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Rachel Alejandro wants to be another JLo

Rachel Alejandro (Contributed photo)

When you’ve performed before so many people ever since you can remember, you realize the you need to introduce yourself to a whole new audience out there. They’re younger, they have different tastes. But they appreciate good music.

This is what’s on top of Rachel Alejandro’s mind right now. The powerful voice behind OPM classics “Kay Tagal,” “Mr. Kupido,” “Paalam Na” and “Bulag sa Katotohanan” wants to show the younger crowd of music lovers that she can also perform for them Gangnam Style and the latest fads notwithstanding.

And so she is reinventing herself, like the way glam personified Jennifer Lopez, or JLo, did.

Like JLo, Rachel can dance up a storm. And Rachel’s body is as to-die-for as JLo’s is.

Curves still in place

Rachel has maintained her curves thanks to The Sexy Chef, which she and sister Barni run. It creates healthy, slimming diet programs to those who want shapely figures and all the nutrients they can get hold of.

“Parang bago na akong artist,” Rachel admits. “Kailangan fresh (sound) na talaga. Huwag na tayong lumayo. Look at JLo. She was able to reach the youth market because she has evolved.”

So just like many artists out there, Rachel admits that yes, JLo has become her peg. After all, like JLo, Rachel can still perform in clinging dresses and sexy shorts. Like JLo, Rachel wears many hats. Aside from singing, she acts and runs her own business.

But Rachel is not copying the American artist all the way. Rachel is taking a different tack in her comeback bid in the music industry next year.

Rachel is channeling that powerful voice into a five-song album of Tagalog remixes and a bit of club music. In the process, she is taking the road less taken.

“Para maiba naman,” she explains. “Puro revivals ang lumalabas ngayon. Hindi na maarok ng younger generations ang ballads. So I asked a few friends to explore new sounds. As an older performer, I want to reach out to the younger crowd.”

But Rachel won’t make herself look like a fool by plunging herself totally in a genre best left to younger musicians.

True to herself

“I’ll still be true to my style. Hindi yung sobrang pilit na magpaka-bagets. I still have to be honest and strike a balance.”

She won’t drown her music with club sounds. Rachel knows the audience embraced her for her mellow songs. So the Tagalog remixes remain.

If her ‘experiment’ works, Rachel can teach some of her contemporaries to abandon tired formulas and explore the untried.

For an industry that needs fresh approaches, new, original sounds, this is could be just what the doctor ordered.