by Cyril Cordor
Though mostly underground, a sort of psychedelic, and often synth-driven, neo-soul began surfacing in the mid-2000s with artists like Georgia Anne Muldrow, Sa-Ra, and the Platinum Pied Pipers as frontrunners. Graced by her colorful and sultry vocals, sometimes in contrast with her edgy sound and lyrics, singer/songwriter Tiombe Lockhart emerged around this same time when she worked closely on the last aforementioned group's 2005 debut, Triple P. Born in southwest Atlanta, GA, Lockhart sang her first major performance when she was seven years old. She moved to Los Angeles at age 12 and completed school at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. She then relocated to New York in 1997 for better exposure to the industry, obtaining her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Vocal Jazz Performance from New School University, where she met classmate and neo-soulster Bilal.

By the early 2000s, she was performing many live gigs at several clubs, bars, and cafés around the East Coast; plus, she often opened up for Bilal at various venues. Lockhart's recordings were just as scattered during this period as well. In addition to working with Bilal, she appeared on the splinter projects of Living Legend MCs the Grouch, Eligh, and Scarub. However, she gained the opportunity to fully display her potential under the auspices of likeminded Detroit producers Waajeed and Saadiq, aka the Platinum Pied Pipers. Appearing on three Triple P songs, she considerably benefited from the record's press and positive reviews, and followed the group on the album's promotional tour. Waajeed continued to invest in her, requesting Lockhart to record her first official full-length for his fledgling Bling 47 label.