The "Young Lioness," Teedra Moses, was definitely on her Luxurious Undergrind this past weekend as she roared through the Lone Star State. In fact, the talented singer/songwriter has been on her grind since releasing her 2004 debut, Complex Simplicity, on the now defunct TVT Records. You've gotta admire her hustle. With only one full-length release nearly eight years ago, Teedra could've called it a wrap long time ago. Instead, she has stayed busy releasing mixtapes and touring. If you ever get a chance to see her live, you'll begin to understand how she's been able to sustain for so long with such a limited repertoire. Like her lyrics, she is real, her fans are devoted, and her show is like one big party with your favorite homegirl. Prior to Saturday, Texans hadn't had the opportunity to experience her shows on their home turf. Thankfully, that unfortunate situation was rectified with two shows in Houston and Dallas.
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I had the pleasure of catching her Houston show at Warehouse Live. I'm quite sure she owes them damages because she tore the venue down. She was sexy, fun, feisty, and fierce. Most importantly, though, her voice was quite on point. Don't you hate it when you see someone live and they totally dumb down the vocals or clip notes due to a lack of stamina (or legitimate talent)? Teedra has no such problem. Her live voice is studio quality. When "Another LuvR" (Luxurious Undergrind) started blaring through the intimate venue's speakers, she immediately jumped on the mic; her approach refreshing to witness. She was assisted on stage by vocalist J. Black, but never tried to hide behind his complementary vocals or his super-long locks.
Teedra approaches her live shows with the ease of a seasoned artist and the hunger of a new one who still has much to prove. She mostly pulled from Complex Simplicity, but threw in a couple of mixtape favs, including hip-hop soul infused "The One" (Luxurious Undergrind) and the slow grind ready "R U 4Real" (Royal Patience). Teedra's adoring fan base showed her lots of love and knew all of her songs very well. But, it was no one way street. She showed love back and even invited a very appreciative fan onstage for a sensual slow dance. It was obvious they were both having a good time, but he was dismissed after Teedra joked that she didn't even have to do much.
In a showing of her love for The Notorious B.I.G., she remixed "Just Want to Be Your Girl" with his Mtume-sampled "Juicy" before rapping along on a few bars. By the time she got to "You Better Tell Her" the crowd was in full sing-along mode, nearly drowning her out. She ended the show with a crowd favorite, "Backstroke," but not quite the way we remember it from Complex Simplicity. She mixed it up with another mid-'90's hip-hop hit, "I Got 5 On It" by the Luniz (remember that one?).
As she prepared to exit the stage (much too soon it seemed), she promised to return as soon as she's asked to. With the way she showed out on Saturday, it surely won't be long before she hits Texas stages again. Let's hope next time it'll be in support of her much anticipated, but oft delayed, sophomore effort The Lioness.
[Photos: a2zPresents]
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