I am so excited to formally introduce you to my latest CD project, The Tasha LaRae EP. This is a collection of 7 songs that I both wrote and co wrote with several of my close friends about my personal life experiences. Sometimes we hear music from our favorite artist and wonder "what was on his/her mind when he/she wrote this"? Well that's the purpose of this blog. I thought it would be fun to share with you my reasons for writing and recording the songs featured on this CD. Please feel free to read, comment, ask questions, and post your thoughts on the music, lyrics, whatever! I'd love to hear from you.
So....Here we go!
Track 1: "Love Yourself" written by Vernon & Felice Messam, myself
The lyrics of this song came to me shortly after a relationship breakup. In hindsight, I realized that I had lost who I was for the sake of pleasing the guy I was with. I was trying so hard to make him happy that I had begun to neglect my own needs and allowed for him to disrespect me. Thank God for my family and friends surrounding me who quickly pointed out to me that I was losing myself and that I needed to let him go! They reminded me of who I am and that I deserved better than what I settled for. I snapped out of it and kicked him to the curb, baby! Then I wrote this song as a reminder to myself to never to lose the love I have for me.
Track 2: "Secrets" featuring Dain Harris written by myself, Dain Harris, Mike Dawson
This song was originally something that I wrote for Dain for his solo project. As we hammered out the lyrics and melodic structure of the song Dain asked if I'd be interested in singing this with him as a duet instead of this being only for him. We played with it and loved it! Shortly after we completed the recording of this song, Dain released a double EP with guitarist, Brandon A. Thomas called For The Moment - A Soul Acoustic(Since this is also being used on my CD we had to flip the wording a bit to show him as the feature) This is a playful, light hearted song about the feelings of new love.
Track 3: "Let Go" written by Tiffany Deonna Martin, Jennifer Bliss, myself
The initial writting for this song came from Tiffany Deonna Martin . When she sang this song to me, I immediately fell in love with the lyrics and was excited to join with Jennifer Bliss to help complete and record this song. "Let Go" is about recognizing that life is too short to waste it holding on to painful things, experiences, people, etc. The good, beautiful, and beneficial things ment for us will be missed if we are focused and holding on to the past. Simply Let Go.
Track 4: "I Still Love You" written by myself and Brandon A. Thomas
I wrote this song after another breakup that happend several years after "Love Yourself". This situation was very different from the last. In this case, I, being the woman I am, simply fell in love faster than he did. ( I know someone out there knows what I'm talking about!) When we both realized this truth, we decided it would be best to split and remain friends. I'll admit, this one hurt bad. But hey, that's how it is sometimes. I went to Brandon for a writing session and as he played his guitar both tears and the lyrics to this song flowed from my heart. (This is the radio edit which is a slightly shorter than the original version but no worries, you get both versions on this CD!)
Track 5: "Let's Stay Together" written by myself and Reggie Carter
Reggie and I wrote this song after an indepth conversation about how easy it is for people to give up on relationships when things go bad instead of toughing it out. It's true that two people coming together to create a unified life isn't easy. Nothing worth having comes easy. It's better to work through the problems and communicate honestly and realistically than to give up cause the flames are gone.
*Sidebar* Can I just say someting here?... Getting married doesn't mean you immediately become unattracted to the opposite sex. It does mean that you honor your decision to stay commited to who you are with even if it means being truthful about having an affair and move forward the best way you both see fit. I'm not judging...I'm just sayin! lol *End Sidebar*
**This song was also released on a project that Reggie did called The Groov Project/The Life, The Loss, The Love
Track 6: "I Still Love You" [Extended version]
Track 7: "Whatcha Got" written by myself produced by Curtis "Jewels" Jews
This was another song that basically "wrote itself". Jewels sent this track to me (he's based in D.C.) and i connected to the "rawness" of this track. There was something about it that immediately grabbed me. As I continued to listen, I thought about the musical journey I had been on (so far). There were times when I thought, "if only i had this, I can do that" or, "man, I wish this job paid more money" and my personal favorite "I'll be glad when I don't have to work here anymore! Then I can do music full time"! At that moment I realized it doesn't matter what you don't have. It only matters what you do with what you have. When you can be productive with what you have, you put yourself in position to recieve more. The thing is you'll also be in a place where you'll be more responsible. If everything you ever wanted was handed over to you at once, you wouldn't know how to appreciate it or how to maintain it for that matter. It would go just as quickly as it came.
So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to leave a comment and also share this page with your friends.
To buy your copy of The Tasha LaRae EP click here. They are currently on sale 2 for $10.
Also click the links to find out more about the artist, writers, and producers mentioned here.
Peace and Love Yourself!
