2x GRAMMY® Award Winner ✦ 6x Showtime at the Apollo Winner
Chicago bred, Southern at heart. Singer. Songwriter. The voice on records that made history — and a body of work all her own.
Tarrey Torae is a two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning singer/songwriter — a winner alongside J. Ivy for The Poet Who Sat by the Door and The Light Inside — and her voice is certified on GRAMMY®-winning albums by Kanye West and John Legend, plus the GRAMMY®-nominated Catching Dreams. During the making of The College Dropout, she recorded 38 songs with Kanye West; on John Legend's classic debut Get Lifted, she co-wrote and co-sang “Live It Up.”
A six-time Showtime at the Apollo winner, Tarrey has toured with hip-hop icons including Talib Kweli, Common, The Roots, and the legendary Slick Rick — and appears in the Netflix documentary jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy. She is currently on the road with J. Ivy for the Beauty of the Journey Tour.
Chicago bred and southern at heart, Tarrey is a political science / pre-law graduate of Mississippi Valley State University, an HBCU whose stages heard her voice first. Her albums — The Sweetest Survivor, Catching Feelings, and Catching Feelings: Live In Chicago — carry her mission in every note:
“I make music to match life — not trend. May it remind you of a moment, inspire action, and promote hope.”
2x
GRAMMY® Award winner — with J. Ivy for The Poet Who Sat by the Door & The Light Inside; certified on The College Dropout & Get Lifted
6x Apollo Winner
Six-time Showtime at the Apollo winner — six wins on the most unforgiving stage in American music, in the Mo'Nique era.
Netflix
Featured in jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy
GRAMMY® Nominated
Catching Dreams with J. Ivy
“Tarrey Torae is a great talent. She co-wrote and sang on one of my favorite songs on my album. No one can do what she does. The song ‘Live It Up’ would not have happened without Tarrey. I owe her a lot for that. You should see her on stage. Her performances are full of electricity!”
John Legend
“Tarrey Torae has a soulful and distinctive voice. As a producer that is what you look for and that is why I put her on my album… She has a bright future ahead of her.”
Kanye West
“Even in the background vocals I could hear her voice. Very distinct, unique, soothing and strong… I appreciate her voice.”
Stevie Wonder
“I am so impressed! Tarrey can really sing! I know that I will be seeing her in the future doing her thing!”
Patti LaBelle
“That girl has a voice on her. She's one of the best that I've heard. I can't wait to see what she does with it. I will definitely be supporting her!”
Mo'Nique
“Anybody can sing, but it's all about feeling… really giving something from the soul. I can tell that she really feels it, because I feel it in my soul when she sings. She really has something special.”
El DeBarge
“Tarrey Torae is one of those rare talents that shines thru trends and will be talked about long after the music industry is gone.”
Talib Kweli
“Tarrey Torae's voice is a melodic, sultry and soulful sound. Her style is universal and rooted in Chicago.”
Rolling Out Magazine
“Tarrey Torae is the Lead Singer in God's Choir!”
J. Ivy
1999
January 27, 1999 — her first time singing in public, at Rituals Jazz Club in downtown Chicago. First place at the citywide Windy City Live Talent Showcase, taken with a grand standing ovation.
1999
Her first recording and debut single, the “I Miss You” single, made with producer George Claiborne — alongside Chris Robb and Mark “Doc” Williams — circulates the streets of Chicago and beyond.
2000
Her debut, the Musically Yours! album, arrives. One year into her career, she hits the road as tour manager and featured performer on the 55-city NAACP Get Out the Vote tour, headlined by Coca-Cola — through the HBCU campuses of the South.
2001
Studio time in Nashville — recording and writing, laying the foundation of everything that followed.
2002
“My Way” appears on Kanye West’s Get Well Soon mixtape as his sound — and their studio bond — takes shape.
2003
Six wins on the most unforgiving stage in American music, in the era hosted by Mo'Nique.
2003
Her vocals on Freeway’s Philadelphia Freeway album, produced by Kanye West — carried to the streets on Kanye’s I’m Good mixtape.
2003–2004
The years she began recording with both Kanye West and John Legend. On Kanye’s The College Dropout album she is a co-writer and performer on “Family Business” and sings across the sessions; on John Legend’s Get Lifted album she co-wrote and co-sang “Live It Up.” Both albums won GRAMMY® Awards.
2005
The year she married J. Ivy — and together, as J. Torae, they recorded the For Better or Worse album, a duo record born straight from their love story.
2006–2009
Two and a half years as Talib Kweli’s touring background vocalist across the U.S. — the KOOL New Jazz Philosophy Tour with The Roots, Common, and The Pharcyde, and the Rock the Bells run — while recording features like “Made Man” with Pete Rock.
2010
Featured vocalist and co-executive producer on J. Ivy’s Here I Am album — one of the projects she’d go on to co-executive-produce as their partnership deepened toward its GRAMMY® years.
2012
Studio recording sessions across Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.
2013
December 2013 — she becomes lead touring vocalist for hip-hop legend Slick Rick, a ride that continues with select dates to this day.
2014
Studio recording time — Chicago, Nashville, New York, and L.A.
2015
On the road with J. Ivy, performing live at the Dear Father concerts.
2016
The Marching On EP — and a musical performance and acting role in the film Not Another Black Movie.
2017
Featured vocalist and co-executive producer on J. Ivy’s My Daddy’s Records album — and headlining her own packed Soul Lounge night at Chicago’s DuSable Museum.
2018
Her full-length statement — the Sweetest Survivor album: survival, sweetness, and Chicago soul.
2019
The “Take Me Home” single, and the Freedom Ride EP, produced by house legend Terry Hunter.
2020
Featured vocalist and co-executive producer on J. Ivy’s Catching Dreams album, which earns a GRAMMY® nomination — making Tarrey a nominated artist alongside him.
2021
The Catching Dreams: Live at Fort Knox Chicago album, which she also co-executive-produced, earns a second GRAMMY® nomination; the “In Time” single arrives; and she acts as Madame Quickly in the film Hal King (Tubi).
2022
Releases her Catching Feelings album, appears in Netflix’s jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, tours with Slick Rick — and sings on J. Ivy’s The Poet Who Sat by the Door album, winner of the first-ever GRAMMY® for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album — her first GRAMMY® win.
2023
The Catching Feelings: Live In Chicago album comes home — recorded live in the city that raised her. And she wins her second GRAMMY® on J. Ivy’s The Light Inside album, featured on “Come Back To You” with DJ Jazzy Jeff and “Winning” with Anthony Hamilton.
2024
Featured on two songs on Sir The Baptist’s The Baptist album — “It’s Me (Standing in the Need of Prayer)” and “Fire” — and HBCU Honors at Howard University with J. Ivy.
2025
Featured on Maurice Brown’s “FREE” single and the Terry Hunter remixes of J. Ivy & Anthony Hamilton’s “No Words,” with the HBCU Symphony.
2026
On the road with J. Ivy — 33 cities, from Chicago to Cape Town — and co-executive production on the halftime tribute for Derrick Rose’s jersey retirement at the United Center in Chicago.
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