Natina Reed

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Natina Reed
Queens, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 26, 2012(2012-10-26) (aged 31)
Resting placeNorth Atlanta Memorial Park, Dunwoody, Georgia
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • actress
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1996–2012
Labels
Websitetherealnatina.com (archive)

Natina Tiawana Reed (October 28, 1980 – October 26, 2012) was an American singer, rapper and actress. She was born in New York City and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where she pursued a career in music beginning in her early teens. Discovered by rapper Lisa Lopes, she worked as a writer for the girl group TLC. Reed gained notice in the late 1990s as a member of the girl group Blaque. They released two albums: their 1999 eponymous debut album that peaked at number 53 on the Billboard 200, and Blaque Out (2001).

Reed starred as a cheerleader in the 2000

comedy-drama television series V.I.P. and the 2003 dance film Honey. Blaque disbanded after an unsuccessful transition to Elektra in 2003 and failed an attempt at a reunion in 2010. Reed took a hiatus from music to further pursue acting. In the early 2000s, she was engaged to rapper Kurupt and gave birth to their son. On October 26, 2012, just 2 days before her 32nd birthday, Reed died after being struck by a car near Lilburn, Georgia
.

Life and career

1980–1996: Early life and career beginnings

Reed was born on October 28, 1980, in

Atlanta, Georgia, when Reed was age four. She had two sisters, Niesha and Genni Reed, and one brother, Michael Whalen. Her parents divorced, resulting in Reed having a stepfather, Mark Goodridge, a stepmother, Luci Reed, and seven step-siblings who live in London.[1] She was singer Farrah Franklin's cousin.[4] Reed initially wanted to be either Miss America, a veterinarian, an actress, and entertainment attorney.[1][5] By age eight, she had modeled for Macy's and Bloomingdale's advertising campaigns and acted in a hot dog commercial.[1]

Reed played drums at her father's church and performed as part of its drama ministry.

1997–1999: Blaque

Lopes created the girl group

rap music. Jean-Claude Olivier of Trackmasters said that Blaque was more pop in comparison to TLC.[9] Blaque first appeared as a group during a cameo appearance in the music videos for the remix of Lil' Kim's 1997 single "Not Tonight" and Jermaine Dupri's 1998 song "Someday at Christmas".[13][14] In 1999, they performed as the opening act for NSYNC's NSYNC in Concert and TLC's FanMail Tour.[15][16]

The group recorded their eponymous debut album with producer Dallas Austin in a Miami studio. They also worked on the record at Lenny Kravitz's home for two weeks. The trio collaborated with rappers Missy Elliott and Queen Latifah during the recording sessions.[6] Reed was the primary writer for Blaque,[5][7] having co-writing credits on seven of the album's 14 tracks;[17] "I Do" was written entirely by Reed.[17] Her tracks were published through Dotted Line (Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)).[9] A Los Angeles Sentinel writer identified Reed as "the sassy MC who gave hits like '808' their punch",[18] while Bruce Britt of BMI characterized her musical style as "brash hip-hop rhymes".[19] In her 2008 book Pop Princesses, author Beth Peters wrote that Reed's reputation was "notoriously naughty" and "wild, fiery, and feisty".[5]

Blaque was released June 1, 1999, under Trackmasters'

gold for selling over 500,000 copies worldwide.[24] When Reed was 14, she wrote "I Do" after seeing singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette on MTV.[5][27] She said: "I wanted to write a song that could make an artist like her have the acceptance to be played on [R&B] stations."[27] A writer for BET noted the group's music videos had a "futuristic feel",[28] and Reed said: "We're straight out of the year 2080."[29]

2000–2002: Bring It On and continuing music career

Reed played

teen comedy film Bring It On, her first acting role.[30][31] She described the character as "the one with the attitude" and "ghetto and cute at the same time".[5] She appeared alongside Williams and Fears, who played LaFred and Lava, friends to lead character Isis (played by Gabrielle Union).[5][31][32] Reed, Williams and Fears would often look into the camera when delivering their lines, because of their lack of acting experience.[31] Blaque contributed two songs to the film's soundtrack: "As If" and a remix of "Bring It All to Me" featuring verses from rapper 50 Cent.[31][33] On the 15th anniversary of its release, Union said that people erroneously associate Reed's lines ("Can we just beat these Buffys down?" and "You been touched by an angel, girl") with her character.[30]

Reed appeared as herself in a 2001 episode of the

comedy-drama television series V.I.P.[34] The same year, she was featured on the hook for her then-fiancée Kurupt's single "It's Over" from his third studio album Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey,[35][36] and appeared in its music video flirting with him.[37] Jazmin Perez of Vibe included it as one of the "tracks to watch",[35] though Reed's portion was criticized as childish and incongruent with the rest of the single.[36][38] "It's Over" peaked at number 88 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard chart.[39] Blaque was featured on the song "Head to the Sky" on Lopes' debut solo album Supernova also released in 2001.[40]

On January 29, 2002, Blaque's second studio album

digital download in 2007 in the United States and was reissued in 2011.[8] Discussing its release, Reed said that the death of a group member's mother and "technical difficulties" led to the delays.[37] "Can't Get It Back" (2001) was the lead single from the album,[42] and promoted with a music video.[43] The song charted at number 91 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[44] Reed felt that Blaque Out was the group's best album.[6] She is credited as a songwriter on it.[45] In a review of Blaque Out, Demetria Lucas of Vibe criticized Reed's verses and vocals as too similar to Lopes and wrote it "makes for monotony".[46] Blaque made a cameo appearance in the music video for Jermaine Dupri's single "Welcome to Atlanta" (2002).[47] In the same year, Reed's song "Rock Climber" was featured on the compilation album Dragonfly Presents a Better Life Through Chemistry.[48][49]

2003–2012: Career setbacks and hiatus

In 2003, Blaque recorded a third album Torch with Elektra, which was never released.[6][8][b] The group worked closely with Missy Elliott on five of the album's tracks.[6][53] Scheduled for release in August 2003, it was promoted with the single "Ugly" featuring verses by Elliott.[50][53] Reed was unhappy with Torch's musical direction and her lack of creative control. According to Reed, Blaque retains the rights for the album, and they collectively refused to release it. She explained: "If it's not necessary to give them a record that we don't even too much care for, why give it to them?"[6] Despite it not being released, Ernest Hardy of Vibe somehow obtained a copy of Torch and in a review wrote that Reed's raps are "filled with hiccup effects, yeah-yeahs, and nasal phrasing", "lifted" from Lopes, describing the album as "passable, if highly derivative".[50]

In 2004, Blaque contributed the single "I'm Good" to the soundtrack album for the 2003 dance film Honey,[54] and make a cameo appearance as themselves.[55] "I'm Good" was Blaque's highest-charting single in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.[54] The song also reached number 95 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[44] Blaque separated in 2004,[56] and Fears and Williams pursued careers as solo artists.[23] Before the group broke up, singer Erica Pullins was temporarily hired as a replacement for Reed.[57][58] A compilation album Blaque by Popular Demand was released on February 27, 2007.[59]

Reed said that she took a hiatus from her music career "to focus on other aspirations that she ha[d] including acting".

driving without a license,[67][68] and was jailed for two days.[68] Reed's license had been revoked after a previous DUI arrest.[68] During their hiatus, Blaque attempted a reunion, and worked on a project known as Private Show.[6][56] The album was abandoned because the members had different priorities.[6][61]

In a 2012 interview, Reed said she waited to pursue a solo career to avoid comparisons with other artists, specifically rapper Nicki Minaj.[6] Prior to her death, she was working on a solo album, a book, and scripts and hired an acting agent as a means of "revamping her career".[6][69] Reed had reunited previously with the Blaque group members for a performance at the Left Eye festival.[6] In the fall of 2012, Blaque had started work on an album and reality television show,[12][32] but further information about either project was not released following Reed's death.[32]

Personal life

An image of a man wearing blue shirt and flashing a hand sign to the camera.
Reed was engaged to Kurupt (pictured in 2011) in the early 2000s— they have one child together.

During the early 2000s, Reed became engaged to Kurupt though the couple never married.

Broken Silence.[37][72] Reed responded to MTV News
:

You can't chase something that doesn't chase you back [...] I don't spend a lot of time thinking about what people think about me. It's petty — it's like people never grow up in this game. You watch

Pac went through, and people still don't get the message. They still want to start the wars and create fires.[37]

Reed became pregnant with Kurupt's child during the recording of Blaque Out; she said that the album's limited release was the result of her pregnancy and the label's uncertainty over the group's future.

La Ceiba, Honduras, in 2002,[11] Reed was interviewed for a BET Tonight episode about her life.[74] Reed said she lived with Lopes three months before her son's birth and was taken care of during her pregnancy.[74] Tren, who had lived with Kurupt for four years before Reed's death, remained with his father.[75] Reed's father said he planned to raise money to help Tren.[76]

Death

On October 26, 2012, just two days shy of her 32nd birthday, the driver of a red

On November 3, a public

press conference in Atlanta to criticize the police investigation. According to their attorney, the police had ignored their requests for information about "the time of incident, exact location, information about the driver and even Reed's personal belongings". Police released a report an hour after the conference was scheduled, responding that "they did not hold back any information".[69]

Awards and nominations

Reed was nominated for several accolades for her work with Blaque. For "808", the trio was nominated for Best R&B/Soul Or Rap New Artist at the 1999

MTV Video Music Awards,[86] and the group won Best New Artist-R&B at the 2000 Billboard Video Awards for "Bring It All To Me".[87] The group was nominated for Best Female Group at the 2001 BET Awards.[88]

Discography

Guest appearances

Year Title Album
2001 "It's Over"
(Kurupt featuring Natina Reed)
Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey

Filmography

List of film and television roles
Title Year Medium Role Notes
Bring It On 2000 Feature film Jenelope Film debut
V.I.P. 2001 TV series Herself Episode: "Kayus Ex Machina"
Honey 2003 Feature film Cameo appearance
Til 6 in the Morning by Platinum Souls 2008 Television film
List of music video appearances
Title Year Artist
"Not Tonight" 1997 Lil' Kim
"Welcome To Atlanta" 2001 Ludacris
"It's Over" 2001 Kurupt

Notes

  1. ^ For the international release, the album was titled Blaque Ivory.[21]
  2. ^ Despite reports that Torch was not released, AllMusic erroneously reported that it was made available on August 5, 2003 and it was reviewed by Vibe.[50][51] According to the database Rate Your Music, a bootleg of the album was released in 2003.[52]
  3. ^ Reed's charges are not listed on the websites for the Gwinnett County Courts or the Gwinnett County Jail.[65]
  4. ^ Reed's mother said that she was living in a hotel during the process of moving into a new home.[82]

References

Citations

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Book sources

External links

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