Tynisha Keli

Tynisha Keli

Tynisha Keli may be all of 22, but she’s lived a lot of life in those two decades. Ask her about it and she’ll tell you about her experiences growing up poor with a troubled single mother trying to raise four kids. It’s why the young singer and songwriter titled her debut album The Chronicles of TK. “This album is me from start to finish,” Keli says. “Every song is about something I’ve gone through, from the moment I left home at 14 till now.”

Her personal journey may have been riddled with obstacles, but Keli delivers her story with uplifting optimism, setting vignettes from her life, both happy and sad, to an irresistible backdrop of urban-influenced rhythmic groove and touching R&B balladry crafted by leading songwriters and producers Kara DioGuardi and J.R. Rotem, who between them have worked with such artists as Britney Spears, Rihanna, Gwen Stefani and Kelly Clarkson.

A sophisticated blend of indelible vocal melodies and thumping, minimal beats, the music makes you want to blast it out the window and sing along at the top of your lungs.

Tapping into her feelings didn’t always come easy for Keli, whose father was killed when she was barely a year old, leaving her mother too overwhelmed to raise her and her brother and the two children she had in subsequent years.

Growing up in the port town of New Bedford, Mass., Keli says, “We had to fend for ourselves. My upbringing was taking care of my siblings, which was why music became such a big part of my life. I couldn’t leave the house, except to go to school, so all I had was my music. I didn’t know that I wanted to be an artist, I just had a passion for singing. Music was my escape.”

Raised on the soulful sounds of her mother’s favorite Luther Vandross, Jodeci, and Tevin Campbell albums, Keli learned to deal with her feelings through singing. “My mom used to play a lot of sad R&B songs and cry. That’s when I saw the emotion in music. I realized that I could apply that to my life and it would help me.”

Keli’s confidence and passion for music comes through loud and clear on The Chronicles of TK. From the sweetly unforgettable “Lullaby” to the heartbroken “Shattered” to the playful “Hype Me” to the thoughtful “Lights Out” to the confrontational “Woman” to the insightful “Conversations With God,” Keli sings each song as if her life depended on it. And for her it does.

Listen carefully to the lyrics on “Misunderstood,” a song she co-wrote with Tha Corna Boyz, and you’ll hear why. The song begins with a answering machine message from her mother thanking her for her forgiveness, describes Keli’s time in foster care, and ponders what life would have been like if she had been able to save her father.