Tamia – Between Friends

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Tamia – Between Friends

Submitted by admin on Friday, 19 December 2008No Comment

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by Michael Weaver Jr.

Tamia
Between Friends

Official Site: http://www.tamiaworld.com/

Official MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/therealtamia

Recently I had the privilege of listening to the album entitled Between Friends by Tamia. A small tidbit regarding Tamia is that she is married to the NBA Phoenix Sun’s shooting guard, Grant Hill. They were married in 1999 and in 2002, they had their first child. It would just be four years later that the duo would announce that Tamia had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Since her appearance on Extra in 2003 where she revealed her illness, she has since came out in an interview with Smooth and stated that her disease is in remission and while she has symptoms every now and then, they are for the most in control. Last year, the couple welcomed their second child into the world.

One piece of information that I found interesting is the fact that Between Friends was released first in South Africa on May 12, 2006 and THEN it was released in the United States of America on November 14, 2006. The album was Tamia’s fourth studio album and was produced by Shep Crawford except for Rodney Jerkins. As of press time, there have only been three singles released here in the United States. In 2006, “Can’t Get Enough” was released at number twenty-six on the R&B charts. “Me” was released at number twenty-nine in 2007. And earlier this year, “Almost” was released at number fifty-nine.

While Between Friends has yet to win any awards, it has been seemingly successful. In the first week of its release, it sold 18,000 copies which propelled it to number 66 on the Billboard 200. Since then, it has sold a total of around 345,000 copies here in the U.S.A. In South Africa it has sold 120,000 copies and worldwide it has sold more than 700,000 copies.

I enjoyed all of the tracks on Between Friends but I have to be honest…I think the reason for this is because Tamia’s sound is that of a Beyonce and that isn’t really a good thing. If you want to be successful, you need to have your own sound and if you sound like another artist, the chances of people remembering that it’s you and not the other artist are not that good. A prime example of this is her track, “Too Grown”, as the “groaning” sounds are just way too familiar. I could SWEAR that I’ve heard of it before and I think it’s because she sounds like Beyonce.

Is Between Friends a good album? Yes indeed. Is Tamia a great singer? Oh yes, most definitely. However…is she unique enough that when her voice appears on a radio station or in a nightclub, people will say, “WOW! That’s Tamia! I LOVE HER!”? Only if they’re a dedicated fan who has listened to her albums over and over and over.

I sincerely enjoyed listening to Between Friends and I do suggest her to everyone. The one track that I just absolutely loved and will indeed listen to it over and over is track number five which is “Me.” However, I must warn you that if you’re looking for a unique sound you need to lower your expectations because in the end, Tamia just sounds like every other R&B performer.

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