Cynthia

Cynthia: The Queen of Freestyle

Who is Cynthia?
Cynthia Torres is a Freestly music singer of Puerto Rican ancestry.

Where did she grow up?
She was raised in Spanish Harlem, New York City. There she would listen to Donna Summer and France Joli. Hearing her promising voice, her parents put her in Opera classes to strengthen it. Her career goal back then was not music. She planned on becoming a pediatrician.

How did her music career begin?
In 1987, When she was 16, Cynthia was singing in a group with the woman who became Sa-Fire. When Sa-Fire went solo, Cynthia saw her perform before a live audience and the crowd was enthralled. She wanted the same adoration, she mentioned her desire to Sa-Fire, who then landed Cynthia an audition with a record producer, Mickey Garcia.

That fateful audition led to a 5-year contract, 2 weeks later, with MicMac records. That enabled her to issue two albums — her 1990 self titled debut with singles like “Change on Me,” “Endless Nights,” and “Thief of Hearts,” and Cynthia II, with “Love Me Tonight” and “Dream Boy/Dream Girl,” which was a duet with Johnny O. In 1995, she released The Remixes, an album of reworkings of her best-loved tracks.

What did Cynthia do next?
Predicting a decline in the popularity of freestyle, she branched out into other musical styles and, with her 5-year MicMac contract expiring, she changed labels to Timber/Tommy Boy records in 1992. The ensuing singles were hits in clubs, but not on the radio. That led to a musical hiatus during which Cynthia went back to school to pursue a nursing degree in nursing.

That’s good for her but how could she abandon her fans?
Fear not! Producers Joey Gardner and Tony Moran approached her and convinced her to return to her first love, music, through Tommy Boy Records. Her first singles on that label, “How I Love Him” (with an appearance from K7) and “Like a Star,” alerted all to the fact that Cynthia’s music was going into more of a club music direction. In 1998, she also released the single “If I Had the Chance,” written by Tony Moran, and it was a huge hit on New York’s famed WKTU.

Is it true that she released a whole new album with those tracks?
Stop listening to rumors! Sadly, the album never materialized and we’ve heard little from her since; although she did release a Greatest Hit collection in 2001.

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