“Dreamgirl” Cynthia, one of freestyle music’s top stars, leads the pack of performers set for the Poconos Freestyle Takeover on Nov. 2 at Sherman Theater, Main Street, Stroudsburg.

DreamGirl & DomG Enterprise LLC will present the Pocono event. Cynthia and her partner Dom G, a rapper she met a little more than two years ago, run the production company.

Dom G co-hosts the event, which will also include performances by Lisette Melendez, Noel, Coro, C-Bank, Denine, Soave and George Anthony.

Freestyle, also known as Latin freestyle, came out of New York‘s metropolitan area, Philadelphia and Miami in the 1980s.

A form of electronic dance music, freestyle enjoyed its greatest popularity from the late 1980s through the early 1990s.

How it started

Born Cynthia Torres in New York City’s Spanish Harlem, Cynthia cited freestyle act and pal Sa-Fire as an influence. Sa-Fire’s debut single “Don’t Break My Heart” arrived in 1986.

“I always loved her vocal style, her range,” said Cynthia, a resident of Port St Lucie, Florida, for the last 15 years. “She had a distinct voice. Other artists I listened to growing up were Donna Summer, France Joli. I was heavily influenced by Motown.”

After Cynthia and Sa-Fire spent time in a girl group, Sa-Fire pursued a solo career.

“She kept me in the loop with everything,” Cynthia said. “I went to a couple of shows with her. She knew that was something I aspired to do. She introduced me to producer Mickey Garcia, of MicMac Records, who I then auditioned for. I was offered a contract.”

MicMac, an independent label, released Cynthia’s debut single “Change on Me” in 1988, with “Endless Night” and “Thief of Hearts” following. The three singles, which cracked Billboard’s dance charts, appeared on Cynthia’s eponymous 1990 debut album.

Also in 1990, Cynthia scored her first entry on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, “Dreamboy/Dreamgirl,” a collaboration with then-labelmate Johnny O.

Cynthia was hesitant to record her cover of The Stylistics’ “Break Up to Make Up,” her second Hot 100 hit. Nonetheless, “it did really good. I rarely performed it. I guess that was my nerves, not having that confidence back then with a song that was such a classic.”

“Dreamboy/Dreamgirl” and “Break Up to Make Up” appeared on 1991’s “Cynthia II.” The singer’s third studio album, “Thinking About You,” arrived in 1999.

The set featured Cynthia’s third Hot 100 hit, “If I Had the Chance,” and near-Hot 100 hit “How I Love Him.”

Growing

Cynthia, in recent years, filmed videos for “Change on Me,” “Endless Night” and “Thief of Hearts.”

When signed to MicMac, Cynthia “tried my best to get them to invest in videos. Videos were super expensive, so the budget wasn’t there.“

As a visual person, “my eyes were glued on MTV back in the day,” she continued. “I always said one day I will be in a position to go back and recreate all these videos for my classics.”

Cynthia already has an idea for a “Dreamboy/Dreamgirl” video, though “I am still trying to get Johnny O on board. Don’t count that one out yet.”

While freestyle remains Cynthia’s go-to genre, she has recorded music in the dance, pop and Latin/hip-hop genres.

She has also collaborated with a number of artists, including Melendez on the mid-2000s LisCyn-credited single “I Can’t Change Your Mind.”

What’s to come

Cynthia, unsure if she and Melendez will play their seldom-performed duet in Stroudsburg, does promise a performance with Denine.

Also set for Stroudsburg: the self-affirming “I’m a Legend,” Cynthia’s recent and first music collaboration with Dom G. She may also perform a duet with Anthony.

Cynthia’s wish list of freestyle collaborators includes George Lamond and “my girl” Judy Torres. She also would like to work with Latin artists such as Becky G and Karol G.

Currently, Cynthia and Dom G have projects in the works, including a few singles. The twosome also has contemplated releasing an album.

The Poconos Freestyle Takeover show, in the meantime, gives fans a chance to relish in the genre of which they cannot get enough.

“We take them back to these memories, times that brought them so much happiness,” Cynthia said. “Being in love, being out of love, falling in love, getting hurt. It was that immediate connection. These fans have grown up with us. They’ve seen us mature.”