Valentina Black

Italian singer-songwriter, DJ and producer — born Valentina Serugeri, Verona, Italy

Valentina Black (born Valentina Serugeri; 3 February 1982, Verona, Italy) is an Italian singer-songwriter, DJ and record producer. Before her music career she worked for over a decade in Italian television, theatre and advertising, and represented Veneto at Miss Italia 2000. She began recording professionally in 2007, first in jazz with Jimmy Carl Black (drummer of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention), before moving into house and electronic music as a DJ-producer from 2013 onward. Her 2016 single "Everywhere You Go" reached the Beatport and Traxsource genre charts and received airplay on BBC Radio 1Xtra.

Early life

Valentina Serugeri was born on 3 February 1982 in Verona, Italy.[1] Her mother was a musician, and the house was filled with the sound of Ella Fitzgerald and disco records; as a teenager Valentina gravitated toward James Brown, Michael Jackson and Rihanna, and began singing with local bands.[2] She trained at the Rapisarda & Ravazzin theatre school in Verona and earned a diploma in graphic design.[3]

Career

Beauty pageants, dancing and television (2000–2014)

Her career began when she was noticed by a talent scout, who encouraged her to enter beauty pageants — the starting point from which her career took off. In 2000, Serugeri won the regional title of Miss Cinema Veneto at Bardolino and went on to compete in the national finals of Miss Italia 2000 at Salsomaggiore Terme as Miss Veneto, one of that year's 100 regional finalists.[4] Her participation is recorded in Mondadori's official retrospective book Miss Italia. 1939/2009: storia, protagoniste e vincitrici (Edmondo Berselli, 2009, ISBN 978-88-370-6888-2), and was covered at the time by the national weeklies TV Sorrisi e Canzoni and Visto, as well as regional dailies including L'Arena and Gazzetta di Parma.[5] The press archive additionally preserves personal photographs from that finals week at Salsomaggiore Terme and from the San Benedetto del Tronto pre-finals, along with broadcast stills from RAI International's coverage of the final. (view photos)

Her move into television began through an agent based in Milan, who noticed Valentina's beauty and introduced her to his agency for a national RAI television audition for the dancer role on Quelli Che Il Calcio — the "Schedine di Quelli Che Il Calcio" — the show hosted by Simona Ventura and Gene Gnocchi, presenters nationally acclaimed throughout their careers. Between 2000 and 2003 she worked as a dancer and presenter's assistant ("valletta") for RAI and Mediaset, appearing on Domenica In, Scommettiamo Che...?, Il Galà Dello Sport, Cominciamo Bene, Le Sorelle d'Italia and Cantalago.[6] From 2002 to 2003 she was one of the "Schedine" — the dancers — on the Rai Sunday variety show Quelli Che Il Calcio, hosted by Simona Ventura and Gene Gnocchi, a role independently confirmed by the national weeklies Stop and Eva Tremila Express and by a dedicated interview published in December 2002.[7] A personal photo from a backstage visit to RAI's Milan studios during this period carries a handwritten period label dating it to the 2002/2003 Quelli Che Il Calcio season. (view photo) She also won several further regional titles in this period, including the Palio del Recioto (Negrar, 2000) and the "Miss Garden Circus" sash at Desenzano's Al Garden Circus event (September 2001).[21] In spring 2004 she was chosen, with the most votes among the finalists, as one of three new "premiatrici" candidates for the Road Cycling World Championships beauty pageant at a qualifying heat in Bussolengo[22], going on to be named one of the six finalists judged by Giovanni Rana, Francesco Moser and Fabio Testi at the final in Bardolino.[8] Through the 2000s and into the 2010s she also modeled and appeared in runway shows and advertising campaigns for Mariella Burani, Versace, Wella, Revlon and Guam, among others.[9]

Music career (2007–present)

Valentina's professional recording career began in 2007, when Jimmy Carl Black, drummer of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, noticed her perfect sense of beat and angelic voice and, struck by her talent, described her as "a beautiful angel with a golden voice." He recruited her as vocalist and Hammond organist for a new project, the Happy Metal Band, and its album Freedom Jazz Dance, produced by the record label Azzurra Music (released 2008), recording under the stage name Valentina Black.[10] Black died on 1 November 2008, shortly after the album's recording, and the Happy Metal Band project did not continue. She went on to release Beat Generator (2008) and 4 U (2011) as Valentina Black Trio, the latter officially credited on Apple Music to Valentina Black (organ, voice), James Thompson (tenor sax, flute), Bruno Marini (baritone sax), Davide Ghidoni (trumpet) and Daniele Tedeschi (drums).[11] While the album was still in progress, she previewed it live at the Majakovskji club in Verona, including a January 2010 date reported by L'Arena under the heading "Miscela di soul e rock in stile Valentina Black."[23]

From 2013 she moved into house and electronic music as a DJ-producer, releasing her debut electronic EP I'm A Tree and playing club dates across Germany, including the Suxul club in Ingolstadt, the Morlox Club in Berlin, and a New Year's Eve date at the Batschkapp in Frankfurt alongside Fritz Kalkbrenner.[12] In March 2015 she performed at the Volkswagen Group Night during the Geneva Motor Show, on a bill that also included Booka Shade and Camo & Krooked, as confirmed by German entertainment press.[13]

In February 2016 she released "Everywhere You Go", credited to Valentina Black, Dantiez Saunderson and Khila (D-Vine Sounds), with a remix by Curtis Gabriel.[14] The track reached the Beatport and Traxsource genre Top 100 charts in the weeks after release and received airplay on BBC Radio 1Xtra, featuring in the "Music Played" tracklist of MistaJam's show on 24 February 2016.[15] It remains her most-streamed track on Spotify. The same year she released the solo single "Hills" (Armada Music) and the collaborations "My Detroit Players" (with Less Hate) and a remix of Kurtis Blow's "Let's Move It" (with Less Hate), which also reached Beatport's genre charts.[16]

In August 2021 she released "Say You Love The World", written and produced with Rob Murray of Poolside Sound in Austin, Texas — an engineer/producer whose own professional credits include production and mixing work with artists such as Rihanna and Sia — followed in 2024 by an acoustic version.[19] Between late 2023 and 2024 she had the opportunity to write and produce two further singles, "Do It Right" and "Angel", with American producer Jon-John Robinson, credited as a two-time Grammy-winning producer for his work in R&B and pop music.[18]

In 2025 she released the single "Is It Love" and the EP Kiss My Hand, alongside "Butterflies", as Valentina Black Trio.[17]

Discography (selected)

  • Freedom Jazz Dance — with Jimmy Carl Black (Azzurra Music, 2008)
  • Beat Generator — Valentina Black Trio (2008)
  • 4 U — Valentina Black Trio (2011)
  • I'm A Tree — debut electronic EP (2013)
  • Everywhere You Go (feat. Dantiez Saunderson & Khila) — D-Vine Sounds (2016)
  • Hills (feat. Khila) — Armada Music (2016)
  • My Detroit Players — with Less Hate, Moonbootique (2016)
  • Let's Move It (Kurtis Blow remix, with Less Hate) — Bizarre Music (2016)
  • Angel — released 27 September 2024; written & produced by Valentina Black and Jon-John Robinson (2x Grammy-winning producer); registered with BMI, July 2024[18]
  • Do It Right — released 3 February 2024; written & produced by Valentina Black and Jon-John Robinson (2x Grammy-winning producer); registered with BMI, December 2023[18]
  • Say You Love The World — released 21 August 2021; written & produced by Valentina Black and Rob Murray (Poolside Sound, Austin, TX; producer/engineer whose own professional profile also lists production and mixing work with artists including Rihanna and Sia)[19]; also released in an acoustic version, posted to SoundCloud 20 July 2024[20]
  • I'm Back (registered with BMI, July 2024)[18] — mix/production by Luis Canción
  • Kiss My Hand (EP) & Butterflies — Valentina Black Trio (2025)
  • Is It Love — single (2025), also released in an acoustic version

Live performances (selected)

  • 23 Mar 2013 — Alpha Mädchen, Suxul, Ingolstadt, Germany
  • 6 Apr 2013 — DidiDadada???, Morlox Club, Berlin, Germany
  • 31 Dec 2013 — New Years Eve BY Awake, Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany (with Fritz Kalkbrenner)
  • 2 Mar 2015 — Volkswagen Group Night, Geneva Motor Show, Switzerland (with Booka Shade, Camo & Krooked)

Personal life

Valentina Black is the stage name of Valentina Serugeri, born 3 February 1982 in Verona, Italy, where she grew up before later working between Italy, the UK and the United States.

References

  1. Miss Italia. 1939/2009: storia, protagoniste e vincitrici, Edmondo Berselli, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 2009, ISBN 978-88-370-6888-2. (view scan)
  2. Interview, "Schedina senza veli", Chiara Tajoli; L'Arena, 20 December 2002. (view scan)
  3. "Il richiamo della passerella", Wally Battisti; Un Mese a Verona, July 2001. (view scan)
  4. TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, n. 37, 10–16 September 2000; Visto, n. 36, 8 September 2000; Gazzetta di Parma, 7 September 2000. (view scan)
  5. Miren International / Concorso Nazionale Miss Italia, official accreditation letter, August 2000. (view scan)
  6. "Finalmente... Volti Nuovi", Emanuele Dionisi; Domenica Roma, Anno V n.2, March 2009, p.20–21. (view scan)
  7. Stop, Anno 56° n. 41, 18 October 2002; Eva Tremila Express, n. 3, 17 January 2003. (view scan)
  8. "Elette le sei miss dei mondiali di ciclismo", Corriere del Veneto (likely), 4 May 2004. (view scan)
  9. Runway and campaign credits as listed on official site.
  10. "Valentina Black, la bellezza del rock", L'Arena, 24 January and 27 February 2009 (two separate pieces). (view scan)
  11. Apple Music — "4 U".
  12. Resident Advisor — event pages, Batschkapp/Morlox/Suxul.
  13. Exklusiv München, Andrea Vodermayr, 3 March 2015.
  14. Beatport — "Everywhere You Go (Curtis Gabriel Remix)".
  15. BBC Radio 1Xtra, MistaJam — "Shiftk3Y Sixty Minutes", 24 February 2016.
  16. Beatport — "Let's Move It (Less Hate & Valentina Black Remix)".
  17. Official release information, 2025.
  18. BMI Catalog Detail (official BMI work registry): Work #68358309 "Angel" (registered 25 Jul 2024); Work #64774761 "Do It Right" (registered 20 Dec 2023); Work #52165918 "Say You Love The World" (registered 22 Aug 2021); Work #68288245 "I'm Back" (registered 19 Jul 2024). Dates shown are BMI registration dates, not necessarily public release dates.
  19. SoundBetter — Rob Murray (self-reported professional profile).
  20. SoundCloud — "Say You Love The World (Acoustic)", posted 20 July 2024.
  21. "Le miss veronesi in corsa per la più bella d'Europa", L'Arena, 4 September 2001. (view scan)
  22. "Miss Mondiali", L'Arena, 29 March 2004. (view scan)
  23. "Miscela di soul e rock in stile Valentina Black", L'Arena, 30 January 2010. (view scan)