Biography
Taja Sevelle, a Minneapolis-based singer and songwriter who once served as a protégé to Prince, achieved her initial breakthrough in 1987 via the infectious R&B-pop track “Love Is Contagious.” Chico Bennett handled production duties on her first full-length effort, issued by the Paisley Park imprint, which climbed into the U.K. Top 50. Two subsequent long-players followed—Fountains Free in 1991 and Toys of Vanity in 1997—alongside continued songwriting contributions for Warner and scattered standalone singles. Humanitarian work gradually took precedence during the 2000s, most notably through the founding of the Urban Farming nonprofit; intermittent musical returns included the 2004 Good Times EP and the 2013 single “Little Diva.” In 2024 she reemerged with multiple new recordings, among them the collaborative “Living Proof” featuring the late rapper Proof.
Her connection to Prince originated with a backing-vocal credit on the 1985 Prince and the Revolution album Around the World in a Day. During 1987, the same week she earned admission to Boston’s Berklee College of Music, she secured a contract with Prince’s Warner-affiliated Paisley Park Records. Immediate traction arrived when “Love Is Contagious,” both her debut single and first original composition, registered a modest U.S. placement while reaching the Top Ten across the U.K. and Europe. Bennett again produced, and two additional tracks were co-written with Prince for the self-titled debut LP, which appeared later that year and peaked at number 62 on Billboard while attaining number 48 in Britain. A move to Reprise Records yielded the 1991 follow-up Fountains Free, after which Sevelle maintained her Warner songwriting role until the release of her third album, Toys of Vanity, in 1997; recorded activity then diminished throughout the 2000s.
The electronic-infused funk and soul collection Good Times appeared as an EP in 2004, one year before she established the nonprofit Urban Farming in Detroit. Its stated purpose centered on supplying nourishment to underserved communities by cultivating gardens on vacant city parcels, an initiative that later reached international scope. Outside those philanthropic commitments, she issued the single “Little Diva” in 2014 and resurfaced once more in the early 2020s. Reuniting with Bennett and enlisting D-Moet, she unveiled several fresh tracks such as “Silver Lining” and “Higher Way.” The 2024 release “Living Proof,” again featuring Proof, supplied the title song for the documentary Living Proof: Dr. Khalid El-Hakim Black History.
Her connection to Prince originated with a backing-vocal credit on the 1985 Prince and the Revolution album Around the World in a Day. During 1987, the same week she earned admission to Boston’s Berklee College of Music, she secured a contract with Prince’s Warner-affiliated Paisley Park Records. Immediate traction arrived when “Love Is Contagious,” both her debut single and first original composition, registered a modest U.S. placement while reaching the Top Ten across the U.K. and Europe. Bennett again produced, and two additional tracks were co-written with Prince for the self-titled debut LP, which appeared later that year and peaked at number 62 on Billboard while attaining number 48 in Britain. A move to Reprise Records yielded the 1991 follow-up Fountains Free, after which Sevelle maintained her Warner songwriting role until the release of her third album, Toys of Vanity, in 1997; recorded activity then diminished throughout the 2000s.
The electronic-infused funk and soul collection Good Times appeared as an EP in 2004, one year before she established the nonprofit Urban Farming in Detroit. Its stated purpose centered on supplying nourishment to underserved communities by cultivating gardens on vacant city parcels, an initiative that later reached international scope. Outside those philanthropic commitments, she issued the single “Little Diva” in 2014 and resurfaced once more in the early 2020s. Reuniting with Bennett and enlisting D-Moet, she unveiled several fresh tracks such as “Silver Lining” and “Higher Way.” The 2024 release “Living Proof,” again featuring Proof, supplied the title song for the documentary Living Proof: Dr. Khalid El-Hakim Black History.
Singles