Tyrese Gibson

Tyrese Gibson

Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978), often known simply as Tyrese or Black-Ty, is an American R&B and hip hop singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, and former fashion model and MTV VJ. After releasing several successful albums, he made the transition into films, with lead roles in several Hollywood films, including Waist Deep, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Flight of the Phoenix, Four Brothers, Annapolis and his latest, Baby Boy, and Transformers.

Biography

Early life

Gibson was born in South Central Los Angeles. His mother, Priscilla Murray Gibson (née Durham), raised him and his three older siblings as a single parent after Gibson's father left in 1983. Gibson's career began when he won a talent show at the age of fourteen. An appearance in a 1997 Coca-Cola advertisement, singing the phrase "Always Coca-Cola", led to wider fame, and at the age of seventeen his chiseled looks paved the way for him to model for Tommy Hilfiger. In regards to beefing up, he told CraveOnline that he does "just a few push ups here and there... I’m doing push ups and eating Ding Dongs. That’s it, man. Twinkies, got to keep it right."

Career

Initially an MC, Gibson rapped under the alias of Black-Ty and was a member of an underground group known as Triple Impact, but didn't hesitate to follow another career route as an opportunity to launch his R&B career came up first. He released his self-titled debut music album, which went platinum, in 1998; his second album, 2000 Watts, shares the name of the organization he founded to help inner city children. Tyrese sang background vocals in Tupac's "Never Call You Bitch Again". Tyrese also co-wrote with Teddy Riley and Michael Jackson the song "2000 watts", included in Michael Jackson's 2001 album "Invincible".

Gibson was given the role originally intended for Tupac Shakur in the 2001 film Baby Boy; the movie was somewhat of a success for him. Gibson subsequently appeared in the 2003 box office success 2 Fast 2 Furious (opposite Paul Walker with whom he formed a close friendship), as well as Flight of the Phoenix (2004), Four Brothers (2005) and Annapolis (2006), co-starring James Franco.

In 2006, Gibson starred in Waist Deep, in which he played a man fighting to rescue his son from kidnappers; his co-stars in the film, Meagan Good and Larenz Tate, are personal friends of Gibson's in real life. Like several of his previous roles, the film is set in an urban environment, but Gibson has said that he does not view the role as a "step back", rather seeing the film as taking "another direction" due to some of its themes and action sequences.

His most recent role was in the big-budget action movie, Transformers, which was released in July 2007; the film's director, Michael Bay, had Gibson in mind for the role before he was cast, and thus Gibson did not have to audition for the part. Gibson may also star in a film version of the superhero Luke Cage; as of 2006, the script was being re-formatted.

Gibson prefers his music career to acting, but will focus on both areas. His rap persona was finally revitalized on December 12,2006, with the release of his newest album, titled Alter Ego, with one disc featuring R&B (as Tyrese) and one disc featuring hip hop (as Black-Ty). In 2007, Tyrese decided that he would like to be an independent recording artist and got out his contract with J Records. This is the first time in his musical career in which he was not signed to a label. However, he is being heavily approached by numerous different record labels.

He has also started his own company, Headquarter Entertainment. This is a multi-faceted company, and features new artist Life Nine and his producers The Frontline Boyz.

Gibson was picked as one of People Magazine's Sexiest Men of the Year in 2000.

TGT

Gibson has been attached to a new R&B supergroup entitled TGT with Ginuwine and Tank. He is quoted in saying "With all the support our fans have given us individually over the years for our distinct signature styles, collectively we felt our fans deserved to hear great music in a way that they could never have imagined. I've known these guys for years and they truly are like brothers, so it only felt right to come together as a trio to make history". The group is first featured on Tank's remix to the song "Please Don't Go". They also plan an international tour entitled "The Shirts Off Tour" which is set to start in February 2008.

Fear of owls

During a 2003 appearance on the New Tom Green Show it was revealed that Tyrese has an immense fear of owls. On the show Tyrese confessed that he has such a fear of owls that looking at a picture would make him freak out. Knowing this, Tom Green began to draw a picture of an owl causing Tyrese to go into a panic and threaten to leave the stage.

Personal life

Tyrese keeps in direct contact with his fans by sending periodic voice messages. He speaks frequently about motivation, getting in shape, spirituality, and relationship issues, as well as news about his upcoming movies, tours, and albums.

He also sends the latest news and songs to the creators of His New Official Website.

Tyrese currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. His home was featured on a 2008 episode of MTV Cribs.

Discography

Albums

• 1998: Tyrese #17US, #6R&B. Platinum
• 2001: 2000 Watts #10US, #4R&B. Gold
• 2002: I Wanna Go There #16US, #2R&B. Gold
• 2006: Alter Ego #23US, #4R&B. 370,000 copies sold. Gold
• 2008: Black Rose
• 2008: The Ballad of Tyrese

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions			Album
		U.S. Hot 100	U.S. R&B	UK
1998	"Nobody Else"	36	12	-	Tyrese
1999	"Lately"	56	12	-	Tyrese
1999	"Sweet Lady"	12	9	-	Tyrese
2001	"I Like Them Girls"	48	15	-	2000 Watts
2001	"What Am I Gonna Do"	71	24	-	2000 Watts
2001	"Just A Baby Boy" (feat Snoop Dogg)	-	-	-	2000 Watts
2003	"How You Gonna Act Like That"	7	3	-	I Wanna Go There
2003	"Signs Of Love Makin'"	57	18	-	I Wanna Go There
2003	"Pick Up The Phone" (feat R. Kelly & Ludacris)	-	65	-	-
2006	"One"	-	26	-	Alter Ego
2007	"Turn Ya Out" (feat Lil' Jon)	-	70	-	Alter Ego

Guest features

Gibson also features on:

• Better Dayz by Tupac
• Hoodstar by Chingy
• Unrestricted by Da Brat
• Hot Coko by Coko
• U Turn by Brian McKnight
• After The Storm by Monica
• The Best Man soundtrack
• Blue Streak soundtrack
• Why Did I Get Married? soundtrack

Filmography

• Death Race (2008)
• The Take (2007)
• Transformers (2007)
• Waist Deep (2006)
• Annapolis (2006)
• Four Brothers (2005)
• Flight of the Phoenix (2004)
• 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
• Baby Boy (2001)

Awards/nominations

• American Music Awards
  • 2000, Favorite New R&B/Soul Artist: (Winner)

• Black Movie Awards
  • 2006, Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Waist Deep (Nominated)

• Black Reel Awards
  • 2006, Best Ensemble: Four Brothers (Nominated)
  • 2002, Best Song: "Just a Baby Boy" from Baby Boy w/ Mr. Tan & Snoop Dogg (Nominated)
  • 2002, Best Actor: Baby Boy (Nominated)

• Grammy Awards
  • 2004, Best R&B Male Vocal Performance: "How U Gonna Act Like That" (Nominated)
  • 2000, Best R&B Male Vocal Performance: "Sweet Lady" (Nominated)

• Image Awards
  • 2002, Outstanding Hip-Hop Artist: 2000 Watts (Nominated)
  • 2002, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture: Baby Boy (Nominated)
  • 2002, Outstanding Performance in a Variety Show: The Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno (Nominated)

External links

• Tyrese Gibson at IMDb
• Kim and Kerri's ULTIMATE Tyrese Page
• Tyrese.com (official)
• Tyrese's Official MySpace
• !Join The Fam!
• Custom Tyrese T-shirts
• Tyrese on Loud Music Magazine Cover
• Tyrese Gibson PR.com Interview with John Singleton (December 9, 2006)
• Inside Bay Area interview (January 27, 2006)
• Zap2It interview (January 26, 2006)
• Tyrese interview by Rashmi Shastri