*In 2000, Elektra Records artist Tamia released
A Nu Day to critical acclaim and commercial success.
With the single "A Stranger In My House" becoming
an anthem for sisters nationwide, Tamia's place in the
game was solidified.
In the summer of 2003, Tamia is looking to do it all
over again. During her hiatus she married NBA all-star
forward Grant Hill and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
We had a chance to interview Tamia during her Los
Angeles promo swing and homegirl was having some
issues with her cell phone. She said she would rather
manufacturers to take phones back to the basics.
That is also what she is doing on her new set "Still."
"These things are getting smaller and smaller with
more and more buttons. Do you really need to all those
things. It does email and stuff. You're never going to use
that. How about a phone that I can use ... as a phone? How
about that? And a phone that rings a normal ring, and not
the la cucarocha, how's about that? Just ring old school.
Can we get back to basics on everything, in the music
industry too? Can we just get back to the basics? Everything
is getting so complicated and you can't keep up because
they upgrade it next week."
Tamia has been getting back to the basics as well.
But that was not as easy as switching up her steelo.
"After I had my child I gained 55 pounds, I was a little
busy. I'm little, so, I stopped looking at myself at 165. It was
good and it kept me on my toes. I had to work really hard to
get back. Her name is Mila Grace, by the way."
Whenever we interview Mrs. Grant Hill we can't help
but think about Mrs. Grant Hill's husband. Ummm, did
we mention she's married to Grant Hill? Though the PR
people wanted us to limit those types of questions, we
asked anyway-not to tick 'em off, but because we're
basketball fans. (OK, maybe a little to tick 'em off.)
"He's doing very well thank you for asking. He's just
rehabbing and getting back into the groove. I almost equate
it to having someone rip my vocal cords out. It's something
you love one day and it's taken from you the next day. He
just has an incredible amount of courage and endurance.
You know, a lot of people would have been like forget it,
'I have a lot of money and everything is taken care of.' I don't
think he's a guy that defines himself by his basketball career.
With his last issue, they feel like they've corrected the problem
instead of just putting a Band-Aid on it. I expect him to play,
the doctors expect him to play, but right now everybody's
a little cautious."
It's hard to believe that "Still" is only her third set.
Seems like Tamia has been around for at least a decade.
We just love her new, back to the basics styling on this
CD. And, you know what, so does she.
"I love the album. I got a chance to work with great
producers, but not because they were great producers.
We made great songs and worked really well together.
We finished the album in six month and it just came
together."
Really, for some artist three years is just too much
time to be leaving the scene. But for Tamia, three years
was just enough time to get her things in order.
"Well, having a baby and my personal things, there's
more to me than just singing. It doesn't feel like three
years for me because I have Mila and dealing with my
husband. I had so many things to do that I didn't feel like
I could sit down and say, 'Yeah, I have this amount of time
to put into an album.' I had to first make sure that my family
was cool. There's a lot of work that goes into an album,
especially when the album is finished. But I definitely
missed it. I love to sing all day long, everyday."
I just felt like I'm 28, I didn't want to sing about songs
a 17 year old could sing. My life is way more complicated
than that. I always, with each album, I want to dig deeper.
So, definitely there was a direction. Don't bring me something
over produced to the point where my vocals are somewhere
tucked in behind everything. Definitely bring something where
I'll be able to do me, that was the only instructions I gave."
The album's producers include some of the biggest
names, including Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Jermaine
Dupri, R. Kelly, Warryn Campbell, Mario Winans, Peter
Lord & Jeff Smith and Shep Crawford. The first single,
"Officially Missing You," produced by 7, features
a guitar arrangement that highlights Tamia's voice.
--Ricardo Hazell
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