Music / Film & TV
Teairra Marí
born 1987 · singer, songwriter, actress
Detroit-born R&B singer who signed with Roc-A-Fella Records at 16 while a student at the city's performing-arts high school; her debut album reached the Billboard top five.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 38- Birth name
- Teairra Marquisha Thomas
- Also known as
- Teairra Mari
- Detroit years
- 1987–2000s
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Teairra Marí was born in Detroit and grew up singing in church, listening to Motown records and to 1990s R&B stars such as Aaliyah, Monica and Brandy. Like Aaliyah before her, she studied at the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, now the Detroit School of Arts. At 16 she signed with Def Jam and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, and her debut, Roc-A-Fella Records Presents Teairra Marí (2005), reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200, led by the top-forty single "Make Her Feel Good." After leaving the label she returned in 2008 with "Hunt 4 U," featuring Pleasure P, but her planned second album, At That Point, was shelved after repeated leaks. She acted in the 2010 comedy Lottery Ticket alongside Bow Wow and Ice Cube, and later became known to television audiences through reality programming.
Highlights
- Signed to Roc-A-Fella Records at age 16
- Debut album (2005) reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200
- Top-forty single "Make Her Feel Good"
- Appeared in the film Lottery Ticket (2010)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · early 2000s
Detroit School of Arts (Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts)
The city's public performing-arts high school; when she enrolled it still met in the old Wilbur Wright School building on Rosa Parks Boulevard, and it moved to this Midtown building in 2005.