TYDmusic.com: My Review-102

Nina Sky ft: Jabba & Continuous- Move ya Body: (Universal)

Each year, there are songs that come and go and then they are those songs that just stick out in your brain. You know the songs that you know the words to by heart, that you move to every time you hear it and one such song is Nina Sky's remx of 'Move Ya Body'.

The song has become as infectious as a virus you get on a computer and why not it's being played just about every hour on the hour on almost every hip hop/R&B radio station playlsit across the country (not to mention some pop ones too). The culprits are two 19-year-old identical twins named Nicole and Natalie Albino from Astoria, Queens aka Nina Sky and they now have one of the hottest tunes in the country that is steadily climbing the charts.

The song itself is relatively nothing new (last years hit by Lumidee 'Never Leave' is a testiment to that fact) but with a touch of Jamaica's dancehall riddim and a few lines borrowed from Lisa Lisa and Cult Jams 'Can You Feel The Beat', 'Move Ya Body' does offer the latest summer anthem for your listening ear. Adding to the mix is dancehall toasters Jabba and Continuous who adds their distinctive yardie flair to the track and therefore secures this one to be a winner all round.

So what about these relative newcomers who calls themselves Nina Sky and what about the name itself how did that come about. The ladies made this comment in a recent interview to VH1 - "We grew up in a culturally diverse neighborhood," says Nicole, the twin with a stud in her lower lip. "We always heard different types of music playing. One day someone would blast rap out their window. The next day it would be Spanish or Greek music. We were really influenced by that. We chose the name Nina by using the first two letters of our own names then we added the sky because Natalie was always likening our personalities to the sun and the moon".

Their self-titled debut album is to be in stores August 8th and from what early reviews shows that they have some nice tunes there to check out. Look out for the set coming to a store near you. A TY-D Pick

Listen to Nina Sky ft: Jabba & Continuous - 'Move Ya Body' (rmx)

Sir TY

Tarralyn Ramsey - Heaven (Casablanca/Univ)

With the likes of the fore mentioned Nina Sky and JoJo heading up the new school year for R&B/Pop, the latest to enter the class is a young singer who looks set to be on the verge of stardom. Her name is Tarralyn Ramsey and although you may not know her name there's a good chance that you will in the near future.

The 22 year old Melbourne, Floridia born, Jacksonville native is now making waves as the recent winner of the 'Born to Diva' contest held by VH1, she is the first artist to be signed to the reborned Casablanca record label headed by Sony exec Tommy Mottola (distributed by Universal). With new self-titled album getting ready to hit store shelves, Tarralyn reflects on her dream.

"I've always been the kind of girl who likes to sit in her room and read and write and listen to my CDs, and stand in front of the mirror with the hairbrush and practice singing my songs - and actually make believe, I guess, that I'm onstage in front of thousands of people singing."

Very much like those she idoled and draw inspiration (Aretha Franklin, Mahailia Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey) she too has cut her chops in the church where she sang her first solo at age three, (the song 'You Don't Know Me Yet' at the Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in neighboring Palm Bay). With encouragement from both parents (her mother a schoolteacher and father in the construction business) she would sing at every opportunity and teachers took notice at her school. There are tapes of her singing 'God Bless America' over the p.a. system during morning announcements in elementary school.

An underage Tarralyn was allowed to audition for a community choir, Youth United For Christ, and gained exposure as the group's youngest soloist, as they traveled far and wide opening for the biggest gospel acts. She would move to Jacksonville and so the story begins of her auditioning for the Born to Diva contest.

She's now made that dream a reality with her debut single 'Up Against All Odds' which incidently is the song that swept the final VH1 competition and won her America's votes. The album called 'Tarralyn' is produced by Cory Rooney who also served as co-creater and executive producer for the 'Born To Diva' talent contest.

The song I'm reveiwing from the album is 'Heaven' a song that is both spiritual and uplifting in every sense of its meaning. Blessed with a solid baseline and the chords of a gospel choir, Heaven drives on the qualities of a soothing R&B track that is steered with the gospel spoken word. Tarralyn is true to form in her performance and poses herself to be aorund in this industry for quite some time. A TY-D Pick indeed and one not to be missed here.

Listen to Tarralyn Ramsey's - 'Heaven'

Sir TY