IQ was an American teenage pop and hip hop girl group. The group consisted of sisters Sadiea and Nyla Williams, Gicelle Valerio and Lauren Mafera, all from Lunenburg, Massachusetts. The group split in 2008 to pursue other projects.
Gicelle Valerio is Hispanic-American. She is of Bolivian, Dominican, Spanish, and Italian descent. Valerio was a vocalist and rapper for IQ as well as the choreographer. She was accepted to Fitchburg State College to major in nursing and her aspirations is to become a graduate student to major in business as well. Her interests includes fashion, dancing, gymnastics and modeling.
Lauren Mafera was the main vocalist for the band and replacement for Mikayla Campbell after she quit IQ to work on Broadway. She is a photographer, singer, and dancer. Her interests include drawing, fashion, photography, and singing. Her aspirations are to pursue college with a Business degree and continuing photography.
History
IQ first formulated through a school talent show. Sisters Sadiea and Nyla, asked their father, Mark, to compose songs for their performances. The girls performed the song "School". The overall response from young people was outstanding. In the group, the Williams sisters and Valerio both rapped and performed back-up singing vocals. Mafera was the main vocalist. IQ performed in Boston, New York and Hollywood to promote the release of their EP, It's Like That, initially released on Apple iTunes in May 2005. On New Year's Eve of 2005, they performed at the Disney Jingle Jam in Boston with B5, Everlife and Jada. In 2006, they released a re-make of the Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons song "Big Girls Don't Cry" as their first single on Radio Disney IQ continued to perform shows with Radio Disney and obtained the prestige of becoming a Radio Disney Incubator artist. In July 2006, their debut album, Roll Call in July, distributed by WPE Music, LLC through Bungalo/Universal. In February 2008, the group worked on a sophomore album titled Crush Bungalo Records/Universal Music but it was left unreleased. The debut single from the unreleased album was "Crush on U" and a remixed version which includes artists such as Mighty Mystic; a Jamaican musician, Baby Boy Da Prince, CL Smooth and J. R. Writer from Dipset. In 2008, the group split up when all the members went to different colleges.
