Growing up in a music filled household, her mother a singer and her father a guitarist, Lina wrote her first songs as early as age eight, and found herself gravitating toward her mother's prized record collection, endlessly spinning classics from the Thirties, Forties, Fifties and sixties. Billie Holiday was my first love" says Lina, thinking back to her childhood in Texas. "There was just something about her approach to a song and the blues that she brought to everything she touched". Studying music in high school, Lina was exposed for the first time to a wide variety of music’s - classical, choral, opera - and began singing in area talent shows, taking her first steps toward becoming a songwriter.

Lina's post high school years brought frequent travel to the Los Angeles area where, under the guidance of her cousin and uncle, she began to work with     a variety of producers and songwriters. Lina would eventually move to L.A., in full-time pursuit of her artistic dreams.

After cutting a series of demos in an effort to turn other artists on to her songs, Lina had her first success in 1998, when L.A.-based Tyrese recorded one of her songs for his self-titled debut. Since, her songs have been recorded and placed on forthcoming albums, as well as in films such as HBO's "Disappearing Acts" (2001) and Fox Picture's blockbuster hit "High Crimes" (2002). Critics praised the disc's bold theme, a syncopation of music past and present: with its combination of classic and modern sounds.

Lina returned with her sophomore album, “The Inner Beauty Movement” that was released on Hidden Beach/Moodstar/Universal in 2005 and produced such hits as "Smooth", the steppers anthem and "Leaving You." With rave reviews from UK’s The Sunday Times and Vibe Magazine, The Inner Beauty Movement showed Lina’s fans that she was committed to creating consistently good music.