Natina Reed

Natina Tiawana Reed was born on October 28, 1979, in Queens, New York City. She was raised in Atlanta by her mother Tamara Goodridge, father, and stepfather Mark Goodridge of Covington, Georgia. Her family also included two sisters, a brother, and seven step-siblings. She is singer Farrah Franklin's cousin. During one interview, she said she wanted to be either Miss America, a Veterinarian or a movie star. By the age of eight, she had modeled for Macy's and Bloomingdale's advertising campaigns and acted in a hot dog commercial.

Reed was nominated for several accolades for her work with Blaque. For "808", the trio was nominated for Best R&B/Soul Or Rap New Artist at the 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award; at the 2000 ceremony, they were also nominated for R&B/Soul Album Of The Year, Group, Band Or Duo. "I Do" was nominated for Best Editing In A Video at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, and the group won Best New Artist-R&B at the 2000 Billboard Video Awards for "Bring It All To Me". The group was nominated for Best Female Group at the 2001 BET Awards.

During "the early 2000s", Reed became engaged to Kurupt though the couple never married. They had planned to be married in the spring of 2001, and rescheduled it to 2002 or 2003 due to conflicts with their work schedules. Rapper Foxy Brown, Kurupt's former fiancée, dissed Reed on the track "730" from her 2001 album Broken Silence in the lyrics: "Some hos is always yappin' — especially pop-star bitches with the soft image" and "So what I'm not with him / Bitch he's off limits." Reed responded that Brown "needs to move on and get over him" and advised that they focus on their respective careers. Reed told MTV News:

Reed appeared as herself in a 2001 episode of the comedy-drama television series V.I.P. The same year, she was featured on the hook for her then-fiancée Kurupt's single "It's Over" from his third studio album Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey, and appeared in its music video flirting with him. Jazmin Perez of Vibe included it as one of the "tracks to watch", though a Writer of HipHopDX and Craig Jenkins of Complex criticized Reed's portion as childish and incongruent with the rest of the single. "It's Over" peaked at number 88 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard chart. Blaque was featured on the song "Head to the Sky" on Lopes' debut solo album Supernova also released in 2001.

Reed became pregnant with Kurput's child during the recording of Blaque Out; she said that the album's limited release was the result of her pregnancy and the label's uncertainty over the group's Future. In 2002, she gave birth to their son, Tren Brown. Following Reed's pregnancy, the couple separated. Reed's father said that being a mother was "one of her most treasured roles". Following Lopes' death in an automobile accident in La Ceiba, Honduras, in 2002, Reed was interviewed for a BET Tonight episode about her life. Reed said she lived with Lopes three months before her son's birth and was taken care of her during her pregnancy. Tren, who had lived with Kurupt for four years before Reed's death, remained with his father. Reed's father said he planned to raise money to help Tren.

Blaque recorded a third album Torch with Elektra, which was never released. The group worked closely with Missy Elliot on five of the album's tracks. Scheduled for release in August 2003, it was promoted with the single "Ugly" featuring verses by Elliot. Reed was unhappy with Torch's musical direction and her lack of creative control. According to Reed, Blaque retains the rights for the album, and they collectively refused to release it. She explained: "If it’s not necessary to give them a record that we don’t even too much care for, why give it to them?" Despite it not being released, Ernest Hardy of Vibe somehow obtained a copy of Torch and in a review wrote that Reed's raps are "filled with hiccup effects, yeah-yeahs, and nasal phrasing", "lifted" from Lopes, describing the album as "passable, if highly derivative".

In 2004, Blaque contributed the single "I'm Good" to the Soundtrack album for the 2003 dance film Honey, and make a cameo appearance as themselves. "I'm Good" was Blaque's highest charting single in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also reached number 95 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Blaque separated in 2004, and Fears and Williams pursued careers as solo artists. Before the group broke up, singer Erica Pullins was temporarily hired as a replacement for Reed. A compilation album Blaque by Popular Demand was released on February 27, 2007.

The group recorded their eponymous debut album with Producer Dallas Austin in a Miami studio. They also worked on the record at Lenny Kravitz's home for two weeks. The trio collaborated with Rappers Missy Elliott and Queen Latifah during the recording sessions. Reed has writing credits on seven of the album's 14 tracks; "I Do" was written entirely by Reed. She wrote a majority of the songs for Blaque. Her tracks were published through Dotted Line (Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)). A Writer for the Los Angeles Sentinel described Reed as "the sassy MC who gave hits like '808' their punch". In her 2008 book Pop Princesses, author Beth Peters wrote that Reed's reputation was "notoriously naughty" and "wild, fiery, and feisty".

Reed took a hiatus from her music career "to focus on other aspirations that she ha[d] including acting". According to other reports, she left Blaque to join a Christian ministry. In 2008, she appeared as herself in the television film Til 6 in the Morning by Platinum Souls. The online magazine Bossip reported that Reed was arrested on April 13, 2010, in Gwinnett County on charges of prostitution, disorderly conduct, and cocaine possession; this news was picked up by other outlets. Reed's management denied the arrest report, saying that the alleged mugshots were photoshopped by someone who had previously hacked into and deleted Reed's Twitter account. On June 29, 2011, she was arrested on charges of driving under the influence (DUI), reckless driving, and driving without a license, and was jailed for two days. Reed's license had been revoked after a previous DUI arrest. During their hiatus, Blaque attempted a reunion, and worked on a project known as Private Show. The album was abandoned because the members had different priorities. In a 2012 interview, Reed said she waited to start recording a solo album to avoid comparisons with other artists, specifically Rapper Nicki Minaj.

On October 26, 2012, a red Honda Accord struck Reed on the Lawrenceville Highway near Hamilton Road north of Lilburn, Georgia. At the time of the accident, she was wearing dark clothing walking in a dark area. The driver called 9-1-1 at 10:30 p.m. (EDT). The driver and the Passenger attempted CPR, but Reed was pronounced dead at the Gwinnett Medical Center at 10:59 p.m. (EDT). The Gwinnett County police said that the driver "was determined to be not at fault and there are no charges pending", and started an investigation into the accident to determine why Reed was in the road. According to the police spokesman, the driver and a Passenger were the only witnesses to the accident. He attributed the lack of witnesses to the low level of activity in the area. The police were uncertain if Reed was crossing the road or walking alongside it. As part of the investigation, they asked people to provide further information if possible. Reed's father said that she was on her cell phone at the time of the accident, and believed that it played a role in her death.

On November 3, a public funeral Service, organized by the Willie A. Watkins Funeral Home, was held at the Abundant Life Church in Lithonia, Georgia. Media outlets reported that Kurupt paid for the Service, but Reed's mother clarified it was not true. Kurupt said that he wanted to stay close to Reed's family. Along with Williams, Fears, and Reed's family and friends, singer-songwriter Tionne Watkins and Rappers Big Boi, Daz Dillinger, and Snoop Dogg attended the funeral. Reed was buried at the North Atlanta Memorial Park and Chapel Mausoleum in Doraville, Georgia. Before the Service, Reed's parents held a press conference in Atlanta to criticize the police investigation. According to their attorney, the police had ignored their requests for information about "the time of incident, exact location, information about the driver and even Reed’s personal belongings". Police released a report an hour after the conference was scheduled, responded that "they did not hold back any information". A year after Reed's death, her sister Niesha Stevens died of unknown causes.