MONIQUEA

Moniquea was born in Gary, Indiana and raised in Pasadena, California. She vividly recalls watching her mother rehearse as a lead singer alongside other relatives and friends in the Pasadena-branded group The Roses. As a youth, she was exposed to countless volumes of 70’s soul, as well as the electrified musical production of the 80’s, and the trunk-rattling thump of west coast 90’s rap, thus shaping her own sound immeasurably. In particular, the synthesized, dance-friendly aesthetics of new wave and funk-laden R&B (later to be categorized as “boogie”) made a lasting impression on her, which she seeks to distill and reinterpret in the music she creates today.

No stranger to the spotlight, Moniquea solidified her local presence by singing at Pasadena’s world-famous Rose Bowl at only 15 years old. Quickly moving past hometown boundaries, she went on to open for Westside Connection at the height of their success, and has since performed at nearly every reputable venue in LA – The Whisky, The Roxy, Viper Room, Cinespace, Echoplex, and more. She has also twice performed at the annual Taste of Soul festival and the Kingfest in Leimert Park, both drawing crowds in the thousands. In addition, she has been a headlining performer at Modern Funk Fests in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.

Moniquea has also been featured in a number of music articles, magazines, websites and blogs, including: AllMusic, Do Androids Dance, Impose, Noisey Music by VICE, Okayplayer; and in Los Angeles’ biggest music publication, LA Record, where she landed on the front cover in 2015. After independently releasing her self-titled debut in 2011, she partnered with producer XL Middleton and released the album Yes No Maybe in 2014, followed up by Blackwavefunk in 2017, and Los Robles & Washington in 2020. It is through these records and her current and future musical endeavors that she delivers modern funk, as refracted through the lens of her early influences. What Moniquea creates is not ‘pastiche’ nor ‘retro,’ but a faithful reinterpretation of sounds that came from the dawn of the synth, perfectly balanced with one eye focused squarely on the future.