Livin Out Loud

The Los Angeles-based group Livin' Out Loud are a versatile foursome, able to blend old-school soul sounds with 21st century dance, pop, and R&B. Members Reuben MacCalla, Sylvia MacCalla, Lisa LaShawn, and Jason "Martini" Martinez are all songwriters and vocalists. With their diverse backgrounds — Reuben was an engineer, Sylvia toured the U.S. as a cast member of the musical Hairspray, Lisa co-wrote the song "Feel Me" for Mandy Moore, while Martini was a backup singer for Paul Simon — it wasn't a big surprise that Livin' Out Loud would be an unclassifiable act. They first made an impression in the U.K. in 2004 when their singles "Why U Gotta Lie" and "Cuz I Gotta Know" became popular among dance and urban music fans. The 2005 track "Where's the Love" did well on U.S. dancefloors, and a year later their album What About Us spawned the singles "What About Us" and "All That Really Matters," the latter of which made a big U.K. splash thanks in part to an MJ Cole remix. As their third single, "Lately," was getting U.K. radio play in the summer of 2007, the What About Us album was re-released in America.