A-Love is a female Australian-based MC from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Her debut album, ''Ace of Hearts'' was nominated 'Best Urban Release' in the

ARIA Music Awards of 2008 The 22nd annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) took place on 19 October 2008. The nominees for all categories were announced on 10 September, while the winners of ...

Biography

A-Love was born Antonella Formosa in Rome, Italy on 21 March 1983. Formosa's father is Ric Formosa, a composer/arranger and an original member (lead guitarist) with the Australian band

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums reached the top ...

and her mother, Vicki Formosa, was an R&B singer. She attended Hawthorn Secondary College, graduating in 1999. Whilst her first experiences of playing music were with an

all-female band An all-female band is a musical ensemble, musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universa ...

, which never made any public performances, she also discovered hip hop in high school and soon found herself waxing lyrical over beats. In January 2000, Formosa met Draino from the Puah Hedz. He was keen to check out her writing and despite her reluctance, he made her feature on a track. The second track that she had ever recorded was with Muphin, which later became "Some People" which featured on the album ''Despite the Odds''. She has since appeared numerous times on

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

's 'The Hip Hop Show',

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

' 'The Formula' (now 'Hittin Switches') and 'Auscultation', RRR's 'Wordburner' and

RMIT University The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

's SRA FM. She was progressing towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

from

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

and for two years she was the co-host of a hip hop radio show at La Trobe University. May 2002 marked A-Love's official solo introduction to the Australian hip hop and media circles, with her song "Petty" from the album, ''Culture of Kings Volume 2'' (the first ever Australian hip hop feature album on Triple J). "Petty" was put on medium rotation on

. Formosa was a winner of the Nescafe Big Break competition in 2002, earning $20,000 with which to start up an independent record label and distribution company, Duality Records. As time progressed, she juggled the twin responsibilities of building a label and working on her own debut as an artist. Formosa released her debut album, ''Ace of Hearts'' on 24 November 2007, on Crookneck Records. The album was produced by BVA (Mnemonic Ascent) with additional beats from

Suffa Matthew David Lambert (born 6 May 1977), known by his stage name Suffa or MC Suffa, is an Australian rapper and producer. He is best known as one of the members of the hip hop group Hilltop Hoods, and has been a recording artist since the 19 ...

(

Hilltop Hoods Hilltop Hoods are an Australian hip hop group that formed in 1994 in Blackwood, Adelaide, South Australia. They are regarded as pioneers of the " larrikin-like" style of Australian hip hop. The group was founded by Suffa (Matthew David Lambert) ...

) and Jase. Guests include Yungun (UK), Raph (Mnemonic Ascent), Spikey Tee (UK) and emerging indigenous MC Jim Blah. It was Triple J's 'Album of the Week' just three days after its release and was nominated for the 2008

ARIA Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

in the category of 'Best Urban Release'. She was also nominated for two at the

Jägermeister ( , ) is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. Developed in 1934 by Wilhelm and Curt Mast, it has an alcohol by volume of 35% ( 61 degrees proof, or US 70 proof). The recipe has not changed since its creation, and the drink contin ...

AIR (Australian Independent Record Labels Association) Awards in 2008, in the categories of 'Best New Independent Artist' and 'Best Independent Hip Hop Artist'. Formosa has performed with Mystik Journeymen (US),

Anticon Anticon (often styled as anticon.) was an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1998 by seven musicians and manager Baillie Parker. It was collectively owned among six musicians, co-founder Parker, and manag ...

Pegz Tirren Staaf, otherwise known as Pegz (or MC Pegasus), is an Australian hip hop artist and producer hailing from Melbourne, Victoria. He was the CEO of Obese Records—the record label responsible for artists such as Hilltop Hoods, Downsyde, a ...

MC Layla Layla Rose Hanbury (born 5 October 1982), known mononymously as Layla, is an Australian hip hop singer-songwriter and MC from Perth. In January 2005 she released her debut solo album, ''Heretik'', on Obese Records. She is a member of Syllabolix ...

, Kowhai,

Bliss n Eso Bliss n Eso (formerly known as Bliss n' Esoterikizm) are an Australian hip hop trio based in Sydney. The group consists of emcees Bliss and Eso, and DJ Izm, and they are currently signed to Melbourne record label Illusive Sounds, and are manag ...

, Scarz on 45, MC Que,

TZU TZU (pronounced "Tee Zed Yoo") were an Australian hip hop group, formed in 1999 by Joelistics, Yeroc, Seed MC and Paso Bionic. Duzy What joined in 2005. The band used live instruments in their recordings and live performances, giving their sho ...

, Bias B and DJ Brand (Canada).

Awards

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at Blacket Hot ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - , rowspan="2" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, A-Love , Best New Independent Artist , , - , ''Ace of Hearts'' , Best Independent Hip Hop Album , , -

Discography

Albums

* ''Ace of Hearts'' – Crookneck Records/Shogun Distribution (November 2007)

Contributions

* ''Get The Picture?'' – Draino ("Out of Place") – Puah Head Constructions (2000) * ''Despite the Odds'' – ("Some People") – Puah Head Constructions (2000) * ''Culture of Kings – Volume 2'' ("Petty") –

Obese Records Obese Records was an Australian hip-hop, Australian hip hop record label based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was the largest independent hip hop label in Australia and was home to acts such as Pegz, Hilltop Hoods, Thundamentals, Reason (Australian ...

(2002) * ''Obesecity'' – ("Rapunzal") – Obese Records (2002) * ''Straight from the Art...'' – ("Movin'") –

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

(2003) * ''Straight from the Art 2'' – ("Captains of...") – Warner Music (2004) * ''The Enthusiast'' – Evil Ed ("Captains of...") – Janomi (2004) * ''Beat the Hedz Vol 1'' – Jase ("Sincerely Yours") – Obese Records (2006) * ''Diggi Down Unda'' – Mystro ("The Beaches") – Grindin Records (2006) * ''Good Vibrations 2008'' – ("So Easy") –

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

(2008)

References

External links

The Age review of Ace of Hearts (22 November 2007)

Planet Urban album review

PBS article
{{DEFAULTSORT:A-Love 1983 births Living people Australian women rappers Obese Records artists Rappers from Melbourne Musicians from Rome Australian expatriates in Italy