EXCLUSIVE: Kat DeLuna Announces Sophomore U.S. Album, ‘ViVa’

Kat DeLuna made it official Wednesday night on “The Ralphie Radio Show” – Inside Out, the original title to her sophomore U.S. album, is out. The 23 year-old revealed that the LP will be entitled, ViVa, and she plans to drop it this year.

“I released (Inside Out), the European version, in Belgium last year,” said DeLuna, who also noted that the record is just became available in France. “The album was always intended to have two versions: the American and the European.”

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But when DeLuna came back from Belgium to put the final touches on Inside Out, she realized that perhaps the material wouldn’t work in America as well as it had overseas.

“You know how in Spanish we say, ‘Viva!’ and everything is given an ‘oomph’?” DeLuna asked. “That’s what (the American version) signifies to me.”

DeLuna is releasing all new material on ViVa, starting with the lead single. “Dancing Tonight” is what we’ve come to expect from the pop star – high energy, big beats, Latin-infused. Kat teamed up again with producer EightySix for the track, the same guy behind “Dance Bailalo.” DeLuna revealed that she is still working with RedOne. The Moroccan-producer broke on to the scene by creating “Whine Up,” and is widely credited with the development of Lady GaGa’s sound.

“(RedOne) was the executive producer, with Tyrone Edmonds,” she said of her recent European album. “We have that chemistry, but on the American version, there aren’t a lot of RedOne tracks.”

The songstress explained RedOne’s diminished role in her forthcoming album was purely a byproduct of timing. Some could speculate otherwise: a number of media outlets have noted that the RedOne-produced, DeLuna track “Party O’Clock” sounds awfully similar to Jennifer Lopez’s “On the Floor.” DeLuna insists there’s no bad blood between her and the producer.

“These things happen. Sometimes one producer, not knowingly, might do a song for both artists and they sound exactly the same,” she said. “To tell you the truth Ralphie, the one good thing that I can say to you and not a lot of artists can say: I am the creative force behind my work. I have a formula from before RedOne (and I met). That whole Latin-Pop scene, I brought that to the table.”

The formula is undeniable – DeLuna’s lone U.S. hit is 2007’s “Whine Up,” yet she has maintained relevancy for years after, not just in America, but abroad. The singer credits her sound and her fans for relating to and sticking with her. But what makes the feat even more impressive is that it’s all happened over the course of three record label stints. DeLuna jumped from Epic Records to Universal Motown, and is now releasing music in the States through Edmonds’ Global Music Brand. Internationally, she still records under Universal.

Few artists receive a shot with one major label. Even fewer survive a transition from one to another. Kat’s first album was called 9 Lives. Given how she’s survived and succeeded through the past four years, perhaps ViVa is the more appropriate title for the follow-up after all.

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