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TAMAR (DAVIS): Prince Protégé prepares for stardom.
Scroll down to HEAR Lee Bailey's conversation with Tamar.
By Kenya M Yarbrough

(March 28, 2007)

*Apollonia, Sheila E., Vanity, and Carmen Elektra are part of an elite club of entertainers. And the latest member of the crew is creating a buzz on the music scene. Her name is Tamar Davis; and this is one Prince protégé whose jazzy voice promises to take her even farther than her predecessors.

Though Tamar is just breaking out to many, the 24-year-old is a music vet who's been breaking in for some time. The Houston native was once a member of the group Girl Tyme with Kelly and Beyonce of Destiny’s Child. Then after breaking away and later studying music at USC, she became part of an all-female jazz/funk band called Angaza, who released an album called "Light." With all this experience behind her, there was one rare opportunity that would begin to shape her career.


Not to be confused with singer Tamar Braxton (Toni’s sis), about 10 years ago, the young singer’s demo tape fell into the hands of music superstar Prince. After hearing the tape, Prince invited Tamar to visit his Paisley Park property.

“He flew me and my mom into town to Paisley Park and I recorded ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’” Tamar remembered.

The visit, however, did not include a meeting with his Purple-ness, but Tamar said she left with a fond memory, considering the invitation an honor.

But in 2005, the young singer crossed paths with Prince, who said that he’d remembered her.

Fatima Robinson invited me back over because she was doing a video shoot. I just went up to him and said, ‘Hey, you did a song (on me) at 13’ and long story short he asked if he could hear me sing again. So we went in the studio and started singing and ended up writing ‘Beautiful, Loved, and Blessed’ on his [‘3121’] album. We got nominated for a Grammy, but we didn’t win the Grammy, but that was history.”

Prince & Tamar perform on the 6th annual BET Awards in 2006.

Though Tamar is certainly tucking away bits of history, she missed out on performing her song at this year’s historical Super Bowl halftime show with her mentor.

I was doing a lot of media in Houston and I recommended Shelby Johnson. She ended up getting the job. It was good seeing them perform. I was blown away about how good they were doing it in the rain, but I missed being up there.”

But Tamar shrugged off the missed performance saying that though it was an opportunity of a lifetime, she was facing a number of opportunities of a lifetime at the same time.

“We did a tour ‘Tamar, featuring Prince’ so by that time, I’d gotten so many opportunities to do TV and film so I couldn’t make the Super Bowl, which was OK. I think when Prince brings up protégés, he wants you to [use] your wings and use the platform that he gives you. It’s just amazing that now I’ll be able to perform with him even more and be able to collaborate with him on my new album.

Her absence did cause a stir for those in the know, who thought perhaps the two were no longer pals. Insiders speculated that Prince had sent away another protégé. Tamar said that’s just not true.

“We’ve hung out and talked about new ventures, she said of maintaining her friendship with Prince I’ve asked Prince what did everyone else do with their platform when they were with him and he said it depends on them. And with me, I’m young, I’m vibrant, (and with) everything that he taught me there just no way I could sit still. TV things came to me, songs getting placed in film came to me. It’s just been a blessing ever since working with him. But you’ll see me back on stage with him, and I’m excited about that.

When Tamar first hooked up with Prince and headed toward realizing her solo singing career, she by name was often mistaken as Tamar Braxton (Toni’s sis). Fortunately for the singer, her growing popularity has made that error rare now, though she is officially now known as Tamar Davis for further clarification.

“Now it’s no question who I am. Tamar Braxton did her thing and is still doing her thing I haven’t met her yet. But now I go by Tamar Davis. You just jump over the hurdles and keep going and say, ‘You know what? This is not a battle that I want to fight. Just put Davis on my name.’

Tamar aka Tamar Davis is currently working on putting out her debut solo disc, which has been a long time coming.

“Universal shelved my project so I’m working with a whole new team of people, she explained. The project was basically abandoned by the label after Prince pulled out from Universal; therefore anything associated with him went as well. But Tamar said that it was just another minor setback.

“It happens to the best of us, she shrugged. It happened to Ne-Yo, it happened to Keisha Cole and Lauryn Hill. You have to realize that good things are always going to happen for those who love the Lord. I’ve just been blessed. My faith has really kept me in tact. I just know that every year has been better than the last.

She told EUR’s Lee Bailey that the new project will include some of the new music that she’s done with Prince, in addition to track collaboration from super-producers such as Kwame (Lloyd Banks, Will Smith) and James Poyser (Erykah Badu).

What’s in store for Tamar? The singer, who is so busy she’s been steadily flying between Los Angeles, Houston, and New York to settle out projects said there’s a lot.

It’s going to be interesting because I keep getting a lot of projects, she said.

For more on the singer, check out her website at www.tamardavis.net or her MySpace page: www.myspace.com/tamardavis.

sosgemini said:

oh lawd, what does that mean?