The UB Interview: Crystal Tamar Talks New EP

After years of performing in a La Marque, Texas family singing group with her sisters and cousin, being a member of Prairie View A&M University’s legendary Marching Storm’s “Black Foxes” and serving as captain of the NFL’s Houston Texan’s cheerleading squad, Crystal Tamar landed an opportunity to join Sophia Fresh, a girl group signed T-Pain’s Nappy Boy Entertainment imprint on Atlantic Records.

The group achieved modest success, working with Kanye West, CeeLo Green, Marsha Ambrosius, TI, Kandi Burruss, Tyga and a dozen others. Their 2008 single “What It Is” featuring Kanye West received heavy airplay on West Coast radio stations and their 2010 single “This Instant” with T-Pain appeared on the Step It Up 3D soundtrack. Crystal Tamar performed on a number of national road shows including. After leaving Sophia Fresh, Crystal Tamar relocated to California’s Bay Area to pursue her solo career and has since been featured on Bizzle’s “Feel Good” and “Did For Me,” the latter featuring Canton Jones. She has also appeared as a voiceover actress in the animated comedy Freaknik: The Musical with T-Pain, Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross as well as the CG-animated film The Sky Princess starring Vivica A. Fox.

This summer Crystal released her grown and sexy self-titled EP. Featuring the current hit “U Gon Love Me,” the EP’s hypnotic anthem was helmed by super producer Bangladesh.

Tishelle from UB, recently spoke to Crystal Tamar about her new self-titled EP, working with Bangladesh as well as her new visual “U Gon Love Me.” Crystal Tamar also discusses the disbandment of Sophia Fresh, her goals and she shares some of her influences and faves!

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UrbanBridgez.com: Tell us all about your new EP and the overall vibe of it?
Crystal Tamar: My new EP, which is my first solo debut is R&B and bringing you classic R&B vocals. Over some of today’s heavy bass hip hop type of production. It has a variety of uptempo and love ballads.

UrbanBridgez.com: How was it working with Bangladesh on your new single “U Gon Love Me” and
how did that come about?
Crystal Tamar: It was such an honor working with Bangladesh. He’s actually someone I inquired to work with when I was in my singing group Sophia Fresh which was under T-Pain. At the time we actually couldn’t find the right tracks for that project. So to be able to revisit that as a solo artist was a huge deal to me. He is everything I wanted in a producer coming out the gate for a solo project. We were actually linked together through a mutual friend. Deshawn Kennedy and it such so happens he was managing him. We were able to re-link and find the perfect track, which he ended up producing my second single “U Gon Love Me.”

UrbanBridgez.com: Tell us about the treatment for the visual for “U Gon Love Me?”
Crystal Tamar: I had to get a little cocky with this one (laughs). It’s a female anthem for anything that you want to just go out in life and get. It’s like saying, hey hi I’m that. The person that you’re gonna love. We wanted the video to match that, so we wanted to do bold and poppy colors. We threw a little thrown in there. We had to come out of the gate strong. I’m telling people I’m confident, I’m ready and you’re gonna love this. It was also the perfect message for the EP in general. As artists we kind of get the jitters, by putting our baby out to the world. So it was a chance for me to dig deep and find a little more confidence in myself, in doing that video. So we wanted to do bold colors, bold proconas and lots of dancing!

UrbanBridgez.com: How did you first get your start with Sophia Fresh?
Crystal Tamar: It’s such a cool story. So I was working 9 to 5 and cheer-leading for the Houston Texan. I was literally on the job and got a text from my father to call him. I call him back and he says you’re never going to believe this, but your childhood friend’s mother left an urgent note on my door to call her ASAP. I stepped outside of work to make the call and she tied me in with her daughter who’s Cole Rose. She’s like you’re never going to believe this, I know we haven’t talked in years. But long story short, I’m in Atlanta now in a group called Sophia Fresh. We’re signed to Atlantic Records/Nappy Boy Entertainment. Which is executive produced by T-Pain. And we need a girl for our group and I couldn’t think of anyone else, but you. Can you fly out to Atlanta tomorrow to audition for T-Pain and join us on tour in two weeks? So this is mind blowing Tishelle, I’m thinking am I ready? It was something that I had been praying about. No coincidence because that’s God works. It happened that quick, I flew out to Atlanta auditioned, jumped on tour and the rest is history!

UrbanBridgez.com: Why did the group disband?
Crystal Tamar: After about 3 years of being signed to Atlantic we wasn’t really happy. We wanted to put out more music. We felt a little hindered by the label in a sense. So we sought a release which took a pretty long time for that release to happen. At that point we were on our own and trying to put our heads together to figure out how to move forward, without the label. That ended up putting a pretty big strain on the group. Just really trying to figure out the best possible plan. In the end, we just decided that everybody should just go their separate ways. It was all amicable and everybody is on great terms still till this day. It was just kind of our time to see what was out their for us individually.

UrbanBridgez.com: Tell us about the best industry advice T-Pain or anyone you’ve collaborated with has given you.
Crystal Tamar: Oh my God, so much advice out there. This sounds so cliché, but to be yourself is everything. When you think about the creative process as artist. As writers or producers, you bring something individual to the table. Something that only you can do. This is really corny, there’s a song that Barney use to sing that I actually hold in my heart till this day. Because it says you’re special, you’re the only one like you (laughs). Sings “everyone is so special.” But it’s actually true, because when we grow up we forgot those things as adults. There’s so much pressure to do something the way someone else is doing it. To sing something the way someone else is singing it. When I grew up I was hearing En Vogue vocals. I was hearing these real classy R&B vocals. By the time I got a record deal, the vocals were different. People didn’t want the belting on records all the time. They want you to kind of sit in the cut, which is necessary as well. Then I realized that I have to be who I am and just let God fill in the blanks of how that translates to people. There are people out there who still want to hear vocals like that. So the best possible advice that I’ve gotten from everyone and I’ve learned from being in a group. The importance of being an individual and bringing your individual talents together to make something great.

UrbanBridgez.com: What are your overall goals for your career at this point?
Crystal Tamar: To stay completely authentic to who I am. One important thing for me was to be honest in a lot of the records I was doing for this EP. The first single that we did, which was Nowhere I was able to talk about how love was a big deal for me. When I was traveling a lot with Sophia Fresh I wasn’t able to take my love. Literally my honey bun with me everywhere that I went. I realized a lot of things that I experienced in life, just wasn’t the same not to be able to have love with me. To be able to tell a life story like that in my records. That meant a lot, I performed it a lot better when I shot the video. I sung it better in the studio because it was real. So that’s something that has worked really well for this project. I just want to continue to tell true stories. Songs that people can actually empathize with. So that’s my goal.

UrbanBridgez.com: Who are some recording artists you admire and why? Also who would you like to work with
Crystal Tamar: I love R&B and some good old Hip Hop as well. It’s insane that I’ve become a big Tamar Braxton fan. I love what Tamar does vocally and creatively in the studio. She has a really great gift. PJ Morton is another one that I’ve been playing over and over. He brings something really unique to the table that relates to musicianship. If I ever have the opportunity to work with that man, I’m jumping all over it (both laugh). I feel like I can learn from him. I feel like we have a lot in common coming from the south. So that’s a biog dream of mine. Then on the Hip Hop side, I’m a huge Busta Rhymes fan. Also I love Kanye and had the wonderful opportunity to do a record with him with Sophia Fresh. I would love to revisit that as well, because I loved with him in the studio.

UrbanBridgez.com: What’s next for Crystal Tamar?
Crystal Tamar: What’s next? The sky is the limit Tishelle! I’m excited to see what unfolds from this EP. We’re planning to take it on the road to perform. We also have some newer singles, that we want to give to you all. I’m going to cities in the south and west coast. We’re going to let these records marinate and grow. And let God do what he does best. One thing I was telling my publicist Billy, that it’s so fascinating to me that after releasing the EP. The response I’ve been getting from people, for like the individual records. That’s something we forget as artist is how deep those records really go. What they really mean to people. One thing that’s important about this process is listening and realizing what people want more of. I think the most thing moving forward is to just listen to the fans and hearing what it is that they want. And sometimes give it them on the spot, not necessarily something that’s planned and marketed out.

UrbanBridgez.com: What do you want to leave your fans with?
Crystal Tamar: You can find me on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and crystaltamar.com where there are links to stream the EP. Connect with me!