Jessica Joy Seria Reynoso (born October 7, 1997), known professionally as J. Rey Soul, is a Filipino-American singer known for participating in the first season of ''

The Voice of the Philippines ''The Voice of the Philippines'' is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine television reality singing competition that aired on ABS-CBN, and is based on the Dutch television series ''The Voice of Holland''. The show premiered on June 15, 2 ...

'' and collaborating and touring with the

Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

since 2018. Starting her musical career at an early age, she appeared on the first season of ''The Voice of the Philippines'' and joined coach

apl.de.ap Allan Pineda Lindo (born November 28, 1974), known professionally as apl.de.ap ( ), is a Filipino-American rapper, singer and record producer. He is a founding member of the hip hop group Black Eyed Peas (BEP). With the BEP, he has been nomin ...

's team, becoming a finalist in the show. After a couple of released singles and a collaboration with apl.de.ap, Reynoso joined the Black Eyed Peas as a semi-official member, replacing Fergie as their singer in 2018.

Early life and career

Jessica Joy Seria Reynoso was born on October 7, 1997, in Hong Kong, China, to an African-American father and a Filipino mother. Having been abandoned at some point by her parents, she would later be adopted and raised in,

San Pedro, Laguna San Pedro, officially the City of San Pedro (), is a component city in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 326,001 people. It is named after its patron saint, Saint Peter. San Pedro ha ...

, Philippines by her adoptive parents who exposed her to music at a young age. She also has an aunt who is a singer in Hong Kong. According to Reynoso, she was able to sing the

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

song "

The Greatest Love of All "The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser, who composed the music, and Linda Creed, who wrote the lyrics. It was originally recorded in 1977 by George Benson, who made the song a substantial hit, peaking at number two on t ...

" in front of her family at age 5. In 2007, she joined the competition show '' Popstar Kids'' at age 10. In a later interview, she says that she didn't get much attention due to her skin color. She completed her contract with the

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

, the network who produced the show, in 2012. She attended

PATTS College of Aeronautics PATTS College of Aeronautics, also known as Philippine Air Transport and Training Services, is an aeronautical school at Lombos Ave., San Isidro, Parañaque, Brgy. San Isidro, Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines. It was founded by Atty. Ambrosi ...

taking Air Freight Operations, which she graduated from in 2015.

Career

On July 21, 2013, Reynoso auditioned for the first season of ''

'', singing the

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

song " Fallin'". Coaches

Lea Salonga Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, ( ; born February 22, 1971) is a Filipino singer and actress. Known primarily for her work in theatre, she has starred in musicals on Broadway and in the West End. Her accolades include a Tony Award and a L ...

and

tried to get her on their respective teams, with Reynoso choosing Team Apl for the competition. In the fourth live-show episode of the show, Reynoso was put against Janice Javier, with Reynoso losing to Javier when the scores of the coaches and the audience was added up. In 2014, Reynoso was signed to apl.de.ap's label, BMBX. In 2018, Reynoso (now going under her stage name J. Rey Soul) collaborated with apl.de.ap's group

on their album ''

Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 ''Masters of the Sun Vol. 1'' is the seventh studio album by American musical group Black Eyed Peas. A political album loosely inspired by the graphic novel of the same name and the contemporary social climate of the United States, it is a de ...

'', after previous singer Fergie departed from the group. She had been inducted into the group as a "semi-official" member who would collaborate and tour with them. In 2020, she collaborated with them again alongside rapper

Ozuna Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado (; born March 13, 1992), known simply by his surname Ozuna, is a Puerto Rican singer, born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother. Five of his studio albums have topped ...

with the song " Mamacita". She was then involved with their albums ''

Translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

'' (2020) and ''

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

'' (2022). In 2021, she signed with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

and released the single "Pull Up" with

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

featuring

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...

, which was used for the

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

AMG AMG may refer to: Automobiles * AB Motorfabriken i Göteborg, a former Swedish automobile manufacturer * Mercedes-AMG, a division of Mercedes-Benz * AM General, an American heavy vehicle and contract automotive manufacturer Mathematics and sci ...

campaign. That same year, she sang the national anthem of the Philippines at the

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

match between

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. ( ; ; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...

and

Yordenis Ugás Yordenis Ugás Hernández (born 14 July 1986) is a Cuban professional boxer. He held the WBA (Super) welterweight title from 2021 to April 2022, having previously held the WBA (Regular) title from 2020 until being elevated to Super champion. As ...

Discography

As lead artist

Collaborations

References

{{Authority control 1997 births Black Eyed Peas members Living people 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century Filipino women singers Filipino emigrants to the United States Filipino people of African-American descent People from San Pedro, Laguna The Voice of the Philippines contestants