Brooke Hogan

Songwriting

At the ripe old age of 18, Brooke is already a seasoned songwriter. She was “about 10” when she started writing music, and most of the songs on Undiscovered were penned by her. Despite her long songwriting history, most of the songs on the album were written exclusively for this project.

So what about her influences? “I grew up on the funky stuff,” said Brooke, “Stevie Wonder, The Isley Brothers, and The Gap Band.” These influences are obvious in the songs she wrote for Undiscovered. Her favorite track, however, marks a departure from her childhood inspirations. When asked to pick her number one song on the album, Brooke chooses “Heaven Baby,” for what she calls its “reggae fun feel.”

While Brooke may be a prolific songwriter, this task will have to take a back burner for awhile. She plans on letting these tracks ride for awhile and concentrate on promoting Undiscovered before worrying about writing new songs for future projects.

Recording

As anyone watching Hogan Knows Best can tell you, finding a record deal and producer was an uphill battle for Brooke, until she hit pay dirt when famed producer Scott Storch caught one of her live performances. Storch is the man behind many pop and hip hop outfits, including Britney Spears, Missy Elliot, and Justin Timberlake. He fell for Brooke’s sound and signed her as the first artist to his new Storch Music Company label, in conjunction with Miama’s SoBe Records.

So what was it like to work with such a powerful and successful producer? “Scott is a really cool guy,” said Brooke, “he made me feel comfortable right away.” All in, recording Undiscovered took about one month, but was accomplished in a week here, and a week there. It took about four months for the full album to come together.

Collaborations

The first single from Undiscovered, was the hugely successful “About Us,” collaboration between Brooke and Paul Wall. The singles has been streamed over 2 million times from Brooke’s MySpace page, and the video charted on both VH1 and MTV. Other collaborations on Undiscovered are with Beenie Man, Nox and Stack$. So what about future collaborators? Who is Brooke’s dream collaborator? “Stevie Wonder” she says without hesitation. But fans will have to wait. Brooke is not working on any future collaborations at the moment, instead focusing on her new album.

Parental Influence

Brooke has had her eye set on a career in music for as long as she can remember, but her parents were a little more hesitant. According to Brooke, they begged her, “just stay in school, please stay in school.” Now that school is over, though, they are 100% on board. Her father now doubles as her manager - as Brooke says, “you can’t get more involved than that.”

Her father of course is no stranger to the spotlight, but according to Brooke, he hasn’t given her any advice about dealing with life in the public eye. Brooke says, ‘it’s how he raised me, with good morals” that helps her handle her new career rather than any words of wisdom.

The Future

Brooke will be touring in support of Undiscovered through October and November. In the new year, expect to see her on the road again, both in the US, and hopefully, worldwide. You can also join the 90 million other views and catch her on the new series of Hogan Knows Best on VH1 started October 22, 2006.