Beatbox: Reina Shops For Fans

Even after countless club appearances and four radio hits—including a rare Billboard Hot 100 crossover (2003's "No One's Gonna Change You")—gifted vocalist Reina still could not find her audience.

"People think of dance artists as one-hit wonders," says Len Evans of Project Publicity, a New York-based artist development company brought on to help brand the Bronx-born artist. "They don't realize that [all those hit songs] were sung by the same girl." And because of that disconnect, sales of her debut record, "This Is Reina" (Robbins), released in October 2004, had lagged.

"[Dance music] has that fast-food mentality," the 26-year-old singer says. " 'Let me pump out that one song, put it in the clubs, boom, it's done.' There's no one really taking time to develop an artist, work on their image and put them out there to really connect with their fans."

To combat dance music's inherent facelessness, Project Publicity revived an old idea: the mall tour, a promotional vehicle made famous by '80s teen pop star Tiffany.

With the support of New York dance radio station WKTU, for which Reina is a defining artist, the singer performed in shopping hubs throughout the tri-state area. Crowds consisted of the usual dance fans, plus preteen girls and their parents and grandparents.

"This was a great way for her to meet 8-year-olds, and over-50-year-olds," says WKTU air personality Vic Latino, who DJ'd two of the events.

The retail results were instant: After her performance at the Staten Island (N.Y.) Mall, the on-site FYE store scanned 200 copies of "This Is Reina." Similar sales figures were reported at every tour stop.

"When people meet Reina, they relate to her because she's not different from anyone else," Evans says. "She represents the everyday girl; that's her fan base. It's little girls who want to grow up and be beautiful. Reina's not a stick figure, she's not a size 2, but she is beautiful. And that's what her songs represent to her fans."

Project Publicity plans to take the mall tour national behind the release of Reina's new single, "Forgive."



MILESTONES: San Francisco's Om Records will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a triple CD release—two discs of new material and one of the label's classics—on Jan. 24 . . . Giant Step, the New York-based company that does a little bit of everything—all well, we might add—is marking its 15th year with the limited release of mobile content cards loaded with ringtones and wallpaper from new and classic Giant Step acts . . . King Street Records releases the 15th installment of the consistently groovy "Mix the Vibe" DJ series this month, smoothly mixed by Doc Martin.



GOODBYES: To house vocalist Sabrynaah Pope, who lent her powerful voice to classics by DJ Pierre, Blaze, Joey Musaphia and Kings of Tomorrow, among others. She died Sept. 24 . . . To DJ Billy Long, a longtime Billboard Club Play chart reporter, and beloved resident DJ at Los Angeles' Catch One nightclub, who died Sept. 29. ••••