Teedra Moses

Teedra Moses

Teedra Moses performing live in New York City
Background information
Birth name Teedra Moses
Also known as Young Lioness
Born (1976-12-17) December 17, 1976
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Origin Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres R&B, soul
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Years active 2003–present
Labels TVT Records, Maybach Music Group, Shanachie Records
Associated acts Jadakiss, Mary J. Blige, Nivea, Christina Milan, Trina, Macy Gray, Rick Ross, Raphael Saadiq
Website www.teedramoses.org

Teedra Moses (born December 17, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.[1]

Moses was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a gospel singing mother, Shirley Moses. She later moved to California with her mother and three siblings after her parents' separation. Moses brought a little bit of that fervour to her own vocal style when she began singing professionally. The final song on her debut album, "I Think of You (Shirley's Song)", is dedicated to her late mother.

In 1996 she gave birth to twin sons, Taj and Ras, with rapper Ras Kass.[2][3][4][5]

Early life

Moses was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her childhood has been a direct influence on her musical style, her Mother was a gospel singer and Moses was raised on gospel, jazz, zydeco and blues.[6] Moses recalls wanting to listen to the music that was then being played on the radio, but her Mother made Moses listen to gospel.[6] She later moved to California with her mother and three siblings after her parents' separation. The final song on her debut album, "I Think of You (Shirley's Song)", is dedicated to her late mother.

Career

Prior to becoming a recording artist, Moses worked with her best friend Nonja McKenzie as an assistant wardrobe stylist for artists such as Will Smith, Kelis, R. Kelly, and No Doubt. It was after breaking her leg on a video set that Moses decided to follow her heart and begin making music.

Following this epiphany, Moses teamed up with producer, Paul Poli and signed with the Indie Record Label, TVT Records to release her debut album Complex Simplicity in August 2004. Complex Simplicity included fourteen tracks all self-penned by Moses with dominant production by Poli; which led to the well-deserved executive production credit by both Moses & Poli. The album underperformed on the U.S. chart, debuting and peaking at number one hundred and sixty-eight on the Billboard 200. However, the album was critically acclaimed and otherwise found success on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, the Top Independent Albums, and the Top Heatseekers, reaching number twenty, number eleven, and number ten, respectively.

In addition to executive producing and penning all the lyrics on her own project, Moses has written songs for other artists including Nivea, Christina Milian, Mary J. Blige and others. She was featured on and co-wrote two songs from Raphael Saadiq's 2004 album Ray Ray, "Chic" and "I Want You Back". Her songs have been showcased in the Logo series Noah's Arc as well as in the HBO hit show Entourage, movies such as Never Die Alone, Beauty Shop, and Be Cool.

Though Moses has not released a studio album in several years, she can be found touring and doing live shows on a regular basis. From March to November 2010 Moses has been a spokes model on the Lady Hennessy Tour. In addition, Moses continues to release underground all original mixtapes for her fans to enjoy while she awaited a new label deal caused by the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed in 2008 by the now defunct TVT Records.

2011-present

On March 25, 2011, it was announced that Moses had signed to rapper Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group via Warner Bros. Records as its first female artist.[7] In 2011, Moses released the Luxurious Undergrind mixtape.[8]

In February 2014, Moses released the single "All I Ever Wanted," which samples Dynasty's 1980 song "Adventures in the Land of Music".[9] The song was released as the lead single from her EP Cognac & Conversation, which is co-executive produced by Rick Ross and Raphael Saadiq.[10]

In December 2014, it was reported that Moses signed to Shanachie Records after the ill-fated alliance with Maybach Music Group. Moses revealed singer Avery Sunshine was the reason why she signed with the label, due to the success that Sunshine is having while being on Shanachie's roster.[11] On August 8, 2015, finally her sophomore effort, Cognac & Conversation was released.[12][13]

Songwriting style
"I Want You Back"
Moses performing I Want You Back by the artist Raphael Saadiq.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

When writing songs Moses prefers to do so alone in her own space. Commenting on this Moses said; “I hate to admit it because it sounds so weird, but I don’t like other energies around me. I need to be alone, in my own space, with just me and my music so I can be honest with whatever I feel from the music; otherwise I’m just giving something from the surface.”[6] Moses also tries to always be honest with her lyrical content noting it as important to her, expanding on this Moses commented saying “If I’m honest with people, then people will feel that. And that’s been my experience so far, just being frank about my feelings about life, and my experiences in life and love. I think me being honest like that is why I’ve gained sincere fans. From here to America, sincere people who really dig me, that can quote lyrics.”[6]

Songwriting credits

Discography

Albums

Singles

Year Single Chart positions Album
U.S. U.S. R&B Twitter Emerging Artists
2004 "Be Your Girl" — 87 — Complex Simplicity
"You'll Never Find (A Better Woman)" (featuring Jadakiss) — 86 —
2005 "You Better Tell Her" — — —
2010 "R U 4 Real" — — — Royal Patience
"Another LuvR" (featuring Wale) — — —
2013 "Can't Be Luv" — — — Non-album singles
"Secrets of Life" — — —
2014 "All I Ever Wanted" (featuring Rick Ross) — — 2 Cognac & Conversations
2015 "Get It Right" — — 43
"That One" (featuring Anthony Hamilton) — — 44

Mixtapes

Collaborations

Tours

References

  1. ↑ Ramirez, Erika (April 20, 2011). "Exclusive: Teedra Moses Signs to Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group". Billboard. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  2. ↑ "Teedra Moses". Last.fm. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  3. ↑ "Yahoo". Voices.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  4. ↑ Farooq, Sajid (2009-08-07). "Teedra Moses Doesn't Need a Middleman". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  5. ↑ "Video Interview With Teedra Moses - GIANT STEP™". Giantstep.net. 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Teedra Moses". Thesituation.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  7. ↑ Harper, Rosario (March 25, 2011). "Rick Ross Signs The First Lady Of Maybach Music". sohh.com. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Teedra Moses - Luxurious Undergrind". Dope Box. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  9. ↑ Green, Treye. "Teedra Moses Talks 'Cognac And Conversations' EP, The Perks Of Being An Independent Artist And Her Love For Bob Marley". interview. ibtimes.com. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  10. ↑ "Listen: Teedra Moses Lifts A Classic Sample For 'All I Ever Wanted'". Vibe. 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  11. ↑ "Exclusive: Teedra Moses Signs to Shanachie Records After Inspiration from Avery*Sunshine, New Album to Release Early 2015". youknowigotsoul.com. You Know I Got Soul. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  12. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Cognac-Conversation-Teedra-Moses/dp/B010SZJKH0/ref=tmm_msc_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=
  13. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/that-one-feat.-anthony-hamilton/id1015397289?i=1015397395

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.