Radha Cuadrado (born December 13, 1976), popularly known as RADHA, is a Filipino singer and songwriter best known as an original member of the Filipino-Canadian hip hop group Kulay (previously known as Boom). She was also part of the group 14-K. After leaving Kulay, Cuadrado pursued a solo career and performed in theater and lounge shows. She later starred in the TV series ''

Diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

'' on GMA 7. Most recently, she took part 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 ...

''.

Artistry

Cuadrado's influences include

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

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 ...

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

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, and

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

, and she frequently covers their songs in her shows. She started her singing career at the age of five. Radha has a dramatic coloratura mezzo-soprano vocal range.

Career

Cuadrado had several stints on television and stage, but her big break came at the age of fifteen, when she joined as lead singer of the hip hop group Kulay, which won many awards in the Philippines and went on an international tour all over the UK, Germany, Italy, and Denmark, putting them on the dance charts in the UK. In 1999,

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Philippines launched the ad campaign "Ask for More" and chose Kulay to be their endorsers. Cuadrado was also a member of the group 14-K with Jeffrey Hidalgo, Tony Lambino, and Tenten Muñoz. In 2001, she embarked on a solo career. She has since written songs for other local artists as well as for her own repertoire. She also took part in the

Himig Handog Himig Handog (Eng: Musical Offering) is a multimedia songwriting and music video competition in the Philippines based in Quezon City. The competition is operated by ABS-CBN Corporation and its music subsidiary Star Music. The contest ran from 20 ...

song contest's ''JAM: Himig Handog sa Makabagong Kabataan'' edition as an interpreter for the song entry "You Can Make It Happen", written by Dodjie Simon and Ellis Simon. In 2013, Cuadrado successfully auditioned for the first season of ''

'' and eventually advanced to the live shows, managing to reach the

semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

Discography

With Kulay

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuadrado, Radha Living people Mezzo-sopranos English-language singers from the Philippines ABS-CBN people Star Magic 1976 births Singers from Manila The Voice of the Philippines contestants 21st-century Filipino women singers