Born on July 1, 1981, in Los Angeles, CA, multi-talented performer Amanda Seales grew up primarily in Orlando, FL, where she pursued lessons across dance, music, and acting. During her teenage years she made several onscreen appearances, among them a role in Nickelodeon’s short-lived series My Brother and Me, yet she still chose to major in theater at SUNY-Purchase. While there, a friend’s suggestion prompted her to begin crafting original spoken-word pieces, leading to a 2002 slot on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam. Her first mixtape, the rhymed-and-sung collection It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop, Vol. 1, arrived in 2004; soon after, performing as Amanda Diva, she secured regular airtime on MTV2 and Sirius Radio’s daily Hip-Hop Nation program, joined the Aphilliates crew headed by DJ Drama, Don Cannon, and DJ Sense, issued a volume of poetry, and earned a master’s degree in African-American studies from Columbia University. In 2007 she stepped in for the departed Natalie Stewart on Floetry’s tour, released the Mick Boogie-hosted mixtape Still Sucka Free, Vol. 1, and, that December, issued Life Experience under the Amanda Diva name—the opening installment of a planned EP trilogy that was to include Love Experience and Live Experience.
