Taral Hicks
Encyclopedia
Taral Hicks is an actress and musician
.
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
. It was not until 1997 in the HBO original film, Subway Stories
, that audiences began to take notice. As the "Woman with Flowers" who sang to her mother on the payphone
, her performance was widely deemed to be one of the best in the film.
In 1997, Hicks signed a deal with Motown Records
and released an album titled This Time. The single "Ooh, Ooh Baby", produced, 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 video
directed by Hype Williams
, the single charted well on the R&B chart. After collaborating on the video for "Silly", Hype Williams
cast Hicks as in his directorial film debut (and in her largest role to date), 1998's Belly
, as Kisha, DMX
's girlfriend. The video for "Silly" appeared in one of the film's scenes.
Following the film's release in 1998, Hicks was absent from film and music until 2000, when she appeared on screen in the short film, Are You Cinderella?, with actor Wood Harris
. Two television 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".
Her later film roles were in independent film
s 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
.
She is currently in production with her latest film, Disciple, a psychological thriller
about a serial killer
terrorizing a small town. She plays an attorney who gets involved in the sick twist of the town's brutal crimes. The film stars Persia White
and Tanya Thompson and is directed by The Clark Brothers
.
Hicks has expressed interest in pursuing a career in gospel music
.
She is currently married to Loren Dawson, with whom she has a son, and lives in North Jersey
, where she is working as a teacher.
Soundtracks
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
.
Career
Hicks graduated in 1993 from Grace Dodge Vocational High School in Bronx, New York.Hicks began her film career with a role alongside Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
in the 1993 film, A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young Italian-American teenager as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri...
. Her subsequent film roles were small: 1995's Just Cause
Just Cause (film)
Just Cause is a 1995 film directed by Arne Glimcher and starring Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne. It is based on John Katzenbach's novel of the same name.-Plot:...
with Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
and Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III is an American film and stage actor, playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, as Cowboy Curtis on the 1980's television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, and as singer-musician Ike Turner...
, and 1996's Educating Matt Waters and The Preacher's Wife
The Preacher's Wife
The Preacher's Wife is a 1996 romantic-family-dramedy-christmas film directed by Penny Marshall, and starring Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, and Loretta Devine. It is a remake of the 1947 film The Bishop's Wife....
with Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
. It was not until 1997 in the HBO original film, Subway Stories
Subway Stories
Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground was a film made in 1997 and produced by Home Box Office for television. It began as a contest among New Yorkers who submitted stories about their experiences within the New York City Subway. HBO picked ten of the stories and cast mostly well-known or...
, that audiences began to take notice. As the "Woman with Flowers" who sang to her mother on the payphone
Payphone
A payphone or pay phone is a public telephone, often located in a phone booth or a privacy hood, with pre-payment by inserting money , a credit or debit card, or a telephone card....
, her performance was widely deemed to be one of the best in the film.
In 1997, Hicks signed a deal with Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
and released an album titled This Time. The single "Ooh, Ooh Baby", produced, written by, and featuring Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
, charted on the Billboard R&B singles chart. However, the lead single intended to debut her singing career was "Distant Lover
Distant Lover
"Distant Lover" is the sixth song issued on singer Marvin Gaye's 1973 album, Let's Get It On and was later issued as a live recording in 1974. The live version of the song was Gaye's most successful single during the three-year gap between Let's Get It On and his following 1976 album, I Want...
", an uptempo track produced by Teddy Riley
Teddy Riley (new jack swing)
Edward Theodore Riley , professionally known as Teddy Riley, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, keyboardist, and record producer credited with the creation of New Jack Swing. Through his production work with Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown, Doug E. Fresh, Today, Keith Sweat, Heavy D., Jane...
. The album did not take off until the second single, "Silly", a remake of the classic R&B hit by Deniece Williams
Deniece Williams
June Deniece Chandler known by her stage name Deniece Williams is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s...
, was released. Featuring a black-and-white video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
directed by Hype Williams
Hype Williams
Harold "Hype" Williams , previously known as HYPE, is an American music video and film director of African-American and Honduran descent. His nickname "Hype" comes from his hyperactive nature as a child....
, the single charted well on the R&B chart. After collaborating on the video for "Silly", Hype Williams
Hype Williams
Harold "Hype" Williams , previously known as HYPE, is an American music video and film director of African-American and Honduran descent. His nickname "Hype" comes from his hyperactive nature as a child....
cast Hicks as in his directorial film debut (and in her largest role to date), 1998's Belly
Belly (film)
Belly is a 1998 film, the film directorial debut of music video director Hype Williams. Filmed in New York City as an urban drama, the film stars rappers DMX and Nas, alongside with Taral Hicks, Method Man dancehall artist Louie Rankin, R&B singer T-Boz...
, as Kisha, DMX
DMX (rapper)
Earl Simmons , better known by his stage name DMX, is a multiplatinum American rapper and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s. His stage name pays tribute to the Oberheim DMX drum machine, an instrument he used when he made his own rap beats in the 80's...
's girlfriend. The video for "Silly" appeared in one of the film's scenes.
Following the film's release in 1998, Hicks was absent from film and music until 2000, when she appeared on screen in the short film, Are You Cinderella?, with actor Wood Harris
Wood Harris
Sherwin David "Wood" Harris is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO television drama The Wire, and as high-school football player Julius Campbell in the 2000 motion picture Remember the Titans.-Life and career:Harris was born in...
. Two television guest roles followed: 2002's 100 Centre Street
100 Centre Street
100 Centre Street is an American legal drama created by Sidney Lumet and starring Alan Arkin.-Premise:The show takes its name for the street address of the criminal division of the New York Supreme Court for New York County. The show aired in the United States on the A&E Network cable television...
in the episode titled "Fathers", and a 2003 episode of Soul Food: The Series titled "The New Math".
Her later film roles were in independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
s such as 2005's The Salon
The Salon
The Salon was a British reality TV show where various members of the public were invited daily to have treatments in a studio built beauty salon situated in Balham, south-west London, and in the second series, a purpose-built studio inside the Trocadero, Piccadilly Circus.-Overview:Viewers were...
, with Vivica A. Fox
Vivica A. Fox
Vivica Anjanetta Fox is an American actress and television producer. She is best known for her roles in the films Independence Day, Set It Off, Soul Food, Why Do Fools Fall In Love,Kill Bill and Juwanna Mann....
, Dondre Whitfield
Dondre Whitfield
Dondre T. Whitfield is an American television actor.-Career:Whitfield attended the Performing Arts High School in New York City, New York. He was featured on the sitcom The Cosby Show as Robert Foreman...
, and Darrin Henson
Darrin Henson
Darrin Dewitt Henson in The Bronx, New York City, New York is an American choreographer, dancer, actor, director and producer.-Career:...
; 2006's Forbidden Fruits with Ella Joyce
Ella Joyce
Ella Joyce is an American actress.Born Cherron Hoye in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Joyce graduated from the Performing Arts Curriculum at Cass Technical High School, and went on to attend the Dramatic Arts program at Eastern Michigan University...
, Fredro Starr
Fredro Starr
Fredro Scruggs better known by his stage name Fredro Starr, is an American rapper and actor from South Jamaica, Queens, New York best known as a member of hardcore hip hop group Onyx.-Music career:...
, and R&B singer Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat is an American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality and a major contributor to the new jack swing era.-Music career:...
; 2007's Humenetomy; and 2010's Ex$pendable
Ex$pendable
Ex$pendable is a 2008 urban film written by Julian Phillips and Shurwill Langston, and produced by Sean Shurwil Langston and directed by Frank E. Jackson, Jr. It features an ensemble cast that includes Gary Sturgis, Taral Hicks, Omillio Sparks, Sundy Carter, William L. Johnson, Thuliso Dingwall,...
.
She is currently in production with her latest film, Disciple, a psychological thriller
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
about a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
terrorizing a small town. She plays an attorney who gets involved in the sick twist of the town's brutal crimes. The film stars Persia White
Persia White
Persia White is an American actress and musician. White is known for playing free-spirited professional student Lynn Searcy on the long-running sitcom Girlfriends. She is also a member of the industrial rock band XEO3 and a solo singer, releasing her debut album Mecca in 2010.-Early life and...
and Tanya Thompson and is directed by The Clark Brothers
The Clark Brothers
Sons of Sylvia is an American country pop trio composed of three brothers with the surname Clark: Adam , Ashley and Austin . All three, along with their three other brothers Aaron, Andrew, and Alan, originally comprised a sextet called The Clark Family Experience...
.
Hicks has expressed interest in pursuing a career in gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
.
She is currently married to Loren Dawson, with whom she has a son, and lives in North Jersey
North Jersey
North Jersey is a colloquial term, with no precise consensus definition, for the northern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. A straightforward, noncolloquial term for the region is northern New Jersey.- Two-portion approaches :...
, where she is working as a teacher.
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak Position' | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 200 | Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
||
| 1997 | This Time | - | - |
Singles
| Year | Song | Peak Position | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | ||
| 1996 | "Ooh, Ooh Baby" (featuring Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one... ) |
- | 81 |
| 1997 | "Distant Lover" | - | 60 |
| 1998 | "Silly" | 104 | 54 |
| "How Can I Get Over You" | - | - |
Soundtracks
- 1996: The AssociateThe Associate (soundtrack)The Associate is the original motion picture soundtrack of the self-titled movie from 1996, starring Whoopi Goldberg, the winner of a Grammy, seven Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Tony, as well as an Oscar....
(on "Yes We Can CanYes We Can Can"Yes We Can Can" is a 1973 funk classic recorded by the American R&B girl group the Pointer Sisters and released on the Blue Thumb record label...
" with Chantay SavageChantay SavageChantay Savage is an R&B/dance singer who found substantial success in the 1990s with "I Will Survive", in which she reworked the Gloria Gaynor disco anthem...
, LaShanda Reese and The Pointer Sisters)