Tiwa Savage‘s life could have taken a very different track. Just a few years ago, the vocalist was working at the Royal Bank of Scotland, after graduating from the University of Kent with a degree in business administration. But music had always been her first love, and when she got the call to sing backup for Mary J. Blige—for a European tour that was beginning in just three days—Savage decided to chuck accounting and focus on her music full-time.

Savage had done backup since the age of 17, when she sang for George Michael. Since then she’d gone on to work for Blue Cantrell andKelly Clarkson, but she didn’t want to be a backup singer forever. So she decided to come to Berklee to focus on her solo career.

At 27, Savage is older than most students, but their enthusiasm was infectious. ‘When I came to Berklee and saw a lot of the younger students, their drive and their passion, it recharged my batteries,’ says Savage. ‘[They’re] not thinking, ‘I’m going to save about $10,000 before I move,’ no, ‘I’m just going to get my backpack and move.’ I needed that fresh air, that atmosphere. I kind of felt like a 19-year-old.

The relationships she’s made here extend beyond than the college experience. As she lists off the producers of the album she’s currently recording—Black Eyed Peas drummer Keith Harris, Derek Pate, Scott Coleman, Radar Ellis, and Darien Dorsey—she notes, ‘All of them are from Berklee.’

Making the leap from backup to lead isn’t without its pressures. As a backup singer, she could focus completely on her performance. Now, there’s interviews with media, songwriting, and every eye on her onstage. ‘It’s a whole different ballgame. Doing backgrounds, you just turn up at the gig and if it gets a bad review, it had nothing to do with you. If you’re the artist, you take a lot of stuff personally,’ says Savage.

Savage has an advantage that many singers don’t—her business background. And she’s capitalized on that by majoring in professional music here at Berklee and focusing on music business, songwriting, and music production classes. ‘It’s helping me now with my band, when we get contracts, when we have to pay people, when we have to be professional in dealing with people,’ says Savage. ‘Sometimes when people see that you’re educated and you know what you’re talking about, they don’t really want to mess with you, swindle you or something.’

Savage has already had a glimpse of the pressures of fame. Last year she participated inX Factor—the British competition that spawnedAmerican Idol—and made it to the top 24. The press was trying so hard to find out the results of the competition before it was televised that they were camped out in front of the hotel hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the finalists. ‘As soon as you wake up there’s a camera crew in front of the hotel, people trying to snap pictures of you in the bathroom,’ says Savage. ‘So we had to disguise our names when we were checking into hotels and restaurants, use Mickey Mouse or Tinker Bell.’


The limelight was difficult to deal with at the time, but Savage thinks it’s prepared her for the realities of the career she’s aiming for. ‘You have to always realize that people are watching. When I got the bad news that I wasn’t getting through [to the final 12] it was a really painful time. But you still have to learn how to hold that until you get home. Because you don’t want to just let everything out. People admire you and want to see that you’re strong; they don’t want to see you breaking down.’

Savage’s family immigrated to England from Nigeria when she was 11, and the things she experienced in Nigeria have an impact on her life to this day. ‘Living in all three places-in Africa, in Europe, and now the United States-it’s really opened my eyes. I’m really accepting of a lot of cultures. . . . I feel a lot older than I am, because I’ve seen a lot. A lot of poverty in Nigeria, but people still smiling when they don’t even have water,’ says Savage. ‘I kept saying to myself that when I made it I was going to invest millions and I just realized I have to do stuff now. People always say, when I make it. . . . If you don’t discipline yourself now, you’re never going to do it, even if you do get millions.’

To that end, Savage is traveling to Africa in December to help raise money for an organization that builds schools. This summer, she’s performing in Berklee’s summer concert series, giving free shows in outdoor locations all over the city, from the Boston Center for the Arts, to the Institute of Contemporary Art, to Kendall Square, before moving to L.A. in the fall to work on her first album. She’s learned that having a full life means fusing all aspects of it-from music to business to charity.

http://thenet.ng/2016/05/heres-what-tiwa-savages-music-school-berkely-college-wrote-about-her-in-2007/

Wow.....She's still very big here in Africa.


She looks bigger here

I never knew she is a graduate

Nice one Tiwa

She has a huge profile. Go girl.

ohhh tiwa news again





check this out:: Photos :: Davido Flexing In A Private Jet http://www.praizeblog.com/2016/05/photos-davido-flexing-in-private-jet.html?m=0

who her profile epp

None of ma biz

Didn't even read

Tiwa Trending. ... Even in beer parlor

who e epp?

Did they write the profile in British English because i don't understand but sa tiwa is bae

Well done Aunty Tiwa

Ur success wasnt a fluke and no single person should hold u forever to ransom because they managed u when u found d limelight. Im sure ull even go bigger

tiwa omo wa noni ko si nkan tafesesi

LA front page LA tiwa

THEN WHERE DID THE STORY OF TEEBLIZZ PICKING HER FROM THE STREET EMANATE FROM??

html14java:
Tiwa Trending. ... Even in beer parlor

sukkot:
so she schooled in england but speaks english like someone who was born and raised in oshodi market. very incredible feat

Pls which kind mumu be this?? Please do you know Tiwa Savage?? And why do some people have to be so tribalistic??

Nice profile...keep it up

Publicity stunt... All in the name of putting herself back on track. When she funk up. ™

sukkot:
so she schooled in england but speaks english like someone who was born and raised in oshodi market. very incredible feat

Wetin this woman do you?

Tiwa Savage again? Nawa o!

When I have time I'll read this

praizeblog:
ohhh tiwa news again

This is good news.This kind of profile would help her especially in moments like she's presently at.If you ask most women who feel cheated in their marriage, that is usually the lowest ebb for them. In fact, they feel as if they have been blind and completely foolish all their lives.
This could help her remember where she's coming from and in my opinion she's yet to get to where she set for herself -winning a Grammy, most likely.
To Tiwa, I will say,remember that this difficult moment too,shall pass.You are strong and you never quit.You are too legit to quit.
Is it a woman with this kind of profile a Teebilz ready to lose? Think again.Forget the voices telling you that it's too late.

music skool?

Lies.... Character redemption strategy.

Why is it that after it was found that her allegations against her husband were false, her PR team is doing it all to redeem her image.
Despite all the glory purported in this story, why didn't the likes of Jay-z and top producers sign her up. Why was it that Broke Teeblizz was the one who came to her rescue.

Tiwa and her PR can fool her fan and Instagram followers not nairalanders. We got smarts here

Click this link to see tiwa and tee billz brushing their teeth

atilla:
Well done Aunty Tiwa

Ur success wasnt a fluke and no single person should hold u forever to ransom because they managed u when u found d limelight. Im sure ull even go bigger

Let the manager replicate the success with another artiste as there are lots of Nigerian artistes who hunger to be managed and wouldn't mind given only 20% of the proceeds!

freecocoa:
Wetin this woman do you?

hmmm no be small tin sef. if i begin talk ehnn. issoraiii

that's a good one

27yrs at 2007

sukkot:
so she schooled in england but speaks english like someone who was born and raised in oshodi market. very incredible feat

she speaks alright.

and she's in Nigeria not England. no need for britico accent.