Welcome and thank you for joining us for another
deep dive. We are pulling our source material
straight from the Wikipedia archives today to
explore the life and the career of Natalie Alvarado.
Right, who's mostly known in the music industry
simply as Natalie. Exactly, just Natalie. And
looking at these notes, we have a, well, it's
a highly unusual and multi -layered trajectory
laid out in front of us today. We really do.
It's definitely not your standard music industry
story. No, it is far from a standard musician's
biography. And I want to set the stage for you
listening right now, because this is really a
masterclass in career reinvention. It's about
hustle and honestly, the art of the pivot. Yeah,
the pivot is huge here. Huge. We are tracking
a journey that starts in criminal justice studies,
moves to the center court of the NBA, scales
the upper tiers of the Billboard charts, shifts
directly into the executive boardroom, and then
eventually finds its way right back to independent
stages. Okay. Let's unpack this. Where does this
unconventional story actually begin? The origin
point is Clear Lake City, Texas. And as you mentioned,
after high school, her initial choice of study
was actually criminal justice. Which is so unexpected.
It is. It's a detail that grounds her story in
a very practical reality long before the entertainment
industry ever really entered the picture. It
shows how unpredictable career paths can be.
Right, because I am curious about how that practical
reality transitions into the Texas entertainment
scene. The notes indicate she became a cheerleader
for the Houston Rockets NBA team while simultaneously
working as a backup dancer for local R &B and
rap artists around Houston. I mean, the physical
and logistical demands of that dual schedule
would be intense. Houston in the late 90s and
early 2000s had a notoriously dynamic music scene.
Heavily anchored in hip hop. Heavily anchored
in hip hop and R &B. Exactly. Operating as a
backup dancer in that specific environment means
operating in the trenches. You're learning the
mechanics of crowd control, stage presence, and
just the raw energy required to backup artists
who are trying to break out of that regional
market. But it seems like she treated that background
role differently than most people would. The
source mentions she was actively workshopping
her lyrical skills, even adding rapping to her
dance performances. Is it common to use a cheerleading
or backup dancing platform to test out rap lyrics?
No, not at all. What's fascinating here is how
deliberate that crossover was. Most performers
compartmentalize their skills. Like you just
stay in your lane. Right. You are hired to hit
your marks as a dancer, so you dance. But injecting
vocal talent into a purely physical performance
illustrates the concept of using your current
platform as a laboratory for your next big move.
Wow. A laboratory. Yeah. She was testing her
vocal rhythm against live crowd reactions while
technically on the clock for something else entirely.
Well, someone clearly noticed the results of
that laboratory. The notes introduced Charles
Chavez as a major catalyst. He was the founder
of Ladium Entertainment. Chavez was a critical
bridge in the Texas music ecosystem. He had this
proven track record of taking regional Texas
talent and translating it for the national market.
He had already produced artists who achieved
massive commercial success, right? Names like
Baby Bash, Frankie J, Shamillionaire. Exactly.
He understood the intersection of pop, R &B,
and Texas hip -hop better than almost anyone
at that time. So when Chavez spots Natalie's
potential and connects her with producers like
Happy Perez and Playin' Skills, he isn't just
taking a wild guess. He is placing her within
a proven hit -making machinery. He saw a standalone
musical artist. The backing she received from
Latium Entertainment gave her immediate credibility
in that space. Here's where it gets really interesting.
What? When she was initially signed to Latium
Entertainment, the paperwork had her down as
a rapper. Which perfectly aligns directly with
the skills she had been actively showcasing during
her dance routines? Right. The industry signed
the talent they literally saw in front of them.
But the studio environment changed that dynamic
entirely. While recording, she frequently sang
the hooks on the songs. And those hooks were
so effective that she completely pivoted away
from rapping to focus entirely on singing. We
have to look at the landscape of mid -2000s hip
-hop to understand the gravity of that pivot.
The hook singer was the absolute currency of
the era. Oh, for sure. You needed that melody.
Right. A rapper could deliver incredible verses,
but it was the melodic, R &B -infused chorus
that got the song played on national radio. Recognizing
that her singing voice was the element making
the tracks memorable. That her hooks were the
commercial anchor that required serious self
-awareness. It's hard to let go of your original
plan. It really is. You might enter the studio
with a specific identity, but when the market
signals that your secondary skill is actually
your primary asset, you have to be willing to
alter your trajectory. And that pivot yielded
immediate tangible results. Fast forward to 2005,
she releases her debut single, Going Crazy. This
track shot to number 13 on the U .S. Billboard
Hot 100 singles chart and even reached number
75 internationally in Australia. That is massive.
It is. And for you listening, if you follow the
industry, we know breaking the top 20 is elite
territory. But what did it actually take to push
a debut single to number 13 back in 2005? It
required a monumental physical and promotional
grind. We're talking about an era long before
streaming platforms, way before algorithmic discovery.
No TikTok of virality back then. None at all.
Hitting number 13 in 2005 meant relentless radio
promo tours, literally convincing regional DJs
to spin the record in clubs, relying on physical
CD single sales at retail stores, and fighting
for heavy rotation on video networks like MTV's
TRL. Achieving that level of market penetration
for a debut artist meant the song had to be requested
organically by listeners across the entire country.
And she capitalized on that momentum, too. In
May of 2005, she releases her self -titled debut
album, Natalie, under Universal. It peaked at
number 16 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
A really strong showing for a debut. Definitely.
The follow -up singles were Energy featuring
Baby Bash, which hit number 66, and Where Are
You featuring Justin Roman, which didn't chart.
But I noticed an anomaly in... the notes regarding
a fourth track called Emptiness, it charted on
Billboard's R &B singles chart despite never
being released as an official single. How does
a non -single trigger the Billboard charts in
that 2005 landscape? That is a fascinating metric
of genuine fan engagement. In a pre -streaming
world, if a non -single charted, it meant club
DJs were independently choosing to play an album
cut. Fans were actively calling their local radio
stations to request a song that the label wasn't
even spending a dime to promote. Oh, wow. It
indicates that the album had real depth and that
listeners were digging past the heavily marketed
lead single to find their own favorites. And
she was aggressively building her brand outside
of the recording booth that year, too. She opened
the Wango Tango Music Festival in Anaheim, California.
That's a massive event hosted by Key ISFM, putting
her in front of tens of thousands of pop -centric
fans. fans. Huge stage. Yeah. And she also hit
the road on the sold out 2005 Lady M tour alongside
Baby Bash and Frankie J Plus. She modeled for
Azalea Cosmetics and secured television spots
like a performance on Live with Regis and Kelly.
It's basically a textbook rollout for a mid -2000s
pop and R &B crossover artist. She was hitting
the pop demographics through Wango Tango and
daytime television while maintaining her core
base through the Ladym Tour. And she didn't lose
her footing in the hip -hop scene either. The
notes list a heavy rotation of collaborations.
She was everywhere. She really was. She provided
vocals for Baby Bash's 2005 super saucy album
on Bubblicious and Throat Off, which featured
Paul Wall. She appeared on Chameleon. By embedding
herself as the go -to vocalist for established,
heavyweight Texas rap artists, she made herself
indispensable to the regional sound. It's a brilliant
way to maintain visibility. Keep your name out
there. Exactly. Even when she wasn't pushing
her own solo singles, her voice was still dominating
the airwaves on other people's hit records. Which
sets up a major evolution in 2006. Natalie releases
her second album, Everything New, this time under
Universal Republic. And she makes a very conscious
decision to shift her musicality toward a dance
pop direction. The transition from R &B and hip
hop features to dance pop carries a certain amount
of risk after a successful debut. But it connects
directly back to her foundational roots. The
dancing. Yes, she started as a professional dancer.
She intimately understands the BPMs, the rhythms,
and the sonic structures that choreographers
and club audiences respond to. She was translating
her physical expertise into her audio production.
She released several singles from that era, including
What You Gonna Do featuring Bun B, Love You So,
and Call Me Up. But while that sonic shift is
happening publicly, there is a crucial business
move happening behind the scenes. She signs a
deal to become a songwriter for EMI. If we connect
this to the bigger picture, this is where the
business acumen really shows. If you are looking
at your own career roadmap right now, understanding
the difference between a record deal and a publishing
deal is vital. Let's break that down for the
listener. Sure. Her deal with Universal Republic
was a performer's deal. That's tied to the master
recordings and the physical sales of her voice.
Signing a songwriting deal with a massive publishing
house like EMI is about owning the underlying
intellectual property. Right, the writing itself.
It is the difference between earning a salary
for a gig and acquiring equity in a business.
It ensures long -term revenue streams through
sync licensing, radio play, and other artists
potentially recording her written material. It
is a really mature pivot that suggests she was
looking far beyond the immediate album cycle.
Which brings us to a massive turning point in
the source material. In 2012, Natalie retired
from singing. A complete withdrawal from her
solo recording career. So what does this all
mean? Because she didn't fade out of the industry.
Instead, she stepped straight into the executive
boardroom. She became a coach, a choreographer,
and a manager for Houston Rockets Entertainment,
specifically taking on the role of directing
the Clutch City Dancers. Let's just analyze the
scale of that transition. She started her journey
as a cheerleader for the Houston Rockets, grinding
on the floor to get noticed. She goes out, conquers
the Billboard charts, navigates international
pop tours, signs major publishing deals, and
then returns to the exact same organization.
Talk about coming full circle. But she returns
to command the entertainment division. I want
to dig into what directing an NBA entertainment
division actually entails because I imagine it
is vastly different from performing a three -minute
pop song. Oh, completely different. As an executive
director, you are managing dozens of personalities,
choreographing complex routines that have to
hit precise timing marks during timeouts and
halftimes. Plus, you have to understand the psychology
of a stadium crowd over a 48 -minute game. It's
basically nonstop logistics. Yes, she was taking
the high -pressure, stadium -level production
experience she gained as a touring pop artist
and translating it into a corporate sports environment.
She knew how to build a show, and more importantly,
she knew what the performers under her management
were physically going through because she had
literally stood in their shoes. It is a phenomenal
way to leverage every single piece of your resume,
but the timeline doesn't stop in the executive
suite. The source material notes that in the
2020s, Natalie returned to the stage and to the
recording booth under the label Maintain Entertainment.
Returning to music after a decade long hiatus,
specifically as an independent artist, completely
changes the parameters of success. And she has
been remarkably prolific since her return. She
released a full album titled Winter in January
of 2021 and followed it up with Purple Winter
exactly one year later in January of 2022. Keeping
up that momentum. Yeah. And she is actively hitting
the road again, too. The notes mention a show
at a venue called Cake in Albuquerque, New Mexico
in late January of. 2023. The contrast between
the 2005 major label push and a 2023 independent
tour is stark. In 2005, there's an entire corporate
machine pushing you to number 13 on the Hot 100.
You've got the radio pluggers, the MTV spots.
Exactly. But returning in the 2020s to release
independent projects and play venues in places
like Albuquerque requires a totally different
type of endurance. It strips away the corporate
pressure and reveals a foundational love for
the craft itself. She is dictating her own terms,
releasing music on her own schedule and connecting
directly with audiences without the filter of
a major label. To synthesize this multi -hyphenate
journey for you listening, we are looking at
a trajectory from a criminal justice student
to an NBA cheerleader to a rapping backup dancer
to a top 20 billboard R &B artist to an EMI songwriter
to a sports entertainment executive and now a
touring independent artist. If there's a central
takeaway for you as you navigate your own professional
landscape, it is the refusal to let a single
label dictate your ceiling. I love that. She
didn't let the title of dancer preclude her from
becoming a lead vocalist, and she didn't let
the identity of pop star prevent her from claiming
the title of executive. She demonstrates the
incredible power of recycling the specific technical
skills from your current chapter into the fuel
for your next one. Every single phase of her
career funded the expertise needed for the next.
This raises an important question. Think about
Natalie seamlessly blending her cheerleading
routines with her secret passion for rapping.
If you were to take your current day job or your
primary skill right now and forcefully collide
it with your most hidden, unrelated passion,
what completely new, previously uninvented opportunity
could you create for yourself? That's something
to think about as you look at the evolving landscape
of your own industry. Thank you so much for joining
us for this deep dive. Keep questioning the conventional
paths and take care. Thank you for joining the
discussion. Goodbye.