Valerie Morales

Valerie Morales, also known simply as Valerie or Valeria is a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and radio and television personality, who has worked with a variety of musical performers including Daddy Yankee, Eddie Dee, and Hector & Tito, among others.^[1] She was born and raised in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Morales began her acting career in 2001 and her musical career in 2003.

Career

In 2001, Morales began appearing in various sketches for comedies on Puerto Rican television. They were produced by Tony Mojena Television, an affiliate of Telemundo in Puerto Rico. Among the programs were "El Gran Bejuco", "Susa y Epifanio", and "Dame un Break". ^[2] Morales, wanting to assist some of her friends find jobs in television, eventually started a talent agency. She later began appearing in videos for reggaetón artists, when the women that were originally picked could not be there. These included Trebol Clan and Ranking Stone, among others.^[3] She has worked with La X 100.7 FM, Univision Radio in New York and WHKQ ("KQ103") in Orlando. She is currently working for CBS Radio.^[4]

	Valerie Morales "Te Exitaré" 2003 A 24 second sample of "Te Exitaré", Morales' first big hit.
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While going to college full-time, Morales would sing in locales where she was the only female. In 2003, she met with long-time friend Noriega. After listening to a song performed by Nelly and Kelly Rowland ("Dilemma"), Morales "ended up singing lyrics she wrote to a similar melody" of the song.^[3] She then signed a contract with the record label Flow Music, after DJ Nelson offered her an opportunity to record as a reggaetón artist under his Flow Music Label. That year, she recorded her first big hit "Te Exitaré",^[2] which charted on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart, peaking at number thirty-five.^[5]

The following year, she particated in The Noise Biografía with "Lo Que Quiero Es Bailar". Morales was the back-up singer for duo Wisin & Yandel's first three concerts also playing Yandel's girlfriend in the movie Mi Vida. Her 2004 single "Ven y Baila" was featured on Noriega's Contra La Corriente (2004).^[2] Eddie Dee then called Morales, and told her he wanted her to sing on a song from him. This was turned into "Donde Hubo Fuego" with Daddy Yankee, which appeared on the former's 2004 album 12 Discipulos.^[3]

Her debut studio album Mi Flow was released in 2007 under the Flow Music Label, distributed by Universal Music Latino.^[6][7] The album featured "commerical" material, "full of reggaetón ballads" and "clean lyrics" that "women can relate to".^[3] Mi Flow did not include "tiraeras (beef between two or more artists) associated with the Reggaetón genre".^[3] It featured production by DJ Memo and Sosa among others signed to Flow Music and collaborations with K-Mill, Cidelis and Las Guanabanas.^[3] In 2008, She was hired by Telemundo Studios Miami to record "Doble Vida" the theme song for the telenovela El Rostro de Analía on Telemundo.^[4]

References