“The day that God gave me an angel / just know that He gave you the same / watching you grow makes me so thankful / I light up when I hear your name,” sings Tammy Rivera to her daughter Charlie on the track named after her child. Released on Mother’s Day (May 10), “CHARLIE” is a sweet tribute to the love only a mother has for her child. This slow R&B groove of a track sees Tammy promising she’ll be by her daughter’s side for “forever and a day.” Tammy sings that though “there will come a time when I won’t always be around / but everything I’ve taught you will be holding you down / I want you to never doubt in your mind/hope you know you’ll always be the apple of my eye.” As to why she decided to share this new song today, Tammy tells HollywoodLife that “The song ‘CHARLIE’ is a true testament to a mother’s love and that’s why I decided to release this on Mother’s Day.”
“Charlie marches to her own little beat,” Tammy told VH1 in 2017. “She’s like the total opposite of me. She’s not a real fashionista. She’s [got] like a little rebellious, not personality but her style. Like, she loves [The Voice’s] Melanie Martinez, that’s one of her favorite artists. I can see her being an actress or, or as would say, she’d want to be a YouTuber. When she said that, I was like, ‘ah hell no,’ but then I Googled how much some YouTubers make and I was like, ‘girl, knock yourself out.’” Tammy also said that despite having Tammy and Waka Flocka Flame as parents, she doesn’t let the spotlight go to her head.
“When her friends are like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re father’s Waka Flocka Flame,’ she’ll be like, ‘Calm down’!’ She hates sh-t like that,” Waka told The Source in 2018. “She’s not into sh-t that girls that are 13 are into like fashion and knowing what’s on the blogs. She ain’t with that sh-t. As a father, I used to go out with my daughter, and I would see her act out like dance and be loud; and I was like, ‘Yo, why you trying to be seen?’ ”
“I had to check myself because I seen my daughter, and it’s like she’s in her own world. And I had to respect that, and I had to realize that,” added Waka, who, like Tammy, is proud of the woman that Charlie is growing into. “It’s cool because what I’m building is a classy, strong-minded young lady. Any female that’s like that is prepared for the world.”
“CHARLIE” is out now, and new music from Tammy is just around the corner. She has a full project, entitled “Conversation,” set for a summer release.