[taMia]

born in ontario, canada, tamia followed a path not uncommon to r&b divas. by the age of six, she became involved her the family's church choir; within four years, she receiving professional vocal training, in addition to that received from the choir director. tamia credits the church with providing her a safe environment in which to spread her vocal wings. on her official label website, she opines, "church is always the best place for a young person to start [singing]…everyone is so supportive when you're singing for god. you can make a few mistakes and it's still alright." once tamia had gained confidence in her abilities as a singer, she ventured outside the church to participate in local productions and to enter talent competitions throughout canada. the would-be diva was well on her way to earning a name for herself when she was awarded the ytv vocal acheivement award and the steve ross music scholorship at the armerican academy of achievements annual salute to excellence.

shortly thereafter, tamia was introduced to music impresario quincy jones at a birthday party for luther vandross. impressed with her talent, jones arranged to feature tamia's version of "you put a move on my heart"—a hit for british soulstress mica paris in 1989—on his q's jook joint album. a seductive, if disturbing, video featuring a svengali-like jones observing the young singer in the recording studio as she croons and spoons with an attractive young man helped catapult the song to the top ten on the r&b charts. the song, as well as another featuring r&b guru kenneth "babyface" edmonds, earned tamia grammy nominations in the categories of best female r&b performance and best r&b performance by a duo or group, respectively. another grammy nomination came for her participation in the track "missing you" from the set it off soundtrack, which also featured brandy, chaka khan and gladys knight. further recognition came from the national association for the advancement of colored people (naacp) and the soul train music awards, only adding to the buzz the heretofore unsigned artist had created for herself.

though everybody in the music industry was clamouring for a piece of tamia, she decided to stick with her roots and release her first solo album—released in 1998—on quincy jones' qwest records. though her vigorous recording caused her to be far more reclusive than she had been in the past, tamia did make time to appear in the movie speed II: cruise control, to which she also contributed a song for the soundtrack. upon its release, tamia proved itself to live up to the high standards that people had come to expect from this budding artist. superb production by industry golden boys jermaine dupri, keith crouch, mario wynans and quincy jones showcased tamia's crystaline and emotive voice. upbeat tracks, like "falling for you" and "imagination" proved that tamia had the funk, while ballads like "never gonna let you go", "rain on me" and a reworking of wham's "careless whisper" ensured listeners that vocal chops to back up the reputation she had earned as a up-and-coming diva.

though fans expected an immediate follow-up to tamia's debut album, such was not the case. unlike most artists, who strive to stay in the public eye lest they be forgotten, tamia all but disappeared after the release of her album, until a highly publicized duet with r&b crooner eric benet brought her back to the charts in 1999. shortly after benet and tamia performed "spend my life with you" on the season finale of the fox drama beverly hills: 90210, she met sylvia rhone, chairperson of elektra records. rhone, one of the music industry's driving forces, and tamia, a talented artist whose full potential had not yet been realized, hit it off immediately. "sylvia is the perfect executive for a singer like me," tamia explains on www.tamiaonline.com, "she's so supportive and knows what it's like to go the distance in this business." they quickly set about producing what would be tamia's second album, a nu day.

released in 2000, after only three months of production, a nu day continues the tradition of excellence established by tamia. paired with labelmate missy "misdemeanor" elliot, tamia cranked out five of the album's eleven tracks, including the debut single, "can't go for that", which borrows its hook from the darryl hall/john oates collaboration, "i can't go for that". though many singers would be a nervous wreck at the prospect of working with elliott and rhone, tamia, now an industry veteran, took it all in stride. "you can't control some things, so i only worried about what I could control…my vocals and the quality of the songs. when i got to the studio i just let it go." the result is apparent on the album, which has only served to garner this rising star further acclaim from industry pundits and the public.

a true soul survivor, tamia continues to not get the full attention that she deserves. one of her generation's most promising vocal talents, tamia continues to plug away, undeterred that her star has not risen as fast as it ought to have. with dynamos like sylvia rhone and missy "misdemeanor" elliot behind her, however, it won't be long before tamia's name is habitually associated with artists such as whitney houston, deborah cox and toni braxton. aside from charting her own course through the often turbulent terrain of the music industry, tamia has also acheived personal happiness with nba star husband grant hill, with whom she resides in orlando, florida. doing things her own way, in her own time and thinking nothing of it…what better becomes a diva?