Kudai

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Kudai

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Img_capt = Kudai performing on stage, in their first tour for Chile.
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Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Santiago, Chile
Genre = Pop
Pop/Rock
Emo
Years_active = 2000-present
Label = EMI
Capitol Records
Associated_acts = Ciao
RBD
URL = [http://www.kudai.cl www.kudai.cl]
Current_members = Tomás Cañas
Pablo Holman
Bárbara Sepúlveda
Gabriela Villalba
Past_members = Nicole Natalino

Kudai is a Chilean pop rock group founded in Santiago, Chile. Its original members were "Tomás Cañas Manzi", "Pablo Holman Concha", "Nicole Natalino" and "Bárbara Sepúlveda Labra". In 2006 "Nicole Natalino" left the group citing personal reasons, and was replaced by Ecuadorian "Gabriela Villalba". The band's name comes from the "Mapudungun" word "küdaw", meaning "work." They released three albums in all latinoamerica "Vuelo" in 2004, "Sobrevive" in 2006 and "Nadha" in 2008, this is the first album of the band in released in United States.

The group is hugely popular mostly among teenagers in South America, the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico, and has sold around 1 million records worldwide [Kudai discography] .

With their debut single, Sin Despertar, which reached #15 at the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, they received Radio Airplay in whole South America and Spain. Sin Despertar was included in their album Vuelo, which was a worldwide success, reaching 3x Platinum status in Chile, Platinum status in Mexico, and selling around 500,000 copies worldwide.

They are well-known for hit songs, such as Sin Despertar, Ya Nada Queda, Escapar, Déjame Gritar, Llévame, Tal Vez, and most recently, Lejos De Aquí.

They also performed the theme song for Quiero Mis Quinces, a show for MTV Latinoamérica. Quiero Mis Quinces was also a hit in Mexico, reaching #7 there.

Biography

Kudai was formed in the year 2000, when a band of children was put together to sing tribute songs of Italian hits of the 1980s. This band was called Ciao, and produced only one disc with relative success. Afterwards, they begun to perform group-submitted songs and musical interpretations of diverse instruments and changed their name to Kudai. This word comes from the mapudungun word "kudau", meaning "young worker". The group is hugely popular mostly among teenagers in South America, the Caribbean, Panamá, Central America, and Mexico, and have sold around 1 million records worldwide [Kudai discography] .

Career

2000-2005: Ciao and debut album

Though the group only released one album, it was met with reasonable success. The group began accepting song submissions and concentrating on performing original material in hopes of breaking out of its niche market. Their reinvention was complete after changing their name from Ciao to "Kudai", which is derived from the Mapudungun "(native Chilean language)" word kudau, meaning "young worker." In 2004 the group, now comprised of four vocalists (Pablo, Tomas, Barbara, and Nicole), released its debut record, entitled "Vuelo" (Spanish: "Flight"). Thanks to a string of successful singles, Vuelo soon achieved platinum record status. The group began its steady climb to the top with a Best New Artist nomination from "MTV Latin American video music awards" for their music video for them first single "Sin Despertar", quickly escalated to the first places of Chilean music rankings. Soon, they released their second single, "Ya Nada Queda", which achieved great success as did their third single, "Escapar". "Vuelo" went platinum in August 2005.Kudai was nominated for "Best Artist—Central Region" and "Best New Artist—Central" Region in the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America 2005. They released their first DVD, which included their 2004-2005 Tour, in September 2005 called "En Vivo - Gira 2004-2005". The album was released in Mexico in July 2006 with a different cover. It has the same tracks. The album sold more of 500,000 copies worldwide. [ [http://music.aol.com/artist/kudai/biography/495390 AOL.com] Kudai's Biography]

2006-2007: "Sobrevive" their second studio album

In 2006, they recorded their second album called "Sobrevive" released in June 15, 2006 this album debuted at #1 in Chile on the most sold albums of the year and gained the status of gold album for the 15,000 copies. The album was released in 2007 in Mexico and sold more than 350,000 copies worldwide.

This album was the last record on which Nicole Natalino sang. She left the group due to problems with the manager and economic troubles. Although this was not a problem to gained a gold album. This album was not released in the rest of Latin America due to the promotion of their first album "Vuelo" and the problems with the departure of Nicole. After the departure of Nicole Natalino, Gabriela Villalba replaced her and re-recorded the album featuring Gabriela's voice. The difference between Gabriela and Nicole's voice isn't that different in some of their songs like their first single "Dejame Gritar", but in some songs Gabriela's voice is much stronger than Nicole's sweet voice and released it on September 26, 2007 in Chile.

The first single is "Déjame Gritar" which went #1 in Chile and Argentina. The video of the single features Nicole before her depature and also hit #1 spot on many tv channels and programs like in Latin America and reached number 1 at MTV Latin America's TRL "Los 10+ Pedidos" in Argentina and Top 20. During their promotional tour, Nicole Natalino left the group, and she was replaced temporarily by Gabriela Villalba, an Ecuadorian singer who was part of an Ecuadorian group called "Kiruba". Villalba was part of Kudai's tour opening act. She became a permanent member of the group, and now contributes to the group's excellent trajectory. The second single is "Llévame" and this performs at all Gabriela Villalba. The video also features the new member and it was filmed in Los Andes in Chile. This version of the record is promoted in Latinamerica. In addition to replace Nicole's voice, the track listing also changed a little bit. The song "Si He Tocado El Suelo" was removed and put a new one called "Tú"

They also performed the theme for the MTV Latin America's show, "Quiero mis Quinces" (English: "My Super Sweet 16 "). On October 19, 2006, the group won the "MTV Latin American video music awards" award for "Best Central Artist" and "Best Pop Artist", which they dedicated both awards to their fans and Natalino, ex-member of the group. After the success of the group, they were invited to the Viña del Mar Festival that was celebrated on February 2007. On October 2, 2007 their released the first live album (fourth overall) called "".

2008-present: "Nadha"

To the finals of 2007 they moved to Mexico to launch their international career and left Chile. Kudai closed their career on Chile when they played in the Festival of Viña del Mar, which was their last presentation on the country until now. Kudai has revolutionized punk and rock music in Latin America. They recorded their third studio album called "Nadha". The album has 12 songs, of which six were written by the producer Koko Stambuk ("ex-musician of Glup!"). Three other songs are from the recognized producer Carlos Lara, who is considered to be the creator of RBD and has collaborated with musicians such as Lynda and Ricky Martin. Cathy Lean ("Ex-Mal Corazón"), from Chile, also wrote two of the album's songs. Kudai chose to interpret the songs of Alanis Morissette and her band's bassist Eric Avery ("ex-Jane's Addiction"). The album was mastered at the Los Angeles, California studio Igloo Music under the direction of Gustavo Borner, who has worked with well known artists such as Diego Torres, Ricky Martin, Sin Bandera, Phil Collins, Placido Domingo and N'Sync, as well as working on the motion picture soundtracks of "Rush Hour 2", "Miami Vice" and "Finding Nemo". [ [http://www.wow.cl/prontus_wow/site/artic/20080130/pags/20080130114358.html wow.cl] Kudai talks about their third studio album called "Nadha"]

Kudai band member Gabriela Villalba has said that this album is a turning point in Kudai's musical career:

"Now is the time that Kudai needs to show and prove many things because if we remain the same, we will be categorized as the teen band that will never grow. I feel that this third album is a very decisive stage for Kudai. We are going to fight to rid ourselves from the title of "the band that wants to be popular" and actually present good material."

Rumors saw Kudai maybe performing in World Peace One in 2008. The group maybe playing in Berlin, Germany, though other sources claim they maybe playing in Puerto Rico. They appeared also in one episode of Skimo and performed "Déjame Gritar". Their album "Nadha" make hit in stores in May 3, 2008 in Chile and released in the all Latin America in Mexico obtained gold certidicacion for their sales. On May 12, 2008, Kudai premiered their new music video with the Mexican music group, RBD and Lola called "Estar Bien" (Be Well). The song is apart of a campaign for awareness of obesity, anorexia, bulimia, and for being well, happy, and getting active in Mexico. The video shows the singers on a tour bus singing around the City of Mexico while citizens do various stretches and cardiovascular exercises. On August 5, 2008 the band will make debut in United States music market with their first album released there. On July 21, 2008 their second single of "Nadha", "Nada Es Igual" was released.

Discography

tudio Albums

* 2004: "Vuelo"
* 2006: "Sobrevive"
* 2008: "Nadha"

Live Albums

* 2007: ""

DVDs

* 2005: "En Vivo - Gira 2004-2005"

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* [http://www.kudai.com.mx Official site] (in Spanish)
* [http://www.kudai.com.mx/portal/hgxpp001.aspx?44,18,127 Kudai Nadha] (in Spanish)
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