TEAIRRA MARI

Teairra Mari Thomas (born December 2, 1987), better known by her stage name Teairra Marí, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, model, and dancer. At the age of 16, she was signed to Def Jam and released her first album, Teairra Marí. After disappointing sales, she was let go from her recording contract in the middle of production for her sophomore album Second Round. In 2008, she returned to the music scene with the Pleasure P-assisted single Hunt 4 U. After constant leaks, she was forced to re-record and re-title her second attempt at a sophomore album At That Point. In 2010, she starred in the film Lottery Ticket alongside rappers Ice Cube and Bow Wow. Since 2010, she has released several mixtapes and an EP entitled Sincerely Yours which released on August 17, 2010.

At a young age, she was encouraged by her grandmother who sang back up for Aretha Franklin to pursue a musical career. She began her career at age 15, recording in her cousin’s basement in Detroit, Michigan. She went to Longfellow Elementary in Holland,Michigan before soon transferring to Detroit Schools. She soon caught the attention of Big Mike, Ed K and Helluvah of Detroit’s K.I.S.S. Productions, which developed her from the age of 16 onward. Under Big Mike’s guidance, Marí spent every free moment in the studio, working with some of the hottest producers and songwriters in the game, including Helluva, Disco D, Big Mike, Chaz M, Detail, Lyriq, AK, and J.R. K.I.S.S. Productions arranged for Marí to collaborate with artists such as Ray J, J-Kwon, Lola Damone, and Bee and for Marí to appear on Detroit’s Fox 2 Morning Show and UPN 50 Sports Rap. In October 2003, K.I.S.S. Productions released Teairra’s first album, an EP called Get Away, which became a local sensation. Teairra attended the Detroit High School for The Fine and Performing Arts and was a vocal major, performing in many of the school’s talent showcases.

At the age of 16, K.I.S.S.’ Big Mike felt that Marí was ready for the big time, and he brought the R&B starlet in front of a who’s who of label execs. Candy Tookes, a friend of Big Mike, introduced the pair to industry veteran Daryl Simmons in Atlanta, Georgia. Simmons then shared Marí’s K.I.S.S. Productions-produced demo disc with Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Chairman of The Island Def Jam Music Group. After hearing Teairra Marí perform live, Reid offered her a contract on the spot.[3] According to Shakir Stewart, VP A&R at Def Jam, in an interview with HitQuarters, “Teairra was a star when she walked into the room. She captured the room when she did her audition. We fell in love with her from day one.”

Teairra went into the studio with Rico Love, who’s executive producer of the album, in early March 2011 to work on new music for her album. A snippet from a song shown in clip of them recording is the first single from the album, titled “All That’s Me”, inwhich features Rico Love. “That’s All Me” samples one of Diddy’s early hits, “It’s All About the Benjamins” record. The song is a single off of DJ T. Neal’s album Not Your Average DJ which features Rico Love but will also feature on the new album. Just not as a single. Teairra premiered, and performed, the new song for the first time at R&B Live in Hollywood Teairra revealed on the set of That’s All Me that she had departed from Warner Bros and had signed a deal with Rico Love’s label Division1. due to the large amount of leftover material from the album, Teairra released a fourth mixtape titled Now or Never on May 30 (Memorial Day). So far Rico and Teairra have already started recording for her sophomore album and she plans to drop her first single by 2012. “She’s a superstar. If somebody is a star and they have that ‘it’ thing that cannot be taught, all you have to do is put a record with it,” Rico Love explained. teairra-mari

U Did That is the first single from Teairra’s untitled sophomore album, and was written and produced by Rico Love and co-produced by D-Town. Mari said that the single will be going for radio adds sometime in January. Teairra Mari released a video of her and Rico Love in the studio and talking about the new album. “It’s absolutely amazing the chemistry that Rico and I share. I couldn’t ask for another partner in crime,”. “There are a lot of talented songwriters out there, but for me, my chemistry is with Rico and I haven’t had a chemistry like this with anybody else. Everybody has their match and I think Rico is definitely my musical match.” “The direction has gotta be sexy,” she said. “I’m a woman comfortable in my shoes and I like to be in love, and when I’m in love, I like to have sex, lots and lots of it.”[19] The song was later remixed featuring rapper 2 Chainz. The music video has been shot. Mari described the reasoning for the title of the album by saying “It’s reminiscent of a new jack swing, like ’90s R&B, bedroom music but with a bounce.”