Jessica Folker

Born in Stockholm on the 9th of july 1975, to a Senegalese father and Swedish mother, Jessica now follows a lineage of great Swedish popstars that includes Abba and Ace of Bace.Not content to just listen to music, Jessica always wanted to perform it and to be centerstage, and soon joined a music school where she spent 6 years learning her craft. Leaving at 17, Jessica walked into a job as a backing singer for Swedish superstars, Ace of Base and Dr. Alban.
Today, Jessica is well on her way to becoming big, really big. Discovered by the late Swedish producer Denniz Pop, Jessica was introduced to Jive Records, who signed her without a moment´s hesitation.
Jessica´s self-titled debut album is a well-crafted piece of work with a poppy, soulful and sensual feel. Most of the songs on the album were written and produced by Denniz Pop and Max Martin at Cheiron Studios in Stockholm. Other tracks have been produced by Cutfather & Joe(Mark Morrison, Shola Ama), Timmy Allen & Larry Campbell(R. Kelly, Backstreet Boys) in New York.

“Tell Me What You Like”, the debut single from the album is an up-tempo dance/pop song which perfectly demonstrates Jessica´s powerful voice and delivery. Scandinavia leads the way with “Tell Me What You Like” at the peak position of #10 in the Swedish Single Top 60 charts. The video was also in high rotation on ZTV and MTV Nordic music channels.

Other key tracks are “I do” an ode to marriage, inspired by the movie “Four Weddings and A Funeral”; “Just A Little Bit Longer”- a song wich conveys the feeling of helplessness when faced with the loss of a loved one; “Heaven In Your Eyes”- a beautiful balled by legendary songwriter Dianne Warren and “How Will I Know Who You Are?” Jessica´s favourite song on the album.

A highly successful 6-week long promotional trip to Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines resulted in very healthy sales in Asia, most notably in South Korea, where the album is certified Gold (50,000+ units) and Jessica´s remake of the David Foster classic “Goodbye” was featured as the theme ballad in a major Korean motion picture, “A Promise”. This spurred the song to be the most played song on radio from November 1998.

In her domestic market, Sweden, Jessica has ruled the airwaves since the release of her album there in late 1998. Two singles - “Tell Me What You Like” and “How Will I Know Who You Are” have both been Top 10 chart toppers and have achieved Platinum sales status. At the NRJ(largest Swedish pop radio station) Awards, Jessica won the much covetted “New Artist of the Year” and “Swedish Female Artist of the Year”. No other artist has won more than one award in any given year!

All in all nothing is missing from this brilliant debut album. It´s like Jessica says: “A beautiful record about real life”. Jessica has established herself solidly with her strong debut album. With her current success, enthusiasm, talent and beauty, Jessica has it all.

In November 1999 Jessica started working on a new album. A year later, in October 2000, her fifth single came out called “To Be Able To Love”. Shortly after that Jessica´s 2nd album called “DINO” was released (Dino was a nickname of the late Denniz Pop, the producer who discovered Jessica).
Jessica´s goal was not only Europe and Asia, but also the USA. That´s why Jessica added her surname, because there are more Jessica´s in the USA. But she deleted the “c” in her surname, Folcker became Folker. The reason for that is that some people pronounced Jessica´s name the wrong way, like “Focker”. Well, to prevent that she deleted the “c”.
The release of “To Be Able To Love” in the USA was postponed for a promotional tour in Europe and Asia. But in summer 2001 “To Be Able To Love” was released in the USA and thanks to a remix of DJ Jonathan Peters, the “jonathan Peters remix”, it became a big hit in the USA. In October and November 2001 Jessica did a clubtour in New York and New Jersey. The mix of this song can also be found on the soundtrack for “On the Line”, starring *NSYNC-ers Lance Bass and Joey Fatone.

In Korea Jessica´s rendition of “Lost Without Your Love” became the theme tune to a new Korean movie called 'Indian Summer'. It became number 1 in the Airplay charts, following in the footsteps of 'Goodbye', (from her first album, 'Jessica').Thanks to the success of 'Lost Without Your Love', 'Goodbye' was enjoying a massive revival and was the number 2 song in Korea's Airplay charts! Also, in April 2001, Jessica´s song “Miracles” became the theme tune for a Dutch show called “Starmaker”, a TV show where young people try to make it as a popstar. “Miracles” became Jessica´s 2nd single, first in Holland and later in the rest of Europe and Asia. Jessica´s last single taken from “DINO” was “Crash Like A Wrecking Ball”.