Illuminati 2G

The Tarralyn Ramsey Interview

By: Justin Melo

Tarralyn Ramsey: I’m wonderful, thank you!

Tarralyn Ramsey: Yeah, I actually got comparisons to Whitney Houston ever since I was a little girl. I think that was because I always used to sing her songs (laughs). Naturally, when you start singing and you start practicing, people are going to say that you sound like her [Whitney Houston]. However, as you get older and begin to do a lot of talent shows and stuff like that, then yeah, it was something that somewhat just stuck… But it was more so the exposure on the whole VH1 show when my comparisons to Whitney [Houston] got larger.

Tarralyn Ramsey: I think in so many ways that some of our tones are the same; but I think when you hear me sing that you still hear Tarralyn Ramsey.

Tarralyn Ramsey: I signed the deal when I was really young. I just remember being overwhelmed and excited that I had a record contract and a record coming out. I was there for a few years and released the "Tarralyn" record. It was great to release that record. A couple of years later, I was just ready to move on and do different things.

Tarralyn Ramsey: Wow. I was overwhelmed when I first heard about my album being nominated. No, I don’t think you ever sit down and say that your record is so good and it’s going to be nominated. No, I didn’t expect that to happen, but it did and I was happy about it.

Tarralyn Ramsey: The old album, the "Tarralyn" record and the album which I released on Casablanca/Universal were definitely very much a contrast. They definitely weren’t alike in any way. The record that I released on Casablanca/Universal was a record that was pop, R&B and lyrically it was not gospel or spiritual at all, and was more mainstream and commercial, except for the gospel/inspirational song that I put on there entitled 10,000 Thank You’s - - I don’t think they compared in any way. I think vocally I grew up and my vocals were better and stronger. I think from a vocal standpoint, I was a little more mature than I was on the first record.

Tarralyn Ramsey: Wow. It was definitely an experience I should say. Working with Mr. Mottola was an experience that I will never forget (laughs). That’s the way I can describe it. Obviously, he’s a genius in many ways. When your life is touched by somebody that powerful, I don’t think you ever forget it.

Tarralyn Ramsey: That’s an interesting question. To the external appearance, it would have seemed that I was a successful artist. During the time I entered "Born to Diva", I didn’t feel I was successful. I feel that I was very amateurish. As a matter of fact, nothing in my life had changed financially or anything. I was a regular, average day little girl that just had a dream, no different from anybody else that had struggled with music. The only difference is, I just happened to have a record contract and put out an album. That hadn’t changed my life much. During the time I entered the VH1 "Born to Diva" competition, I didn’t have a record contract. I was trying to figure out where I wanted to be and if I even wanted to do music again. I happened to be sitting home one night and there was a commercial that ran on television and it said, "If you think you have what it takes to be the next diva, then you should enter this competition titled "Born to Diva." I think the other tag line was, "if you think you can stand on the same stage with Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Patti LaBelle, then you definitely need to come out and audition." I felt like ok, I have a great voice and I can sing like them. I felt like I should be in front of thousands of people, being a Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey type of artist. That is what made me enter the VH1 "Born to Diva" competition.

Tarralyn Ramsey: It was amazing. After I performed "I Want to Dance with Somebody", I remember being announced the VH1 "Born to Diva" winner, and Queen Latifah said "Tarralyn! Yeah, she got the goods"! and I was like WOW to hear her say that I had the goods, meaning that I had earned the right to be able to stand on a stage at the MGM Grand in front of 50,000 people and to perform. To hear her say that I had the goods blew my mind. Even after the show was over, we were walking in the MGM Grand and she was with her security. She came up to me and told me I had the goods and she was raving about my voice. I was just amazed. I think when somebody like that speaks well of you or gives you some type of compliment, it changed my life when she said that.

Tarralyn Ramsey: Being announced the winner by Sharon Osbourne was absolutely surreal. I think the whole situation seemed like a movie to me. The night we were actually walking into the MGM Grand and we were all on stage, it was just crazy. I don’t think I’ve ever in a million years could have imagined that I was going to win this competition, even though you enter something like this and say to yourself that you are going to win. I didn’t think that I was going to win, so when Sharon Osbourne holds up the winners’ envelope and she says "Tarralyn Ramsey!" I didn’t know whether to scream, cry, sit or stand. And if you were to watch the video, you would totally see that I just stood there for a second. And then she [Sharon Osbourne] was like "where is she? Tell her to come up here" – I was overwhelmed.

Tarralyn Ramsey: That you definitely have to keep your game up. Beyonce is the ultimate entertainer; that is what I call her. She is amazing and is able to sing and dance at the same time. Whitney Houston has an amazing voice and her grace is second to none. Ray Charles will always go down as a legend. For me, I wanted to take a lot of different elements from those people I saw perform and had the opportunity to tour with, and just give my audience a great show. More importantly, to be dynamite and be true which means when you get up and you perform, you have to be real. You have to give them your heart every time you’re on stage. That’s what I admire about everybody I toured with. So now, when I step on the stage, I give my audience 100% and complete, total Tarralyn.

Tarralyn Ramsey: Tarprincel Entertainment Group is actually a record label, management, publishing and booking company that I started about two years ago. I did it basically to kind of put myself in a position where I could be able to record the way I wanted to record, and put it out the way I want to put it out. I had an amazing opportunity to ink a distribution contract and that’s what I did. I think it’s a great start. It’s definitely not my final end but it’s definitely a great start.

Tarrayln Ramsey: No, the transition from artist to CEO is definitely not an easy one, but the challenge has been welcomed. As an artist, you’re so personally attached to your music and to your dreams and hopes that you need to be able to stand outside of what you inspire to be and look at it from a business standpoint. You have to be able to keep a calm, cool and collected head to make rational decisions when it comes to certain business things. But, it’s been great. We have a new record out and it’s on the Billboard charts and has been selling really well. That’s been good, but now it’s like where do we go from here? What do we do next? That’s what we’re positioning ourselves to do now.

Tarralyn Ramsey: Oh, yes! Entitled "Beyond the Darkness." It was going to come out in November but I’m really not sure when we’re going to put it out. We’ve been trying to get it linked into a Wal-Mart store. We’re going to be having meetings in regards to that very soon. It’s a perfume line entitled "Beyond the Darkness" and I could tell you that the jars are really pretty (laughs). The scent is very clean and crisp, and fresh.

Tarralyn Ramsey: Well the "Beyond the Darkness" album is out in stores now; you can pick it up from Wal-Mart, Best Buy and FYE. It’s really a Pop, Spiritual and Inspirational album that will speak to your heart, give you hope to go on and let you know that because the world is in so many dark places and is in so many dark situations, I think it’s definitely a light in the earth right now. There is a song on the album titled "Yes You Can" that gives you hope to achieve every dream, lets you know that you can make it through every situation, nothing is too hard and if you just believe in what you can’t see and have faith, then you can make it. It’s out and is a great album.

Tarralyn Ramsey: It is definitely Inspirational Pop. I like the way you phrased that question. You asked me how I came across that sound. The sound that you hear is Tarralyn. It is growing up listening to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and when you listen to Inspirational and Spiritual music, you don’t really hear that. You hear choirs. I didn’t want my album to be that. So I basically did an album that picked up where my Casablanca album left off. I did kind of go back to my roots to give another Gospel album. But I did it in a way that was Pop. Everything about it is spiritual because of the lyrical content, but the music is pop. The vocal arrangements, harmonies and everything is pop. It’s just me. I’m R&B pop. That’s what the album is…

Tarralyn Ramsey: Wow. What’s next up for Tarralyn Ramsey is that I am gearing up to do my crossover album. Some would find that strange knowing that I just released this inspirational album, but I’m writing songs right now and getting back in the studio within three weeks after the last album came out (laughs). But I’m gearing up for my big crossover, pop album. I am picking up where the Up Against All Odds, VH1 thing left off. I absolutely want to do a reality show about how I defeated the odds and even though you could have the opportunity of a lifetime and have it not pan out so great, you can pick up the pieces of your life, move on, and make something great come out of something, which wasn’t so great. That’s kind of what I am. I’m kind of like a product of being on a national reality show that garnered tons of accolades and worked with some of the greatest people in music. But for me and my situation, it wasn’t a great situation and didn’t work out well. But I think I’m the poster child to be able to show other reality contestants that have dreams, which have been broken that you can bounce back. That’s what I’m doing. Putting out the new album was just one phase. Next year we’re going to have a new Tarralyn record, which is definitely a pop album. So, that’s it.

Tarralyn Ramsey: I do not have a label situation in place at this time for the new record. But I am diligently seeking a label situation for my next album. I have no intentions on doing that independently at all. I have been in talks with my wonderful publicist to possibly do a huge showcase and invite people in January or before that. But if people are interested they should definitely call our office (laughs). I had to put that shameless plug in there. We definitely want to have a label situation. Right now, all I’m doing is gearing up for recording the music that will be presented at the showcase. That’s really it so people can hear it; when they come to the showcase, they will hear Tarralyn.

Tarralyn Ramsey: No, I just want to tell everybody to go get the new album. Be on the lookout for the new single "Yes You Can." The video will be out soon and just remember that no matter how dark it is in your life, you are "Beyond the Darkness." Check me out at www.tarralynramsey.com or at www.myspace.com/tarralynramsey and follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/tarralynramsey. Make sure you go out and buy the new CD at your located Wal-Mart, Target, FYE, Best Buy, or purchase it on line.