Tamia Washington-Hill.. Hmm, where do I begin? Well for starters, not only does she have a beautiful, unique voice, she is also one of the nicest, most down to earth people in the biz. Exactly who is Tamia, you ask?(and if you ARE asking, then where the hell have you been?) Well, Tamia(no last name needed) is a native of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Tamia started professionally in the music industry, when she burst on the scene with "You Put a Move On My Heart," the first single from Quincy Jones 1994 album Q's Jook Joint. She was only 19 years of age at that time. After which, she appeared on a few soundtracks, had a small part in a major motion pictured and appeared in a few videos... then in 1998, she finally released her debut album, simply titled, Tamia.
Pretty cool huh? All that success before she even put out a record of her own. Now I bet you're asking just how did Tamia get her start? Well, as a active young girl, she performed in a number of local choirs and theatrical presentations, which in turn, led to the recieving of several awards.. including the YTV Vocal Achievement Award in 1993. In 1994, she won the Steve Ross Music Scholarship at the American Academy of Achievement's Annual Salute to Excellence. Later that year, while at a gathering her manager at the time(Brenda Richie) threw for Luther Vandross, she met Quincy Jones. Six months later, she recorded "You Put a Move On My Heart" for Q's new album. The song was originally supposed to be sung by Whitney Houston, but Whitney's schedule could not permit her to go and lay the track down, so Q immediately remembered the beautiful voice of Tamia, and had Brenda bring her down. The song became a Top Ten R&B hit and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The duet with Babyface off that same album entitled "Slow Jams," was nominated for Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group also. Then later, she collaborated on the song "Missing You" with Brandy, Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan on the soundtrack for the 1995 film Set It Off. "Missing You" was also nominated for a Grammy, which made three Grammy nominations for Tamia before she had even released her own album yet.
She also appeared on several award shows, videos and had a small part in the movie, Speed 2: Cruise Control, playing the role of Sheri Silver, the featured performer at the dinner theater aboard the luxury cruise ship. She also sung "Make Tonight Beautiful" for the movie soundtrack. Then in April of 1998, she released her highly anticipated debut album. She not only wrote and co-wrote on the album, but she also co-executive produced it as well. From the album, she got the attention of many people with the first single, "Imagination". then really caught a lot of peoples attention when she released the second single, "So into you", which reached high on the charts and stayed there for several weeks. She later went on to release her third single from the album, "Loving you still".
Tamia’s career continued to blossom.. She has collaborated with LL Cool J on a track called, "Don't be late, don't come too soon", and she has contributed her voice on the charitable track, "Love shouldn't hurt", along with other talented stars who lent their time and voices for that important cause. In 99, Tamia collabed yet again and made a hot duet with R&B sensation, Eric Benet. The single was entitled, "Spend My Life" and has reached #1 on Billboards R&B singles charts, peaked in the top 30 on the Hot 100 charts and is pretty much noted the new "Wedding Song" for couples.
Tamia continues to shine.... On October 24th, 2000, she released her 2nd album, entitled, "A Nu Day". The album is a bit different from the first and shows a more stronger Tamia. Her voice has definitely grown. She has also hooked up with Missy Elliot on six of the songs this time. You would not want to over look this album.
Tracks like, "Love me in a special way"(The El Debarge classic), "Can't go for that", "Stranger In My House", "Can't No Man" & ect, can very well put Tamia where she SHOULD be.... on top and FINALLY getting her props!
MAKE WAY FOR TAMIA!
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