Crystal Tamar Kicks Off Black Music Pop-Up Podcast

 In celebration of Black Music Month in June 2021, R&B singer Crystal Tamar pays homage to some of her favorite soul classics with a daily, pop-up podcast series, “Crystal Tamar Presents – Serenade: Best Song Duets.” Streaming on her Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook pages and CrystalTamar.com website at 2 p.m. TODAY, Monday, June 14, to  Friday, June 18, each episode of the five-part series features Crystal Tamar and a special guest R&B aficionado listening to and discussing songs from her personal playlist, sharing factoids, and personal memories.

Credit: Jeremy Gray of Creative Jeremy Gray

Guests include Craig Seymour from Craig’s Pop Life (Monday), Cynthia Horner from Right On! Digital (Tuesday), Aries Dendy from Urban Bridgez (Wednesday), Lexx Jonez from KMEL (Thursday), and Shameika Rhymes from Check The Rhymes (Friday). And the daily music discussions will highlight beloved soul duets from the likes of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo, Usher and Alicia Keys, and Brandy and Wanya Morris.

During the show, Crystal Tamar will also premiere the behind-the-scenes video for “Serenade” today, Monday, June 14, and the official full-length “Serenade” video on Thursday, June 17. Produced by Christopher Duncanson and Michael A. Gordon, “Serenade” is the third single from her self-titled debut EP.

Filmed in Los Angeles, the video for the soulful and sensual ballad “Serenade” was produced by Story Lit Films and captures Crystal Tamar in a number of gorgeous looks as she displays her flawless, hypnotic vocals and compassionate lyrics about true love. “I knew the video for ‘Serenade’ had to scream love and romance from the rooftops. I was honestly inspired by those Charlize Theron J’adore perfume commercials. You can’t watch those without yelling at the TV ‘GIRL … YOU BETTA!’” she says with a laugh. “It was also equally important to make the audience identify with wanting to serenade their own love and it not be all about me.”

The video also spotlights the talented and graceful dancer Sidney Johnson. Crystal Tamar says, “I thought inviting a contemporary dancer would artistically get that done. Kind of like that old EnVogue video where the dancer made you reflect on the meaning more than the group. Ms. Sidney Johnson, our lovely principal dancer out of LA, blessed our set in under half an hour and killed it!”

The audio version of “Serenade” is available on digital service providers and the “Serenade (Acoustic)” featuring guitarist Ben Misterka can be viewed on Crystal Tamar’s YouTube page.

How did Crystal Tamar get her start?

 After years of performing in a La Marque, Texas family singing group with her sisters and cousin, being a member of Prairie View A&M University’s legendary Marching Storm’s “Black Foxes” and serving as captain of the NFL’s Houston Texan’s cheerleading squad, Crystal Tamar landed an opportunity to join Sophia Fresh, a girl group signed T-Pain’s Nappy Boy Entertainment imprint on Atlantic Records. The group achieved modest success, working with Kanye West, CeeLo Green, Marsha Ambrosius, TI, Kandi Burruss, Tyga, and a dozen others. Their 2008 single “What It Is” featuring Kanye West received heavy airplay on West Coast radio stations and their 2010 single “This Instant” with T-Pain appeared on the Step It Up 3D soundtrack. Crystal Tamar performed on a number of national roadshows including, T-Pain and the Family – Playlist Tour 2008, Pastry Tour 2009, Graduation Party Tour 2009, and Seventeen Magazine Tour 2009.

When Sophia Fresh disbanded, Crystal Tamar relocated to California’s Bay Area to pursue her solo career and has since been featured on Bizzle’s “Feel Good” and “Did For Me,” the latter featuring Canton Jones. She has also appeared as a voiceover actress in the animated comedy Freaknik: The Musical with T-Pain, Snoop Dogg, and Rick Ross as well as the CG-animated film The Sky Princess starring Vivica A. Fox. In 2019, she released her self-titled debut EP.