Word: mendez
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...last two albums the hooks mostly disappeared, and so did the fans. Jewel has taken the hint. 0304, produced by Lester Mendez (he helped Shakira cross over), aggressively mines rap, pop and dance in search of something that'll get you moving. Mendez isn't picky, and the first single, Intuition, opens with an accordion riff inspired by a Ms. Dynamite song. Still, it's a good riff, and Intuition is a tight, erotic song. Even Jewel is swept up by it, purring something about letting your mind go. On Doin' Fine, she keeps things weightless, singing, "Come on, baby...
...part 0304 (as in this year and next) has the spirit of a summer pop record. Like all pop records, though, it rises or falls on the strength of its hooks, and while 0304 works relentlessly to sweeten your day, it isn't so good at keeping your attention. Mendez's beeps, burps and rhythm changes are pretty familiar by now, and the slow songs really sag. It's a summer record, but maybe summer...
...Mendez, who is also pre-med, explains that the science program at Hialeah isn’t as strong as at other schools and didn’t prepare her as well as she would have liked. “We have voiced that, and they’re trying to change it,” she says. Martin recognizes that he is in a unique position with regard to his high school peers. “I feel more of an obligation,” he says. “Not so much as a role model?...
...going to give you the bullshit that I came from the gutter and pulled myself up by the bootstraps. It’s not that drastic, I come from a middle-class family.” Though she admits that she could have been better prepared for college, Mendez doesn’t feel estranged from her classmates who attended more exclusive private and prep schools. “I just feel like they know more chemistry than me,” she says...
Though all four of the Hialeah alums are Cuban-American, Mendez is the only one who was actually born in Cuba, moving to Miami when she was nine. For her, the pressure to do well is a constant, but positive, factor in her life. “It makes me want to take advantage of everything Harvard has to offer.” She is involved with the Cuban American Undergraduate Student Organization (CAUSA) and the Mission Hill afterschool program, in addition to independant tutoring. “I do have to work harder than everyone else I know...