With over six years of dance under his belt, Tyrell Washington is becoming more of a staple in today's fast paced entertainment industry. He has graced the stage with stars Destiny's Child, Usher, Fergie, Missy Elliott, Rihanna, Cassie, Kylie Minogue, Paula Abdul, and much more. He has also appeared in box-office hits such as You Got Served, Blades of Glory, Norbit, Dreamgirls, and Stomp the Yard. From the stage to the screen, he is know taking on the challenges of music, film and video direction and more important family. MiddleChild spoke with the rising star about his current projects and where he plans to take things from here.

MiddleChild: What's going on Tyrell?

Tyrell Washington: Nothing much. What's good?

MiddleChild: Chillin man. I remember you telling me after your set with Fergie that you were about to get into some music. So tell me a little about that.

Tyrell Washington: I'm actually teaching myself how to make music. I produce music and I'm getting into the instruments and the whole scheme of the music industry. I have friends that are artists. I have friends who are trying to get their foot in the door. I have friends who are good at producing things. I have friends that are trying to sing...rap...all of that. So I'm trying to see where it goes. It's a side thing right now, but in this industry we run into a lot of people that have an opportunity that can hand over or somebody that knows somebody else in the business so you never know. I even have a few tracks where I'm rapping on, which is kind of funny.

MiddleChild: And how was that for you?

Tyrell Washington: It was actually cool. I did a song that I produced. I put it together from scratch with the lyrics and everything with my brother and he took it down to Northern California by the Bay and let some people hear it and everybody felt the song and wanted to know who it was. He was like "It's Tyrell." and they were like "Shut up. That ain't Tyrell." But I mean everybody's jumping on it. Even when I played it for Fergie's camp, they were feeling it too. Just the dancers and the band mates. I haven't let Fergie hear it, but they been feeling it so it's cool.

MiddleChild: Yea. Speaking of which, I know you got it in you because you were spitting Will.I.Am's parts in "My Humps" at the Fergie show. So how did you come to discover this part of your talent? You initially started as the dancer and lately you have been doing some acting as well. So when did the musical side of Tyrell come into the picture?

Tyrell Washington: I mean I always had an interest in music and I used to play piano in high school for three years and I kind of just jumped on it to see what would happen and playing around with it and it started developing.

MiddleChild: I hear that. Well I know you're going to send me some of that. (laughs) I hear that you recently booked Cassie's video for her new single "Official Girl". How did that shoot go for you?

Tyrell Washington: The Cassie video shoot was good. It was cool to actually work with Diddy as well because I've never worked with him. The choreographers Rhapsody and John also did a great job on choreography.

MiddleChild: How many days was that shoot?

Tyrell Washington: It was a two day shoot, but the dancers didn't come in until the second day.

MiddleChild: Cool. You were just on the BET Awards with Usher also, so how do you think that performance went?

Tyrell Washington: I felt like the performance was really good. I've watched it like ten times already.

MiddleChild: Were you watching it to critique it or for fun?

Tyrell Washington: Oh yea. Watching it to be entertained. But it was really good. Actually he is starting to make his comeback and I know at first there was a lot of talk about how Usher is not the same person that he was before, but I think he has proven himself now with that performance. And of course he had a lot of great dancers behind him holding it down.

MiddleChild: Of course and you being one of them. You were in the "Love In This Club" video and now the awards. You told me that you were hoping to book the tour, so is there any word on that yet?

Tyrell Washington: Well I probably won't know until like the top of July. I think they have like one spot open...there might be one or two spots open and it's a good thing to be in the mix, but I have to wait on that official booking. But just doing these shows with them is a good sign as well because it's letting me know that the choreographer thinks that I can be behind him and hold it down on stage.

MiddleChild: Well what would you say is the major difference between preparing for an actual tour as opposed to just doing a performance on an awards show or special appearance as far as rehearsals and whatnot?

Tyrell Washington: Preparing for a tour is so much longer. It takes a month unless you're doing like a last minute tour and you're opening up for somebody. But if you're headlining a tour, it takes a month. Like when we were getting ready for Beyonce's tour we had a month of rehearsals in New York. We were in New York and we were rehearsing like ten hours a day. And it's not just like learning the choreography. Everybody has to know their job like the music cues, the lighting, the stage directors and the timing. The whole stage show has to be tight and at the same time she's got to be on point. She's doing her vocals and then we put it all together. It has to be perfect before you fill up a house with fans.

MiddleChild: I feel you. When you first jumped into the dancing, what would you say were some of the major challenges you faced in the industry?

Tyrell Washington: I guess just trying to make some money because first of all you can dance all you want but you have to get to these locations where they have auditions. You need to be ready to... say if you going to Africa...you have to go get shots. It's hard on a financial level, but you have to train yourself to compete against the best. Some of these people out here get in line and try to jump on that whole industry and you're competing everyday for a job. So that's probably the hardest thing. Knowing that every job that you do you're battling it out.

MiddleChild: I understand that. Well you have tackled the dance world, you're prepping to tackle the acting thing because you already got that ball rolling by doing "DreamGirls", "Norbit" and "Stomp The Yard" and now you're about to tackle music. How do you plan on focusing and redirecting where you want to go now in your career?

Tyrell Washington: I'm not really sure but I'm trying to find out how to make that transition out of dance and into other things as far as the acting. The music thing is helping. I'm kind of just doing that on the side with my brother, but I'm putting focus into it. Just not as much focus as I'm putting into dance and acting. I'm doing everything I can to just see how talented I can be and if I can get noticed for one thing and then another. Because in this industry you want to try and do it all. You can't just be good at one thing. I consider myself a Jamaican. (both laugh) I like to work all kinds of jobs.

MiddleChild: Well you definitely put in work because you're everywhere. So tell me what your top three favorite videos you danced in.

Tyrell Washington: Usher's "Love In This Club"....Missy's "We Run This" and....let me see. I almost forgot half of my resume. Oh and "Upgrade U" with Beyonce.

MiddleChild: I love the choreography in those three videos also.

Tyrell Washington: Me too.

MiddleChild: Well what's next for Tyrell Washington?

Tyrell Washington: What's next for me? Everything is unexpected for me. What I wanna do is get on this tour with Usher. If that doesn't happen, then it's not a biggie. I'll concentrate on acting and taking care of my family. Try and buy a house. Take care of my wife and makes sure she gets healthy. I think she wants to dance again.

MiddleChild: Well you know I wish you luck on all of that. I definitely support you and watch out for you. So just keep ya boy posted.

Tyrell Washington: Of course. I appreciate it.