Tamera

Born in Gravesend, a smalltown in Kent, she was bred, supported and uplifted by powerful women, her mother and grandmother who she considers to be two of the most significant “anchors” in her life. She cut her vocal chops practising hymns at the piano Saturday night for Sunday service, alongside her grandmother who was a pastor. After witnessing Tamera’s talent, her grandmother took that passion and made it blossom by frequently putting her on the spot to start verses in front of a packed out congregation. At home, she was raised on a diet of James Brown, Whitney Houston, Mariah, Alicia Keys, and Missy Elliot thanks to her mom, a great recreational singer. As Tamera gained confidence and discovered her voice, she also became her mother’s most adored party trick and would be persuaded at every chance she got to perform at family parties.

Tamera put pen to paper from an early age and wrote poems and descriptive shorts fascinated by painting stories with words. By her teens she fused her influences from MTV and childhood weaving yarns into songs. She levelled up and learnt about song structure by hanging out in the studio and recording songs around fellow artists. Then put a few videos out on her socials with no expectations.

However, the summer she graduated, at 16 years old, Tamera’s life and future changed forever. Her plans to study Music Tech at college and get a part time job would ground to a halt after she received a DM from a fellow singer who’d seen one of those videos and invited her to audition as a duo called ‘Silver Rock’ for the XFactor.

Despite the duo being broken into solo’s immediately, Tamera had knocked the judges for six at the audition and remained in Season 10 of the competition until the fifth place! Not long after while performing on the X-Factor UK arena tour she was handed a contract from Syco Entertainment. By the end of the year, Tamera was in a studio recording her debut solo single, signed to a major label.

“My life changed in a matter of weeks and months! At that time I was a bit of a reckless teen, but suddenly, I had this opportunity and that set me on a better path. Not only did it put my foot in the door to the music industry, but it gave me a reason to calm down, focus and take things more seriously.” she admits.

“I spent the first couple years really dabbling in everything, hopping around into every other genre. Just testing the waters to see where I felt most comfortable and genuine. A lot of people were trying to influence me at the same time. It got to the point I was doing the thing that I loved so much but I wasn’t doing it genuinely, it was with someone else’s voice in my head”