WBLS (107.5 MHz.) is an urban adult contemporary FM radio station in New York City. WBLS is owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation along with sister station WLIB (1190 AM). The two stations share studios in the West Village section of Manhattan, and WBLS' transmitting antenna is located on the Empire State Building.

On August 22, 2011, Inner City's creditors petitioned the United States Bankruptcy Court to force the firm to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy on grounds that the company's executives failed to accept a buyout offer. The filing resulted in majority control of Inner City being taken over by YMF Media, owned jointly by Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies, and basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson's Magic Johnson Enterprises. On May 21, 2012, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved an local marketing agreement of WBLS and WLIB by YMF Media. ^[1]

Early history[link]

The 107.5 frequency in New York City signed on in July 1951 as WEVD-FM, simulcasting its sister station at 1330 AM. Within a few years, WEVD-FM moved up the dial to 97.9, and 107.5 went silent.

On September 15, 1965, the New Broadcasting Company, then-owners of WLIB, purchased the dormant license and reactivated 107.5 as WLIB-FM. As the Federal Communications Commission recently instituted a rule prohibiting full-time AM/FM simulcasting in large markets, WLIB-FM was programmed with a jazz music format. The stations were split up in 1972, when Inner City Broadcasting purchased WLIB (AM); WLIB-FM was then renamed WBLS.^[2] Inner City reunited the pair with its purchase of WBLS in 1974.^[3][4] In the interim period prior to the Inner City takeover, WBLS continued as a jazz station. It would evolve into a more eclectic format that included rhythm and blues, soul music and vocalese (poetry and prose, such as Nikki Giovanni and the Last Poets). This format was called "The Total Black Experience in Sound." The evolution of this became the urban contemporary format.

Urban radio pioneer[link]

Early in 1975 WBLS made the first shift towards its present-day format—which was derived from its "Total Black Experience in Sound" moniker—by becoming the flagship station of the Mutual Broadcasting System's Mutual Black Network (now Sheridan Broadcasting's American Urban Radio Networks).

With its distinctive on-air station ID (its call letters echoing in full left-right-left-right stereo effect), WBLS was often the number one FM station in New York from during the middle 1970s. During this time its main competition was the original WKTU (then at 92.3 FM), a dance/disco station whose music rosters included black artists. Afterward, though, the station's ratings fell to number three. In August 1981, group owner RKO General went after WBLS' urban audience by reformatting adult contemporary WXLO (98.7 FM) into WRKS ("Kiss FM"). WRKS skyrocketed from the bottom of the pack to the top-five in the Arbitron ratings in just one rating period.

WBLS, WKTU and WRKS battled fiercely for the urban audience in the early 1980s. By that time, the three stations together so thoroughly dominated the New York-area radio ratings that they sent rock-and-roll-formatted radio fleeing to the suburbs—and drove the final nail into the coffin for music-formatted AM radio in New York, as WABC and WNBC each saw a sharp decline in their respective audiences. WABC, the biggest of the two and the dominant music station for a generation, eventually dropped music altogether and switched to a talk format in May 1982.

Response to rap[link]

In the early 1980s, early forms of hip hop music became popular among younger urban audiences. However, WBLS was slow to embrace the genre in its musical rotation. On the other hand WRKS was not, and soon rap music was an integral device in their pulling ahead of WBLS in listenership. In response to WRKS' weekend rap shows emceed by DJ Red Alert, WBLS hired Mr. Magic in 1983 to conduct a weekend hip hop show and added more rap music to its own playlists.

By the late 1980s WBLS became better known as a straight-ahead R&B station, and one that was also reluctant to play rap music. Inner City Broadcasting insisted that rap—particularly the harder-edged and often profanity-laced gangsta rap subgenre—plagued the minds of young African Americans, especially teenagers. Many hip-hop artists, most notably Chuck D of Public Enemy, blamed the station for not reaching out to the youth and contributing to the formation of "white-owned Black radio."^{[citation needed]} His comments alluded to stations such as WRKS (which by that time had been sold by RKO General to Summit Communications Group) as being a station which catered to Black audiences but was not owned by African-Americans.

In 1993 Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, led a threat to boycott the station if they played any form of gangsta rap. Butts' protests culminated in his bulldozing a pile of hip-hop recordings during a rally. In response to the protests, WBLS excised most hip hop music from its air and carefully screened what it did play for content and language.^[5] WBLS fully reintroduced rap back on its playlists in 1997, but has flip-flopped on the decision several times since.

Dealing with competition[link]

WBLS' long battle with WRKS over the New York City area's urban audience had been a hard-fought one, with each station trading places in the ratings. WBLS has always used its heritage as an African-American owned station as its main selling point. From the middle 1980s onward, however, WBLS usually was the number-two station behind WRKS, who had always benefited from ownership with greater financial resources.

Though mostly fought in the Arbitron books, the battle between the two stations also spilled out over the airwaves at times. Each station's resident hip-hop "mixmasters" were key figures in the Bridge Wars of the mid-1980s. In 1994, WBLS introduced the market's first Urban Adult Contemporary format. But in 1995, after WRKS was purchased by Emmis Communications and dropped all hip-hop music in favor of an adult R&B format, WBLS countered with a controversial advertising campaign labeling WRKS as a "plantation station."^[6] WBLS shortly reverted to urban contemporary, only to exit again in 2004 when WBLS switched to urban adult contemporary.

WKTU dropped out of the Urban audience race in 1985, when it was sold to Infinity Broadcasting and became rock-formatted WXRK. In 1986, Emmis Communications converted rock-formatted WAPP (103.5 FM) into WQHT (now at 97.1 FM), whose original dance-heavy format drew listeners away from numerous radio stations around the city. WQHT's early success forced WBLS to incorporate dance music to its playlists again.

Soul survivor[link]

Following Emmis Communications' decision to lease WRKS's frequency to ESPN Radio beginning on April 30, 2012, WBLS became the New York market's only urban adult contemporary station. As a sidebar, WBLS acquired WRKS's intellectual property and "heritage" as an urban outlet. What was called a "merger" of the two outlets was made four days earlier, on April 26, with a joint statement on both stations' respective websites.^[7] In addition to acquiring WRKS's intellectual property, WBLS and WLIB also moved into Emmis's New York production facility in the West Village section of Manhattan, into studio space vacated by WRKS (now WEPN-FM); the relocation took place during the week of May 21, 2012.

WBLS is presently one of four urban-formatted FM stations in the New York City market; the others include two hip-hop outlets, WQHT and Clear Channel-owned WWPR-FM (105.1 FM), although WQHT is a rhythmic contemporary. WWPR's sister station WKTU, revived in 1996 at 103.5 FM as a Rhythmic adult contemporary station, is also considered as a competitor.

Notable personalities[link]

WBLS is currently the flagship station of Steve Harvey's syndicated morning show. Other current WBLS personalities include Jeff Foxx, Shalia, Lenny Green, Felix Hernandez, Imhotep Gary Byrd, and Dahved Levy.

During its heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Frankie Crocker was WBLS' program director and afternoon disc jockey, and is credited with defining what became the station's signature Urban Contemporary sound. Crocker served three stints at WBLS during his career. WBLS was also the longtime home of Hal Jackson, a pioneering Black radio personality and co-founder of parent company Inner City Broadcasting. Jackson's Sunday Classics program aired weekly from the station's inception until just before his death on May 23, 2012.

Other notable personalities who have appeared on WBLS include: Chuck Leonard, Wendy Williams, Ken "Spider" Webb, Vy Higgensen, Vaughan Harper, Champagne, G. Keith Alexander, Yvonne Mobley, Lamarr Renee, Carlos DeJesus, Doug Banks, Paul Mooney, Egypt, Loni Love and MC Lyte, amongst many.

References[link]

External links[link]

• WBLS Website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WBLS
• Radio-Locator information on WBLS
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WBLS

Coordinates: 40°44′53″N 73°59′10″W / 40.748°N 73.986°W / 40.748; -73.986

Marley Marl
Background information
Birth name	Marlon Williams
Born	(1962-09-30) September 30, 1962 (age 49) New York City, New York, United States
Origin	Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	CEO, DJ, record producer, rapper
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Cold Chillin'/Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Juice Crew, Kool G. Rap, Rakim, King Tee, LL Cool J, KRS-One, Masta Ace

Marlon Williams (born September 30, 1962), better known as Marley Marl, is an American DJ and record producer, who is considered one of the most important and influential hip-hop producers in the history of hip hop.

Biography[link]

In Hip-Hop's Golden Age, Marley Marl was the house producer of the Juice Crew, known for The Bridge Wars, a feud with Boogie Down Productions seen as one of the earliest and most influential hip hop beefs. The Juice Crew included Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shanté, Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, Craig G, MC Shan and Masta Ace, and produced many songs for outside artists including King Tee, LL Cool J, and Lords of the Underground. He was also an important figure in the careers of Eric B. & Rakim, producing their first hits "My Melody" and "Eric B Is President".

Marl was the first to sample a breakbeat and reprogram it, which he did with The Honey Drippers' "Impeach the President" breakbeat on the MC Shan single "The Bridge" from 1985. This was an extremely important feat as it completely changed the way hip hop beats were made, as well as other sample based genres. In his early records, Marl mixed James Brown samples and synthetic beats in a fashion previously unheard of, for the most part.

Marl started his career working for Tuff City Records. He debuted as an electro producer and began with hip-hop hits like electronic based "The God-Father" by Spoonie Gee making his debut with his unique sampling techniques. He was also affiliated with Andre Harrell's Uptown Records as he was featured on the label posse cut "Uptown is Kickin' it" as well as producing for Uptown Artist and friend Heavy-D and the Boyz The next year, Marl also recorded a diss response to "Roxanne Roxanne" by UTFO, with female emcee Roxanne Shanté. In 1985 released his first track, "DJ's Cuttin" under the pseudonym "NYC Cutter". Soon however, Marl's records became more sample heavy, as can be seen by comparing the MC Shan LPs Down By Law (1987) and Born to be Wild (1988); the rhythms less electronic, with drum samples and patterns becoming more prominent.

One of hip-hop's first superproducers, Marley Marl was an early innovator in the art of sampling, developing new techniques that resulted in some of the sharpest beats and hooks in rap's Golden Age. His trademark raw sound became from triggering short samples loaded in 3 Korg SDD-2000 sampling-delay units through the trigger out of the Roland TR-808. As the founder of Cold Chillin' Records, Marl assembled a roster filled with some of the most prominent hip hop talent then working in New York: MC Shan, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shanté, Craig G, Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, and Masta Ace. His production work for those and many other artists generally boasted a bright, booming, and robust sound that—along with his ear for a catchy sample—helped move street-level hip-hop's sonic blueprint into more accessible territory. Most important, though, were his skills as a beatmaker; Marl was among the first to mine James Brown records for grooves and also learned how to craft his own drum loops through sampling, which decreased hip-hop's reliance on tinny-sounding drum machines and gave his '80s productions a fresh, modern flavor.

The end of the '80s is often referred to as hip-hop's Golden Era, a time when the form's creativity was expanding by leaps and bounds. Marl's Juice Crew was an important force in ushering in this era thanks to its advances in lyrical technique and the distinctive personalities of emerging stars like Biz Markie and Big Daddy Kane. With business at Cold Chillin' booming, Marl put out the first full-length release under his own name in 1988 (he'd previously recorded the single "DJ Cuttin'" in 1985 with the alias NYC Cutter). In Control, Vol. 1 was mostly a showcase for various Juice Crew affiliates to strut their stuff, notably on the larger-than-life posse cut "The Symphony." Marl scored his greatest crossover success in 1990 by helming LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out; bolstered by Marl's state-of-the-art production, the album restored LL's street cred while becoming his biggest seller ever, making Marl an in-demand remixer. 1991 brought the release of In Control, Vol. 2, which unfortunately displayed signs that the Cold Chillin' talent pool was being depleted.

After working with TLC on their 1992 debut, Marl remained mostly quiet for a few years; 1995 brought the release of House of Hits, a retrospective of his best productions over the years. Splitting off from Cold Chillin', Marl spent several years in a legal battle over money and ownership rights that, in 1998, finally resulted in his being awarded control of all the songs he'd produced for the label. In the '90s, Marl's status as a high-profile producer was restored thanks to his work with artists like Rakim, Lords Of The Underground, Queensbridge's own Capone-N-Noreaga, Da Youngtas and Fat Joe. In 2001, Marl put together another compilation of original productions with guest rappers for the British BBE label, titled Re-Entry.^[1] In 1994, Marley Marl was referenced on Biggie Smalls' track "Juicy" as being one of his early influences.

In September 2007, Marley Marl received an award from the Berklee College of Music for his contribution to music. Marley Marl has also been a legend as a radio deejay along side Mr. Magic in the 80's on a show called Rap Attack on WBLS New York. Marley took the torch to start his own radio show called Private Radio, later with Pete Rock and K-Def. The radio show was called Future Flavas that was an online station and radio show that bounced around from New York radio stations like Hot 97, Power 105.1. Now Marley is currently back where it all started, WBLS, with his radio show called Golden Era Radio. Marley is still touring the world deejaying, playing his brand of funk for fans of Golden Era hip hop. He is also in the works of producing a film called The Vapors. The film will be based on Marl and the Juice Crew in the late 80's the golden era of Hip Hop.

He and KRS-One released Hip-Hop Lives in May 2007 with Marley Marl as the executive producer.^[1]

On June 5, 2007, Marley Marl suffered a heart attack. He was released from the hospital a few days later on the 8th. According to an interview in The Source, he blamed the heart attack on stress brought on by his worries about being a good father.

In 2008, Craig G and he released a collaborative album titled Operation: Take Back Hip-Hop.^[1]

Marl's music has had influences on RZA, DJ Premier, as well as Pete Rock, who is also a longtime friend.^[1] Marley Marl is also a legendary DJ member of the worldwide DJ organization, The Core DJ's.

Discography[link]

Marley Marl's production discography

Albums[link]

• In Control, Volume 1 (1988)
• In Control, Volume 2: For Your Steering Pleasure (1991)
• Hip Hop Dictionary (2000)
• Re-entry (2001)
• Hip-Hop Lives (2007) (with KRS-One)
• Operation: Take Back Hip-Hop (2008) (with Craig G)

Compilations[link]

• House of Hits (1995)
• Best of Cold Chillin' (2001)
• Marley Marl's House of Hits (released 2007)
• Hip Hop's Hero w/ Nikal Fieldz (released 2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Marley Marl bio The 411 on super-producer, Marley Marl [authored by Balance: 411@hiphop.sh]
• Allmusic biography
• Globaldarkness biography
• DJ Marley Marl - beatbuggy.com
• Facebook page

Frankie "Hollywood" Crocker (December 18, 1937, Buffalo, New York, USA - October 21, 2000, North Miami Beach, Florida) was a famous New York radio DJ. (Coined "Hollywood" for his keen sense of showmanship and self-marketing tactics.) According to popeducation.org, Crocker began his career in Buffalo at the AM Soul powerhouse WUFO (also the home to future greats Eddie O'Jay, Herb Hamlett, Gary Byrd and Chucky T) before moving to Manhattan, where he first worked for Soul station WWRL and later top-40 WMCA in 1969. He then worked for WBLS-FM as program director, taking that station to the top of the ratings during the late 1970s. He sometimes called himself the "Chief Rocker", and he was as well known for his boastful on-air patter as for his off-air flamboyance.

When Studio 54 was at the height of its popularity, Crocker rode in through the front entrance on a white stallion. In the studio, before he left for the day, Crocker would light a candle and invite female listeners to enjoy a candlelight bath with him. He signed off the air each night to the tune "Moody's Mood For Love" by vocalese crooner King Pleasure. Crocker, a native of Buffalo, coined the phrase "urban contemporary" in the 1970s, a label for the eclectic mix of songs that he played.

He was the master of ceremonies of shows at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and was one of the first V.J.'s on VH-1, the cable music video channel, in addition to hosting the TV series Solid Gold and NBC's Friday Night Videos. As an actor, Crocker appeared in five films, including Cleopatra Jones, Five on the Black Hand Side, and Darktown Strutters.^[1]

He is credited with introducing as many as 30 new artists to the mainstream, including Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa" to American audiences. While both Gary Byrd and Herb Hamlett were influenced by Crocker, it is only Hamlett who always attributes his success to his mentor in Buffalo, Frankie Crocker.

Frankie Crocker was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2005.^[2]

He also was mentioned as a paramour of, and suspect in the murder of, young Hollywood starlet Christa Helm.^[3][4]

External links[link]

• Frankie Crocker at the Internet Movie Database

References[link]

Steve Harvey
Harvey in September 2008
Born	Broderick Steven Harvey (1957-01-17) January 17, 1957 (age 55) Welch, West Virginia, U.S.
Residence	Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation	Actor Comedian Radio and television personality Author
Years active	1985–present
Spouse	Marcia Harvey (1980-1994)[1] Mary Lee Shackelford (1996-2005)[1] Marjorie Bridges (2007–present)[1]
Website
http://www.steveharvey.com

Broderick Steven "Steve" Harvey (born January 17, 1957)^[2] is an American entertainer and author who hosts The Steve Harvey Morning Show, and Family Feud. He is the author of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, which was published in March 2009, and the book Straight Talk, No Chaser: How to Find and Keep a Man.

He's been an actor, comedian, entertainer, television and radio personality and best-selling author. He starred in The Steve Harvey Show, and he was featured in The Original Kings of Comedy. He also hosts the Steve Harvey Project, on an extended cable channel.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Harvey was born in Welch, West Virginia, the son of Eloise and Jesse Harvey, a coal miner.^[3] His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he graduated from Glenville High School in 1974.^[4][1] Shortly after high school he attended Kent State University and West Virginia University and is a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.^[1] He has been a boxer, an insurance salesman, and a mailman.^[1][5]

Comedy career[link]

Steve Harvey first performed stand-up comedy on October 8, 1985 at the Hilarities Comedy Club in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a finalist in Second Annual Johnnie Walker National Comedy Search in 1989, eventually leading to a long stint as host of It's Showtime at the Apollo, succeeding Mark Curry in that role. His success as a stand-up comedian led to a starring role on the ABC show Me and the Boys in 1994. He would later star on the WB network show, The Steve Harvey Show, which ran from 1996 to 2002. While wildly popular in the African-American community (the show won multiple NAACP Image Awards), the show never achieved critical acclaim outside of the African-American community, a matter about which Harvey has often complained.

In 1997, Harvey continued his work in stand-up comedy, touring as one of the Kings of Comedy, along with Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley and Bernie Mac. The comedy act would later be put together into a film by Spike Lee called The Original Kings of Comedy. DVD sales of The Original Kings of Comedy and Don't Trip, He Ain't Through With Me Yet increased Harvey's popularity. Harvey released a hip hop and R&B audio CD on a record label he founded, and authored a book, Steve Harvey's Big Time. That title was also used as the name of Harvey's comedy and variety television show (later renamed Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge) which aired on The WB network from 2003 until 2005. Harvey also launched a clothing line which features the line of dress wear. In 2005 he co-starred in the movie Racing Stripes. He had appeared in the 2003 movie The Fighting Temptations alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyoncé Knowles.

In 2008, Harvey hosted the Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey, a teen-focused personal and professional enrichment event that took place January 17–20, 2008 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Harvey along with a team of judges chose 100 teens to attend the event.^[6]

Radio host[link]

[edit] The Steve Harvey Morning Show

Harvey is the host of a weekday-morning radio program, The Steve Harvey Morning Show, which was originally syndicated through Radio One, Inc. from September 2000 until May 2005, and which continues to air to the present time.

Television roles[link]

[edit] Family Feud

Harvey became the host of Family Feud in September 2010.^[8]

Film roles[link]

Personal life[link]

Harvey has been married three times and has four biological children. He has twin daughters, Karli and Brandi (born 1982) and a son, Broderick Jr. (born 1991), from his first marriage^[10] to Marcia Harvey.^[1] Harvey also has another son, Wynton (born 1997), from his second marriage to Mary Shackelford. The couple divorced in November 2005.^[11]

In June 2007 he married his current wife, Marjorie Bridges, who he says is responsible for making him a better man and changing his life.^[12] The Harveys live in Atlanta, Georgia with four of their youngest children as a "blended family".^[13] Harvey will move to Illinois to tape a daily talk show for NBCUniversal from the company's Chicago studios. Production on Family Feud and the radio show will remain in Atlanta, though Harvey will host the radio show from Chicago as well.^[14]

Controversy[link]

On March 27, 2009, Harvey appeared on an episode of The Tyra Show with Tyra Banks to promote his book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.^[15] During the course of the interview, Harvey advised that women should not date atheists. Saying:

"You sitting up there talking to a dude and he tells you he’s an atheist, you need to pack it up and go home. You talking to a person who don’t believe in God. What’s his moral barometer? Where’s it at? It's nowhere."

On May 30, 2009, Harvey appeared on an episode of Larry King Live guest hosted by Joy Behar.^[16] During that interview, Harvey reiterated his assertion that women should not date atheists, who he claimed have "no moral barometer". Harvey stated that he refuses to speak to anyone claiming to be an atheist, who he said are "idiot(s)". Harvey went on to suggest that modern astrophysics and evolutionary biology are without merit by saying:

You can't just tell me it spun out of a gastrous ball and then all of a sudden we were evolved from monkeys. Why we still got monkeys?

In August 2011 on his radio show, Harvey called Cornel West and Tavis Smiley "Uncle Toms" because they have criticized President Barack Obama.^[17]

Awards[link]

In 2007, Harvey won the Syndicated Personality/Show of the Year award by Radio & Records magazine. Other finalists included: Delilah, Blair Garner, Kidd Kraddick, The Lia Show and John Tesh.^[18]

References[link]

External links[link]

• www.steveharvey.com -- Official website
• Steve Harvey at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2010)

Tatyana Ali
Tatyana Ali at the U.S. Presidential Inauguration (2009)
Background information
Birth name	Tatyana Marisol Ali
Also known as	Ty, Taty
Born	(1979-01-24) January 24, 1979 (age 33) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Origin	North Bellmore, New York, U.S.
Genres	R&B, soul, dance-pop
Occupations	Actress Singer Model
Years active	1985 – present (actress) 1997 – present (singer)
Labels	MJJ/Work/SME Records (1997–2001)
Associated acts	Will Smith, Alfonso Ribeiro, Johnny "J"
Website	http://www.tatyanaalionline.com/

Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979) is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her childhood role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.^[1] Currently, she stars as Tyana Jones on the TV One original sitcom Love That Girl!, and has a recurring role as Roxanne on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless.

Career[link]

By the age of six, Ali had begun her acting career. She was a regular child performer on Sesame Street starting in 1985, even appearing with Herbie Hancock in a musical number. She also appeared twice on Star Search.

She made her breakthrough when she was cast as Ashley Banks for the television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990. She sang on various episodes of the show, including a heavily altered Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and the original song, "Make Up Your Mind" produced by Robert Jerald of N'Spyre Music Productions. Will Smith asked her if she seriously considered pursuing a musical career. Despite her singing ability, she concentrated on her acting career on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air the next few years.

In the final season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1995–1996, Ali began preparing herself for her musical debut. The result was the album Kiss The Sky, which was certified gold in early 1999. The album spawned the hit song "Daydreamin'", released July 21, 1998, produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the UK Singles Chart.

The album spawned two further UK hits, "Boy You Knock Me Out", featuring Will Smith, which peaked at #3 and is her biggest hit to date; and "Everytime", which was her third top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at #20. She made an appearance in Smith's album Willennium for the track "Who Am I" with MC Lyte.

Along with her musical career, Tatyana kept acting in many films. She had the chance to work with recognized film directors such as Takeshi Kitano (Brother), Rodrigo Garcia (Mother and Child), among others.

In 2005, she completed work on the film Glory Road and starred in the music video for Nick Cannon and Anthony Hamilton's "Can I Live?" as Cannon's mother.

In early 2008, she performed on the song "Yes We Can", a Will.i.am project supporting Barack Obama's presidential campaign. She also appeared in the subsequent music video which gained coverage on the "What the Buzz" segment of ABC's World News Now.

She is currently preparing to release her second album, which she describes as "an independent effort".^[2] The album is titled The Light. Much of the album's production was being handled by famed Tupac Shakur's producer Johnny "J".

She also performed the title song, "Sunny Valentine" along with Terrence Quaites for the indie film, Rockin' Meera directed by Param Gill in 2005.

She is also producing and starring in the BET web show, Buppies. She is currently on recurring status on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Roxanne.^[3]

Ali currently can be seen in the show, Love That Girl! on TV One. She stars as Tyana (which comes from the last five letters of her name). When asked if the character bears any similarities to her, Tatyana said in a recent CaribPress interview, "She's a bit neurotic and I hope I am not quite like that."^[1]

"One thing that I do love about her is that she is really multidimensional," she went on to say in the same interview. "I think it's nice to have a female character that is portrayed in (a) really holistic way."^[1]

Tatyana also starred in Nora's Hair Salon and Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above.

In 2011, Tatyana received the Living Legacy Award from the Caribbean Heritage Organization in Los Angeles.^[1][4]

Personal life[link]

Ali traveled the United States as a spokesperson for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Ali headed voter registration drives at college campuses.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

NAACP Image Awards

• 1996: Won, "Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress" – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• 1997: Nominated, "Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress" – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• 2010: Nominated, "Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama" – The Young and the Restless
• 2011: Nominated, "Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series" – Love That Girl!
• 2011: Won, "Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama" – The Young and the Restless
• 2012: Won, "Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama" – The Young and the Restless

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

• 1996: Nominated, "Favorite Television Actress" – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Young Artist Award

• 1991: Won, "Best Young Actress Starring in a New Television Series" – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• 1992: Nominated, "Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series" – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• 1993: Nominated, "Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series" – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• 1994: Nominated, "Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series" – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• 1995: Nominated, "Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series" – Name Your Adventure"

YoungStar Award

• 1997: Won, "Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series" – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Caribbean Heritage Organization

• 2011: Recipient, Living Legacy Award^[1][4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Tatyana Ali at the Internet Movie Database
• Tatyana Ali at AllRovi
• Tatyana Ali discography at MusicBrainz