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December 20, 2007
Tifa is no "tinky winky"
By: Joseph Cunningham
With a strong musical background, Latifa Brown who is known by the stage name Tifa, enters the Dancehall fray.
Her stepfather, who she affectionately calls Sampalue, is a reggae
producer who assisted in the building of several music careers such as
Lady Saw. Her connection to him gave her a deep rooted love for dancehall music.
No wonder that as an infant attending Wolmer's Preparatory she became
actively involved in the school choir, drama club and the renowned
Wolmer's Dance Troop with which she won a gold medal in the 1994 festival competition.
Her young talents were also displayed during the 1995 musical Psalty, the "Singing Song Book," staged at the National Arena and also in Montego Bay.
Tifa was also a member of the Ashe Caribbean Performing Arts Academy and Ensemble with which she extensively toured the Caribbean and North America during 1996 to 2000.
As she grew older, and while attending Wolmer's High School for Girls,
Tifa focused on dancing, and played lead roles by choreographing several of her high school concerts. As recognition for her choreographing talents grew, so did her passion for singing and song writing.
"My parents' hobby was collecting records, so I was exposed to musical
legends such as Earth Wind and Fire, Patti Labelle and Aretha Franklin, from I was very young," Tifa said.
Within mainstream Dancehall, Tifa has worked with elite producer, Danny Champagne from Champagne International Records.
Today, she is a Ward 21 artist, and since joining that camp, has recorded the popular songs, "I'm So Sorry," "Kitty Police" for Tj records and "Ready Tonight" for Mo Music on the migraine rhythm, as well as a host of other singles for various known producers.
Tifa is now working on her album, "Sex, Love and Lies," which is set for release in Japan and Europe between March and April 2008. "I've been recording a lot, and I have in excess of 80 songs to choose from for the album, and of course "No Tinky Winky" will be on it." An animated version of the "Tinky Winky" video will be done for the Japanese market. She added that a Jamaican release date will follow.