At a time when many female rappers’ releases flopped badly while others were being sued by their ghost-writers, there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel. Not only for females in Hip Hop, but also for the overall lack of credibility and authenticity. Enters Tina Brulé, formerly known as Ma Barker a multi-dimensional storyteller who tells episodes of only one story – her own.
Multi-platinum recording artist Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson said it best at the beginning of the first verse of his song “Hustlers Ambition” – “America’s got a thing for this gangster s**t, they love me…”
Well, America’s about to have a thing for a young lady who’s on the verge of taking the game “back to when Hip Hop was real, when rappers were really gangsters and hustlers. Before all these studio gangsters and Pro Tools Drug lords came about.”
Tina Brulé is the total package. Which other female MC has her unique combination of voice, flow, cadence, charisma, looks, lyrics, and image. Tina Brulé writes her own lyrics. Andas if that isn`t enough, she has a fascinating background which in contrast to certain other artists; life stories are not fabricated. Tina Brulé is real and what she brings to the table is real Hip Hop with universal commercial appeal. She is living proof that when an artist is bigger than her music, people are interested in her as a person, as well.
Tina Brulé was born Satina Pearce in East New York,Brooklyn. At an early age, she moved to the “Southside” section of Jamaica, Queens, where she attended Andrew Jackson High School. She started her career under the name Shaqueen early on by battling and defeating local MCs. It didn’t take long before she started recording her entirely self-written songs in the mid 90’s and finally caught the ear of Cold Chillin; record label president Fly Ty. Even though Fly Ty was highly interested in signing her to a record deal, she decided to pursue other options. Shaqueen/Tina Brulé connected with a young entrepreneur by the name of Mighty who at the time was starting a record label called Mighty Entertainment.
Her first single “Just Because/Shaqueen Rules” was soon getting major airplay from leading radio personalities such as HOT 97’s DJ Enuff, DJ Flex and Angie Martinez. The single peaked at number 15 on the U.S. Billboard Charts, where it remained for 20 weeks. Not only did Shaqueen/Tina Brulé receive an “artist of the year” write up from Kanye West’s current manager at the time Datu, she was also featured on R&B legend Gerald Levert’s platinum-selling album “Love and Consequences”. At that time, she furthermore, recorded songs with fellow female artist Queen Pen and Hip-Hop icon LL Cool J. She was then offer a half a million deal with Ruff house, during months of negotiations the owners of the label had a fallen out which left this deal up in the air. After severing ties with Mighty Entertainment, as fate would have it, she once again crossed paths with Kool G Rap whom she met through their mutual friend and now Jive Records/Sony BMG recording artist Papoose.
After hearing her music, G Rap quickly took Shaqueen/Tina Brulé under his wing and began working with her. It was during that time that Tina Brulé credits G Rap for saving her life as she was heavily involved in the “street game” in which she had numerous run-ins with Federal Agents for her
involvement with then boyfriend Garfield Brown, who became one of America’s Most Wanted.
With a new life and new name, Tina Brulé has recorded numerous songs with Kool G Rap under rap name Ma Barker as well as an album in 2002 called “Click of Respect” which features her “5 Family Click”. She is currently working on her debut solo album for which she has secured guest appearances from N.O.E, Fred da God son, Uncle Murder and many more. With these features, her own skills and top-notch producers such as The Heat Makerz, Buckwild, Chuckie Madness, Manny Perez and many more Official producers in the game.
Tina Brulé is bound to bring the crown back to town. Get Ready!!!!
