10 Things We Love About: Tiana Blake

Tiana Blake is definitely an artist with a clear vision and has a focused mindset when it comes to her music. When speaking to the young up and coming artist off the back of her fresh new single Interruption she had a very calm, cool and collected mature manner about her. When telling me about the crazy few weeks she had leading up to the release of the hit single, although she stated it was full on, she enjoyed it nonetheless, and managed to find the fun amongst the hustle and bustle of release week.

We touched upon being in lockdown and how we'd both been finding this new way of living, which has become the norm. 'It kind of shows that like, you don't really need to actually sit in a work place to get work done', Tiana found she was able to self reflect and more importantly, do a lot more self care during this period. We also discussed the nostalgic 90's feel of her music video and the distinctive lighting elements of the visual inspired by iconic films from the era such as 'Poetic Justice' and 'Belly'. Taking weekend classes at the prominent BRIT School, she discussed her experiences of how dynamic the performing arts school was, and the freedom she felt being able to take singing, dancing and acting classes. It was definitely an escape like no other for Tiana.

'When you're doing music for your fans, they can always tell if it's organic or not, so it's really important to stick to being real.'

Commending the songstress for sticking to her style and passions in an industry that often tries to put young musicians in to one category, her response solidified her authentic personality - 'I think the best music comes from a space when artists genuinely are into their own music and can connect with their own songs.' Her hit new single 'Interruption' has been making it's mark on the UK R&B scene since it's release in February and has continued to dominate the streaming world and the charts. With over 100k views and counting on the music video, who would've thought the self proclaimed perfectionist only took a couple of hours to create the hit song alongside Ryan Ashely and producer MNEK.

We love your new single 'Interruption'! - I've literally had it on repeat, it's such a tune. I know you worked with MNEK on the song. So tell me more about how you guys met, because I know he produced the song didn't he?

Tiana: Yeah, so my team connected me with MNEK and he produced the song. So the way that it happened is, when we connected, we got in the studio, similar to how most of my sessions are, and as the producer, he came up with the base of the song and then after that, we just got right in. We were in a session with Ryan Ashley as well, so the three of us were going back and forth and it was really smooth, we wrote the song really quickly. I think MNEK is such a good and fast writer, by the time I'm sitting there thinking, he's already like 'what about this?' and I'm like, Yeah!

We love that you're a songwriter as well as a songstress too. - I've always been intrigued as to how you make a song come to life, because you have to tell a story. How do you come up with concepts and what are the inspirations behind your songwriting in general?

Tiana: It's definitely a weird process, so it's telling a story, but in a way that is catchy and has bounce to it as well. I personally find inspiration from my own experiences. But if I haven't really got much going on, and I can't really find any inspiration from my own stuff, I kind of just pick apart, so even if it's making up a concept, or sometimes what I do is take my own experience, then exaggerate it a little bit. Yeah, so I take inspiration from whatever I can really.

We love the 90's and 2000's vibe inspirations from the music video. - Did you draw any inspiration from Brandy, Monica or 702 when shooting the video?

Tiana: Yeah, definitely. I went to the director with the main idea of the concept being drawn from nostalgic movies. So, wherever it's your 'Poetic Justice' or your 'Belly', they all have this cohesive, feeling. So that's where my head was at for the concept.

We love that you've set the tone for your up and coming mixtape by leading with 'Interruption' - What made you want to lead with interruption as the first song off the mixtape?

Tiana: The plans changed so much, like getting a body of work together and the plan is just so so hard. So I had a different plan at first, like what I was going to put out first before the mixtape, then I got in the studio with MNEK and Ryan Ashley, and that plan changed again, because we've got this song and it's such a tune, it's upbeat. I was like, yeah, this would be nice to put out next. So I've had three singles out prior to this song, they were quite laid back in a sense. I thought this would be a good song to put out now just because it's got a different feel and it's a little bit more upbeat, I thought it was just perfect to put out there.

We absolutely love your other hit single 'Hit The Spot' too! - What's the selection process behind a mixtape, how do you figure out what songs go in which order, does it matter?

Tiana: I think it depends really, it depends what a project is based on and what it's about, versus what's behind it. I think the order of the song will depend on that, for me, it kind of matters because it's nice to tell a story isn't it? But I won't get into it too much, like for this project, it's not too much of a detailed story, I don't really need to worry too much about the order. I'm really excited about this whole project and I think I've got a great team behind me, we're usually on the same page about everything.

We love that you have a strong team supporting you on this journey - How did you come together with your current team?

Tiana: So funnily enough, one of the guys who founded the label that I'm with, he managed me, like, a couple years ago, when I was 16, then fast forward a couple of years, it just kind of made sense, I was older, I progressed and found my sound and it just made sense to come together. So that was pretty easy, and really organic, then I met my manager around September, if I'm correct? I think it was around September we met, and we just hit it off straight away.

We love that your a young up and coming artist - What advice would you give your younger self about the music industry that you wish you would have known earlier?

Tiana: Um, so first off, the first bit of advice I probably would give my younger self is to just chill, because I think a lot of artists can relate to this, but it's a bit scary because you don't know if you're going to be able to pursue it, as there are so many different avenues, it's really hard to get into and hard to find the right team and be successful. So I think where I've got to now, I'm really, really grateful and I think if younger me knew that I'd be here now doing music full time, I would have just been able to just chill, take a backseat and not worry.

We love that you describe your sound as R&B throwback, you have a lot of appreciation for fellow UK R&B artists- What's it been like entering the music scene as a new R&B artist? There's always that ongoing conversation that the US appreciates R&B more than the UK.

Tiana: I think I've come in at a good time, I know it's an ongoing conversation and the US is a bigger country, isn't it? So I think automatically it's going to be bigger over there, but I think that we're starting to have those conversations and I think there's loads of sick R&B artists, you've got Mnelia, Ella, Kadeem Tyrell, I could go on! There's a bunch of really cool UK R&B artists so I think I've come in at the right time and I think we're figuring it out, we're trying to build the UK R&B scene.

We love your positive approach to the UK R&B scene flourishing - There's a lot of new, especially female R&B artists who are going more on the soulful route. Are there any artists that you'd want to collab with in the future?

Tiana: Do you know what, I haven't even put too much thought into collabs at the moment, because I think I've just been consumed building up my own thing. But I think that's definitely something that I'll think about more, and kind of get into because I've had the singles, I've got 'Interruption' thats just come out, and I'm putting out a body of work. So I think after that, I'll definitely start having more of those conversations. I've spoken to Kadeem Tyrell here and there about possibly getting into a session and seeing what we can come up with, so yeah, I've had a couple of those conversations, but I'll think about it more when my mind is clearer.

We love that you stick to your style and passions - There's this conversation in the music industry that there can only be 'one female' R&B musician when there's so much space for everyone. What are your thoughts on that narrative?

Tiana: I think it's definitely a trash narrative. I think there's space for multiple artists, like every different artists brings different experiences, brings different sounds, different writing styles, and all of that. So I think there's space for multiple people, 100%.