We were lucky to catch up with Anelle Tarke recently and have shared our conversation below.
Anelle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I always knew from when I was a child. I loved singing and acting. I would do impersonations of the people in my life all the time and it would make everyone laugh. They’d be shocked at how accurate I was. I would sing the songs I’d hear on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon and my friends and family members would tell me I have a natural talent.
So I joined chorus in elementary school and continued it all throughout high school. I also joined theatre classes all throughout high school as well. I was placed in Chamber Choir in high school which was our advanced chorus class. I even joined a barbershop quartet and would win competitions with the other three incredible women in our group titled “Afterglow”. I also did the school musical my senior year because my theatre teacher promised to put on my favorite musical (High School Musical haha). I played Taylor McKessie and I slayed. I’d also sing a lot with my best friend at the time. We’d do any and all performances at school. We ended up going to college together (even though I didn’t want to go because I knew I’d be a famous singer/actress one day) and continued singing there as well.
I joined a couple a-capella groups in college and joined an improv club as well. I ended up being in a women empowerment show titled “The Vagina Monologues” for a couple years as well. Since I wasn’t allowed to major in music or theatre I put all my extra curricular activities into both of them. I ended up on Homecoming Court my junior year in college and performed an original song at our pageant show.
Many people would come up to me after my performances and ask if they could stream my music anywhere and I’d always say no you can only hear it live. They were disappointed, but the truth is I was always afraid to put out music because I couldn’t control who would listen to it/what they’d think of it. I finally overcame that fear after going viral on TikTok and gaining a bit of a following which lead to me putting my first song “Say It With Ya Chest” on all streaming platforms in 2020 at the peak of the pandemic. It was received so well that it is currently at 20,000+ streams and counting. Without any additional marketing help, just me and my social media.
I will always pursue this life because I’ve always known I was born to do it. At every step of the way in my journey, God constantly reminds me that this is what I’m meant to do.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I graduated from college in 2020 at the peak of the pandemic. I was able to secure a “big girl” job from my internship and continued doing work I wasn’t passionate about. At the same time, my boyfriend had just gone viral on TikTok, an app he had been begging me to download and post on for months but I was loyal to vine and didn’t want to “switch up” haha. Seeing him go viral sparked interest in me. I decided to download the app, create a video, and it immediately went viral. My boyfriend @Willie3peat on TikTok begins his “I told you so” tour reminding me that he knew I’d excel on the app lol.
From there I created videos daily and grew a following. I then transferred all my content to Instagram when they released Reels and garnished a following on there as well. At this time, Snapchat also reached out to me to create content on their new feature Spotlight. From there I started signing brand deals and making money to help fund my music career.
Now, I’m trying to break my curse of only releasing one song a year haha. I’m hoping to release another song by the end of this year so on the look out for that :)
Without TikTok I think it would’ve been extremely hard to get my foot into the entertainment industry. I was able to meet and work with a lot of celebrities in the industry that I’ve always looked up to. Content creation is something that was not viewed as a necessity until the 2020s and now it has opened a new lane of jobs because EVERYONE needs a social media presence now. (Not a need but a strong want in order to grow your business, promote, etc.)
I think what sets me apart from others is that I’m multi-faceted. I am an overall creative person and I make different types of content. I do not have a niche, I am the niche. I think if more creatives thought this way or felt this way about themselves, they’d feel more free to explore other topics they’re interested in creating content despite seeing a drop in views. It took a while, but I learned that I am more than what people want to see from me on social media, and posting a range of content opened more doors for me in creative spaces. I enjoy making content about every and anything from comedy, promoting my music, lifestyle, fashion, cooking, etc.
However, I am most proud of my music :) In the book “The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron, she talks about how perfectionism is pretty much self-sabotage, not allowing me to put my work out there because it’s “not ready” or any other excuse I give myself. So, I want to focus less on perfectionism and more on putting myself out there regardless of how other people may receive my work. Because like I said, I AM proud of my music, so I want people to be able to listen to it. I love the way my music makes people feel!! I love the way I write and the way I’m able to tell a story through my music. I want to continue doing this whether its a sad or happy song. I want people to feel something when they listen.
I’m also really proud of my music video for “Say It With Ya Chest” I came up with the entire concept by myself and decorated my bedroom to look like a slumber party!! SO PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT :)
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I believe the most rewarding aspect is touching people in a way you thought you could, but didn’t realize was achievable. For instance, whenever I receive a DM and it’s someone telling me that my music inspired them or that they can relate to the topic/my content inspired them or gave them confidence, it GENUINELY makes my entire day.
Knowing that I can actually touch a complete strangers life makes me feel like I’m doing something important with my life. Being acknowledged by someone I’ve never met, yet they feel like they know a piece of me through my work is such a beautiful thing.
Because as much as I love my family and friends I’m still in the “they have to say they like it cuz they’re my family and friends” phase lol. Even though I know they’ll always tell me the truth, it just hits different coming from someone who didn’t have to say anything to me at all. They didn’t have to listen to my music, they didn’t have to find my social media, and they didn’t have to send me a DM telling me how they feel. So the fact that they went out of their way to makes me feel special. But don’t get me wrong I love love love my friends and family and every word of support, encouragement, and constructive criticism they give me.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Yes, inspiring little black girls around the world. We are often seen as the bottom of the barrel, never acknowledged for our work/talents. I want little black girls to see me and know that they can do whatever they want in this life. I didn’t grow up with many examples of black women in the entertainment industry, so I want the younger generation to grow up with it!
Especially dark skin black girls, because we are underrepresented. I’m so happy that as the years go by we are being able to shine more and more!! I want little black girls to see thousands of black women of all skin tones in this industry. Not just one or two they can look up to, but multiple where they can draw inspiration from and have options to look up to!!
This is what drives me. We are just as smart, talented, marvelous, as everyone else and I’m so happy the world is starting to acknowledge that. It is my job to fuel that acknowledgement to make it easier for the generations to come.
And of course, I want this for me! I want to prove myself right. I want to believe in myself as much as my friends and family believe in me. I want to be able to say “I did it”.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anelletarke/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anelle-tarke
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnelleTarke
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC-cRYdhmRLnhM4yb116V7IQ
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anelletarke
- My music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIKawP6QBT0&t=2s
Image Credits
Featured Image credits: David Le @minhute on Instagram