Joni Cruz

Blu Kolla Dreams First Lady, Joni Cruz (born Jonora Mae Cruz on December 6, 1985) is an American recording artist from Richmond, California. A born entertainer; her mother Nora was the lead singer of The Clockwise Band who continued singing 3 days to her birth, and her father Joey, in the rhythm section, was also the band manager. Together they were Joey and Nora which is how they named her Jonora. "Joni" for short started playing the piano at age 4, taking dance lessons at 8 and playing the clarinet by 10. Growing up in the 6th most dangerous city in the United States, she was highly influenced by the urban culture. In junior high her parents’ divorce sparked her rebellion stage where she started sneaking out, drinking and doing drugs with the local rappers. This is when she fell in love with rap music and started writing rhymes to deal with the pain of a broken home. In high school she began making beats on a program called Fruity Loops and gained popularity as a female producer. After graduating she moved across the bay where she was introduced to an MPC and Protools at the San Francisco DJ Acaemy. Before long, Joni was writing songs and recording over her own track and decided to move to Atlanta, Georgia in pursuit of her lifelong dream. Working as a dental assistant, she saved enough money to build a small recording studio in her closet where she has been horning her craft. She has recorded numerous mixtapes and compilation albums as an artist and producer. While out promoting her latest collaboration project "Bad Apple" with fellow female rap artist Akera Love Lee, she met Bobby V. Days later, on May 19th 2011, tragedy struck when her best friend and rap partner Akera died in a car crash bringing an unfortunate end to the project. She has since been working as a solo artist under Bobby V's record label Blu Kolla Dreams and proudly holds the title of first lady. Having taken the “Blu Kolla” approach, her hard work and dedication definitely makes for a perfect fit.