JD Natasha, Latina singer-songwriter

Rock Solid!
Meet Singer-Songwriter JD Natasha

By Janet Lombardi, staff writer

When 18-year-old JD Natasha sings, "I'm not a plastic Barbie," in "Plástico," a track from her bestselling album Imperfect/Imperfecta, she isn't kidding.

The girl born Natasha Dueñas, from Miami, Fla., goes her own way, no matter how people would like to see her. People "want me to have this good-girl/Barbie doll image, and that's not me," the Latina singer-songwriter recently told the Miami Herald. With a musical style like an explosive brew of grunge and rock laced with English and Spanish lyrics, Natasha has ridden her out-of-the-ordinary talent all the way to the top of the charts.

Star Quality

Exactly how high? Well, Natasha's single "Lágrimas" spent five weeks in the top 20 of the 2004 Billboard Hot Latin tracks. The following year, she tucked three Latin Grammy Awards nominations under her belt—and was even a presenter at last year's Latin Grammys, where the red-carpet bling didn't overwhelm this down-to-earth musician. "I loved getting dressed up," she says, "but after a while, the heels start hurting."

Rockin' Out

This March, Natasha rocked the house when she played at the SXSW (South by Southwest) Music Festival in Austin, Texas. With two guitarists and a drummer backing her up, Natasha bathed herself in punk-tinged rock 'n roll, a style close to her heart. "I like old school rock," she said. Yes, it's true. Among Natasha's faves are the Foo Fighters, the Cure, and Nirvana. She adds, "There's beauty in each genre of music. But rock is my favorite."

Baby Rocker

Natasha, whose father is Argentine and mother Cuban-American, started singing in her crib. By age 5, she was rockin' out on the family's piano. When a favorite aunt taught her guitar at 12, the music poured out of her. After her dad, a hairdresser, passed along a demo CD of her first band to a customer, she was immediately signed to a major label. Her career has been unstoppable ever since.

Creative Juices

As a songwriter, Natasha isn't showing signs of slowing down. When asked about how she goes about writing a song, she said, "Sometimes I'm playing guitar and it sounds cool and I write the lyrics. Other times, I'm driving or walking and I think wouldn't it be cool if I wrote about this." With a new English-language album in the works, Natasha not only gets to spill out new tunes but gets creative with her producer. "It will sound fresh and different than the last album," she said. "I like change."

Wise Words

As the keynote speaker at the Girl Scout Latina Conference in Long Island, N.Y., last summer, Natasha spoke about change and what it takes to live a dream. "I wanted girls to know that, if they're going through something hard, someone else has gone through it too." Natasha says, "And I got to say, it's going to be okay."

JD Natasha is touring this spring and summer and will appear at the end of August at the Viva! Chicago Latin Music Festival.

Check out the July/August 2006 "Girl Scout mini mag" edition of Girls' Life magazine for profiles of JD Natasha and other extraordinary girls.