April 09, 2008 @ 11:00 am

Tyra B (Next)

Julianne Shepherd

Sofa Star

Most folks know someone who, as a kid, mimicked Janet Jackson’s sleek ’80s “The Pleasure Princi­ple” chair choreography (the real fans got her shag hairdo, too) or meticulously taught themselves TLC’s ’90s “No Scrubs” shimmy. Singer-dancer Tyra Bolling is no exception. From childhood, Tyra B memorized every move of an altogether different canon: SWV, Usher, Immature, Timberlake. To complete her superstar homeschooling, she learned how to dazzle a crowd by surfing a couch.

“Anybody who had a live concert DVD, I would put it in the TV and just learn every step. I didn’t care who it was—even the Spice Girls,” says Tyra, 22. “I’d be jumping on the couch like it was a speaker. I waited ’til everybody went to sleep ’cause I wanted that privacy of learning and acting a fool. It was serious, but it was always a closed session.”

Consider all that rehearsal. In 2005, on the strength and ferocity of her single “Country Boy” (GG&L)—which she dropped when she was 19 with no major label backing—Tyra snagged a slot on Destiny’s Child’s Destiny Fulfilled...and Lovin’ It tour. In her video, she celebrated Dirty South boys with guitar twang and a bassline boom—an ingenious pairing of country & western and rhythm & blues. And she knew from what she sang: Tyra was born and raised in Petersburg, Va., where she was tight with fellow ’Burgian Trey Songz. “Me and my sister drove him to school every morning,” she says.

Now that the ’Burg’s arrived on 106 & Park, Tyra’s straight: She’s riding high on “Givin’ Me a Rush,” from her forthcoming Past Due (Warner Bros.). Already a BET staple, the ballad blends Tyra’s breathless vocals with, appropriately, two generations of pop: the fainting hook of Paula Abdul’s 1991 “Rush, Rush” and the spine-tingling bars of Michael Jackson’s 1982 “Human Nature.” Perfect for Tyra, hers is the sound of every little girl’s living-room arena dreams coming true.

Article tags: Destiny's Child, Next, Trey Songz, Tyra B, Usher 

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