Élan Luz Rivera (born June 1982) is an American

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

hip hop singer and actress. She is one-third of Latin hip-hop trio The D.E.Y.

Voices

* '' Sunny Day'' - Rox * '' Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony'' - The People of Liberty City * ''

Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the ...

'' - Carmen Ortiz

Life and career

Rivera was born and raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. As a child she worked as an actress, appearing in the movie, '' Life with Mikey'', and also made a

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

on the television series, ''

Ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders ofte ...

''. Elan attended LaGuardia High School for Music and Art and Performing Arts (The "Fame" School). She made her first appearance on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

as Cookie in the

musical play Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

The Capeman ''The Capeman'' is a musical play with music by Paul Simon and book and lyrics by Simon and Derek Walcott based on the life of convicted murderer Salvador Agrón. The play opened at the Marquis Theatre in 1998 to poor reviews and ran for 68 pe ...

'' from 29 January to 28 March 1998 at the

Marquis Theatre The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1986, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization. There are abou ...

in New York, From 26 April to 13 May 2001 she played Susie Rogers in musical comedy ''

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' is an 1876 novel by Mark Twain about a boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the town of St. Petersburg, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the nov ...

'' at the

Minskoff Theatre The Minskoff Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the One Astor Plaza office building in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1973, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization and is named aft ...

in New York. In 2005, Divine introduced her to rapper Yeyo. During the making of their album, she worked with the American pop singer

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...

in the

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

for her 2007 hit song " He Said She Said" and wrote "Fuego" for

The Cheetah Girls The Cheetah Girls may refer to: * The Cheetah Girls (franchise), a series of young adult novels by Deborah Gregory and the spin-offs made from the novels, including a film series ** ''The Cheetah Girls'' (film), a 2003 Disney Channel Original Movie ...

' first Bi-lingual single with producer

J.R. Rotem Jonathan Reuven Rotem is a South African-born record producer, songwriter and music publisher. Biography Early life Rotem was born in South Africa to Jewish Israeli immigrant parents. He moved to Canada at the age of two and to Moraga, Cal ...

and songwriter

Evan Bogart Evan Bogart (born January 23, 1978), better known as E. Kidd Bogart, is an American songwriter, music publisher, record executive and film & television producer. He is the son of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart and former music manager Jo ...

. Rivera was featured and wrote on The 2008

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

album ''

Exit 13 ''Exit 13'' is the twelfth studio album by American rapper LL Cool J. It was released on September 9, 2008, on the record label Def Jam Recordings. This would be his last album release with the label. Production This album is the first LL Cool J ...

'' under the name Elan of The Dey.

Artistry

Rivera has formal training in singing in Hindi, German, Italian, Spanish and Sanskrit.

References

External links

Sony Japan The DEY Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Elan Luz 1982 births Living people 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Actresses from New York City American women pop singers American film actresses American Latin pop singers American television actresses American video game actresses Singers from New York City Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Entertainers from the Bronx