Taral Hicks
Taral Hicks | |
|---|---|
| Born | Taral Nikisha Hicks September 21, 1974 The Bronx, New York City |
| Education | Grace Dodge Vocational High School |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Spouse |
Loren Dawson (m. 2001) |
| Family | D'atra Hicks (sister) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Labels | Motown |
| Website | twitter |
Taral Nikisha Hicks[citation needed] (born September 21, 1974) is an American actress and singer. Hicks is best known for her acting in such films as 1993's American crime drama film A Bronx Tale and her singing in such work as her 1997 debut studio album This Time which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.
Raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, Hicks graduated from Teaneck High School in 1994.[1]
Career
Acting
Hicks began her film career with a role alongside Robert De Niro in the 1993 film, A Bronx Tale. Her subsequent film roles were small: 1995's Just Cause with Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne, and 1996's Educating Matt Waters and The Preacher's Wife with Whitney Houston. She appeared in the movie Belly in 1998. In 2000, she appeared on screen in the short film, Are You Cinderella?, with actor Wood Harris. Her later film roles were in independent films such as 2005's The Salon, with Vivica A. Fox, Dondre Whitfield, and Darrin Henson; 2006's Forbidden Fruits with Ella Joyce, Fredro Starr, and R&B singer Keith Sweat; 2007's Humenetomy; and 2010's Ex$pendable. Hicks featured in the HBO television series Subway Stories in 1997. Two guest roles followed: 2002's 100 Centre Street in the episode titled "Fathers", and a 2003 episode of Soul Food: The Series titled "The New Math". Hicks co-starred in the musical stage play Tyler Perry's Aunt Bam's Place with Paris Bennett, Cassi Davis, Jeffrey Lewis, and Melonie Daniels. It had a 3-day run beginning August 30, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia (Cobb Energy Center) and was filmed for a DVD release on June 12, 2012.[2]
Music
In 1995, Hicks signed a deal with Motown Records and released an album titled This Time. The single "Ooh, Ooh Baby", written by and featuring Missy Elliott, charted on the Billboard R&B singles chart. However, the lead single intended to debut her singing career was "Distant Lover", an uptempo track produced by Teddy Riley. The album did not take off until the second single, "Silly", a remake of the classic R&B hit by Deniece Williams, was released. Featuring a black-and-white music video directed by Hype Williams, the single charted well on the R&B chart. After collaborating on the video for "Silly", Williams cast Hicks as in his directorial film debut, 1998's Belly, as Keisha, DMX's girlfriend. The video for "Silly" appeared in one of the film's scenes. Hicks has expressed interest in pursuing a career in gospel music.[3]
Personal life
Hicks is an alumna of Grace Dodge Vocational High School (Bronx, New York), graduating in 1993.[4] She is the younger sister of actress and singer D'atra Hicks.[citation needed] In 1999, Hicks began dating Loren Dawson,[5] They later married in 2001.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 200 | Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | |||
| 1997 | This Time | – | – | |
Singles
| Year | Song | Peak Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 | Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | |||
| 1996 | "Ooh, Ooh Baby" (featuring Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott) | – | 81 | |
| 1997 | "Distant Lover" | – | 60 | |
| 1998 | "Silly" | 104[6] | 54 | |
| "How Can I Get Over You" | – | – | ||
- Soundtracks
- 1996: The Associate (on "Yes We Can Can" with Chantay Savage, LaShanda Reese and The Pointer Sisters)
Filmography
| Film/Television | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | |
| 1993 | A Bronx Tale | Jane Williams | |
| 1995 | Just Cause | Lena | |
| 1998 | Belly | Keisha | |
References
- ^ Beckerman, Jim. "Where Stars Are Born", The Record (North Jersey), August 19, 2000. Accessed February 12, 2020. "When Shanell Jones graduated from Teaneck High School in June, she already had a deal with Def Jam, a major recording label. But as former Motown Records artist Taral Hicks (Teaneck, Class of 1994) and Alligator recording artist Shemekia Copeland (Teaneck, Class of 1997) could tell her, that's no big deal in this neck of the woods."
- ^ "Tyler Perry's Aunt Bam's Place Starring Paris Benet & Taral Hicks Comes to DVD Tomorrow". Urbanbridgez.com. June 11, 2012. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- ^ Taral Hicks: From The Belly of the Beast Archived September 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine By DeVaughn Douglas Tuesday, September 1, 2009 2:35 pm – All Hip Hop.com
- ^ "About Questia | Questia, Your Online Research Library". January 11, 2019. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- ^ Hicks, Taral. "Happy 20th V-Day my love 😍 💕❤️💕@lorendawson". Instagram.com. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
- ^ "Billboard – Music Charts, News, Photos & Video". Retrieved May 15, 2017.
External links
- Taral Hicks at IMDb
- Taral Hicks at AllMusic
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
- 1974 births
- Actresses from New Jersey
- Actresses from New York City
- African-American female singers
- American film actresses
- African-American female singer-songwriters
- African-American singer-songwriters
- American singer-songwriters
- American female singer-songwriters
- American contemporary R&B singers
- Living people
- People from the Bronx
- People from Teaneck, New Jersey
- Teaneck High School alumni
- Singers from New Jersey
- Singers from New York City
- African-American actresses
- American television actresses
- Songwriters from New York (state)
- 21st-century American singers
- 21st-century American women singers