How I Helped Connect Jocelyn Enriquez and Classified Records with Tommy Boy

Some people know Jocelyn Enriquez through “Do You Miss Me.” Others remember “A Little Bit of Ecstasy” or her collaboration with Amber and Ultra Naté on “If You Could Read My Mind.”

When I hear those songs, I think about the people behind them—and a relationship that started before I ever worked at Tommy Boy Records.

For Filipino American History Month, I wanted to share my part in that story.

It started with Texas radio

I was a mixshow DJ on KRBE in Houston, KTFM in San Antonio, and KHFI in Austin. Classified Records was promoting Jocelyn’s first single, “I’ve Been Thinking About You,” and I was supporting her music.

That was how I began building a relationship with Jocelyn and the Classified team.

I first met her when she performed at our KTFM Summer Jam in San Antonio. Aaliyah, Skee-Lo, and others were on the lineup. At the time, I had no idea how much we would eventually work together.

I was a DJ playing her records. A few years later, I would have an opportunity to help bring her music into a different room.

Playing “Do You Miss Me” for Joey Gardner

After I joined Tommy Boy Records, I got the opportunity to become part of the A&R team. One of the records I submitted was Jocelyn’s “Do You Miss Me.”

Classified was already getting radio airplay independently. They had developed the music, built her audience, and given the record momentum.

I knew exactly who I wanted to play it for: Joey Gardner, who headed Timber Records.

Joey was a big supporter of freestyle music. He had worked with artists including Cynthia, George Lamond, and K7. A lot of the artists he worked with were New York based, and here was Jocelyn coming out of the West Coast.

I felt he would connect with the record right away.

When I played it for him, he immediately wanted it.

Bringing the teams together

I introduced Joey to the Classified Records team: Kormann Roque, Noel Laxamana, Glenn Gutierrez, and Elvin Reyes.

I knew these guys from my radio days. They had already put substantial work into Jocelyn’s career, and now I was in a position to help connect them with Joey and the team at Tommy Boy.

That introduction led to the conversations and negotiations that became the joint venture between Classified Records and Timber/Tommy Boy.

To understand why that mattered, you have to look at what the partnership made possible.

What Tommy Boy brought to the table

With Tommy Boy’s backing, we had bigger budgets for music videos and finishing the album. We could support television appearances and press campaigns, both domestically and internationally, on a much larger scale.

We also had the radio promotion team and relationships to take her singles into Top 40 radio.

Classified had built the foundation. The partnership gave us more resources to expand her audience.

The video for “A Little Bit of Ecstasy” was directed by Francis Lawrence, who later directed “I Am Legend” and several of the “Hunger Games” films.

Jocelyn also joined Amber and Ultra Naté as Stars on 54 to record “If You Could Read My Mind” for the movie “54.”

Those are some of the opportunities I’m talking about when I say we helped take her career to the next level. There were people across the labels working to get her music heard in more places.

What it meant to me

As a Filipino American working at Tommy Boy, it felt great to help make that connection.

Here was a Filipino American artist and a Filipino American-owned business getting the support of an established American independent label. I had known them before I joined the company, and being able to help bring everyone together meant a lot.

The experience also helped me grow as an A&R person and record label executive. My work gave me opportunities to travel around the country and the world and gain experience in different parts of the business.

But the most lasting part of this story is my relationship with Jocelyn.

Beyond Tommy Boy

After Jocelyn left Tommy Boy, we continued working together. I worked with her on “All My Life,” her 2003 independent album released through her own label, JEM Entertainment.

I also became godfather to her firstborn son, Matthew.

And years later, I had the opportunity to book her at my venue here in Houston twice—in 2021 and again in 2024.

When we first met at Summer Jam in San Antonio, I couldn’t have imagined all of that. Our relationship grew from radio support to a label partnership, continued collaboration, and eventually family.

That’s a part of my Filipino American history I’m proud to share.

What’s the first Jocelyn Enriquez song you remember hearing?