Taral Hicks

Born on September 21, 1974, in Queens, New York, Taral Hicks is an African American R&B singer and actress. She commenced her film career appearing alongside Robert De Niro in the 1993 film “A Bronx Tale.” Her early career included roles in “Just Cause” with Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne in 1995, and “The Preacher’s Wife” starring Whitney Houston in 1996. A turning point came in 1997 with her performance as the “Woman with Flowers” in the HBO original film “Subway Stories,” which garnered significant attention. In the same year, Hicks secured a recording contract with Motown Records.

Her musical debut, the album “This Time,” was released in 1997. The single “Ooh, Ooh Baby,” featuring Missy Elliott, charted on the Billboard R&B singles chart. The album gained significant traction with the release of its second single, “Silly,” a remake of Deniece Williams’ classic R&B hit. The black-and-white music video for “Silly,” directed by Hype Williams, also proved impactful. Following their collaboration on the music video, Hype Williams cast Hicks in a key role, Kisha, DMX’s girlfriend, in his 1998 directorial film debut, “Belly.” The “Silly” music video was subsequently featured within a scene in “Belly.”

After a period of absence from film and music, Hicks returned in 2000 with the short film “Are You Cinderella?” co-starring Wood Harris. Her television credits include guest roles in “100 Centre Street” (2002) and “Soul Food: The Series” (2003). Hicks continued her acting career in independent films such as “The Salon” (2005) with Vivica A. Fox, “Forbidden Fruits” (2006), “Humenetomy” (2007), and “Ex$pendable” (2008). She also co-starred in Tyler Perry’s musical stage play, “Aunt Bam’s Place,” which was filmed for a DVD release in 2012.