Tayla Parx facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tayla Parx
Parks in 2019
Background information
Birth name	Taylor Monét Parks
Born	(1993-09-16) September 16, 1993 (age 31) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Genres	R&B pop hip hop country urban contemporary soul Latin alternative K-pop
Occupation(s)	Songwriter singer actress entrepreneur
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Atlantic Def Jam TaylaMade

Taylor Monét Parks, known as Tayla Parx, is a talented American artist. She is a singer, songwriter, businesswoman, and actress. Tayla has been nominated for a Grammy Award multiple times for Album of the Year.

She has written or co-written many popular songs. These songs have been streamed over 16 billion times on Spotify. Her music has appeared on many different charts, including pop, hip hop, R&B, K-pop, country, and Latin music charts. As a solo artist, she has released four albums, an EP (which is like a mini-album), and a mixtape.

Tayla Parx was born in Dallas, Texas. Growing up, she took lessons in singing, dancing, and classical piano. She started writing her own songs when she was just a child. At nine years old, she joined the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. There, she was encouraged to start acting. Her family moved to Los Angeles in 2005. In 2006, she got her first TV role. The next year, in 2007, she played Little Inez Stubbs in the movie Hairspray.

When Tayla was 19, she signed a deal with Warner Chappell Music. Her first big hit as a songwriter was "BO$$" for Fifth Harmony. In 2018, three songs she helped write were all on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the same time. These were "Love Lies" by Khalid and Normani, "Thank U, Next" by Ariana Grande, and "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco. In 2021, she made history with "Glad You Exist" by Dan + Shay. She became only the fourth Black woman to write a #1 country song on the radio charts.

In 2017, Tayla Parx released her first solo music, a mixtape called TaylaMade. After that, she released full albums: We Need to Talk (2019), Coping Mechanisms (2020), and Many Moons, Many Suns (2024). She also released A Blue State in 2020, which was a collection of three cover songs.

Tayla Parx also started her own company, TaylaMade, Inc. This company includes different parts like Parx Publishing (which works with Warner Chappell Music), 3020 Management (for artists and writers), Trailer Parx (a lifestyle brand), Parx Studios (a creative group), and TaylaMade Records (her own music label).

Early Life and Learning

Tayla Parx, whose birth name is Taylor Monét Parks, was born in Texas. She grew up in Dallas before moving to Los Angeles when she was 13. Her mom worked in technology, and her dad worked in finance. Tayla could sing even before she could talk. Her grandmother, who played piano, would sing lullabies to teach her how to sing in harmony.

Music was a very important part of Tayla's childhood. She sang in church and took lessons for dance, singing, and classical piano. She started writing songs when she was in elementary school. She loved the artist Missy Elliott, who later showed Tayla that songwriting could be a career.

In 2002, Tayla started going to Debbie Allen's Dance Academy. She planned to focus on dancing. However, Debbie Allen saw Tayla's acting talent and encouraged her to try acting too.

Music and Acting Career

Starting Out: Lincoln Center, Hairspray, and Nickelodeon

With her parents' permission, Debbie Allen took Tayla to Washington, D.C. From age nine to eleven, Tayla performed at Lincoln Center. She was the narrator in a stage show based on Allen's book, Dancing in the Wings.

At Debbie Allen's suggestion, Tayla's family moved to Los Angeles in 2006. In her first year in LA, Tayla got roles in TV shows like Gilmore Girls and Everybody Hates Chris. Her biggest role was playing Little Inez Stubbs in the 2007 movie musical Hairspray. After that, she appeared on Nickelodeon shows such as True Jackson, VP and Victorious. It was on Victorious that she met Ariana Grande.

2012-2016: Songwriting Success and Solo Debut

By 2013, Tayla felt she was mostly known as an actress. So, she decided to take a break from TV and movies. She wanted to focus more on music. She learned how to engineer music and studied entertainment law. When she was 17, she met Babyface, who became a mentor to her. At 19, Jon Platt signed her to a music publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music. In an interview, she said that her acting background helped her as a songwriter. She explained that songwriting is about listening and connecting with others' feelings.

In 2013, she got her first album credit. She co-wrote and co-produced the song "Call Me Crazy" for Sevyn Streeter's first album. She also reconnected with Ariana Grande. Together with Tommy Brown and Victoria Monét, they wrote "My Everything," the title song for Grande's second album. Tayla got her first big hit as a co-writer and vocal producer for "BO$$," the first single from Fifth Harmony's debut album. This song sold over a million copies in the US and stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 15 weeks.

Tayla Parx also did voice acting. In 2014, she voiced Sim in the video game The Sims 4. A year later, she voiced Victor Stone in the film Justice League: Gods and Monsters.

In 2015, many artists recorded her songs, including The Internet, Pentatonix, Red Velvet, Jason Derulo, and Keyshia Cole. She was also featured on "Anyway", a song she co-wrote with Chris Brown. She released her first single as a solo artist, "Don't Answer the Phone." In April 2016, she had her first #1 hit on the Latin Pop charts with "Solo Yo" by Sofía Reyes and Prince Royce.

2017-2019: We Need to Talk and Huge Hits

Atlantic Records released Tayla Parx's mixtape, TaylaMade, in 2017. It had 20 songs and short musical breaks. She felt very free making this mixtape, just being herself. Artists like Khalid, Chiiild, and Syd were featured on TaylaMade.

Tayla Parx co-wrote the BTS song "Mic Drop", released in 2017. It was #1 on the Japanese K-pop charts for six weeks. The next year, she co-wrote "Like I Do" with Christina Aguilera. This song won a Grammy Award. Tayla also co-wrote the title song for Chloe x Halle's album The Kids Are Alright, which was nominated for a Grammy. She co-wrote four songs for Janelle Monáe's album Dirty Computer. Tayla helped Monáe tell her story deeply through these songs. For her work on Dirty Computer, Tayla received her first Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.

In October 2018, Tayla Parx worked with Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét, and Tommy Brown again. They wrote nine songs in one week for Grande's album Sweetener, including the super popular "Thank U, Next". Tayla encouraged Grande to use the names of her ex-boyfriends in the song. When it came out in November 2018, the song quickly became #1 in 23 countries and was a huge cultural moment worldwide. Tayla also co-wrote "7 Rings", which reached #1 in 28 countries and became one of the best-selling digital songs ever. Both "Thank U, Next" and "7 Rings" debuted at #1 on the Hot 100 chart.

In 2018, Tayla also voiced AJ for The Walking Dead video game series. At the same time, she had three songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: "Thank U, Next", "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco, and "Love Lies" by Khalid and Normani. "High Hopes" became Panic! at the Disco's biggest hit, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Love Lies" was a Top 10 hit in seven countries.

Tayla Parx released her first album, We Need to Talk, in April 2019. In this album, she explored different music styles and her identity as a Black woman. A review in Vice said that Tayla's skill in writing many songs each year made her a very precise songwriter. The review noted her ability to show and make listeners feel emotions in her songs. Entertainment Weekly described the album as having both confidence and openness.

2020-Present: Coping Mechanisms and More Hits

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, Tayla Parx built a recording studio at her home. There, she finished her second album, Coping Mechanisms. During the 2020 election, she recorded A Blue State. This was a three-song EP of cover songs that showed how society was feeling at that time. She covered "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye, "Everything Is Everything" by Lauryn Hill, and "I Smile" by Kirk Franklin. A Blue State was released in October 2020.

Coping Mechanisms was released in November 2020. An article in Nylon said that with this album, Tayla Parx turned her worries and feelings into lively music with disco, techno, and pop sounds.

During the pandemic, Tayla Parx produced vocals and co-wrote six songs for Ariana Grande's album Positions. These songs included "..." and "POV". She and Grande were rarely in the same room due to social distancing. Tayla was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category for "I'm Ready," a song she co-wrote on John Legend's album Bigger Love. She received her third Album of the Year Grammy nomination for co-writing "..." on Haim's Women in Music Pt. III.

In 2021, she made history again by becoming the fourth Black woman to write a #1 country hit with "Glad You Exist", a song with Dan + Shay. She received her fourth Album of the Year Grammy nomination that same year for her songwriting on Justin Bieber's Justice. In 2022, she earned Grammy nominations for Best Contemporary Jazz album for her work on Not Tight by Domi and JD Beck, and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Diana Ross's Thank You.

Tayla Parx started working on her third album, Many Moons, Many Suns, right after Coping Mechanisms came out. She wrote songs whenever she felt inspired. In July 2024, she released "Era," a fun, catchy, and powerful song featuring Tkay Maidza. The album was released independently through her own label, TaylaMade. Tayla told Rolling Stone that she is now "owning everything that I am." She said her lyrics tell you about her values and that even after hard times, you can bounce back and be okay.

TaylaMade, Inc.

Tayla Parx officially launched TaylaMade, Inc. in 2021. It's a company that brings together all her different businesses. It includes Parx Studios, a creative group that has worked with artists like Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, and Noah Cyrus. It also includes Trailer Parx, which is a lifestyle brand. TaylaMade Inc. also has Parx Publishing, which works with Warner Chappell, and 3020 Management, which helps artists, writers, and producers. TaylaMade Records is her independent record label. Parx Publishing and 3020 Management have signed talented writers and producers, including Grammy nominees Oliver Frid, Kameron Glasper, and Em Walcott.

Personal Life and Advocacy

Tayla Parx lives in Nashville. In a mini-documentary called Who Is Tayla Parx?, she described herself as "a dog mom, a sister, a daughter, an executive, a writer and an artist."

Tayla Parx is involved in important work for musicians. She is a member of the Mechanical Licensing Collective. She also helped start The Pact, a group that works to make sure songwriters get proper credit and rights for their songs. In September 2020, she was chosen to be on the leadership committee of the Recording Academy's Black Music Collective.

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes

Extended Plays

Filmography

Film

Television

Video Games

See also

In Spanish: Tayla Parx para niños