Singer/ songwriter Taura Stinson has enjoyed a successful career in the music industry. Not only has she written for megastars such as Destinyâs Child, Kelis, Kelly Rowland and Deborah Cox, she has also racked up some fantastic movie credits. However, her newest venture the release of her new book, titled 100 Things Every Black Girl Should Know.
ShineMyCrown talked to Taura Stinson about her new book, and about her incredible career.
ShineMyCrown: What made you decide to write â100 Things Every Black Girl Should Knowâ?
Taura Stinson: It was pretty much just inspired by my mistakes and the mistakes of my friends, and family, and just working in the music industry, and watching helplessly as girls fall in [the same] traps. You know, just, your recording studios and music video sets and things like that, and just wishing that I could say some ⊠Sometimes you donât want to offer unsolicited advice. I donât anyway, so I just kind of keep quiet, and then all these things built up, and it literally could have been 1000 Things Every Black Girl Should Know. I just wanted to make it attainable, and something thatâs gonna stick, instead of something that they canât even grasp because itâs too much. So I wanted it to be just compact enough for them to get it.
SMC: What do you think are the biggest obstacles that black girls have to face in 2017?
TS: Honestly, when they say it starts at home, that ⊠It starts at home. It starts with ourselves if you look at yourself as being home. So I think one of the biggest obstacles that we face are just not being able to be of help to each other. Everybodyâs so worried about getting ahead, and itâs kind of like a crabs in a bucket mentality, nobodyâs looking out to help each other. And, you know, just reaching back once they get to ⊠Once we get to where weâre going sometimes, as a people, we have this mindset of, âOkay, well Iâve got mine.â But thatâs a huge hindrance, and if we all have the mentality that for every step I take Iâm gonna help someone take a step too, weâd all be together. Weâd all be further along, as a people, and as a gender, because, as Black women, we have gender biases, as well as racial biases that we have to face. So yeah. We have that double whammy.
SMC: The book is available digitally, but thereâs also a paperback version?
TS: Yeah, thereâs a paperback version.
SMC: Where can we get ahold of the paperback version?
TS: On Amazon, Booktopia, Books-A-Million. I also offer direct book sales. Iâve done a couple of deals with different school districts, but I donât do hand to hand, just like one book at a time, but I will sell 30 or more books from my ⊠Someone just wantsâs to email me, they can get those books directly from me at taurastinson.com. But a really reliable resource is amazon.com. Cause everybodyâs got that Prime, you can get it in two days.
SMC: So youâve written for a whole host of people, and composed, and all kinds of stuff. What does it feel like when you see your name in the credits for people who are known all over the globe?
TS: It never gets old, to be honest. Sometimes itâs kind of like, âOh man.â When you see your name, especially, I write a lot for film, so when you read those credits itâs normally, like, these huge names and then your name scrolls by, you get a huge sense of pride. I always do. And today, I just found out that a song that I wrote for a documentary called Step got nominated for a Criticâs Choice Award. So thatâs a new feeling that I can get used to as well. I liked it.
SMC: Congratulations!
TS: Thank you!
SMC: What has been your most memorable collaboration to date, and why?
TS: Thatâs an easy one, cause Iâve written for a lot of people, but I wrote the Grammy-nominated song âShow Me the Way,â I keep looking at my phone to make sure I have enough battery, âShow Me the Wayâ for Earth, Wind & Fire. So when I wrote that song, the late Maurice White was alive, and it was one of his last studio sessions before he had gotten sick. Then he kind of went into seclusion for, maybe, eight years before passing. So working with him was really great because I know he is the voice of several generations, and heâs almost like Stevie Wonder in the way that he has written all these wonderful songs, and for him to tell me, just simply, âYouâve got it, kid.â Then I feel like thatâs a real stamp of approval.
Also, my late, musical father was Leon Ware, and he wrote the I Want You album for Marvin Gaye. He wrote a lot of songs for Minnie Riperton, and the Jacksons, and heâs just a legendary songwriter. So I worked under his tutelage for a while, learning to never sacrifice a word for anything. Words are just as valuable as anything else in our world. I learned that sometimes people follow trends, but if you just brush up on your literary skills and keep reading, youâll always become a better writer. So those are probably the two collaborations that Iâve held close to my heart.
SMC: Youâre a brand ambassador for O Magazine. By the way, Oprah is one my heroes, side note. How did that happen? Iâm asking for a friendâŠ
TS: *Laughs* Yeah, because you can really go and sign up. It was, literally, I was online late one night, and I filled out a document on oprah.com. They were like, âDo you want to be an O Magazine ambassador?â And then they tell you in that contract, or whatever, in the very fine print. âOh, weâre gonna choose 50 people in one year.â And I never win anything, so I didnât think that I was gonna win it, I just filled it out, and then I got that letter saying you were chosen. It was kind of crazy because we were then inaugural group, they were kind of figuring it out as they go along with us.
But weâve gotten so many different things. Like, eight different women were just chosen, thereâs one guy in our group, he got chosen as well, to go to the different things, giveaways. I didnât get that, but I did get a Clinique advertisement. Itâs actually coming out tomorrow in Oprah Magazine.
SMC: Oh, wow.
TS: Yeah, I was just like, âWhat? Iâm flying to New York to shoot for Clinique?â I never thought I would model, but apparently, Clinique thought I would be okay for it. And you get to try and test out products, and hopefully, weâre gonna meet her some of ⊠Well, Iâm gonna meet her regardless. I just believe that I will, and thatâs just what itâs gonna be. But I have not met her, even though she has emailed me. And I put a portion of her email in my book.
SMC: Right. How do you manage to balance everything? Because you do a lot!
TS: I use my personal assistant a lot, her name is Siri. Iâm like, âSiri, do not let me forget to do blah, blah, blah.â *Laughs*
But really, I talk to Siri all the time, like, she runs my life. Iâm like, âOkay, oh yeah, thatâs right.â And I look in my phone at something that totally forgot it would pop up, cause Iâm in the Bay Area now. I went and spoke to a school this morning, I went to a college on Saturday, and then I have a music fest to do too all throughout the week. I told my mom, âIâm going to sleep next Sunday.â But itâs great because there have been times when Iâve just been sitting around for months, like, âNothingâs happening.â So I really prefer this.
SMC: And whatâs next for you? Are there any more books following? Music projects? What do the following months look like?
TS: I donât have a new book in the works I could share. I am working, but I just keep going back and forth. Iâm like, âOh my god, what is this gonna be?â But I have a couple ideas that Iâm playing around with. Musically, Iâm just looking forward to award season for the songs. I usually write end-title songs for film, so I did the song âJumpâ for Cynthia Erivo. Sheâs a Broadway star whoâs won a Tony recently and a Grammy, so it would only be right that she wins this Oscar.
Iâm also on the music branch committee for the Academy, so Iâm looking forward to just interacting with the other branch committee members like Common, and different people, just to continue to diversify the Oscars and the Academy. On November 17th, I have an end title that I co-wrote with Mary J. Blige and Raphael Saadiq. Itâs a Netflix movie, but thatâs also eligible for Golden Globes, Oscars, the whole bit. And that song is called âMighty Riverâ performed by Mary J. Blige, who also stars in the movie.
So, looking forward to that. Iâm gonna, probably, try to have a viewing party of some kind. And then, you know, just continue to write. I have a blog that I have been neglecting, and I just want to challenge myself to write more, because the more I write, the more I read, I become a better writer. So, my plan is to just write my way through it, no matter what Iâm doing, always continue to stay active as a writer. Both musically, and from a literary perspective.
SMC: What is âblack girl magicâ to you?
TS: Well, I mean, it is everything. To me, when I think of magic, I think of it lighting up, it being like a sparkle in darkness, a light in darkness. I believe that we are that light. We are, for each other, like, we can help each other through so much. And this is a cold, dark world that weâre living in right now, and we just make everything better. From Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, to Solange. Everybodyâs just in their zone right now, and it does everything for the culture. Rather than, there was a time when we were synonymous with being angry or being promiscuous, or whatever it is. Now, we are synonymous with being a light, being magical. But I donât feel like itâs something that isnât real.
I heard someone said that one, âJust because itâs magic doesnât mean itâs real.â Itâs very real, and itâs tangible, and itâs a power that we all possess as black and brown girls that are here to light this world because we are the salt of this earth. We are the light of this world.
Order your copy of 100 Things Every Black Girl Should Know by clicking this link.
