Singer Tate Is High-Street Atlanta

Last updated:June 17, 2019

Only because you guys love it when I open articles with a background story, I shall do the same today. I promise it’ll all come together. Here goes! I’m winging it by myself at an art event, wishing for something to captivate me. Then, I see this tiny framed girl in a patterned robe tied over a crisp all-white look and cocaine white sneakers. Well-defined personal style? Check! I’m all in at that point, but it was Tate’s performance of a “Hotlinebling” remix that truly won me over. She had a presence that was unlike any of the other artists, with a high-street vibe that complimented her sound. Fast-forward to now, her version of the tune is on my favorite playlist, and I got the opportunity to not only dress her for this editorial, but we chatted it up some as well. One thing is undoubtedly for sure: Tate is Atlanta’s best kept secret. You know, the kind that’s so damn good you must tell everyone about it? Basically, what’s happening right now.

Often, the title “artist” is loosely used, but I’m here to tell you this is not one of those instances. Tate is a true creative, whose rightful titles include singer, songwriter, producer, and occasional rapper. She is the product of a lifelong performing arts education, her family’s twenty plus years in the music industry – her mother is singer/songwriter Dionne Farris – and growing up in Atlanta’s “exciting” creative scene. With a background so musically rich, there’s no wonder as to why she performed so naturally the night I saw her. “I’ve basically grown up as a performer. I went to a performing arts high school, Dekalb School of the Arts… [as well as] a performing arts elementary school… performing has always been a big part, a big aspect of my life.” Though she says she was nervous that night, no one could tell due in part to her effortless cool , but more so, it was her innate star quality.

While most of us were worried about acne or writing depressing entries in our diaries at 13, yungbabytate (her twitter handle) was being a total boss, and conveniently discovering her inner Kanye West, rather, her Missy Elliot. From her perspective, she was just experimenting with “musical puzzles,” then “one day all of my loops mysteriously stopped working, so I had to make my own beats, seriously. From then, I was just forced to get better and better.” She added that “there’s so much good music out there, and I feel like I have a lot to offer in the good music department, so producing is something I take pride in. So much so, that she compares her old production to more recent ones to evaluate and advance her skills. It became even more obvious to me just how professional she is. Her passion for creating music generates from an honest place, which, to me, is what makes an artist great. In addition to that, Tate recognizes the significance of both channeling her emotions and making music for people.

Some of my songs are personal experiences that I’ve actually lived through, and then, some of my songs are experiences that I might not have gone through, but they’re generic experiences that everyone is going to go through one day.” This understanding – using imagination to offer music as a service to others – is critical when it pertains to the business aspect of being a musician. She notes that “as a songwriter, I try to challenge myself to write songs for other people and not just songs to get my feelings out.
Yung Baby Tate

With that, we are given snippets of what to expect from Tate’s forthcoming EP “ROYGBIV” dropping November 10th. The acronym represents a color spectrum of visible light, where “each letter represents a color. So, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.” The psychology of color theory and how they affect the way we feel is the basis of her album’s concept, along with attempting to challenge herself production wise. As a lover of all things metaphysical, you can bet your last dollar on my anticipation! This is her first EP, and she wants us to “feel” the colors as we listen. Close to the end of our conversation, it hit me that there aren’t many female artists who are also producers. Supporting Tate is something we all should do. Outside of Missy Elliot, I cannot name another artist-producer who is also a woman. She can easily become the voice of new age artistry, where genres are blurred, and the art is all that matters.

“I try to be an inspiration for girls, because I feel like there aren’t many girls as there really should be in this music industry, it’s so male dominated… ‘girl, you can do this. You can do it too, come on.’ ”
Yung Baby Tate

Tate’s sound is her unique blend. Journey through her sound cloud and you’ll see. She’s a little high-fashion and a bit street. But too, she’s modern, yet exemplifies 90s sass like no other. Follow her on instagram and twitter @yungbabytate while you wait for “ROYGBIV” to hit on November 10th on Bandcamp and iTunes. Get hip to her now, because I have a feeling Tate won’t be ATL’s best kept secret for much longer.