She has been characterized as a modern-day Renaissance Woman: Poet, songwriter, vocalist, producer, stylist, public speaker, and entrepreneur all describe the multi-talented, 25-year-old Atlanta-based Aerle Taree. Now, with her most recent venture as the president and founder of Reality Writings, Inc., Taree’s fans can add publisher to that list of accomplishments. Using her own experience as a successful recording artist, Taree is now on the other side of the microphone: as an advocate, coach, and publisher for promising talent in Atlanta.Born in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1973, Taree was inspired through the admiration of her mother, a civil rights attorney and poet/writer, and her father, an editorial writer for the city’s newspaper. Their guidance led Taree to an appreciation for intellectual thought, creativity and education, and she spent most of her childhood writing and composing (anything from restaurant jingles to award-winning poetry). She continued her poetic quest while attending Cornell University in New York, where she studied fashion and apparel design. Her writing talent culminated in 1989 when she joined the Grammy award-winning group Arrested Development.It was as a member of that Atlanta-based group that Taree’s writing blossomed, co-writing the hit songs Tennessee and Revolution, (at the request of Spike Lee for Malcolm X: The Movie). During this time, Taree continued her studies at Clark Atlanta University; by the age of 21, she had won two Grammy Awards and a BMI .Taree’s career with Arrested Development gained her nationwide recognition and awards, including MTV Music Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Soul Train Awards, and Rolling Stone Critic Poll’s Band of the Year. During this time, Taree also made several feature appearances in magazines videos, albums and television, including Arsenio, BET Teen Summit, and Yo! MTV Raps. She also toured with pop group EnVogue, the Black College Tour, and the Lollapalooza Tour.Following her departure from Arrested Development, Taree continued to grow artistically. She has also started her own multifaceted entertainment company in Atlanta called Reality Writings, Inc., one of the newest members of the MCA Music Publishing family: “I really want to be seen as an artist and as a writer of pop poetry,” she says. “A modern-day Princess of Poetry.”Taree has written her own book of narrative poems entitled PoeTaree: The Jurisprudence of Life, which details an evening in the lives of college students from different social, racial, and class backgrounds. Writer Zona Neale Hurston, activist Angela Davis, and poet Gil Scott Heron have largely influenced her work.Taree has a keen interest in African-American communities; she continues to stay focused with what’s going on and the changes she can make through public speaking and panel appearances. She has spoken at the Athlete’s Village during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the 1997 National Black Arts Fest, the IAAM Conference in Washington, DC, the North Carolina Black Leadership Caucus, as well as at other colleges and universities across the country. She also participated in the Vibe Magazine Music Conference in 1996 and the Jack the Rapper panel that same year.Today, Taree is involved in The PhD Project (phdproject.com). The organization aims to improve workforce diversity by diversifying business school faculties, and helping those pursuing a business PhD. Taree remains devoted to her personal commitment to promote change and progress in the community through writing and speaking.

Black Heritage, Diversity, Music, Diversity Topics,