Los Da Mystro (Trey Songz, The Dream, Usher), Kwame (Pussy Cat Dolls, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige), Soul Diggaz (Destiny’s Child, Missy Elliott, Diddy) and multi-platinum artists Bow Wow and Omarion, to name a few. In the summer of 2010, Sonyae Elise officially introduced herself to the world with the release of her mixtape, “Lady Rebel”, which featured original productions from Midi Mafia, Ski Beats, A.U, Brite Ware and JV. The mixtape featured the lead single “We Heard (Retweet)”. Currently, Sonyae is featured as a contestant on the Bravo reality show Platinum Hit where she battles other songwriters to win the title of ultimate hitmaker. She will also be dropping her next mixtape, “Lady Rebel Vol. 2” mid summer. Sonyae’s raw, heartfelt and passionate lyrical style is sure to make her stand out amongst the competition and connect with audiences everywhere.