Tynisha Keli

Tynisha Keli Soares (born July 28, 1985), known by her stage name Tynisha Keli, is an American R&B and pop singer-songwriter, who has seen her greatest success in Japan.

She is best known for the single "I Wish You Loved Me" which was written by Rico Love and produced by Tha Corna Boyz. The singer's debut album, The Chronicles of Tk, was released in Japan on April 22, 2009. The album peaked at number twelve on the Japanese Albums Chart,^[1] and sold 6,000 copies in Japan.^[2] The album's second single Shatter'd, reached number four on Billboard's Japan Hot 100.^[3] Her second album The 5th Element was released August 2010 in Japan, it debuted at number one on Japan's iTunes, the first single released off the album "Love Hurts" also debuted at number one. The album peaked at number thirty-six on the Japanese Albums Chart.

She is not currently signed to a label and still working on her third album.

Early life

Tynisha Soares was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the daughter of Richard Garcia (died 1986) and Elisa Smith Soares. She is of Portuguese descent. Keli came from a poverty stricken home and struggled financially for most of her life. She has a brother, Timothy Soares, two half brothers Tazmyn Michael Soares (born June 23, 1989 - December 21, 2007), and Jayden Julian Cabrera (born 1995) and one half sister, Tay'le Rudolph (born 1992).^[4] Her father was killed when she was barely a year old.^[5] She had big responsibilities as a kid. At age of 8 years old, she accepted music into her life in such a major way because it was her only outlet, her way of letting out the frustrations she had.^[6] She started singing professionally around the age of 14. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she lived for seven years, before moving to Atlanta. Her younger brother, Tazmyn Soares was killed at age of 18 in Boston in December 2007.^[7]

Music career

1999-2002: Gyrlz Society and record deal

In 1999, Keli met Scott Ross (alias Scottie Gee), a former member of the platinum hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, who taught her how to perform and work a crowd. Ross began to coach her after school, acting as both manager and father figure. Soon he landed her a gig at the Strand Theatre in Boston, where she performed "Never Can Say Goodbye," the Jackson 5 classic, in front of an all-black audience. She then caught a break when she moved to Los Angeles a year later and landed a spot in a pop girl group Gyrlz Society.^[8] Gyrlz Society was an American girl group comprising four members: Amy Correa, Melissa Tessmer, Tynisha Keli (formerly Tynisha Soares), and Katy Scanlan. The group released one single, the group's only song "Respect Me", along with a Double "D" Mix, which was produced by Damon Jones in 2002 under MCA Records. Although the single's casing mentioned a self-titled Gyrlz Society album to be released "later this year" (2003), the album was cancelled and the group quickly disbanded.^[5] From the beginning she knew it wasn't for her. As time went on she wanted to branch out and try it on her own. Before she got a major record deal, she recorded with Beau Dozier a few demos which were sent to some record labels.

2003–09: Debut album The Chronicles of TK

Signed to Warner Bros. Records, Keli worked with Kara DioGuardi, who is one of the industry’s most sought-after songwriters and producers. She released the production company and started working with different producers such as Bryan-Michael Cox, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Tha Cornaboyz, Robin Thicke, Rico Love and many more. She recorded her album from 2006 to 2008 which is released in early 2009. The album only released in Japan and debuted at number 12 at Japan Oricon Albums Chart and sold over 600,000 copies to date, which was a commercial success for Keli. The first single "I Wish You Loved Me" was released on 2007 and the video was released one year later in 2008. The single debuted in Japan at number 25 in 2009. The second single "Shatter'd" released a few months later is her first Top 10 song which peaked at number 5 in Japan.^[3]

In 2009, she covered the song "The Boy Is Mine" (originally sung by Brandy and Monica) with singer Beni Arashiro. She also had a minor role in the 2009 musical remake film 'Fame', where she sung in the cafeteria to "This is My Life". Keli has also made a cameo in the 2009 film Fame, inspired by the TV sitcom she loved the programme as a child.^[9]

She co-wrote the song "Powerless", which was featured on the debut album Exposed by R&B-Singer and Def Jam signed Kristinia DeBarge.

In late 2009, Keli announced on Twitter,^[10] she would leave her record label Warner Bros.. Although no reason was provided as to why. Although Warner Brothers will not be involved in future projects, Tynisha's projects will still be distributed in Japan, by Warner Japan.^[11]

2010: The 5th Element

In January 2010, Tynisha announced on Ustream^[12] to her fans she was working on her second album "The 5th Element"^[13] and all vocal orders would be managed by Pierre Medor. She also stated this album would see only a European release and then she would work on her US debut both released through "Eight72 Entertainment". It has been confirmed on Twitter from Tynisha that her second album The 5th Element is complete.

According to Tynisha during a Ustream broadcast, the first single from her second album will be a song titled "Next Time". The single was expected to be released, June 9, 2010 in Europe, but had been pushed back to June 16. Also the album "The 5th Element" was expected to be released July 28, 2010, but has been pushed back to August 25, 2010. "The 5th Element" sold 3,000 copies in its first week of release, ranking number thirty-six on Oricon's Weekly Albums Chart. The album was less successful than her previous album "The Chronicles of TK".^[14]

On June 16, 2010 during a live interview with Large FM, Tynisha herself, along with her managers Lamar Chase and Tyrrell Bing of Tha CornaBoyz premiered her second single, Tha CornaBoyz penned & produced song "The Right Way". She re-recorded the song with Japanese singer Jay'ed for the Japanese version of the album.^[15]

It turns out that there will be two official first singles released from her second album, with "Next Time" being the official European single while "The Right Way" will be the official U.S. single.^[16] A video for the record "Love Hurts" featuring Coma Chi was shot in Yokohama, Japan and will be released the first week of August.^[10]

Tynisha will be featured on a song called "They Say" by Hitz Committee/Que Records/EMI Records rapper Huey. The song leaked later the announcement and will be not featured on his upcoming album Redemption to be released on September 14, 2010 maybe as a B-Side or Bonus Track.^[17]

Her new single "Love Hurts" with Japanese rapper Coma-Chi debuted at number one on her birthday in July 28 and becoming her first number one single in Japan.^[18] The second single "The Right Way" was released worldwide in July 27, 2010.^[19] Later, "The Right Way" was released in Japan as well and ranked number one on "Japan's Western Rekochoku Ringtone Charts". It became Keli's second number one single.

Tynisha has signed an endorsement deal with eye-wear designer K.Michael and has become one of the faces of the 2010 "Forever K. Michael" Designer Eye-ware Campaign, along with artist like Nappy Roots, Cupid, Donnie Klang, and dance crew Fanny Pak.^[20][21] She is expected to go on a multi-city promotional tour with the campaign in the fall.

Tynisha confirmed on her Ustream that she would soon be working on a mixtape containing both covers and original songs with Britney Neang. She has decided to call the mixtape 'The United States of TK'. However, the project was never completed and released. The video for her single "The Right Way" was shot on September 2010 in Japan. The music video premiered in January 2011.^[22]

2011-present: Hiatus, Mixtape and Untitled Third Album

In August 2011, Keli recorded a track with singer-songwriter Atozzio called "Reasons", which appeared on his album "The Imprint".^[23] She is working with songwriter Atozzio on her third, upcoming album and who also worked with her on her second album "The 5th Element". In May 2011, Keli confirmed on Twitter that she wants to leave her independent label "Eight72 Entertainment".^[24] She ended the collaboration with The Cornaboyz and fired her manager Tyrrell Bing.^[25]

Later, Keli was dropped from Warner Japan. Keli decided to take a break from the music business to focus on her personal life but she tries working on new music. Due to personal reasons, she has not done any recording sessions in 2012. In February 2013, She made a return in the studio and confirmed a new mixtape in works.

There is still no release date for a new album, but before dropping the album, Keli wants to release her first mixtape "United States of TK", a prequel of her upcoming album, which is set to release by the end of 2013.

In August 2013, Keli revealed the truth about her ex-manager Tyrrell Bing (CEO of Eight72). The collaboration between Keli and Bing was not good as it should. Her management controlled her entire career, which she didn't agree with it.^[26][27][28] Even if she fired her manager in 2010, she is still in contract with "Eight72 Entertainment". She actually has no relationship with her manager. Keli will not be able to sign to another record label or release a third album until she is released from the contract and refused to work with her manager again for her sophomore album.^[29]

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Singles

• 2008: "I Wish You Loved Me"
• 2009: "Shatter'd"
• 2010: "Next Time"
• 2010: "Love Hurts"
• 2010: "The Right Way"

Tours

• 2008: The Chronicles of TK Tour (Promo Tour)
• 2009: I Wish Tour (Japan)

References

External links

• Official Website
• Official YouTube Channel
• Official Twitter Page