Angelica Vila, the Bronx-rooted R&B vocalist, first drew attention in 2016 through a remix that answered Justin Bieber’s hit “Sorry.” Though the cut registered chiefly as a curiosity instead of a definitive introduction, it helped her original material reach listeners and quickly led to her debut EP, 1998. The five-song set matched her commanding vocals to incisive hip-hop beats, supplying a solid foundation for her self-penned reflections on romance and disloyalty. Born in 1998 and raised in the Bronx, Vila sang from childhood onward; during adolescence, family encouragement prompted her to treat music as a vocation. Still seventeen in 2016, she issued her first original single, “Making Up My Mind,” then followed it with her response version of Bieber’s “Sorry.” Those early efforts were devoted to cultivating an audience and profile, including opening slots for Future and Trey Songz. After 1998 she released two 2017 singles—the anguished “Where Are You Now” and “Talking About Us,” which included a guest verse from rapper Elijah the Boy. In 2018 veteran rapper Fat Joe noticed her abilities, publicly endorsed her, and steered her toward a recording contract with Roc Nation. The following spring she unveiled her first release on the label, the exuberant single “More in the Morning.” Two further tracks appeared afterward, among them the Jacquees collaboration “Why,” before she delivered her debut album, Deception Szn 1, in July 2020.
