Lumidee Cedeño (born October 13, 1984) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. She quickly rose to fame in 2003 with the release of her song "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)", which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and also peaked within the top ten of the charts in over ten countries, including the United Kingdom, and topped the charts in several mainland European countries. Early life Cedeño was born in East Harlem, New York, of Puerto Rican descent. After her father died in 1995, she and her four siblings were raised by their grandparents. She began singing and rapping at the age of twelve. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of fourteen, after she was misdiagnosed with lupus. After graduating high school, she collaborated with a local neighborhood producer named DJ Tedsmooth to record her debut single, "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" for an independent record label called Straight Face. Lumidee cites Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, MC Lyte and Mary J. Blige as her major influences. Music career 2003–2006: Almost Famous She signed with Universal Records, where she released her debut album titled Almost Famous on June 24, 2003. Her debut single, "Never Leave You", peaked at number 3 in the United States and number 2 in the United Kingdom, but it was her only hit until the 2007 release of "She's Like the Wind". According to Nielsen SoundScan, Almost Famous sold 276,000 copies in the U.S. For the next few years, Lumidee was not in the mainstream music industry in the US, instead veering more towards reggaeton and dancehall music. After her hit single "Never Leave You" faded, Lumidee went overseas to continue her musical career in Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. She released multiple mixtapes during the years, which was a mixtape consisting of new material, freestyles and tracks from 'Lumidee was also featured on several tracks in this area, having some success in Europe. In 2006, Lumidee released a song for the FIFA World Cup album soundtrack entitled "Dance!". It featured a sample of the Whitney Houston track, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". The song was a club hit around Europe, successfully entering the charts in the countries where it was officially released. In the summer of 2006, Lumidee was featured on Frankie Cutlass' 2006 Remix of his classic club hit anthem, "Puerto Rico" featuring