When someone says R&B/Pop who comes to mind? Maxwell, Usher, Babyface, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, maybe a few others? I would go ahead and add Roger Ortega to your list. In 2016 Roger released his successful sophomore album The Lottery, a follow up to his 2012 release, RnBPoPWrytr. Both albums experienced success with “The Lottery” charting at number #8 and the first reaching #62 on the iTunes charts respectively. Roger remembers the moment he found out about the success of each album. “I was shocked,” he said, “Then came disbelief. Then came the validation.”
Roger’s influence from legends, such as Babyface, who Roger says, “touched on heartbreak and heartache like no one else could, and I could relate”, George Michael, Color Me Badd, Boyz II Men, and Jordan Knight, are obvious in his latest release from the melodies, to the tone of his voice, to his Jordan Knight influenced falsetto. RO (a name he is known by in the music community and by his fans) writes from his heart, from his experiences, from stories told, and that is no more evident than in each song he carefully wrote and selected for this album. When it comes to The Lottery Roger feels great pride in it. “I’m proud of this album,” he says. “I remember every part of its creation. Where I was when certain lyrics were written. How I felt.”
On the album songs like “Never Forget”, “Cry on Me”, and “Beautiful, Sad, and Sexy” have memorable stories behind them and Roger is more than ready for them to be experienced from his own words, and with the hope that the lyrics strike the chord in you that he was looking for. Each song evokes emotions of wanting to feel loved, wanting others to be seen as beautiful, wanting to feel protected, and not wanting to see love and time slip away. After each song you may even notice tears you did not know were there.
If we are being real and raw, for the most part, The Lottery is one sexy album. During songs like “The Lounge”, “Date Night”, “The Lottery”, and “Stay” all you have to do is close your eyes, listen to the lyrics, and you are instantly enveloped in a feeling of passion that Roger’s voice and words stir up inside. He is giving women everywhere something to desire and men a bar to reach.
Roger is not just the voice behind the lyrics, but the writer as well. That makes his albums, including The Lottery, strike a different chord when we hear the term artist, he is a genuine singer/songwriter. The album began its creation in 2013, but the big writing push came in 2015 after his dad fell ill. Even with the album releasing in the summer of 2016 the writing and recording was still progressing in April of that year. Roger takes great pride in the fact that this is his music and that it is his story he is sharing. “The Lottery came from the feeling of being so lucky in my life. I felt like I had in fact won the lottery. It was inspired by my life, my career, my wife, my kids, my friends, how things just fell my way and I don’t know why I got so lucky.”
No matter how much success Roger has accumulated during these years his humbleness and thankfulness for each and every song, acclaim, and fan is what truly sets him apart from others. The man behind the album speaks for itself so I implore you to get to know my friend Roger Ortega through his life and The Lottery.
The Lottery is available through Amazon Music, iTunes, and Apple Music. You can also connect with him and get the latest updates through his Instagram and Twitter at @RnBPoPWrytr.
Music In My Lyrics 