Teedra Moses (born December 17, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.
Moses was born
Teedra Moses (born December 17, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.
Moses was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a gospel singing mother, Shirley Moses. She later moved to California with her mother and three siblings after her parents' separation. Moses brought a little bit of that fervor to her own vocal style when she began singing professionally. The final song on her debut album, "I Think of You (Shirley's Song)", is dedicated to her late mother.
In 1996 she birthed twin sons Taj and Ras with rapper Ras Kass.
Early life
Moses was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her childhood has been a direct influence on her musical style, her Mother was a gospel singer and Moses was raised on gospel, jazz, zydeco and blues.[6] Moses recalls wanted to listen to the music that was then being played on the radio, but her Mother made Moses listen gospel.[7] She later moved to California with her mother and three siblings after her parents' separation. The final song on her debut album, "I Think of You (Shirley's Song)", is dedicated to her late mother.
Career
Prior to becoming a recording artist, Moses worked with her best friend Nonja McKenzie as an assistant wardrobe stylist for artists such as Will Smith, Kelis, R. Kelly, and No Doubt. It was after breaking her leg on a video set that Moses decided to follow her heart and begin making music.
Following this epiphany, Moses teamed up with producer, Paul Poli and signed with the Indie Record Label, TVT Records to release her debut album Complex Simplicity in August 2004. Complex Simplicity included fourteen tracks all self-penned by Moses with dominant production by Poli; which led to the well-deserved executive production credit by both Moses & Poli. The album underperformed on the U.S. chart, debuting and peaking at number one hundred and sixty-eight on the Billboard 200. However, the album was critically acclaimed and otherwise found success on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, the Top Independent Albums, and the Top Heatseekers, reaching number twenty, number eleven, and number ten, respectively.
In addition to executive producing and penning all the lyrics on her own project, Moses has written songs for other artists including Nivea, Christina Milian, Mary J. Blige and others. She was featured on and co-wrote two songs from Raphael Saadiq's 2004 album Ray Ray, "Chic" and "I Want You Back". Her songs have been showcased in the Logo series Noah's Arc as well as in the HBO hit show Entourage, movies such as Never Die Alone, Beauty Shop, and Be Cool.
Though Moses has not released a studio album in several years, she can be found touring and doing live shows on a regular basis. From March to November 2010 Moses has been a spokes model on the Lady Hennessy Tour. In addition, Moses continues to release underground all original mixtapes for her fans to enjoy while she awaited a new label deal caused by the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed in 2008 by the now defunct TVT Records.
2011-present
On March 25, 2011, it was announced that Moses had signed to rapper Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group via Warner Bros. Records as its first female artist.[8] Her second studio album entitled The Lioness is scheduled to be released there sometime in 2013. In anticipation of The Lioness Moses released the Luxurious Undergrind mixtape.
In February 2014 Moses released the single "All I Ever Wanted," which samples Dynasty's 1980 song "Adventures in the Land of Music" — recognizable from Camp Lo's '97 classic, "Luchini AKA This Is It". The song was released as the lead single from her upcoming debut extended play Cognac & Conversation, which is co-executive produced by Rick Ross and Raphael Saadiq.