At the age of four, Ali began singing. By age seven, she won the Star Search television contest two times. Her breakthrough came when she was cast as Ashley Banks for the popular television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. She sang on various episodes of the show. On one of the shows Tatyana sings Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and the original song "Make up your Mind", Will Smith asked her if she seriously considered pursuing a musical career. Despite her singing ability, she concentrated on her acting career on Fresh Prince the next few years.
In the penultimate season of Fresh Prince, Ali began preparing herself for her musical debut. The result was the album Kiss The Sky. Which was certified Gold in early 1999. The album spawned the hit song Daydreamin', produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the UK Singles Chart. The album spawned two further UK hits, "Boy You Knock Me Out", featuring Will Smith, which peaked at #3 and is her biggest hit to date there and "Everytime", which was her third top 20 hit there, peaking at #20.
As of 2005, she completed work on the film Glory Road and is recording her sophomore album