Artist/Songwriter/Music Producer/Saxophonist

    Cara-Mel, whose real name is Dana Lawrence is a female rapper who currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland.  Her style can be best described as a blend of Hip Hop, Down South, and Dance meets Trap with a Social aspect. Mel likes to sum it up as Conscious Trill. She began her musical journey at the tender age of seven listening to the inspirational Oldies But Goodies; where her interest in R&B artists such as Stevie Wonder and Al Green lead to writing full R&B/Soul ballads and playful up tempo tunes by the age of eleven. Deeply into jazz artist such as Kenny G and Najee, she started playing the saxophone in the sixth grade and was invited during her first year of playing to the All-City Band; where she was ranked third chair overall in her hometown of Chesapeake, Virginia. By the age of fourteen, Cara-Mel became intrigued with Miami Bass, Down South and Hip Hop music with influences such as Luke, Salt-N-Pepa, Tupac, Lauryn Hill, Slick Rick, A Tribe Called Quest, and 69 Boyz; this is where her style of rhythmical writing took off into her own creation during the early part of this artist’s indie career.

    However, after years of struggling to get on with a major label she made the mistake of giving up in pursuit of these musical dreams and stopped creating and producing music for years. Once hanging up her microphone, this musical talent spent time working years as a special education teacher and in fitness. In 2008, she started a health and wellness business, which became very successful throughout the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area for five years. However, during the mid-2013 economic slowdown and the federal government’s sequestration; cutbacks forced her to close the family business. The sudden loss of income forced her to foreclose on her home and subsequently file for bankruptcy.  
   
    Attempting to get back on her feet, this young artist was hit with another blow; as she was diagnosed with Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS), which is considered the earliest form of breast cancer. Once given this devastating news her reflection about life came to the forefront with some regrets. It was during this time she vowed to go back to one of her greatest past loves; which was music. This motivated Cara-Mel to record “Broke,” her first hip hop song in years. This song got the attention of DJ SIDEREAL from Minnesota and landed her a spot on the “Stamp of Approval” mixtape song bangers of the year in late 2015. Since given a clean bill of health, this lovely lady has been on the grind and creating a social media buzz. In June 2016, the recently release music video “Broke” was hosted by DJ Pluton1c of New York and her current song “Back To The Grind,” just landed her another mixtape slot on “Never Falling Off” hosted by the On By Society Movement. In addition to this artist’s versatile songwriting abilities, vocal training, music production, and saxophone talent; she will soon hold a Bachelor’s in Business Management from the University of Maryland University College. With dreams to utilize her gifts to demonstrate a positive perspective within the music industry, Cara-Mel is striving to incorporate her talent through networking and bringing change.  As she states best, "We as females should not feel the need to remove clothing, get hair weaves or implants just to get a record deal and make a sale!" "Let your music speak for itself!" Her debut mixtape "Racial Profile" definitely delivers as a voice for the people.