Truth was born Shari Watson in St. Louis, Missouri. After she showed an early interest in music - singing at home and in church - her mother got her private lessons at age 10 with Chip Luther, a Broadway talent who emphasized classical/operatic vocal training. Shari was so good that by high school, she was receiving outstanding marks in state and solo competitions. At 13, Shari began to see another side of the music world when her father (a local concert promoter) consented for his cousin, Leland Crenshaw, to get her a fake I.D. so she could sing Phyllis Hyman, Anita Baker and Whitney Houston covers in his jazz band, Mystic Voyage, performing in the local night clubs such as Hadley's and The Links.
A crucial decision awaited her upon graduation from McCleur North High School. "My chorus teacher wanted me to be the next Kathleen Battle" Truth recalls "and was preparing me for the University of Chicago. A music scholarship was on the table, but I couldn't take it because my parents were moving to California. I also didn't know if that was the direction I wanted to go in because I had started getting into R and B. By senior year I was burnt out on opera. Besides, when we moved I knew I'd be near L.A."
While attending San Jose Junior College, she made friends with a girl on campus and started the group Shug and Dap. Shari was the singer. Dap was the rapper. They got a deal with Giant Records and Shari also got a publishing deal with Chrysalis Music. However, the duo only got one single out (1994's "Anotha Man") before the record company dissolved and the rest of their album was shelved. Luckily, Shari was swiftly developing as a keen and versatile writer. A few years later, she had impressive co-writing credits on fondly remembered songs such as Shanice's lushly bittersweet "Yesterday," LV's chivalrous "How Long," rapper Eve's cautionary "Love Is Blind" (uncredited) and, perhaps most tellingly, the hook fore Eric Bene't's prophetically titled "Something Real."
It was at an audition for Hands On (a girl group that Andre "Dr. Dre" Young was attempting to assemble for his then-new Aftermath Records imprint) that Shari met the man who would launch her into the spotlight. Though Shari didn't make the group, Dre initially retained her as a writer for in-house projects that included a Dawn Robinson album that never materialized. Then on Christmas Eve 1999, Dre phoned Shari and offered her a solo recording contract, eventually naming her "Truth Hurts" because she was "that chick who would tell you about yourself." Dre took Truth on the road with him for the 2000 "Up in Smoke" tour (the sole female and singer among rappers Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and Xzibit), then took her in the studio to make her debut album, Truthfully speaking.
The album debuted on June 25, 2002, at the 5 position on the billboards Top 200 chart on the strength of the intoxicatingly exotic single, "Addictive" that 1-charting smash was a DJ Quik-Produced amalgam of an old B.T. Express beat, a guest rap by the legendary Rakim and a key sample from the Hindi film score nugget "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" by Bappi Lahiri (featuring the haunting voice of Lata Mangeskar). The song was presented to Truth on her birthday, and graced with a hepatizing video of belly dancing choreographed by Fatima Robinson and photographed in an old downtown L.A. hotel by Philip Atwell. The stars all appeared aligned for a masterful debut. Unfortunately failure to clear the Lahiri sample in a timely fashion resulted in a copyright lawsuit. Further complications with her second single " The Truth" being produced by R. Kelly (with legal problems of his own) sealed the fate of Truthfully Speaking to "far below expectations," resulted in her leaving the label.
In an executive profile for Urban Network Magazine, Raphael Saadiq reflected on the challenge of signing Truth after all that drama. "She had a really big record with Dr. Dre but she got little promotion afterwards. I fell like I can really enhance her career in ways Interscope didn't on the music side. Dre is such a powerful producer that sometimes his artists get lost in the mix. I feel that Truth needs to hold on to that sound... But I also had some other producers work with her. I'll be happy if she sells 250,000 copies... a lil' somethin' we call "ghetto gold."
In the time between "Addictive" and present, Truth recorded collaborations with top rap artist such as Jay- Z, Busta Rhymes, D-12, DJ Quik, Xzibit and Craig G. She was the sole female R and B artist on the hip hop-driven "Smoken' Grooves" Tour in 2002. And she also began building up her big screen credits singing Jerry Butler's classic " For Your Precious Love" as a lounge singer in Ali (2001) as well as playing Snoop Dogg's main girl "Vicky" in the comedy The Wash (2001), to which she also contributed the cut "Benefit of the Doubt" to the soundtrack.
Thinking back on her artistry and all that has transpired since those early opera lessons back home in " The Lou," Truth/Shari muses, "The music industry is a journey... and I've been on this rollercoaster for a minute. I am a songwriter foremost and appreciate good writing from others. I hate stupid songs. Even I wrote a couple of bogus songs at 17 that nobody will ever hear. I had to grow into it. There's no training for songwriting ... it's a heartfelt thing that you either have or you don't. It's about having experiences and marrying them to a good melody, which is most important to me." Truth's devotion to melody is also reflected in her favorite artist singer/songwriter Teena Marie. "She's so sexy and heartfelt- a seductress who really feels what the hell she's sayin'! "Portuguese Love"... that ain't no regular love song. She takes you there. When you can do that, especially as a woman, it says a lot to me."
The strong lady now known as Truth- Mother of one daughter and who as adopted her own babysitter- is looking forward to a long, fruitful, creative relationship at Pookie, and the success of her 10-song sophomore effort, Ready now. Looking around at the Blakeslee studio where her evolving sound was incubated, she allows herself a sigh. "Ready Now" is a love song, but as the title of my album, it means I'm ready to be me. I think it's a well-rounded record. More magic happened because people came together for something more then just the money. Raphael promotes a very natural and creative environment, so I'm going to continue to grow in that direction."
"Like I said at the top," she concludes, "it doesn't hurt now. I Feel so much freer to be Truth and well as Shari... Combing the two... and doing all of me."
