A Hip Hop Farewell to a Kendal Favorite

Kendal at Granville residents were startled earlier this fall to learn that Tiyana Payne, our Human Resources director, will be leaving us for California in January to pursue a career as a hip hop artist. You read that right. An HR expert during the week, Tiyana has been a performance artist on the weekends and in her spare time. We had known of her hobby and were cheering her on. But now she has decided to give full time to her career in music. We feel her imminent departure as our loss, but we stand with Tiyana in hoping and believing that she will find success and fulfillment as a performance artist.

Happily, before heading west, Tiyana agreed to give a concert for her friends here at Kendal. It was a memorable and lovely gift.

The day chosen for the concert was last Sunday, November 30, and by the 4:00 p.m. starting time the Amelia Gathering Room was filled with well-wishers. Tiyana spoke of how she had enjoyed her time at Kendal. She introduced her mother, Tina Pearce, who was helping out with keeping the sound system operating in an appropriately supportive fashion. Then Tiyana sang. Her first piece, written to honor her mother, rang with the love that an adult child feels for a parent whose guidance had been pivotal in the child's development. Three other songs followed, generally crafted to capture Tiyana's ambitions and efforts to establish herself as an artist in the world of hip hop. On two of the pieces she was assisted by her gifted daughter Tatiyana. 

                                                                photos by Vic Feldmiller

I'm no music critic – and I know almost nothing of hip hop – and so all I can say about the concert is that I was overwhelmed by the driving energy, exuberant wordplay, and propulsive rhythm of the songs. They seemed literally breathless. They conveyed excitement and happiness and determination. They were uplifting. 

When the concert was over, an audience that was at once charmed, delighted, and impressed thanked Tiyana and Tatiyana with full applause and then moved forward to wish them well personally. Tiyana leaves Kendal with her fans hoping that her career will bloom and that we can all come to say that we knew her when . . . !