Molded by the Vibrancy & Rhythm of Miami: Tia Michelle – Music Storyteller
What's your story?
Name: TIA MICHELLE
Country of Origin: USA
Welcome to DUNIA…please tell us something about your childhood
Well I was born and raised in Miami, Florida. Grew up in a part of Miami called Cutler Ridge and who I am down to my very core was molded my the vibrance and rhythm of my city and that neighborhood. My parents always wanted me and my sister to have the very best and I feel like growing up in Miami I had just that. I was raised in a Cosby family type scenario by Michael and Thelma Rouse, two very loving parents who now have been married for 28 years allowed me to embrace my eclectic nature and love for music. My hometown introduced me to my love of music because there was such a wide array of sound to take in and I loved every bit of it. From Celia Cruz to Sade and all the way to Elvis Presto, I loved It and Miami had it all.
What led you down this path of music and what makes you passionate about it?
The moment I realized music was for me was when I was 17 and a friend dared me to try out for my high school’s biggest talent show/pageant. I thought the whole idea of a pageant was meaningless and a waste of my time when I could be doing things I really loved like sleeping on the couch or watching old school karate movies, exciting stuff I know, but then my friend dared me. Daring me is something you never do to me, so I gladly excepted the challenge. I learned a song to audition and went down to the auditorium grabbed a number and sat in the stands waiting to be called. When I was called up I jumped on stage and without fear sang like I was singing in the shower. Once my song ended I looked out to a crowd of stunned onlookers who didn’t know my name much less that I could sing. Then slowly smiles begin to spread across each one of those stunned faces and whispers of “wow” seeped through the silence and that was the moment I knew I had something in me that I could share and in that moment I found my true purpose. SINGING. Oh yeah, I also went on the win that pageant.
What challenges have you faced and how did you overcome them? What do you wish was different?
Around the age of 19 I was attending my local community college and working a dead end job that I loathed. I’d breezed through high school on simple charm and a basic knowledge of if I appear to try my teachers will pass me because they like me but I was by no means was I a stellar student. B’s and C’s were like A’s to me but as I entered college the struggle intensified. My lack luster study habits caught up to me and I began to struggle then I lost my job. One day in class I had no idea what the professor was talking about and I was trying so hard to fit an image of the college graduate that I knew everyone had expected of me. It then hit me like a ton of bricks that I wasn’t going to make it because I had no passion for this. I got up in the middle of my class and went to my car, I cried all the way home and felt like a complete and absolute failure. I had no way to express myself so I sat down and began to write out my heart felt hurt and disappointment. I felt an instant release and that became my therapy from then on out. That day I wrote my first real song “Yes” sitting on the edge of my bed crying. In that moment everything changed in my life and I realized I couldn’t run from my love of writing and singing anymore. I stole my sister’s karaoke machine and began finding instrumentals online so I could convert my poems into lyrics and from there into songs that I’d record at night when everyone else in the house was asleep and quiet. It was my therapy and it still is to this very day.
As you go through life, what are some of your must-haves (both personally and professionally)?
I’m actually a pretty simple woman. I have to have my relationship with God, my family, my real friends, my tablet that I write my music in, my puppy Lucy and my Sportscenter! (huge sports fan). Materialistic things mean little to me but the love of my loved ones and the ones I love most mean more than anything else to me. They give me life…They are my life.
What are some of your greatest achievements so far and where do you see yourself in a few years?
A few of my greatest accomplishments are winning awards for my singing such as “Macon-A- Star”, “Talent for Tots”, performing for jazz events, neo-soul shows, mayors and politicians but my greatest moment was performing my song “Yes” at an all men’s conference for empowerment called “Project Take Back” acapello and saw a young man cry. That was my greatest moment because I saw impact and that’s what I truly want as an entertainer and a story teller through music. I want to positively Impact the lives of everyone I come in contact with till life leaves my body.
In conclusion …
I would really love for the readers to see me as a true artist that seeks nothing more than to be a positive influence in their life from now until forever. If you want music that’s different but still speaks to your soul then keep an eye out for my upcoming album “Truth Is”. If I could sum me up in short, Tia Michelle is just a girl trying to make a change in her world, your world and the future that lay ahead.
Music by Tia Michelle
Song: Thank u by Tia Michelle
Poll (Vote and see how others are voting)
In your opinion, which of the following is most critical for success?
- Self-confidence (51%)
- Focus (31%)
- Knowing the right people (14%)
- Patience (6%)
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