The three sisters of the group named Tracy perform at the Apollo theater
Tracy, as they are known, levels up in the third round at the famous Apollo in Harlem, singing a soulful version of Drake’s “Hotline Bling.”
Tracy is a group of three sisters, two of which are SUNY Old Westbury’s very own, Junior and Resident Assistant Shijuan Williams,20 and Senior and former Safety Aide Sydney Williams,21. They are in a musical group with their little sister Tyler-Lenai Williams,18, who have been singing almost their “entire life.”
Back in September 2015, their father, Anthony Williams, showed them a flyer to audition for Apollo’s Amateur Night and he agreed to do so. “The audition process was really long, we got there at 5 in the morning and didn’t leave till the evening… we waited on a long line outside then we got a number and waited around inside, and then we auditioned for about a minute and a half,” said Tyler. According to Shijuan, the only the first 300 people on line were allowed to audition. It was not till three months later that Tracy got a call back saying they leveled up from the auditions.
In the first round, Tracy won second place and leveled up to the next round. After the second, they leveled up winning second place again, however much closer to first place this time. The girls now spend a lot of time practicing for their final round on May 11th, which will determine if they perform in the Apollo’s Amateur night on November 23rd and have the chance to win $10,000.
There are several shows held to determine who will perform in November. As the Apollo is known for, the winners are based on the audience’s reaction. In each show, only the acts that place in top 3, move on to the next round, leading up to the chosen winners for the final show in November.
“If we win money, we’ll probably put it towards Tracy getting like a tour bus, setting up concerts, making our fan base grow with different kinds of T-Shirts and mix-tapes, and studio time,” said Tyler.
Shijuan explained that her experience with going up against other talents is crazy. “You can see people singing their heart out, or dancing, or whatever their talent is and you never really know how talented people are until you see it,” she said.
Tracy comes from a musically-inclined family from Freeport, Long Island. Their brother, Anthony Williams who is a SUNY Old Westbury Alumnus is known as “Too.”He used to perform his poetry and rap at school events and still continues to showcase his talent. They have a younger sister as well, Sincere Williams, 13 who sings. “She misses no beats what so ever, she can sing any note high or low,” said Shijuan. Mr. Williams used to rap and he was known as “Poetry.” “It’s fantastic. Someone is always singing, spitting bars, or bouncing a freshly written lyrics off someone. It’s our way of life. It’s the one thing we all have in common, the love for music,” said Anthony Williams. Mrs. Williams, Tijuana Williams, sings as well, however she’s a bit more shy. “She is infamous for her duet with my father singing The Greatest Love of All [by Whitney Houston] on tape that we found lying around at home,” said Shijuan.
The Williams sisters have always been singing at family occasions since they were young. However, they officially became Tracy three years ago. “Our bond as family and blend as vocalists just formulates so well, it’s strange,” said Shijuan, “it’s like God made all three of us with different voice types to go together. Seriously amazing!”
“We take the best from each other and that’s what makes us Tracy,” said Sydney.
Support Tracy and purchase tickets for the May 11th to see them perform at the Apollo!
