This is an ode to Tabitha

Sorry, but I don't feel sorry, Tabitha must have thought. Fine that 2020 is massively a shitty year, but NOT for me #laaaaater. A debut album, breakthrough success in Beste Zangers AND a little sprout on the way? Honestly, if you go harder than a pandemic, then you deserve an ode.

She stands in her power. Works in line with her talent. She shines and no, you can't ignore it anymore. Tough and at the same time vulnerable. You can feel it in her. Does breaking through just happen? Oh no, it's a process. Some have to search for a long time. Tabitha is one of those artists who first has to get lost before she finds her way. Time for a little introduction. Meet: Tabitha Foen-A-Foe.

Did you already know this?
Tabitha was nine years old when her father passed away, a day after her birthday.
‘It feels a bit like that was the beginning of my life. Everything before that feels like a dream, as if it wasn't real.’ In her most personal track Tijd Vliegt Voorbij, Tabitha sings about the loss of her father. ‘This was definitely a tearjerker. I don't talk about it often, but of course there are moments when I really struggle with it.’

Music works therapeutically for her.
‘My very first EP is called Gevonden in verdwalen and during the writing I was able to process and leave behind many experiences,’ she says in an interview with Glamour. ‘My songs are actually recycled feelings. Because what has been a lesson for you and what you are done with, can help someone else start their journey.’

At fifteen, she signed her first record deal.
Tabitha may have seemed ‘suddenly’ there for us, but a long musical career preceded that. She released a number of English-language tracks and when she was approached by a popular producer, she left for the United States to work on her music with him.

That went a little differently than planned...
The man in question quickly abused his power. It's really nice that he introduced Tabitha to his friends Kim & Kanye and that they went to the movies together (no joke), but according to Tabitha it felt a bit strange soon, she tells in an interview with FunX. ‘As I gradually got to know more people, I became aware of what was happening there. I had a producer who made it very clear to me that I couldn't use the productions unless I would give him something of myself, so to speak. So you quickly realize: aah okay, this is how it works here. Well, then you really have the wrong person in me. So then I said: ‘You just keep quiet in your fucking worthless shitty productions.’

And then there was Ronnie Flex...
He knew Tabitha from the Pop Academy in Rotterdam. He saw what she was doing in Los Angeles and asked her if she wanted to collaborate on two songs for his album Rémi. There you have it: the big Dutch breakthrough of Tabitha. The woman who searched for a career abroad for a long time and ultimately found it right at home.

And now... no other Dutch female singer is streamed as much as Tabitha.
Yes, I'm just mentioning it. With 300 million streams on Spotify, she was the most streamed female artist in the Netherlands in 2019. Whuuut. Hij Is Van Mij, Het Spijt Me Niet, and Moment are among her biggest hits.

Tabitha, look at you girl. Tough and at the same time vulnerable. I don't know you, but I'm just proud. Enjoy your success. You deserve it.

Image: AVROTROS