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by kenn on 7/06/2005 07:45:00 PM |
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Teairra Marí: Hey Young Girl
Source: BS
New Roc-A-Fella signee Teairra Marí is only 17 years old, but she's already entrenched in the new tradition of her Motor City hometown. "Detroit is edgy, Detroit is laid back, Detroit is sleek, and Detroit is sly," Teairra told BallerStatus.net. "That's my sound. I'm going to carry Detroit on my back to the fullest."
Teairra's new single -- the xylophone-driven, Eric B. and Rakim-sampled "Make Her Feel Good" -- is helping her establish a formidable buzz, in her hometown and elsewhere. "It hasn't hit me yet," Teairra insists of her newfound fame, "because I'm still working, so I'm not in the hype of what people are saying and all that." The former attendee of Detroit School of the Arts (which is also Aaliyah's alma mater) made local noise at 12 years old with amateur demos made in her cousin's basement, but four years passed before her demo landed on the desk of Atlanta producers Daryl Simmons and Anthony Tate. Simmons passed it to friend/Def Jam Group Chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid, and newly-appointed Def Jam President Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter signed Teairra Marí to the Roc.
"Just to work hard, stay focused, and don't talk to boys," Teairra laughs, explaining what she's learned from Jay. She's the first songstress to come out under Hov's tenure at the label. "He is very hands-on. If he doesn't like something, he's not going to let it slide. It's a great feeling to have a president that's really interested and really involved, because it lets you know that things are going to get done right."
Teairra hopes to arouse the same confidence in her fellow teenage girls. "I think they need it," suggested Teairra, who is currently in home schooling, and can't legally get into a club until early December. "We all need somebody to look up to or look over to. There are so many people out here now, so every girl should have someone.
Leading by example isn't enough, though. Teairra says fans can expect music from "an urban 17-year-old girl's point of view" with her as-yet-untitled debut. Her favorite song from the album, "Phone Booth," chronicles a teen girl getting into a fight with her parents and going to a pay phone to call her boyfriend to pick her up.
"The whole feel of it, the whole subject, it's just crazy," Tearria says of the track. "You got into it with your mother because she doesn't like your boyfriend, and she's telling you to break up with him, because he's not going to do anything but hurt you. You get mad, and you're like 'No, whatever; I'm going to the phone booth, and he's going to come and get me.'"
Playing her role as "Princess of the Roc" and serving as a role model to other teens seems like a tough task, but Teairra is up to the challenge. "I don't feel pressure at all, and I don't think I will feel pressure. I just feel driven to stay on top of my grind."
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