Teairra Marí

Teairra Marí
Thomas performing in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Teairra Marí Thomas
Born	(1987-12-02)December 2, 1987 Detroit,Michigan,U.S.
Genres	R&B pop
Occupations	Singer songwriter dancer actress model
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2003–present
Labels	WestSide Division1 Asylum Warner Bros. Maybach Music Fo' Reel Interscope Def Jam Roc-A-Fella K.I.S.S.

Teairra Marí Thomas(born December 2, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress fromDetroit,Michigan. At the age of 16, she signed withDef Jam RecordingsandJay-Z'sRoc-A-Fella Recordsto release her debut studio album,Roc-A-Fella Records Presents Teairra Marí(2005). It peaked at number five on theBillboard200and was supported by theBillboardHot 100-top 40 single, "Make Her Feel Good".

In 2008, she returned to the music scene with her single "Hunt 4 U" (featuringPleasure P). After constant leaks, she re-recorded a second attempt at her second album,At That Point,which was later shelved. In 2010, she starred in the filmLottery Ticketalongside rappersBow WowandIce Cube.

Career

Early life and career beginnings

Born in Detroit, Marí sung in church and she was influenced by the music ofMotownacts andAaliyah,Monica,andBrandy Norwood.Her grandmother was a background singer forAretha Franklin.Marí attendedDetroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts.AfterAntonio "L.A." Reidheard Marí perform live, he offered her a contract.According to VP A&R atIsland Def Jam Music GroupShakir Stewart,in an interview withHitQuarters,"Teairra was a star when she walked into the room. She captured the room when she did her audition. We fell in love with her from day one."

2004–2006:Teairra Marí

Marí worked withJay-Zin his first collaboration project since becoming president of Def Jam Records, to create "Make Her Feel Good"along with producerSean Garrett,the lead single from her debut album on Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam that reached number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the R&B charts.It was heavily played onBETbut barely onMTV.The second single "No Daddy"had a video that led to commercial success on MTV. The video spent sixteen days onTotal Request Live,reaching number four. Shortly after her third single "Phone Booth"was only sent to radio outlets and received a lukewarm response due to it not having a video and no promotion, she also made cameo appearances in various videos such asBiggie( "Nasty Girl" ),3LW( "Feelin You" )Jay-Z( "Show Me What You Got" ) and played the leading lady inSammie's video for "You Should Be My Girl".Teairra Marí's first album,Roc-A-Fella Records Presents Teairra Marí,was released on August 2, 2005 and was produced byBrian Michael Cox,Darkchild,Cool & Dre,Blackout Movement,The Trackboyz,Kwameand was co-executive produced bySean Garrett.The album reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and No. 2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chartwhile modeling and doing ads for the Roca Wear campaign. The album sold 248,000 copies according to Nielsen Soundscan, as of November 11, 2009.Teairra started work on her second album entitledSecond Roundin 2006. The first single "Play Me" was scheduled to be released in the fall but production was stopped in the middle of the album. She received a phone call from her label before her high school graduation to inform her that she was being dropped.

2007–2010:At That Pointand mixtapes

In 2008, Marí signed a lucrative deal with Violator but decided to split and landed a new development deal withFo' Reelunder the wing of Cudda Love (the man responsible forNelly's success). She was working on a new album titledAt That Pointwith producersRico Love,The Runners,The Underdogsand more. Featured on the album wereNicki Minaj,Flo Rida,Pleasure P,Soulja Boy,Gucci Mane,Kanye West&Rick Ross.On January 12, 2009 Teairra Marí released aBenny Boom-directed music video for "Hunt 4 U",which features Pleasure P. The second official single released fromAt That Pointis "Cause a Scene" featuring Flo Rida.It was produced by The Runners. The third official single from the album "Sponsor"featuringGucci Mane&Soulja Boywas released digitally on February 2, 2010 and the video was shot at a mansion in Los Angeles and was released on March 8, 2010. The albumAt That Pointwas scheduled to release the summer of 2010but was eventually shelved due to so many tracks getting leaked online.She decided to reenter the studio to re-record the album with a new title.

Late 2009, Teairra Marí released her first mixtapeDon't Make Me Cause a Scene,hosted by DJ Papa Smurf. Besides throwing all her singles on there she released before she released "Sponsor", plus adding "Diamonds" (withKanye West), and "Automatic" (withNicki Minaj), and remixing, "Birthday Sex" (Jeremih), "Turn My Swagg On" (Soulja Boy), "Blame It" (Jamie Foxx,T-Pain), "Turning Me Off" (Keri Hilson), and "Best I Ever Had" (Drake). It also features an official remix to "Cause A Scene", featuring rappers Flo' Rida, andRick Ross.

She released her second mixtape entitledPoint of No Return,hosted by DJ Drama on August 7, 2010. The mixtape contained leak songs like "I Know It's You", "Coins", "Find My Way Back", "Holla", and a song intended for the album called "Lights Go Down". She released 4 music videos to some of the songs she covered for the project.Usher's "Daddy's Home", covers toDrake's songs "Over" and his song "Find Your Love"titled" My Lovin' ", and" Super High ", aRick Rosscover featuring a rapper named Cardan.

On August 17, 2010 she releasedSincerely Yours,a digital EP released via iTunes, featuring the single "Sponsor", and new songs like "Body", and "Stranger". It also features songs made forAt That Pointthat had not leaked, "Emergency", "Operator", and "Might Get Lucky". She released music videos to "Body" and "Stranger". She performed "Body" on the Mo'Nique show.

She released her third mixtape entitledThe Night Before X-MASon Christmas Eve 2010. It features a remix to "Devil in a New Dress" byKanye Westwith the help ofRick Rossand alsoMr. Vegas's ballroom reggae song "Boy Shorts" with him on it, covers toChris Brown's "Deuces" featuring fellow recording artistDondria,her rendition of theWiz Khalifasong "Black and Yellow"titled" U Know What It Is ", a cover toRick Ross's song "Aston Martin Music",Diddy – Dirty Money's "Loving You No More", and other songs such as "Stay", "Round And Round", and "Back It Up" featuring rapperYG.She made videos to "U Know What It Is" and "Stay".

2011–2012:Sex on the Radioand Division1

In March 2011, Marí, withRico Love,executive producer of the album, began to work on new music for her album.A snippet of a song is heard in a clip of them recording the first single from the album, "That's All Me", which featured Rico Love. The song samples one of Diddy's early hits,It's All About the Benjamins."That's All Me" is a single on DJ T. Neal's albumNot Your Average DJ,which features Rico Love and was also set to be included on Marí's album. Marí performed the new song for the first time at R&B Live in Hollywood,and later revealed on the set of the video that she had departed from Warner Bros and had signed a deal with Rico Love's label Division1.Due to the large amount of leftover material from the album, Marí released a fourth mixtape titledNow or Neveron May 30, 2011.

"U Did That" was later released as the new first single from Marí's second album, and was written and produced by Rico Love and co-produced by D-Town.Marí said that the single would be going for radio adds sometime in January 2012. Marí then released a video of her and Rico Love in the studio and talking about the new album. "It's absolutely amazing the chemistry that Rico and I share. I couldn't ask for another partner in crime. [...] There are a lot of talented songwriters out there, but for me, my chemistry is with Rico and I haven't had a chemistry like this with anybody else. Everybody has their match and I think Rico is definitely my musical match."The song was later remixed featuring rapper2 Chainz,and the music video was shot. Marí described the reasoning for the title of the album by saying "It's reminiscent of a new jack swing, like '90s R&B, bedroom music but with a bounce."

2014–present:DeserveandRehab

In December 2014, Marí released a single, "Deserve", produced byHitmaka.In 2019, she released an EP, "Rehab".On January 12, 2024, she released a single, "Take Me Out".

Acting career

In 2009, she appeared inThe Magnificent Cooly-T,followed in 2010'sLottery Ticketplaying opposite Bow Wow. During 2013, the cable networkUPpremiered her in "The Dempsey Sisters" withLynn Whitfield,Denyce Lawton andClifton Powell.

Reality television

From 2011 to 2012, she had a supporting role on season two of theVH1hit reality showLove & Hip Hop: New York.In 2014, she appeared in a main role on theLove & Hip Hopspinoff:Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood.

Discography

Main article:Teairra Marí discography

• Roc-A-Fella Records Presents Teairra Marí(2005)

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	The Magnificent Cooly-T	Sonya
2010	Lottery Ticket	Nikki Swayze
2012	Mac & Devin Go to High School	Ms. Huck
2013	Holla II	Tatianna
	The Dempsey Sisters	Sheena Dempsey

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Showtime at the Apollo	Herself	Episode: "Teairra Marí"
2011–12	Love & Hip Hop: New York	Herself	Recurring Cast: Season 2
2014–19	Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood	Herself	Main Cast: Season 1-5, Recurring Cast: Season 6
2017	The Real	Herself/Guest Co-Host	Episode: "Teairra Mari/Erica Campbell/Tina Campbell"
2022–23	Family Reunion: Love & Hip Hop Edition	Herself	Main Cast: Season 3

External links

• Teairra MaríatIMDb