Lucas Prata is an American house musician and DJ. Born in Bayside, Queens, New York, he has produced several hits such as "Never Be Alone", "And She Said", "Love of My Life", and "Let's Get It On." Prata and Dan Bălan produced The "Ma Ya Hi Song," an English version of the international hit "Dragostea din tei" by Bălan's original band, O-Zone. "The Ma Ya Hi Song" did not achieve the success of the original, which went to number one in 27 countries and sold over eight million singles throughout the world in various languages.
Early life and career
Prata attended the University of Miami in Florida. During his time at the University he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. In his senior year, Prata won the Mr. University of Miami contest for his vocal and dance ability. This win convinced him to pursue singing as a full-time career. Moving back to his native New York after graduating with a double major in business and sociology and a minor in theater, Prata recorded and released his own singles while being one of the main featured dancers on the hit MTV show "Club MTV" with host Downtown Julie Brown. Prata then auditioned for Freestyle Legend George LaMond and became one of his backup dancers for 10 years.
Rise to success
In the summer of 2000, Prata found himself teamed up with Salt-n-Pepa as the opening act for their North American tour. Thousands of fans in 96 cities caught Lucas' performances which included his hit single at the time, "Fly Away" In his continued pursuit to further his career, Lucas found himself in the C+C Music Factory studios auditioning for a group. This is where he met Ricky Crespo, who at the time was the programmer/co-producer for C+C. Lucas and Ricky quickly became friends and began creating music that began to attract the attention of major radio stations across the US with his hit single "Let's get it on" this song went on to be a number one hit in 18 markets in the US. Within a span of several months, Lucas's songs "Never Be Alone", "And She Said" and "Love of My Life" featuring Reina all scored major airplay on such radio stations WKTU and WMPH. The second single from his debut album, "And She Said", saw crossover success on the New York City Pop music station, Z100 where it a garnered national airplay and went on to be a number 1 Dance Airplay single for 4 consecutive weeks in Billboard. "And She Said..." went on to be the 2006 New York Mets anthem " And We Say...Let's Go Mets" a parody written by David Brody from New York'sElvis Duran and the Morning Show. In 2008 Coca-Cola and the Olympics teamed up with Prata to use "And She Said..." as part of their campaign along with a bottle dedicated to the song and Prata for China.
2006-present
In 2006, while Prata was serving as Promotions Director Miami's Party 93.1, his single "Let's Get It On" became the number-one requested record at the station in just two weeks. "And She Said" was also rewritten by David Brody of Z100 Elvis Duran and the Morning Show as a cheer song for the New York Mets, "And we say... LETS GO METS", which he performed live at the team's 2006 postseason rally on October 3. The song and its video were regularly played at Shea Stadium during the 2006 season and postseason. Prata was the featured performer on an episode of MTV's hit show My Super Sweet Sixteen in 2006. As of 2007, Prata's album "Never Stop Dreamin'" was licensed by Ministry of Sound in the UK, and other labels throughout the world have also picked up the album. Another track from the album, "I Think I'm Falling In Love" was released in Sweden with mixes by Da Buzz while the next U.S. single is "We've Got It Going On" which has also been remixed by the producer, Discopunx. His next single was "DYWM", a cover of The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" which was performed as a duet with Kim Sozzi. It was debuted live on New Year's Eve at Mirage on Long Island, and later performed live at WKTU Beatstock Festival on August 19, 2007. In March 2007 and March 2008, Lucas Prata performed with Reina at a dance benefiting Muscular Dystrophy, hosted by two Staten Island High Schools. In 2008, Prata released a remake of "Something About You" by Level 42, a duet with George Lamond. In his 12-year career as a recording artist Lucas Prata became a staple in the world of dance/pop music as the "Bad Boy of Dance." Today Lucas Prata focuses on mentoring and consulting new talent across the country from his home in New Jersey while continuing to write songs for artists across the world.
