Tyrese: The Model of Man
He’s been the face, and the body, for Guess. He bared-all in the film Baby Boy and made us melt with his two previous albums, Tyrese and 2000 Watts. This summer, he’s hitting the big screen with amazing new moves in the action film Fast And The Furious 2, while promoting his latest CD, I Wanna Go There. That’s not even mentioning the songs he recorded for the FF2 soundtrack. After a few missed attempts, PLAYGIRL was finally able to catch up with the busy 24-year-old, but when he told us about his romantic side, his latest film, and sultry CD, and why he’s a man, we realized he was totally worth the wait!
PLAYGIRL: You are one busy man!
TYRESE: It’s a little hectic. I’m in a transition from doing a movie [Fast and The Furious 2] to now jumping into the music game and trying to catch up on a lot of things that we missed out on because I was filming.
Tell me a little about your FF2 character.
My character’s name is Roman Pearce. Me and Paul Walker’s relationship is basically, we grew up together. We were like childhood buddies, but we did all the crimes together, criminals, low-key. We always did races and a lot of wild crazy things together. And he became a police officer—which we used to always run from. And I had a big problem with that so I kind of turned my back and stopped dealing with him. Later, he has an undercover case that he has to crack for money laundering down in Miami, so he needs someone to go undercover with him. They try to give him a partner to go undercover with, but he’s not feelin’ him, so he comes back and begs me to go undercover with him. And I agree to it because they say they’re going to erase my criminal record, take my ankle bracelet off because I’m under house arrest, and I agree. The whole time we’re fighting crime, we’re fighting it loosely. So it’s kind of got a lot of twisters.
Paul Walker is the only returning main character. Did this new group work well together?
Yes. I tend to get along with everybody who I work with, you know. That’s just the way it goes. I’m not a confrontational guy, I don’t do the ego-competitive thing, I just kind of show up to do what I got to do, you know. ’cause when you’re in the position, you’re pretty much the captain of the ship. And the way things are gonna go are pretty much the way you want them to go. It can be a difficult shoot, it can be fun, it can be egos and when you put all them fires out, you’re able to get your job done to the best of your ability.
Did you get to do any of your own stunts?
Oh yeah, I did most of my own stunts. There were a couple of things I wanted to do and they didn’t want me to because it was a safety hazard, so they had a stunt double to do it. But I did most of my own stunts ’cause I was just kind of determined to be the one that’s actually in the seat.
Even after having a bad motorcycle accident last year?
I’m fine, I’m fine. I learned from it. Riding a motorcycle for me was definitely a bad habit, so I got over it. I’m moving forward. I love life. I’m too dark skinned to be walking around here scraped up and pink, so I left that shit alone.
On another note, it’s been a long time between your last CD, 2000 Watts, and the new album, I Wanna Go There.
I’m the kind of person, when it comes to music, I don’t really like pumping out a gang of albums back to back like that. It’s really a long process for me. That just goes to show you how involved I get with making an album the best that it can be. I mean, I don’t do too much singing in studios outside of when it’s time for me to record. I’d rather perform live. That’s just my thing. Studios don’t do it for me.
On your website, you refer to your new CD as “booty music.”
Yeah, sensual, lovemaking, you know, like the old school, how they used to do it.
Does it reflect how you are as a lover?
I’m a romantic person and being a romantic, pretty much anything under the sun goes. You can be as creative as you wanna be.
What’s a romantic thing you’ve done for a woman?
I’ve done so many things, been so creative. Well, one time, for Valentine’s Day, I told my girl to come and meet me over at my place and I had a sign on the floor when she first entered that said, “Follow the roses.” I had her following these rose petals through the house. And each note read something different, like “Make a left”, “Make a right”, “Look up”, “Look down”. I just sent her on this wild goose chase. I made her pick up each note as she got to it, and when she got to the last one, I had a trash can there, and I said: “Put all the notes in the trash to help me keep the house clean.” As she’s putting it in the trash, I didn’t want her to notice she’s being filmed. Right behind the shower curtain I had a tripod, peeking through the shower curtains. And she went in there to get her flowers that were in there by the toilet and I told her on the last note, “Surprise, you’re on candid camera.” So she came out of the bathroom looking for the camera, but I had already got her natural reaction to the roses and everything that was in the bathroom, so…. It was pretty special.
Your CD also deals with your sexual experiences with women of different astrological signs.
Well, to be honest, women are more into zodiac signs then me, but I know that with me, being a person that has had sex with a couple girls whatever, I’m aware of certain zodiac signs that I just have a strong connection with. From me getting along with them, being able to talk to them, and they be non-confrontational, and this and that. Leos happen to be a zodiac sign that sexually, we have a strong connection. I just recently hung out with this girl for about four days who’s from Las Vegas. I just laughed and had fun all day and I’m a Capricorn. That was kind of cool that, you know, she reminded me of me. And we had a good ass time. It’s a lot of different things, a lot of different levels, and zodiac signs are not something I would heavily promote. “Oh, if you’re not a such and such, I can’t hook up with you because I don’t get along with you”—that’s not my thing. It’s just really a thing of if you meet somebody and you find you get along with them, then you gotta ask them afterwards “What’s your zodiac sign?”
Your video for “How You Gonna Act Like That” is very steamy. Does it reflect what type of lover you are?
How can I say this without sounding crazy? To a woman, I’ll be all that. Seriously. It ain’t no doubt. I’m not talkin’ about being all that based on career, based on money, based on any of the things that someone would think of themself as being all that. I’m just talking about—I’m a man. I know how to take care of a woman—on all levels.
You’re really open about sex. Is there anything that a woman could say that would shock you?
Women shock me all the time, you know what I mean, with the things they say, and the things they do. But, I guess, overall, I really couldn’t sit on the phone and think of something they could say…
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