Former Prince protege ready for her solo shot

02/16/2007 10:05 PM, Reuters


From Grammy Award nominee to free agent: singer-songwriter Tamar survived a wild ride on the music industry roller coaster last year, finding her solo project shelved but reaping a Grammy nomination for a song she wrote and performed with Prince.

She's no newcomer to the business. When she was a preteen, Tamar Davis, a singer since the age of 3, sang with the group Girls Tyme -- whose members included future Destiny's Child talents Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Latavia Robertson. Performances at Prince's renowned house parties led to her joining the enigmatic talent onstage for a solo at the NAACP Image Awards.

After Prince secured a one-album deal with Universal Republic in late 2005, Tamar began working double time, contributing backing vocals on Prince's 2006 album, "3121," and recording her own Universal Republic debut.

The built-in exposure Tamar garnered during appearances on Prince's "3121" promotional tour generated buzz for her own bow as an artist. But her solo album was shelved.

The ride didn't end there, however. As 2006 wound down, Tamar learned her duet with Prince, "Beautiful, Love and Blessed," had earned a Grammy nomination for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals. The song, which Tamar co-wrote with Prince, lost its bid to "Family Affair" featuring John Legend and Joss Stone with Van Hunt.

During a phone interview a few days before the Grammys telecast, an excited Tamar laughed at the irony of her current free-agent status. "It's an interesting thing to be nominated and yet be an unsigned artist looking for a home."

As to why her album wasn't released or whether Prince's mercurial nature might have played a role in the situation, Tamar is philosophical rather than bitter, saying only that she was prepared, having read about similar travails faced by other artists like Anthony Hamilton, Alicia Keys and Ne-Yo.

"I don't have anything negative to say, and I don't feel defeated," she declares. "I'm pushing forward."

That she is. Laying low at her parents' home in Houston, she has been flying back and forth between New York and former home base Los Angeles to record another album.

Tamar owns the songs from her aborted Universal Republic set, some of which may appear on her new album.

This time around she's gunning for a more R&B-driven approach. "The last album was all live, and I didn't get the DJ Scratch feel on some of the songs I wanted to," she says. "This album is more R&B/hip-hop/funky with a Tina Turner vibe. But it's still very melodic."

Whether Prince will appear on the album remains a question. "He will probably be on here somewhere. It's a good mystery that I'm keeping," Tamar says.

Although the former backup singer and Prince still talk, Tamar says they saw each other for the first time in six months at the Grammys. While the connection is still there, Tamar knows it's her time now.

"It does hurt that I don't get to perform as much with him," she says. "But if I stay under his wing, I can't fly. And I'm ready to fly."

Reuters/Billboard