TiaCorine Talks ‘Almost There’ EP, 2024 Tour, and Vocal Cord Surgery

North Carolina rapper TiaCorine was primed for a massive 2023 after a steady multi-year rise that reached new heights with her 2022 album, I Can’t Wait, and its breakthrough single, “Freaky T.” And then she literally lost her voice.

“Last year was really hard for me,” Tia tells Rolling Stone on the latest episode of “On Your Radar.” “My voice was messed up, I had to have vocal cord surgery, I was on tour most of the time, I had a lot of shows I needed to finish out.” 

On top of all that, she was trying to complete her new EP, Almost There, which just dropped last month. With all that weighing on her, Tia admits she first felt like she was sometimes “rushing just to get something done for other people.” The experience taught her to put her foot down and ensure she was working at her own pace. 

“I’m being very strategic and intentional with everything I do with my art, I’m very serious about this,” she says. “I kind of learned in that time to stand on what I believe in and don’t listen to other people. I have to bet on myself.”

There was also about a two-month period when Tia couldn’t talk at all, and she admits it seemed like every amazing opportunity was arising at that inopportune moment. She was supposed to tour with Thundercat, for instance, but had to back out because her vocal cords hadn’t healed as quickly as expected. Additionally, she was trying to finish Almost There and was in the process of signing her new record deal. 

“I just had to get in touch with myself and say, ‘Calm down,’” Tia recalls. “It’s very hard to do that, not be able to talk, try to get your point across, and be the boss — that was tough for me. But I think that taught me how to be more calm, take a step back and breathe, and get what you need say out without so many words.”

At the same time, though, the whole situation could still be pretty funny: “Every time I would let people know that I couldn’t talk, they’d start to whisper. ‘I’d be like, ‘I can hear you still, I just can’t talk!’” 

Elsewhere in the interview, Tia discusses learning to use her voice again after fully healing and the long road to co-directing the eye-popping video for her latest single, “Bonnet,” with Farren Jean Andrea. She also explains why, if the color pink had a sound, it would be her music, and shares just one little teaser for her upcoming headlining tour: “Steve Harvey suit,” she says with a laugh. “That’s all I’mma say!”

North Carolina rapper TiaCorine was primed for a massive 2023 after a steady multi-year rise that reached new heights with her 2022 album, I Can’t Wait, and its breakthrough single, “Freaky T.” And then she literally lost her voice.

“Last year was really hard for me,” Tia tells Rolling Stone on the latest episode of “On Your Radar.” “My voice was messed up, I had to have vocal cord surgery, I was on tour most of the time, I had a lot of shows I needed to finish out.” 

On top of all that, she was trying to complete her new EP, Almost There, which just dropped last month. With all that weighing on her, Tia admits she first felt like she was sometimes “rushing just to get something done for other people.” The experience taught her to put her foot down and ensure she was working at her own pace. 

“I’m being very strategic and intentional with everything I do with my art, I’m very serious about this,” she says. “I kind of learned in that time to stand on what I believe in and don’t listen to other people. I have to bet on myself.”

There was also about a two-month period when Tia couldn’t talk at all, and she admits it seemed like every amazing opportunity was arising at that inopportune moment. She was supposed to tour with Thundercat, for instance, but had to back out because her vocal cords hadn’t healed as quickly as expected. Additionally, she was trying to finish Almost There and was in the process of signing her new record deal. 

“I just had to get in touch with myself and say, ‘Calm down,’” Tia recalls. “It’s very hard to do that, not be able to talk, try to get your point across, and be the boss — that was tough for me. But I think that taught me how to be more calm, take a step back and breathe, and get what you need say out without so many words.”

At the same time, though, the whole situation could still be pretty funny: “Every time I would let people know that I couldn’t talk, they’d start to whisper. ‘I’d be like, ‘I can hear you still, I just can’t talk!’” 

Elsewhere in the interview, Tia discusses learning to use her voice again after fully healing and the long road to co-directing the eye-popping video for her latest single, “Bonnet,” with Farren Jean Andrea. She also explains why, if the color pink had a sound, it would be her music, and shares just one little teaser for her upcoming headlining tour: “Steve Harvey suit,” she says with a laugh. “That’s all I’mma say!”