Tamera grew up listening to many genres of music, but was most inspired by
Whitney Houston,
Missy Elliott,
Erykah Badu,
Sammy Davis Jr.,
James Brown, and
Beyonce. She also enjoyed drawing and painting, which became more serious hobbies in her early teens. After being encouraged by her mother and grandmother, Tamera performed at church, as well as several local talent shows. She decided to audition for
The X Factor one week before the show, at the age of 16. She has claimed to have
synesthesia. === 2013:
The X Factor === She competed in the
tenth series of
The X Factor in 2013. In week four, Foster was in the bottom two with Kingsland Road, but Foster was saved by a majority vote. However, voting statistics revealed that Kingsland Road received more votes than Foster, which meant that if the result went to deadlock, Kingsland Road would have been saved. She was eventually eliminated in the quarter-final. Former Judge
Simon Cowell subsequently signed her to his label
Syco Music after dubbing her "the British Rihanna".
2014–2022: Syco Music and Afrodite After her stint on
The X Factor, Tamera was signed to a deal with
Syco Music in March 2014, at the age of 17. Tamera was sent to writing camps in LA, New York, and Sweden, and worked with producer
Kamille in early pop-influenced album writing sessions. She parted ways with the label in 2016. She later released second single "Don't Phone", as well as third single "Flipside" produced by Future Cut and Oscar Scheller.
Billboard described the sound of her fourth single "Wickedest" as "the embodiment of smoothness". Tamera released her debut EP
Afrodite, executive-produced by
P2J, in 2021. The
Clash reviewed it positively, describing it as a "warm embrace of feminine energy... spotlight[ing] the singer's African and Greek heritage amongst silky riffs and intimate songwriting." In November 2022, she released the single "Insensitive", which received "track of the day" honors on
Clash and was heralded as a "superb return".
2023–present: Lost In Translation In February 2023, Tamera released "Frozen", an electro-dance single co-written by
OVO Sound artist
Majid Al Maskati. Her second EP
Lost In Translation was released in November 2023, which contained "40 Days", her first charting single on the
UK Afrobeats Singles Chart. In December 2023, Tamera was nominated for "Best Newcomer" at the 26th edition of the
MOBO Awards. ==Discography==