UB Anniversary ReVisit: Tamia Talks Hype Vs Talent + Ashanti

Over the next year, we’ll be spotlighting features from our e-zines from the last 25 years. T M H Entertainment, T M Hxone and Urban Bridgez.

As the longest running website for R&B online, since 1999 – We’ve been able to conduct some amazing interviews with R&B Royalty, as well Hip Hop Legends.

UB has also been blessed to speak with some of black cultures, biggest icons, in film, television and literature.

This week singer and songwriter Tamia, celebrated her birthday. As one of our favorites, today we spotlight our 2004 interview with the songstress.

As a small girl singing in front of her church congregation, six-time Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Tamia realized that one day she wanted to sing professionally. “I always wanted to be a singer,” she once told the New Pittsburgh Courier, and for this girl from the projects of Windsor, Ontario, the dream came true.

Tamia Washington was born on May 9th, 1975. She was introduced to the pleasures of singing very early. Before Tamia was discovered, she studied voice, acting, and singing while performing in church and on stage.

She began performing in her church choir at six years old, by ten she was taking acting and vocal lessons. Tamia sang in several choirs and appeared in theater productions such as “Godspell” and “Little Shop of Horrors” throughout her teens.

During that time Tamia garnered several awards, including the 1993 YTV Youth Achievement Award and the 1994 Steve Ross Music Scholarship as an Honor Youth Delegate at the American Academy of Achievement’s 33rd Annual Salute to Excellence.

In 1994 Tamia‘s manager Brenda Richie invited Tamia to sing at a party for the late great, singer/songwriter Luther Vandross. At the party, Tamia caught the eye of legendary producer Quincy Jones.

Tamia‘s big break came when she was featured on “Q’s Jook Joint” the next year, with her own solo effort following. During that time frame, this previously unknown singing sensation received three Grammy nominations: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “You’ve Put A Move On My Heart;” Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group with Vocal for “Slow Jams,” which she performed with Babyface and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for her work with Brandy, Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan on the single “Missing You” from the “Set It Off” soundtrack.

Tamia finally released her debut album for Qwest Records in 1998. Simply entitled “Tamia,” the album is a collection of collaborations between the singer and producers as Jermaine Dupri, Keith Crouch, and Stevie J..

Since then, Tamia’s voice has become synonymous with the new definition of soul and spawned hits like “You Put A Move On My Heart,” “Stranger in My House,” “Officially Missing You,” “So Into You” (later re-recorded with Fabolous in 2003), and the 2012 hit single “Beautiful Surprise.”

Tamia was nominated for her fourth Grammy in 1999 for her duet with Eric Benet, on the #1 “Spend My Life With You.”

1999 also found her leaving Qwest Records (WEA) to sign with Elektra (WEA). At the new label she worked on developing another album, one that would allow her more control over her music. The result was “A Nu Day,” released in 2000.

“Stranger in My House” became a Top 5 hit for Tamia in 2001.

2004‘s “More,” produced the hit “Officially Missing You.” The album was originally titled after the single “Still.”

In support of “More,” Tamia went out as a special guest on the “Ladies First Tour,” co-headlined by Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, and Missy Elliott.

In 2005, Tamia traveled with a full band to South Africa to perform. “It was amazing from the start to finish. It made everything so much more fun; we went to do a 45-minute show, but ended up doing almost 2 hours. I had a band that loved to play and we just went over there to have one big jam session.”

Along Tamia‘s journey, she has performed before a host of dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II or England, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and South African President Nelson Mandela.

In 2009, producer Shep Crawford announced “The Queen Project,” a compilation album with all power-houses, Tamia, Deborah Cox and Kelly Price. In August of 2010, Kelly Price told UB exclusively, that the project was not happening. Kelly goes into full detail, on why the album (which was completed) was eventually shelved.

“Between Friends” was released in 2012, an R&B guide to the beauty and dynamics of relationships. Mixing the writing styles of Shep Crawford, the producing finesse of Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins and singer and songwriter, Tamia’s maturity as an artist, imagination and fluidity resonates throughout the entire album.

The album earned Tamia another two Grammy Awards in 2013: Best R&B Song and Best R&B Album for “Beautiful Surprise,” a first for a Canadian artist.

A modern day woman and matriarch, Tamia balances her artistry and career with being a supportive wife to husband and NBA Hall of Famer, Grant Hill and a loving mother to her two daughters. Together, Tamia and her husband created The Grant Hill and Tamia Foundation where they continue to be recognized for their philanthropic involvement with several charities.

Tamia is also the founder of Plus 1 Music Group, which successfully released four of her studio albums, including her following two album; 2012‘s “Beautiful Surprise” and Tamia’s sixth album, “Love Life” in 2015. “Love Life” is her highest charting album to date, reaching #1 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart.

Tamia‘s last album was 2018’s “Passion Like Fire”, which reunited her with long-time collaborator Shep Crawford.

In 2019, Tamia was awarded the Soul Music Icon Award at the fourth annual Black Music Honors. Last year she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia.

This year, Tamia joined Louis York on the R&B gem “Three Little Words,” and she’s currently preparing to go out on the road with JOE this fall.

In 2004 Josiah from UB spoke to the amazingly vocally talented Tamia. Fresh off of the release of “More” and wrapping the Ladies First Tour, Tamia dished on what it was really like on tour with Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, and Missy Elliott.

Tamia also gets candid about hype, over real talent and shares how she felt when Ashanti recorded her song with Fabolous.

Plus Tamia tells us how she dealt with her MS diagnosis and much more!

UrbanBridgez.com: First tell me about the Ladies First Tour and the story behind your experience?
Tamia: Well you know I had so much fun on the Ladies First Tour. I’ve been in this game for ten years now and I’ve done tons of shows but I never toured in terms of living on a bus for two months and touring city to city. So it was fun to be apart of an arena tour.

UrbanBridgez.com: I’m hearing that there are some rumors about diva feuds backstage. Did you witness any of that?
Tamia: I didn’t witness any of that. As far as I knew everybody got along. I did what I was supposed to do, so I don’t know if any of that went on but I certainly didn’t see any of it.

UrbanBridgez.com: A lot of the fans were saying that it would have been great if all four of the females on the Tour came on at the end and maybe did a song together. That would have been hot.
Tamia: Yeah, I think so too, I think that would have been hot but that never really came up.

UrbanBridgez.com: You think it was more so due to the politics with the different record labels and stuff?
Tamia: I don’t know, I think that really if they asked all of us, we all were definitely fans of each other and we would have done it. But I don’t know if maybe the time permitting or something had to do with it, but definitely I would have been down. I think that would have been great.

UrbanBridgez.com: Okay, Elektra records has folded and Sylvia Rhone unfortunately was given the boot. What are your thoughts and comments on that particular situation?
Tamia: Well you know I’ve been in this business for ten years and I’ve had like five or six different presidents. One being at Warner Bros., a couple at Quest and now Elektra. But it’s definitely sad to see Sylvia leave. She was such a big part of this project and my other project as well. She would call in the middle of the night and say “I have this idea”, and things like that so it’s hard because one minute your so apart of a project and the next thing you don’t call anymore in terms of her not being on the project anymore. So it was definitely hurtful but I think the best thing for me to do is to really get out there and let people hear the album and promote the album, and stay positive. I don’t think it does anyone, Sylvia nor myself any good to just fault.

UrbanBridgez.com: What’s the current situation with the label that you’re on now?
Tamia: Umm, well you know what. It was definitely great that I was on tour while the chaos was happening. Honestly, I don’t even know if the album would have came out if I wasn’t on tour with all the chaos. I’m really hoping they get it together. I definitely think that it’s not up to par as of right now in terms of all the things that should be happening. But that’s what happens when things change in the middle of something. For me, I’m just trying to stay focused on what it is I’m supposed to be doing. While on Tour I just want to make sure that I gave the best 15 minutes that I could while I was on stage. I’m just trying to emerge myself into doing all that I can in order to make this album a success.

UrbanBridgez.com: You said you gave it your best with your 15 minutes and there’s actually a quote written by a journalist that reads like this: “You warmed up the evening for the big three. Your presence indicated that for every established star there’s a potential replacement of product in the pipeline. This protégé of Missy Elliot might as well have been Beyonce’s understudy. Tall, gorgeous and a big voice. Call her min-B.
Tamia: Right.

UrbanBridgez.com: A lot of people basically are saying that you should have had more time and that you definitely have the potential to headline your own tour.
Tamia: It’s so funny, because he said I was a Missy protégé and if you know me you know I’m not a Missy protégé.

UrbanBridgez.com: Exactly, I don’t agree with that part either. (Laughing)
Tamia: (Laughing) But obviously he doesn’t know who Tamia is. I think that the music business is not necessarily anymore about the music. It’s gotten to be who’s dating who and things like that and I hope that it gets back to the music. Unfortunately, I’ve been doing this for ten years and I’ve seen a lot of great singers that you never hear from anymore. I think a lot of times now people sell albums more off of hype then they do talent. You know, you have people like William Hung who was on American Idol who sold like 30,000 albums….

UrbanBridgez.com: It makes no sense.
Tamia: And he sang on TV. And then you have artist like me who’ve been out there busting their butt for ten years that wish to have a five-minute spot on American Idol to sing. So, in that aspect it’s kinda crazy to me.

UrbanBridgez.com: Definitely and I mean touching on the subject of using hype to sell records; I’m sorry to say, I appreciate his music and I’m a fan of Usher’s but I don’t think he would have went platinum in one week if they didn’t have this big PR move hyping up the drama between him and Chilli, and him getting another girl pregnant, etc.
Tamia: Isn’t that crazy though.

UrbanBridgez.com: It’s crazy.
Tamia: It’s crazy that that’s what talented artist have to do, or feel like they have to do in order to sell records. That’s crazy!

UrbanBridgez.com: Do you think there is maybe a solution to this problem. Maybe some of the artist like yourself who have been in the game for a while can get together and maybe….
Tamia: Protest!

UrbanBridgez.com: (Laughing) Yeah, like join forces and overcome the way that the industry is turning because it’s really not turning for the better.
Tamia: It’s all become so jaded. I mean, did you watch Divas Live this year?

UrbanBridgez.com: Yeah, I saw it.
Tamia: C’mon. I’m saying, you mean to tell me there’s no other artist in the music business that can sing live. You know Patti and Gladys, you know they can blow! They deserve it; they should have been up there years ago. You mean to tell me everybody else, that was the best that we have to offer! But it’s all about who’s hot now. It’s not even necessarily about Divas Live. It’s about who is hot.

UrbanBridgez.com: And since you brought the topic up, I’m not trying to get you to bad mouth anybody but since we’re keeping it real, I’m sorry when I found out Ashanti was on that show, it really made me not even want to watch it!
Tamia: But you know what, you gotta understand that it’s about popularity. She’s very popular, Jessica Simpson is very popular. So it’s not even necessarily about Divas Live singing.

UrbanBridgez.com: Speaking about Ashanti, how did you feel about the song with Fabolous and when you re-laid the vocals? It was like when you relayed those vocals, everyone was like hallelujah.
Tamia: Well you know I thought she did a really good job and she was extremely popular at that time. That’s why Fab kinda asked her in the first place. But you know, even she said it, she shouldn’t have done it in the first place with a song that I co-wrote and that it was my record. But I thought she did a great job. The opportunity came to me to relay the vocals and to do a song that I co-wrote. This was a song that was one of my singles back in the day. Obviously, I don’t hold any ill will against Ashanti or whatever, I thought she did a great job. It’s not that serious. Everybody’s making it out to be, “oh what do you think?” It’s an every changing thing with music and when an opportunity arises you want to jump on it and she wanted to do the song and she did, Fab wanted to change the song and I did. It’s not that personal though.

UrbanBridgez.com: How do you deal with your MS diagnosis?
Tamia: I think anytime you are a relatively healthy person and then you are diagnosed with something like MS, you have ups and downs. I think for me the thing was to stay positive, eat healthy, living healthy and that I’m taking care of myself because no one else will. I mean my family will take care of me, but it’s really my responsibility to make sure that I’m taking care of myself.

UrbanBridgez.com: Definitely. Those were some good encouraging words. Most singers and entertainers make the jump from singing to acting. When can we expect to see Tamia on the big or small screen?
Tamia: Well I just got finished shooting for the sitcom Rock Me Baby. So you can look for that.

UrbanBridgez.com: Any last words for your fans?
Tamia: Thank you for all the support. Continue to support me in the future because I’ll be here for a long time and make sure you go by the new CD.