Youth is only given to you once in your life and Tiffany Affair is enjoying every day of it. The birth of Tiffany Affair is a common bond of music with a special friendship that has kept these girls unified since their junior days. Bianca, Ayanna, Natasha and Gabrielle are a melting pot of style and culture.
How did you ladies meet each other to form the group?
Ayanna: We all met when we were in elementary school, we sang together in choir and we had classes together and stuff. We just realized that we had that common interest so it made us get close and become friends. Then when we all decided we wanted to sing professionally, seeing that we had been friends for so long, we knew that we wanted to go through this whole process together.
Prior to forming the group, did you compete with each other as solo artists?
Ayanna: No, it was never really a competitive thing because we were already friends and we weren’t really pursuing it professionally before we actually started the group. We all just kept singing and being really good friends with each other then we decided to pursue our dreams together.
Which part of New York City are you from?
Ayanna: We all are originally from Manhattan but I live in Yonkers now. Gabrielle and Natasha live in Long Island.
Bianca: I still live in Manhattan.
Which school did y’all actually meet up in?
Gabrielle: This school in lower Manhattan, P.S. 2 Junior High 56.
How did you come up with the group name? Was it from the jewelry line?
Ayanna: (laughter) The name actually came about because we were working in a studio off Tiffany Blvd. in New Jersey. The studio was in the old Tiffany warehouse. When we were coming up with names, everybody was writing down all these names trying to come up with something, then we were all like everything happens on Tiffany Blvd in Tiffany warehouse, why not just call ourselves the Tiffany Affair. It started out as kind of a joke but it stuck. We really liked the name and so we went with it.
So, who had to miss the prom?
Ayanna: Gabie and Natasha because their going into the eleventh grade. Bianca and I got a little bit lucky (laughter).
Bianca: We got to experience ours and graduation also.
Do you feel it’s worth it when you see your other friends going to the prom?
Bianca: Yes, because it’s going to be worth it in the end and we are working really hard on this project and some day hopefully we will be at the Grammy’s. We are looking forward to that more than the prom and stuff.
Natasha: This is our dream. The opportunity to do it is a chance of a lifetime.
So have the industry parties been better than the high school parties?
Ayanna: It is definitely better because at a high school party everybody is acting a fool and grinding on each other (laughter). An industry party is a little bit more mature; a little bit more sophisticated and actually has a purpose. You are actually there for some reason besides acting up.
You guys have different musical and choreograph backgrounds, how did you mesh them into your album and performances?
Gabrielle: The key for our group is that we really get to put in our ideas, whether it is songwriting or choreography or fashion. We collaborate and put those different kinds of things together and that helps our group.
Ayanna: Because we all come from those different backgrounds everybody brings such a different type of feel to the group. We are so different but being friends for a long time is something that has not been seen before. Being that one person is Hispanic, one is Native American, their style is gonna be different but when you bring it together it’s crazy; it’s incredible.
Right now there are a lot of girl groups coming out, what makes y’all different?
Ayanna: I think that because we have a lot of creative input in the process, in our album, your going to get a lot of stuff that comes directly from us. The records are very sincere, they come directly from us. Every record is not like somebody gave it to us and said why don’t you sing this. A lot of the album is very sincere coming from each and every one of us. The performance and stuff as well. We get to have input in everything, so I think just the fact that we have that input is gonna make us own it even more. Your gonna see when you hear the songs, your gonna be like it sounds like she was really going thru that because one of us really was. When you see the show your gonna be like she doing that move, looks like she created that move, chances are somebody in the group most likely did. I think that is gonna add a little bit of extra flare.
What is the theme you used to frame the album? High school?
Ayanna: Of course, We are teenagers, you have boy songs. You have your song on how you like the boy, how you dislike the boy (laughter). You also have songs about decisions you have to make. In some of our relationship songs it’s a little different, you’re not crying over a guy, you know how you feel about the situation. “I’m not gonna cry, I’m not gonna let you take me down, take me out my character.” A lot of the album is about knowing who you are as a person and defining your self by yourself. Not letting anyone else define who you are.
Bianca: Being strong about everything.
We gonna hear any ‘No Scrubs’ women movement songs?
Ayanna: (laughter) Nah nothing like that. We have this one song called ‘Players’ the chorus is “I will cry over you, you must be in sync.” People are so used to girls being like “Oh my God he broke up with me I’m gonna have a breakdown.” It’s like I don’t know what you thought it was but I’m not gon’ do that. It’s not ‘No Scrubs’ or independent woman songs, it’s songs like I’m strong enough for myself and I’m good enough with me and just because you made that decision it’s not gonna effect you as a person. We have songs like that.
Who did you ladies get to work with on the album?
Ayanna: On our first single ‘Start A Fire’ that we have out, we worked with Ne-Yo’s producers, they actually did two other songs as well. We wrote a lot of the songs on the album. We also have songwriting from Tiffany and Chuck, a lady name Mackeybee, and a young lady named Naj. We have a lot of people who helped on this album.
What were some of the first items you each purchased when you received your advance?
Ayanna: I bought a ton of sneakers, that’s what I do with all my money. (laughter) I just buy shoes upon shoes upon shoes. Anybody in the group can tell you I have like one hundred something sneakers in my closet.
What kind of sneakers do you have?
Ayanna: I have every Jordan you could name, any Air Force I, Air Max 90, Air Max 360, Air Max 95?I have everything.
Gabrielle: I bought a lot of clothes.
Bianca: I did a lot of shopping for clothes. —— By: Interview by Adeniyi Omisore
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