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July 17, 2006 @ 10:00 am
Tami Chynn
Tami Chynn seems a bit alarmed to learn that her villa at Jamaica’s Grand Lido Braco Resort & Spa overlooks the nude part of the beach. Her team came here to find picturesque settings for a photo shoot, but right now she’s not loving the view. “Trust me,” she says with a laugh, “it’s not pretty.”
Not that the 23-year-old Kingston, Jamaica, native is uptight, it’s just that she has somewhat higher standards. After all, this is the same songstress whose sexy shape was praised in Leftside & Esco’s dancehall smash “Tuck in Yuh Belly.” She’s toured as a dancer with Shaggy and collaborated with dancehall hot boys Sean Paul, Beenie Man, and Assassin. And with Chynn’s breathlessly sexy single “Hyperventilating” making the jump into mainstream radio formats, Universal Records is convinced that she’s the future of dancehall pop.
Even with phrases like “the next Madonna” and “kicks Rihanna’s ass” floating about, the former Tammar Chin manages to remain disarmingly down to earth. “Growing up in Jamaica, I’m humbled every day,” she says, tossing the blond hair out of her eyes. “And that’s no joke. Once you’re old enough to recognize your surroundings, you’re humbled every day by what’s going on.”
It’s no surprise then that Chynn reps hard for her homeland, even though her fair complexion sometimes gets her mistaken for a tourist. “She’s not a Jamaican,” she quips about the whispers she sometimes hears. In her words, Chynn’s a multiracial “mutt” who defies stereotypes and personifies the Jamaican national motto, “Out of many one people” (hence the title of her debut album, Out of Many… One). Chynn’s true heritage is musical: Her mother, the child of a white British woman and a black Jamaican man, played trumpet; her father, who’s mostly Chinese with a bit of Cherokee, was a drummer. “My family is too mixed up for me to discriminate,” she says. “Who knows who’s what and who cares—as if we all don’t bleed.”
But don’t confuse Chynn with some sort of dancehall Britney Spears. First of all, she and her talented sister, Tessanne, are the ones writing tunes like the enticing “Looky Looky,” which bristles with a shamelessly catchy hook. Plus, she’s determined to push herself and her music beyond the usual creative (and commercial) limits. “Injecting something different into dancehall isn’t the easiest thing,” she admits. “But I want to see Jamaican music move out into the world, even bigger than it is now. And I love to toe the line. So hopefully, I’ll toe the line all the way to the top.”
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Comments
1.
Daniella7 says:
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LOL...She has no black blood running through her???
Are you going to ignore that her mother is half white and half BLACK...So that means our dear Tami is in fact 1/4 BLACK...There's the black blood running through her!
What happened to the one drop black blood rule in America...so by your country's standard she is indeed BLACK.
October 6, 2008 at 11:39 am
2.
MissaMac says:
Tami Chynn is beautiful, Tami Chynn is intelligent, she has a lovely voice, and most importantly she reps her country. She seriously needs to blow up overseas. As far as I know, she has a serious following in the UK, but the US needs to get a better whiff of this girl sing.
And Solaar, nuh badda pay Jamerican Girl nuh mind, y'hear? If you ever LIVE and GROW UP in Jamaica, you'd understand the racial dynamics there. Walk down Half Way Tree in Kingston or go down to Mo' Bay anyday and you can see for yourself! As a mostly black nation, there is still a showing of alot of other ethnicities, and a good amt of Jamaicans are 'mix-up' with something else along the way anyway.
But "Jamerican" girl is probably too busy being caught up in American racial politics to really take notice. Long story short, not every Jamaican is black...and that's ok.
October 30, 2007 at 12:33 pm
3.
Solaar says:
Jamerican Girl, what does having any black blood have anything to do with this. Sounds like YOU are very MAD, lol. In ANY event, she is very bankable REGARDLESS of her lineage. It seems interesting that many of the Black Jamacians seem quite divided when it comes to RACE. Some fools actually think they are STILL African and deny the presence of any other blood in their veins. (like Arawak, Chinese & European) MEANWHILE, there are those who know the REAL deal.
Too bad the other JA artists are too busy acting macho and anti-gay (even though they've been swinging off chandeliers in the raw with the gay trade ambassador, Mr. King, hahaha) and getting booted off every bill from JA to the UK.
Jamaica IS a SMALL island, 80% full of ignorant and ARROGANT folks like YOU.
September 16, 2007 at 12:45 pm
4.
JamericanGirl says:
Nikki I dont know who you think you are referring to Jamaica as "dat small island" but you need to check yourself gyal. Im jamaican and I dont play that. Now while she is talented and Jamaican, she IS NOT black. She has no black blood running through her veins mi nuh business weh she a seh....thats a str8 up white/chinese girl. lying about your race wont sell records to me.
August 27, 2007 at 9:13 am
5.
nikki says:
TAMI CHYNN DA NEW MADONNA O PLLEEASSSSEEE SHE MAY BE SUM SUPERSTAR IN DAT SMALL ISLAND SHE COMES FROM BUT SHE AINT ELSE WHERE. WHEN SHES TORUING WORLDWIDE AND SELLING MILLIONS THEN THEN MAYBE
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