Five young R&B artists to watch

Amy Winehouse made a commercial and critical splash last year with Back to Black and its defiant single Rehab. There's no guarantee that any newcomer will achieve similar success this year, but singer Leona Lewis already has a No. 1 hit. USA TODAY talks with Lewis and five others who could be 2008's breakout.

Karina Pasian | Razah | Estelle | Asia Cruise | Duffy

Karina
Album: Karina(out June 3)
Single: 16 at War

Early notice: In 2006, the precocious R&B singer, then 14, landed a reported seven-figure deal after a bidding war between Interscope, Bad Boy and eventual winner Def Jam. She already has sung for the presidents of the United States and Dominican Republic, been mentored by Quincy Jones and shared the stage with Alicia Keys.

MORE: Leona Lewis leaps from U.K. sensation to U.S. star

Her story: Karina Pasian, 16, daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, has been playing piano since 3 and is trained in ballet, flamenco, modern, jazz and hip-hop dance. She sings in English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Italian and French.

"Both my mom and dad studied in Russia," she says. "They were always playing music of a lot of styles and languages, so my ear is more open to different types of stuff."

She competed on CBS' Star Search in 2003 in the junior singer category and came to the attention of Jones. The legendary producer took her to Rome in 2004 for his star-studded We Are the Future benefit concert.

She's currently working on her debut album, which will feature collaborations with John Legend and Wyclef Jean and the producer/songwriter team of Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The Dream" Nash. She expects her peers to relate to first single 16 at War, which deals with the social struggles teenagers face.

"It's taking a look at the world from the point of view of a 16-year-old," she says. "Kids understand peer pressure and trying to make the right choices."

Razah
Album:Razah (May 20)
Single:Rain

Early notice: Even before he signed with Def Jam, the smooth singer/songwriter, 24, was getting spins on New York's influential Hot 97 with Where Do We Go From Here. The song impressed Rihanna enough that she asked him if she could add a verse to the remix, and Jay-Z offered him a deal after the recording session. He's on tour with fellow R&B stars J. Holiday and Trey Songz.

His story: Jamaican-born and Brooklyn-bred Martell Nelson started out rapping as a teen but soon figured out he was much better at singing. He taught himself how to write and arrange songs by writing out the lyrics to songs he heard on the radio. His soulful blend of R&B, reggae and hip-hop was influenced by Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.

He started hanging out at a Brooklyn recording studio, where he hooked up with managers Sekou "Hood" Reaves and Gerald "Man" Holman in 2004. They helped get his independent single Feels So Good airplay and promoted his album, Breath of Fresh Air.

On his self-titled Def Jam debut, Razah (so nicknamed because he's a sharp dresser) varies his themes with songs such as Runaway, the story of a sexually abused girl; Dear Dad, in which he addresses the father he never knew; and Fight, about the struggle to keep a relationship going. His producers include newcomer Rykeyz — who did four songs — and veterans Green Lantern and Stargate.

"It's not all shake-booty or broken-heart records," says Razah, who wrote all his songs. "There's too much of that. I just do what feels good to me."

Estelle
Album:Shine (April 29)
Single: American Boy

Early notice: The singer/rapper is the first artist signed to John Legend's Homeschool Records. Her first single, produced by will.i.am and featuring Kanye West, topped the U.K. singles chart. BET and VH1 have cited her as an artist to watch. She begins a 10-date U.S. club tour April 8 in Cleveland. Album producers also include Swizz Beatz and Mark Ronson; hip-hop stars Cee-Lo and Wyclef Jean contribute.

Her story: West Londoner Estelle Swaray, 28, has become one of Britain's most respected hip-hop artists with her witty lyrics and eclectic musical tastes.

Born to Senegalese and Grenadian parents, she was influenced by the African and West Indian music she heard growing up. Her acclaimed 2004 U.K. debut on independent label V2 Records, The 18th Day, featured the autobiographical 1980 and Free as hit singles. She also put out two mixtapes —Da Heat, Part 1 and Part 2 — on her own label, Stellar Ents.

"Everything I write has some story behind it, probably rooted in some crazy guy or crazy situation I was in," Estelle says. "Since the last album, I've just been living and doing all the things I wanted to do. That's why it's taken so long. I had to live through every situation to get to a place where I could get it out."

She was introduced to Legend in 2001 by West, whom she had chanced upon at a Roscoe's House of Chicken N' Waffles restaurant in Los Angeles and struck up a conversation. At the time, the two future stars were still working on West's The College Dropout. When Legend released his hit album Get Lifted in 2004, he tapped Estelle as the opening act for his European tour. Last year, he signed her to his Atlantic Records imprint.

Asia Cruise
Album: Who Is Asia Cruise? (Spring)
Single: Selfish

Early notice: Her single, written and produced by ThaCornaBoyz, reached No. 33 on the rhythmic top 40 charts. She's also working with fellow Floridian T-Pain.

Her story: At 10, Cruise aspired to be a gymnast, but after a back injury, her mother decided it was time for her to find a new activity. The Jacksonville youngster found herself in a singing camp.

"I never wanted to be a singer," Cruise says. "But it was summer and my mom didn't want me just sitting around the house. I went and we learned how to sing and perform and we had a showcase. My whole family was there, and they were like, 'Omigod, she can actually sing.' I loved the response I got, and that's when I knew I wanted to do this."

Cruise, now 18, spent the next several years making a name for herself at local talent shows. She got good enough to attract the interest of Jive Records executive Mickey "MeMpHitz" Wright (who previously signed T-Pain and Huey), who came to see her perform and signed her to his Hitz Committee/Jive Records label.

Her album's title started out as a question to herself as she searched for her musical identity. Jive turned it into a marketing campaign. For months, the label's website and Cruise's MySpace page played Selfish but showed only a silhouette of a young woman, not revealing the Caucasian-Filipino R&B/pop singer's face until her video premiered in February.

"We did this whole mystery thing so that people could focus on my music and not the way I look."

The single draws from her personal life. "When I was in the studio with ThaCornaBoyz, I said, 'We should write a song about this guy and what I was going through with him.' He was so, selfish, you know? I wanted to get back at him so that when he heard it, he'd know it's about him."

Duffy
Album:Rockferry (May 13)
Single: Mercy

Early notice: The Welsh singer/songwriter draws comparisons to Dusty Springfield for her emotional soul stylings. She placed second in BBC's Sound of 2008 poll. Her album topped the U.K. chart and the single, Mercy, went No. 1.

Her story: Aimee Anne Duffy, 23, has no idea how she developed her signature sound. Growing up in the Wales village of Nefyn, the singer had no access to the vintage soul music that seems to have influenced her. "I only knew that I was a soul singer when someone told me that I was," she says.

But she did know that she always wanted to be a singer. As a teenager, she used a pink karaoke machine her mother gave her for Christmas to record demos of songs she'd written and send them off to record companies. In 2004, she met her manager, Jeannette Lee, co-owner of the independent Rough Trade Records. Lee introduced Duffy to producer Bernard Butler, Suede's ex-guitarist and Duffy's co-writer and bandmate.

Duffy spent three years writing songs for Rockferry, which will be released on Mercury in the USA. While most of her tunes are inspired by her experiences, she says they're not particularly personal.

"There's a part of me that enjoys not making my songs too self-indulgent," she says. "I don't feel as though I'm trying to express myself emotionally. I just really like writing and singing, and I like the power of words."
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