ÿtartlauh ©beerver Sisters Trina and Tamara have paid their dues, sharing their creative talents with a num­ ber of major recording artists including Brandy, Something For The People, Deborah Cox, Aaron Hall, Heavy D., Adina Howard and their own brother Jesse Powell. Most recently, they were featured on the tune “Lay You Down” on hitmaker Jermaine Dupri’s platinum al­ bum, Life in 1472. Now, with the release of their self-titled C olum bia d eb u t, T rina & Tamara are ready to step out and show the world what indus­ try insiders have known for the lasts few years. From the first dance-flavored first single, “W hat’d You Come Here For,’ to the haunting fla­ vor of "Blue,” Trina and Tamara deliver a fine mix of rhythmic grooves and slow jams that dem­ onstrate both their vocal and writing skills. Take “Joanne,’ a no-nonsense tale of a so-called friend with a m an-stealin’ plan: “That’s a situation a lot of young women go through,” says 1 rina. “We wrote some of the songs on the album from our own experi­ ences and some from the expe­ riences of our friends. If that happened to me? Well, most of my friends know not to even try it!” Tamara mentions a couple of songs on the album that are “about fantasies that women have. ‘Let’s Go’ is the story of a girl who sees a guy she finds very attractive. She’s telling him she wants to go for a ride in his car,’ she smiles, “but what she’s really saying has much more of a sexual meaning to it! Then the tune “29” (co-writter by Deborah Cox) is about a girl who’s at a ballgame and sees the player with the number 29 on his shirt...and she fantasizes about getting with him.” Public recognition for the tal­ ented siblings came when Some­ thing For The People were com­ pleting their second album as recording a rtists : T am ara helped write the song “My Love Is The Shhh!” which emerged as a pop and R&B smash for SFTP in 1997. The chart-top­ ping, million-selling single also featured Trina & Tamara vo­ cally and, aside from appearing in the popular video for the song, the duo performed exten­ sively with SFTP once they hit the road in ’97. “We spent about a year touring,” says Tamara, “and it was a great experience for us. Working with Something For The People was a real op­ portunity for us to let the public discover us.” That discovery process inevi­ tably extended to record execu­ tives who w ere im ­ pressed with the multi­ faceted talent of the two sisters. "We got quite a few offers,” Trina says, “and we chose Colum­ bia Records as our re­ cording hom e. We started working on the album at the start of 1998, w riting tunes, picking m aterial. We wanted to create a record that was well-rounded: you know, some sexy songs, some strong bal­ lads, something for ev­ eryone!” ‘B rovin S u g a r & Spice to p r o v id in g th e P o r tla n d a re a w ith to p - n o tc h t a l ­ f ro m v a rio u s As president and ow ner, 1 e n t e t h n i c i t i e s . O n e o f my *am p le a s e d to a n n o u n c e a g e n c y ’s c h a lle n g e s is to th e e s ta b lis h m e n t of in s u r e th a t th is is m ore B row n S u g a r & S p ic e T a l­ th a n j u s t lip s e rv ic e . ent M a n a g e m e n t. T he m is s io n o f B row n P o r tla n d ’s o n ly m o d el and S u g a r & S p ic e T a le n t ta le n t a g e n c y s p e c ia liz in g M a n a g e m e n t is to m ake in ta le n t o f a ll e th n ic d i ­ o p p o r tu n itie s in the e n te r ­ v e r s ity ! B ro w n S u g a r & ta in m e n t in d u s try - f a s h ­ S p ic e T a l e n t M a g a z in e w as e s t a b l i s h e d to a d ­ io n , p r in t, te le v is io n , and d re s s th e g ro w in g n e e d o f film m ed ia - a c c e s s ib le to a d v e r t i s e r s , f ilm m a k e r s , a ll in d iv id u a ls w ho p o s ­ and o th e r c o m p a n ie s fo r s e ss th e a m b itio n , d riv e , ta le n t from a ll e th n i c it ie s p a s s io n , and s e lf - d e te r m i­ to h e lp p r o m o t e t h e i r n a tio n fo r s u c c e s s . T he key to my s u c c e s s is s e ­ p r o d u c ts a n d s e r v ic e s . T h e r e s p o n s e to m y le c tin g ta le n t who p o s s e s s a g e n c y has b e e n v e ry f a ­ and e x e m p lify the q u a li­ v o ra b le in the in d u s tr y , as tie s s u m m a riz e d in th is my c lie n ts h a v e e x p re s s e d s im p le s ta te m e n t. My v e n tu re to w a rd e s ­ t h e ir a p p r e c ia t io n fo r a ta b lis h in g a m u lti- e th n ic p ro fe s s io n a l ta le n t a g e n c y in P o r tl a n d h a s a g e n c y th a t is c o m m itte d By C h arlen e M ashia b e e n a n y th in g b u t t r a d itio n a l. 1 h a v e a so lid b u s in e s s b a c k ­ g ro u n d h a v in g o b ­ ta in e d my d e g re e in a c c o u n tin g from the U n iv e rs ity o f P o r t ­ la n d , a M a s te r o f T a x a tio n d e g re e from P o rtla n d S ta te U n iv e rs ity an d r e ­ c e iv e d my C e r tif ie d P u b lic A c c o u n ta n ts (C P A ) lic e n s e from the s ta te o f O re g o n . I ’ve h e ld p o s itio n s w ith th e i n t e r n a ­ tio n a l a c c o u n tin g f ir m , C o o p e r s & L y b ran d (n o w P ric e w a te r h o u s e C o o p e rs ), and F o r ­ tu n e 5 0 0 , O re g o n - b a se d c o m p a n ie s N IK E , In c. and P a c if ic o r p . October 6, 1999 Page 3 H lc lT le n a m in s k e n n e d y S c h o o l frid ay, October 22 from 2 - 10pm L ive M u sic w ith Lily W ild e & H er B oyfriends 7 p m to 1 0 p m M c M e n a m tn s M a r c h in g B a n d H is to r y T o u r s 2pm a n d 3 p m • B a llo o n G u y E n te r to w in tic k e ts to th e N e w Y e a r ’s E v e S h o w fe a tu r in g N o r m a n S y lv e s t e r a n d H is B a n d McMenamins Kennedy School 5736 NE 33rd - Portland, Oregon • (503) 249-3983 www.mcmenamins.com ♦ «