February is Black History Month. And to celebrate the incredible black artists that have paved the way for today’s top hits, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite up and coming black female artists right now. These ladies are debuting music during the month of February and early into March, and we couldn't be more excited at Stage Whisper-Her to introduce you to them.
Meet TYMIE TUESDAY
Tymie Tuesday was born and raised in a small town outside of Dallas, Texas to two immigrant parents who expected she’d end up a lawyer or doctor. Having no musical background themselves, they were surprised to learn of her talent when she began to sing in local musicals and choirs. While attending Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas as a classical instrumentalist, she began to explore contemporary and jazz music as a vocalist, fully immersing herself further into music and the arts.
Her adolescence was marked by the soulfulness of rock/soul artists such as Alabama Shakes and the youthfulness of pop artists like Lorde. In 2017, Tymie began writing her own songs, posting them to Instagram, and later uploading them to Soundcloud for friends and family to hear. Influenced by a multitude of genres and sub-genres, Tymie has created a sound that she feels isn’t easily characterized. No two of her songs sound exactly alike, and she prefers it this way. The one constant throughout is her ability to convey emotion through lyricism.
While studying Music Business at New York University, she continues to write music and collaborate with her peers. Inspired by the experiences of living in New York City during her 20’s, as well as the people she’s encountered along the way, Tymie hopes to release an EP in the latter half of 2021 following the release of “Golden”. The EP will most likely be coming in late 2021, as she desires more time to refine her sound and image!
What is “Golden” about? "To keep it short and sweet, “Golden” is about my journey to self love and happiness, recognizing that despite all the downs in life there are so many ups to be thankful for. It’s about savoring those golden moments in life."
Tell us about your collaborators! "I got to collaborate with my good friend Tyler of the band Surfliner. He’s an absolute genius at guitar, production, and mixing, and the track is as equally much his as it is mine. It wouldn’t even exist without him. I’m very luck to have had a collaborator that I vibe with on such a deep level"
You can pre-save Tymie Tuesday's Latest Single "Golden" here!
Find Tymie Tuesday: @tymietuesday
Meet SOLA
Sola, otherwise known as twenty-year-old Jessica Bisola Omokheyeke, is from Houston, Texas and is based in New York. She is currently studying Music Business with a minor in Performance Studies at New York University. Sola is a singer/songwriter, as well as a dancer. She strives to treat every performance as if it is her last, entertaining others with her unmatched sound, passion, and energy.
What is “In This World” about? "The song is about what it feels like to be a black person in America. It’s made up of specific thoughts that have run through my mind all my life."
What was your inspiration for the song? "My inspiration came from the Black Lives Matter movement, and my need to speak out against the police brutality and racism that I, my family, and so many black people experience daily."
Any upcoming projects? "Currently I’m working on my EP, and I’m thinking of releasing a single from it sometime this summer so be on the look out for that!"
Stream Sola's Latest Single "In This World" here, available on all streaming platforms!
Find Sola: @itssolaofficial
Meet COOKIE
Christina Denise Cooke, better known by her stage name, “COOKIE.”, is an American female Pop singer, songwriter, producer, and dancer based out of Long Island, NY. Garnering attention for her quickly developed music ability as a keyboardist and percussionist from a young age, COOKIE. soon began venturing into songwriting, arranging, producing and engineering her own music. On February 7, 2020, COOKIE. released her highly anticipated EP “Sweats & Fur Coats”. COOKIE. also mentions she plans to follow up her debut EP with more visuals, more collaborations, and of course, more new music underway.
Upcoming Projects? When talking about her wild journey she embarked upon in 2020, COOKIE. concludes with describing how excited she is to put out new music. Her new social media-exclusive tracks she explains were the perfect cap off, or “kiss goodbye” to her debut project’s run. She entitles the mini project series as “Freestyles & Covers”, detailing her finally overcoming a lack of inspiration and tackling beats and songs she’s always wanted to put her own spin on over the years.
Stream COOKIE.'s EP here
Find COOKIE.: @cookenasty, Instagram and @cookenasty, Twitter
Meet JOSEY
Josey is a soul pop/ r&b artist from Houston, Texas. She was crowned the winner of the talent competition "The Fame Chicago" in 2016. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2017, Josey moved to Nashville, to further pursue her artist and songwriting career. Her talents have led her to perform at numerous venues such as The Chicago Theatre, The Metro, Auditorium Theatre, Exit/IN, The Bedford and House Of Blues. Josey has also performed with gifted songwriters /musicians such as Diane Warren, Corey Henry and Shawn Mullins. She strives to create a unique balance of soul, pop and alternative r&b. Josey sings to express, not impress. Her songwriting focuses on self love and the obstacles she has faced as an underdog and overcoming them. Including the struggles and success that come with life, relationships and growing up. With her eclectic sound, soaring vocals and compelling lyrics Josey is creating her own path within music.
What's your upcoming song “Look It Up” about? "The song is about focusing on the good and letting negative people be their own downfall. Reaffirming that what someone else does and says is not a reflection of you and ultimately they can’t bring you down, or stop your bag because they don’t have that power over you."
What was the inspiration behind the song? "The inspiration for the song came from real life events and situations I was going through."
Any Upcoming Projects? "More music is on the way. I’m doing a lot of writing right now. Planning to release something in the summer and/ or in the fall! Also merch will be available this June!"
You can pre-save Josey's Latest Single "Look It Up" here!
Meet HANNAH JADAGU
Sub Pop has recently signed Hannah Jadagu, an 18 year-old singer, songwriter, and producer from Mesquite, Texas, to release her music throughout the known universe. Her first release is the sprightly indie pop single “Think Too Much,” with an accompanying official video directed by Cameron Livesey, which stars Jadagu and a group of close friends enjoying a fall day in New York City. As for how the song was produced, the incredibly resourceful Jadagu recorded “Think Too Much” using her iPhone 7, an iRig, a microphone, guitar, and Garageband iOS, a process that has served her well throughout her young recording career. The multitalented Jadagu currently resides in New York City, and is in her first year attending NYU. She will release her debut EP later this spring. Hannah is definitely just getting started, and we could not be more excited.
What is the song about? What inspired it? “‘Think Too Much’ is the only song that I’d written with the intent of putting it on an EP,” Jadagu says. “Sonically, I was challenging myself to make a song that was high energy, fun, and a ‘bop,’ as I like to call it. At the time, I remember listening to a lot of Dayglow, Jean Dawson, and Winnetka Bowling League, and thinking to myself, ‘These people are making such catchy and fun songs without even trying.’ Then I thought to myself, ‘You’re really thinking too much.’ I asked all my friends what they thought about ‘too much,’ compiled their responses, chose some fun chords and rhythms inspired by Snail Mail and Phoenix, and went to work.”
She continues, “Essentially the song is a conversation with myself, as heard through the chants and the ‘kids voices,’ which is just my voice recorded in different pitches and tones. The lines ‘You’re just getting started, you’re the coolest I know’ were inspired by one of my favorite teachers in high school. She never actually taught me, but she was the young, cool teacher that would come into my leadership class, and we would bond over music and stylistic choices (Shout-out, Ms. Drillette). After letting go, and using a scrapped guitar demo I had, I was able to finally write and produce ‘the bop’.”
Where can we find your new single? Any upcoming Projects? "Think Too Much" is available everywhere you listen to music and can’t give too much away about upcoming projects, but definitely be on the lookout for more coming soon :)"
Listen to Hannah Jadagu's Latest single here!
Find Hannah: @hangrammm on Instagram
Meet TAMERA KING
Tamera King is a 21-year-old R&B singer/songwriter, creative director, and most
importantly a businesswoman from Boston, MA. She started her music career at the age of 15
years old, where she started off rapping and slowly transitioned into singing, creating her very
first EP titled “Justifying Thy Soul.” The project came about based on her desire to inspire those
who constantly lose themselves in relationships, she wanted to encourage and make women feel
good about themselves despite the chaos. From there she’s put out multiple singles and another
Ep as time progressed, but as of recently, she’s in the process of rebranding herself. She’s
currently working on more music and visuals, on top of managing school at NYU where she is
majoring in Music Business.
What is your upcoming project about? What was the inspiration behind it? "I am currently working on another body of work that centers around trauma and how that can affect a person's relationship with their significant other. When
the project is released it’ll be available on all streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, Tunecore etc. In regards to something more recent, in the next upcoming month I'll be
releasing a remix that can be found on Soundcloud! So make sure to stay tuned for that."
Listen to Tamera King's cover of Potential by Summer Walker!
Find Tamera King: @tameraking on Instagram
Check out our playlist for music by these artists and more! Have a suggestion? DM us and let us know who we should take a listen to!
Written by Piper Page