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Credit: Y2G.com
One group that should be sampled is Dream, P Diddy's new group on the Bad-Boy label and their first white group (member Diana is Puerto Rican). The group was formed after an audition by a management company in Los Angeles was seeking three girls. After lead singer Holly, Melissa and Ashley were chosen they realized they needed a fourth member to balance the group and chose Diana, Holly's best friend. Soon after the group was front and center in a hotel auditioning for Sean "Puffy" Combs. After their performance Puffy immediately picked up the phone and asked his lawyers to draw up the papers. The girls signed that day.
With their debut release, "It Was All A Dream" the girls have managed to come out the block swinging. Within weeks their first single had all ready been certified gold (during this interview the single was #2 on Billboard) and their album was making its way up the charts debuting at #4. With Dream's brand of performance and music they've positioned themselves to cater toward all kinds of fans across the musical spectrum.
Y2G was given exclusive access to chill with Dream while they made their mark on New York City.
Y2G: You just got back from Las Vegas where you were on Regis and then you flew to, Los Angeles where you hung out with Jay Leno and performed and then you hopped a plane and made it today to host TRL on MTV. That's a crazy two days. Did you think you would actually get to this point?
Ashley: No. Like we said we've never had these expectations. We had goals and dreams and we can only hope and pray to God that we can achieve all those. We just have smiles and our eyes are so dreamy right because we're so blessed. This is just amazing.
Y2G: It's got to be crazy. I mean a year ago you were just calling up about auditions and all of a sudden you are on TV and the radio blowing up. It does seem like your dreams are coming true.
Melissa: It really does. We were talking about it the day the album came out. Like, "girls this is the moment we've been waiting for and fighting for a year now. This is all the blood, sweat and tears paying off in this one moment."
Y2G: How are your friends and family reacting to it all?
Melissa: It's a little shocking for everybody for us especially our family. Because we're not with our families right now. They're back at home and we're hardly ever with our families. Our moms switch on tour with us and take turns, but it's just really hard going through a significant part of your life without the people closest to you and surround your self with people that aren't really your family. It's a lonely time, but then again a real exciting time. Luckily we have each other and our family is really supportive.
Ashley: God has blessed us with a family of our own that we've created within ourselves, our studio and the people that go on tour with us. So thank God that our family is so supportive of us because without them being supportive we couldn't be happy.
Y2G: How would you describe the whole Dream vibe?
Diana: It's still pop music. It's got a different edge to it with more of an R&B edge. Everything that we're singing we're singing with passion. We sing it like we mean it. I think that's something that sets us different from a lot of people because we are truly passionate about this.
Holly: Honestly I don't even think the Dream vibe is totally complete yet and it's still in the works.
Y2G: What's the one good and bad thing about the fame?
Diana: I think one good thing about the fame is that you feel the achievements, you feel your accomplishments. You feel all that inside of you. To know that there are teenagers out there that can relate to you is such a huge thing. It's a great feeling.
Melissa: Yeah, the best part is that we get to be in front of the world and have the opportunity that not a lot of people get to speak out and have people listen. One of the hardest things is definitely the changes that we go through, life on the road. But, you know most of the time we're so busy doing wonderful things that we're not even noticing the downside.
Diana: Going through the downside is only gonna benefit us.
Y2G: I love the song, "Mr. Telephone Man". I grew up listening to New Edition. At first I was like woah they did Mr. Telephone Man and they touched a classic. Then I was like damn they added something to it. How was it going into the studio working with the song?
Ashley: Well, before we did "Mr. Telephone Man" we actually listened to New Edition over and over again. We are not from that time so we gotta make sure we're in that vibe. So we went in there and recorded it we just sang our hearts out. We put it in our own words. Even though we sang a New Edition song we made into something that was a Dream song.
Holly: We definitely had to keep the respect because it was already done by an incredible group and not try to step on their feet.
Y2G: Well I give you props for doing that because a lot of people would be scared to touch such a classic song. You girls pulled it off and did a great job not to mention added something else.
Dream: Thank you!
Y2G: Thank you for taking the time out of your crazy schedule to spend some time with us and little us hang out with you.
Dream: It's our pleasure. Thank you!
By Damien Olmeda
When it comes to music we tend to overanalyze it. We get caught up in labeling groups and assessing their motives for entering the industry. We categorize the music and then place it in its various corners, making sure the Ani Difranco's of the world don't mix with the N'Syncs of the world and the N'Syncs of the world don't mix with the Jay-Z's. Unfortunately when you begin to pigeonhole yourself into one category of music instead of sampling from the various plates that's when you miss out.
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