Newcomer Tynisha Keli describes her sound as "very melodic" R&B/pop, and we totally agree! Tynisha is the type of girl who loves sitting down with her fans — she posts frequent YouTube updates, even answering fan questions online, and makes sure everyone knows what's going on with her music. The down-to-earth girl isn't afraid to speak her mind or share stories, so we were psyched to sit down with the singer when she stopped by the J-14 offices.

J-14: How do you think MySpace and making YouTube videos has helped you?
Tynisha Keli: It is the reason why I'm sitting right here, so thank you, MySpace, and thank you, YouTube! The power of the Internet!

J-14: Do you have a song that's closest to your heart?
Tynisha: "Misunderstood." I talk about being misunderstood — the way I am and how I act. I'm an extrovert, I'm very bright, but I have a very dark side to me, like all girls do, but it's at the cost of being taken away from home. [I wasn't] literally taken, but I moved from home at a young age in pursuit of my career. The song is talking about how I lost my father at a young age and not having my mom around. When she was around, she was abusive. The effects of it were me being misunderstood by my actions, so it's a very personal song.

J-14: What made you want to write about your ex-boyfriend in the song "My Everything?"
Tynisha: He was actually my first boyfriend, my first everything. I was with him for almost five years. It was a really long relationship, but I based my life around him and built my world around him because he literally was my everything.

J-14: What advice would you give to girls who might be in the same situation?
Tynisha: Don't make him your everything. Make him a love and someone who you genuinely care about. Love everything about him but have your own life. Do things separately from him so if the situation does happen to end, you'll have what you've made without him. It's definitely a harder situation when you don't have your own life and you make him everything. It's okay to love somebody and still do whatever it is you love to do on the side.

J-14: Who would you like to work with in the future?
Tynisha: Usher. That's an easy one!

J-14: What advice would you give to girls who would want to be in the music business?
Tynisha: I say the same thing every time because I really, truly, genuinely believe in this: if it's not passion of yours, do not step foot in pursuit of it, because you will get chewed up and spit out in two seconds. It took me six years from when I signed to even be doing this. It takes sacrifice. I compromised my childhood, my life, and I sacrificed being with my family and having memories with my family in order to do this, but I knew that ultimately if I didn't have this in my life, I would not be satisfied. I would not be complete, I would not be happy and I would not be who I am. So, if you don't really love it, and you're not willing to sacrifice it all for it, then don't do it. If you are, I wish you the best of luck and definitely stay strong.

J-14: Have you ever had a crazy fan encounter?
Tynisha: After I did the [KMEL House of Soul] show, I walked out into the crowd to go hang out with people and just mingle. I was behind the VIP line and a fan is standing outside the VIP jumping, [saying] "Oh my God! Oh my God! Will you please just come touch me? Just touch me!" He's flipping out like crazy. I said, "Oh, honey!" As soon as I hugged him, he was jumping with me in his arms. I will never forget — it was the funniest thing in the world, but I love him! He was like 42-years-old. It was really funny.

The video for Tynisha's first single, "I Wish You Loved Me," is up on her MySpace page and look for her debut album to in February 2009!

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