Asia'h Epperson

Last updated
Asia'h Epperson
Born
Asia'h Epperson

(1988-08-20) August 20, 1988 (age 35)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active2008–present
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals
Labels Def Jam

Asia'h Epperson (born August 20, 1988) is an American singer and actress. Most notable as a semi-finalist in the seventh season of American Idol , for her role as Felicia's friend in the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton , and as Tasha Skanks in the television series Greenleaf .

Contents

Early life

Asia'h Epperson was born August 20, 1988, [1] [2] a Joplin, Missouri native. She has a younger brother and sister. [1] [2] Asia’h started writing music at the age of 6. Singing became a source of great happiness for her and she did it wherever she could including school, home, and church. [3] Asia'h was a cheerleader while she attended Joplin High School, and won a regional talent competition. [2] [3]

Career

Epperson's career began with American Idol when she was 19 years old after she moved to Atlanta. [3] [4] Asia’h Epperson caught the attention of the judges during her Atlanta audition, where she sang a tribute to her father, who died two days before in an auto accident. [2] After American Idol she got signed with DefJam and began working with iconic producers Kenneth "Babyface" Edmunds and L.A. Reid. [3] She became a part of the original cast of the musical Hair Show alongside music legend Chaka Khan in 2011. [3] Three weeks before her first musical showcase and release, she was in a devastating car accident injuring a lung, kidney, spleen, breaking her jaw, pelvis, nine ribs, and multiple vertebrae. [3] Her mouth was also wired shut to help her heal. [3] As a result her music career was placed on hold. [3] While healing she continued to pursue her career by meeting a manager and began going to auditions, securing her first guest star role on TNT's Murder in the First . [3] She then went on to play Felicia in the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton .

Epperson then landed her role as Tasha Skanks in Greenleaf . [3] [5] In 2018, she played as Bobby Brown's former girlfriend, Kim Ward in the biopic The Bobby Brown Story. [5] Epperson has stated that she enjoys her role as Tasha Stanks stating about her character, "She’s a good woman but on a assignment to do a lot of not good things." [5] Pertaining to Tasha Skanks' character of Greenleaf in season 3 Asia'h states "This season, she is on a mission and that mission to get revenge on the Greenleaf's. She's doing that but having problems with that. Her spirit, her conscience, she’s going back and forth." [5]

Personal life

Epperson has a love for physical fitness, and became a licensed massage therapist. [3] She has stated that being able to help people, and make them happy makes her happy. [5] Asia'h also enjoys the outdoors, and is a Christian. [3] [5]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2015 Straight Outta Compton Felicia
2017UnconcealedCrystal Gill
2020The Christmas LotteryDeidre
2021A Christmas Family ReunionTiffanie
2021“Someday at Christmas”

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2008 American Idol HerselfSeason 7
2015 Murder in the First Wendi
EW/Road to EtherHerself
2016–20 Greenleaf Tasha Skanks
2017 My Crazy Ex Mandi
Leimert ParkKendra
2018 Marlon Tanya
The Bobby Brown StoryKim Ward
HellblazerbizHerself
2019 A Black Lady Sketch Show Patti LaBelle Background SingerEpisode: "Where Are My Background Singers?"
Black Jesus DiamondEpisode: "Boonie Comes Up"

Related Research Articles

N.W.A was an American hip hop group formed in Compton, California. They were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential groups in the history of hip hop music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MC Ren</span> American rapper, songwriter and record producer

Lorenzo Jerald Patterson, known professionally as MC Ren, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Compton, California. He is the founder and owner of the record label Villain Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DJ Yella</span> American hip hop musician

Antoine Carraby, known professionally as DJ Yella, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer and film director from Los Angeles.

Vanessa Denae Olivarez is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is the vocalist, songwriter, and autoharpist for the country bands Granville Automatic and Mama's Blue Dress, has written songs for the country duo Sugarland, and was in the Top 12 of the second season of the television series American Idol in 2003.

Tiffany Montgomery, known professionally as Ryan Starr, is a singer who finished seventh on the first season of American Idol. She went on to release a successful single on iTunes and participated in a handful of other television programs, modeling campaigns, and worldwide music tours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordin Sparks</span> American singer and actress (born 1989)

Jordin Sparks is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the sixth season of American Idol at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. Her self-titled debut studio album (2007) was met with critical and commercial success; it peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200, received platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and sold over two million copies worldwide. The album was supported by the Billboard Hot 100-top ten singles "Tattoo" and "No Air" —the latter received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and remains the third highest-selling song by an American Idol contestant—with three million digital copies sold in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merle Dandridge</span> American actress, singer (b. 1975)

Merle Dandridge is an American actress and singer. She is best known for performing in Broadway musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Spamalot, Rent, and Once on This Island, as well as her video game roles as Alyx Vance in Half-Life 2 and Marlene in The Last of Us franchise. She played the leading role of Grace Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf (2016-2020). She’s had recurring roles on television series such as Sons of Anarchy and The Night Shift and starred as Kim Hammond in the first season of HBO Max comedy-drama series The Flight Attendant in 2020. In 2022, Dandridge began starring as Natasha Seo-Yeon Ross in the ABC action series Station 19. She reprised her role as Marlene in the 2023 television adaptation of The Last of Us.

<i>Memphis</i> (musical) Musical

Memphis is a musical with music by David Bryan, lyrics by Bryan and Joe DiPietro, and a book by DiPietro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasha Smith</span> American actress, director and producer

Tasha Smith is an American actor, director and producer. She began her career in a starring role on the NBC comedy series Boston Common (1996–97), and she later appeared in numerous movies and television series.

Felicia Diana Barton is an American singer and songwriter, best known for her appearance on the eighth season of American Idol in 2009. Since 2013, she has joined Warner-Chappell Music and Pulse Recording as a songwriter, and has co-written songs for Demi Lovato, Seohyun and Lea Michele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amber Riley</span> American actress and singer

Amber Patrice Riley sometimes known mononymously as RILEY, is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her portrayal of Mercedes Jones on the Fox comedy-drama series Glee (2009–2015). For her performance on the series, she and the rest of the cast won a Screen Actors Guild Award, and have been nominated for three Teen Choice Awards, three NAACP Image Awards, and a Grammy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angie Miller (American singer)</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1994)

Angela Kristine Miller, also known by her stage name Zealyn, is an American singer-songwriter. She came in third place on the twelfth season of American Idol in 2013. Her debut EP, Weathered, was released independently on November 12, 2014. Miller rebranded in 2016, opting for the stage name Zealyn. Since then, she has released a second, Limbic System, and third EP, A Weekend in Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candice Glover</span> American singer and actress

Candice Rickelle Glover is an American R&B singer and actress who won the twelfth season of American Idol. Glover is the first winner to have auditioned three times before being cast for the live shows. Her debut album Music Speaks was released on February 18, 2014.

<i>Straight Outta Compton</i> (film) 2015 film directed by F. Gary Gray

Straight Outta Compton is a 2015 American epic biographical drama film directed by F. Gary Gray, depicting the rise and fall of the hip hop group N.W.A and its members Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, and DJ Yella. Members of N.W.A were involved in the production of the film, including Ice Cube and Dr. Dre as producers, as was Eazy-E's widow, Tomica Woods-Wright. MC Ren and DJ Yella served as creative consultants. Ice Cube is played by his real-life son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., who made his film debut. Corey Hawkins portrays Dr. Dre, Jason Mitchell is Eazy-E, Neil Brown Jr. is DJ Yella, and Aldis Hodge is MC Ren. Paul Giamatti stars as N.W.A's manager Jerry Heller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasha Low</span> Singaporean actress and singer

Tasha Low is a Singaporean actress and singer. She was the leader of the South Korean girl group, Skarf from 2012 to 2014. Low is currently based in Singapore. She made her feature film debut in The Diam Diam Era in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Shea Jackson Jr.</span> American actor, rapper and songwriter

O'Shea Jackson Jr. (born February 24, 1991), also known by the stage name OMG, is an American actor, rapper and songwriter. He is the oldest son of Ice Cube and, in his feature film debut, portrayed his father in the 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton.

Greenleaf is an American drama television series created by Craig Wright, and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Lionsgate Television. Clement Virgo also serves as an executive producer and director. It stars Keith David, Lynn Whitfield, and Merle Dandridge. Greenleaf premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on June 21, 2016.

<i>American Idol</i> season 17 Season of television series

The seventeenth season of American Idol premiered on March 3, 2019, on the ABC television network. It was the show's second season to air on ABC. Ryan Seacrest continued as host, while Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie returned as judges. Bobby Bones returned as the in-house mentor, and acted as a guest host for the episode on April 8, 2019.

Courtney Hadwin is an English singer-songwriter. She rose to fame by competing prominently on the first season of ITV's The Voice Kids UK 2017 and the 13th season of the NBC competition show America's Got Talent (AGT) the following year. Her latter audition went viral. By the time of her second performance in 2018 on the first live TV broadcast of AGT that season, the video of her audition had been viewed 200 million times, according to show host Tyra Banks as she introduced Hadwin.

Tasha Layton is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter and author.

References

  1. 1 2 Epperson, Asia'h (21 August 2017). "Asia'h Epperson Official Twitter Page". Twitter . Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Shipman, Dustin (28 February 2008). "All passion, all heart': Asia'h Epperson's "Idol" journey ends". The Joplin Globe. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Success For Magnetic Actress and Singer Asia'h Epperson". Diversity MBA. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  4. "Asia'h Epperson". Rotten Tomatoes. 1 January 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Beverly, Lauren (27 August 2018). "Exclusive interview with Greenleaf's & "The Bobby Brown Story's Asia'h Epperson INTERVUE: Asia'h Epperson". The Roger's Revenue. Retrieved 18 January 2019.