Tyrese, Tamar Braxton, H-Town, Tank, and Silk

Giving actors making forays into pop music a good name the world over, Tyrese Gibson got into show-business at the tender age of 16. He only decided that he wanted to be a singer two years earlier and after being discovered singing while on the bus, he was ushered into the spotlight by appearing in a major advert for Coca-Colla. By the mid-90’s he’d appeared in a number of modelling shoots by the likes of Guess? and Tommy Hilfiger and by 1998 he’d managed to secure a record contract with RCA Records. His first single “Nobody Else”, was a mild hit, squeaking into the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100 at number 36, but his first album would make him a true star.

His self-titled debut was released in September 1998, it debuted on the charts at number 17 and at around the same time, Tyrese became a VJ on the weekday TV Show MTV Jams. The slot on the show catapulted him to an even higher degree of popularity, meaning that his third single “Sweet Lady” reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, stayed on the chart for 25 weeks and netted him a Grammy award nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance mere months after his twentieth birthday. His follow up album “2000 Watts” was also highly succesful, selling over 500’000 copies and being certified Gold with aplomb.

As Tyrese’s acting career grew, his music career may have slowed down but it still produced the hits, with his 2002 single “How You Gonna Act Like That” being a legitimate smash hit that peaked at number seven on the Hot 100. Ever since then, Gibson has been massively succesful at everything he’s tried his hand at. He produces hit albums and singles in his music career to this day. He headlines the Fast and Furious franchise on the silver screen. He is even a New York Times best-selling author twice over with his books “How To Get Your Own Way” and “Manology: Secret’s Of Your Man’s Mind Revealed”. It would be nauseating if he wasn’t so good at what he does, and the best way of seeing his talent is by catching him live as soon as possible. Highly recommended.

Tamar Braxton discovered her talent for singing at a young age along with the rest of her sisters. She began singing at the age of 2 and was performing in her church choir throughout her childhood. Tamar is known for her extensive vocal range that covers five octaves, allowing her to hit some of the most difficult notes. She is also influenced by many great artists including Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

In 1989 Tamar Braxton formed the R&B girl group The Braxtons with the rest of her sisters: Toni, Trina, Traci, and Towanda. In 1990 the group released the hit single “Good Life”. Toni Braxton left the group in 1991 to sign to LaFace records as a solo artist, and her sisters supported her as backup singers on her first US tour. Tamar continued to perform with the remaining members of The Braxtons after Toni had left, and released the album “So Many Ways” in 1996 with her sisters, Trina and Towanda. The album produced the single “The Boss”, which reached the No. 1 position on the Billboard Dance Charts.

In 1998 Tamar had left The Braxtons to pursue a solo career and signed to DreamWorks Records. Tamar released her self-titled debut solo album in 2000, which contained the singles “Get None” and “If You Don’t Wanna Love Me”. The album placed on the Billboard 200 chart and featured several notable guest artists like Missy Elliott, Jermaine Dupri, and Tricky Stewart. Apart from her solo career, Tamar continued to provide backup vocals for three of Toni Braxton’s albums in the early 2000s.

In 2004 Tamar switched record labels and signed with Casablanca Records. During this time she released the single “I’m Leaving”, which was highly inspired by the song “Grindin” by the rap duo Clipse. After leaving Casablanca Records, Tamar would sign to Universal Records in 2010 and release the single “The Heart In Me”. The single was later featured on the “Adidas 2: The Music” compilation. While not making music Tamar was busy with the reality television shows “Braxton Family Values” and “Tamar & Vince”. Tamar would also go on to host the television shows “Tiny Tonight” and “The Culturelist”.

In 2013 Tamar released her second studio album “Love and War” through Epic Records. The album was a great success critically and commercially, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album contained the singles “Love and War”, “The One”, and “All The Way Home”. The album also received a Grammy nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album, and the title track from the record gained Tamar another two Grammy nominations. In 2013 Tamar also released a Christmas album “Winter Loversland”, which featured many traditional renditions of Christmas tunes. Tamar is also known for her amazing live performances and has embarked on headlining tours as well as toured with several notable musicians such as John Legend and R. Kelly.

Twin brothers Kevin and Solomon Conner, along with longtime friend Darryl Jackson formed H-Town, the endearing term for their hometown of Houston, in 1991. After honing their skills and developing a local fan base, the trio sent a demo tape to 2 Live Crew rapper and label executive Luther “Luke” Campbell. The result of which was an unexpected audition and ultimately the band signed with Luke Records in the early '90s.

The group’s debut album “Fever for Da Flavor” arrived in April 1993, went multi-platinum, and spawned H-Town’s biggest and most recognisable hit “Knockin’ Da Boots”. The single topped the R&B charts, rose to No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and subsequently made way for the single “Lick U Up”. The same year the group won the Soul Train Music Award for Best New Artist and embarked on the Coca-Cola Summerfest Tour alongside ’90’s R&B and rap favourites Shai, SWV, Naughty by Nature and LL Cool J. The group represented a new wave of R&B artists adopting the flavour of vintage soul music, which has since been adopted by a host of modern R&B acts.

H-Town's sophomore album “Beggin’ After Dark” was issued in 1994 and spawned the successful hit single “Emotions”, which reached No. 11 on the R&B chart and No. 51 on the Billboard 200. Other singles from the album included “Sex Bowl”, “Full Time”, “Buss One” featuring Papa Reu, and “Baby I Love Ya” featuring Roger Troutman.

Undergoing a female-focussed transition in 1996, H-Town cut ties with Luke Campbell and raised a number of women’s issues on their third studio album “Ladies Edition”. Listing national women’s helplines on the back of the CD, the album spawned the singles “Don’t Sleep on the Female”, “Julie Rain” a disturbing account of domestic violence, and “Jezebel”. Solomon Conner released a solo effort “Bringing the Heat” in 2000 followed by the band’s fourth album “Imitations Of Life” issued in 2004 on their own label H-Town Music. Frontman Kevin Conner passed away prior to the release in a car accident, and due to lack of major-label backing the album didn’t receive a great deal of promotion, which led to little success in the charts.

Ready-made Silk was already together when Keith Sweat and Andrea Ryans discovered them. They were fortunate enough to strike a deal with Elektra records to go straight into the studio to record their debut album “Lose Control”. It was recorded over the course of 1991 and 1992,and then later released on November 17th 1992. It went to number 1 on the R&B Charts, and number 7 on the Billboard 200. On the album was the band’s hit single “Freak Me”, which was in fact the sophomore single from the album that shot up the charts making it to number one in the Billboard Hot 100. It also charted in Australia, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK, earning its platinum certification in 1993.

Their sophomore eponymous record, “Silk” which was released on November 28th 1995, didn’t quite match the status of the previous record, but still managed to get to number 10 in the R&B charts, later achieving a Gold certification. Their third album “Tonight” released on March 23rd 1999, did even better than the last record making it to number 8 in the R&B charts and number 21 in the Billboard 200. This record like the first managed a Platinum certification in the US.

In 2003, the group took a brief hiatus pursuing various other ventures, and Elektra had left them in the lurch forcing them to find a new label. They started their own and returned to the studio to release the album “Silktime” on September 23rd 2003. It made it to number 30 in the R&B chart. Their next record made it to number 23 in the R&B Chart, after being released on October 17th 2006.