B-Side Bangers: Tamar Braxton
When discussing the most recognizable voices in modern day soul music, few artists can compare to the octave level of the incomparable Tamar Braxton.
After spending the first half of her music career unrightfully unsung, Tamar and all her singing sisters — Traci, Towanda, Trina, Evelyn and, yes, even Toni included — achieved newfound fame with the 2011 premiere of their hit reality series, Braxton Family Values. With the world finally being able to actually see Tamar’s personality front-and-center, minus a label trying to control the narrative, fans couldn’t help but fall in love with her signature sassiness and gift of song.
As she celebrates 49 years of life this week, we had to give props to an R&B veteran who spent far too long not getting the love she’s rightfully deserved. Happy birthday week, Tamar!
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From the early days when The Braxtons were a packaged deal, to the solo era that never truly was, Tamar has never faltered on her musical journey no matter how many setbacks came along the way. Be it loss of creative control on her debut album, a completely scrapped first edition that never even saw the light of day, shaky stories on whether or not her split from The Braxtons was mutual or spending a decade in label limbo while coasting as a featured guest on album cuts for other artists, the baby Braxton of the bunch never gave up.
As a result, she’s spent the past decade-and-a-half as both a reality television star and respected musician in her own right. Her 2013 signature hit, “Love And War,” proved without a doubt that she had the pipes to play with the big dogs and was awarded greatly for it. Not only did it top the US Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart, the Soul Train Music Awards also honored it with two top honors of the night for “Song of the Year” and “Record of the Year.”
It would only be right to put you all on to our favorite Tamar deep cuts in order to ring in her birthday week on a high note — pun intended, of course. Focusing on her solo efforts, we found a surprising number of collaborations, soundtrack songs, promotional street singles and quite possibly singles that got shelved for reasons we still can’t figure out. This one will definitely be a treat for your ears.
Happy birthday week, Tamar Braxton! Take a look below to hear one of the most slept-on discographies in R&B history in this special edition of “B-Side Bangers”:
1. “Call Me” (with Sam Salter, Nicci Gilbert & Scott Galbraith) [1998]
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B-Side Bangers: Tamar Braxton was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
