Imagine a friendship breathed into life by music. Imagine a message of love unheard of. Now awake to Between Friends, the newest album by Tamia.
Between Friends is 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, Tamia's maturity as an artist and woman resonates in all 12 songs.
For the love-starved man who craves the warmth of a good one, Tamia's songs ignite flames of hope that romance and love still blooms. Songs like "The Way I Love You", "Too Grown For That" and "Can't Get Enough Of You" fuse Tamia's sinfully smothering vocal abilities with Darkchild's signature bounce to every beat.
Since her last album, More, Tamia is trying to do it all- being supportive of her husband Grant Hill and his career, mother of four year-old Myla Grace (Myla means merciful taken from the Bible 'mercy and grace'), and working with charities like Prevent Child Abuse America; Habitat For Humanity; Multiple Sclerosis (MS) awareness in Canada; and, an African American art collection currently touring the US.
Yet, completion of the last album left Tamia wanting, wanting to do more songs, but feeling restricted by record label obligations. Tamia wished to make the decisions about songs - if she felt strongly about it, then it would make the album. As Tamia notes,
"Shep Crawford, who produced "Stranger In My House," and I, always said that if we ever had time and wanted to have fun, we'd just go into studio and make the music that we wanted to make. We both loved the creative process and creating songs. We loved just hanging out talking about life and having a good time. We went into the studio not thinking that we'd create an album. It came organically. Literally, it was going to be a CD just for us."
Investing her own money without waiting for anyone to propose a new album, Tamia tinkered and toyed with music she wanted to make. She involved herself in every aspect of this project putting forth an album that truly is, soul.
"I'm always going to be that little 6 year-old singing into her brush with her mom yelling, "Tamia, please stop!" Music is just a part of me-everything that I do, every step that I take. I am still thankful and amazed, because I still see myself as that little girl with a brush."
Tamia's big break came when she was featured on Q's Jook Joint album, with her own solo effort following a few years later. 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. To top it all off, the amazing Tamia was also nominated for her fourth Grammy in 1999 for her duet with Eric Benet, the 1 "Spend My Life With You."
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. There's nothing like being on stage and having the crowd singing every word of your song. After 10 years as a recording artist, the experience was still very touching. You never know how your music touches people. This experience rejuvenated me. It energized me to get this new album done."
Between Friends is the birth of Tamia's second child. With her growing wisdom in life, love and the music industry, she believes that "there's a time and place for music like "Drop it like it's hot!" But, there are also people who want to hear about love and relationships. A lot of songs I do aren't from personal experience, but the subject matter is universal."
The future remains a mystery. But from wake to sleep, Tamia is driven by the music box within.
