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Artist
When futuristic soul singer Tiara Wiles sings, you can hear the happy vibe of a person destined to make music. Her step father was a b-boy/producer; her grandmother a successful touring lounge singer, her mother’s a soulful, hardworking single mom and their stereo was always live: from NWA to Nirvana, Janet Jackson to Prince. Today, Tiara synthesizes that soul with here-and-now beats and a sexiness that is all her own. She conjures up New Jack Swing, Anita Baker, Citizen Cope and MIA, and delivers it all with her own sultry sound. “I make music that can make people happy, you can let things go when you hear it,” she says. She’s not 100% sweetheart, though. Tiara Wiles’ songs might make people happy, sure, but they also make people want to shake it. Back in Time is a standout track that’s bound to be a club banger. Her easy laugh and self-confidence show that she was raised feeling love—like music—flow through her home. She’s comfortable in her skin, but it hasn’t always been that easy. When Tiara was 10 she moved from inner city Pittsburgh to a predominantly white suburb. She went from not feeling black enough around her city friends to struggling with her culture in a school where she stood out. She also felt the sting of her father’s absence, renewed every time he didn’t help out her mother—and even today as she works to put herself through college. Tiara chose Howard University for college, where she knew she’d be around “black people doing positive things.” This year s