Ali was born in Brooklyn, New York, daughter of Sonia, a nurse, and Sheriff Ali, a police detective.^[2] Her mother is a Panamanian and her father is of East Indian descent from Trinidad and Tobago. She has two younger sisters, Anastasia and Kimberly. In 2002, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Harvard University.^[3]

By the age of seven, Ali had begun her singing career. She also appeared with Herbie Hancock on an episode of Sesame Street. By age five, she won the Star Search television contest two times. Her breakthrough came when she was cast as Ashley Banks for the popular television sitcom Fresh Prince. She sang on various episodes of the show. On one of the shows Ali sings Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and the original song "Make Up Your Mind" produced by Rob Jay of Nspyre Music Prod. 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. Ali was said to be closest to her co-star Janet Hubert-Whitten.

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 in the UK, peaking at #20. Also with Will Smith, she made an appearance in his album Willennium for the track "Who Am I" with MC Lyte.

As of 2005, she completed work on the film Glory Road and starred in the music video for Nick Cannon and Anthony Hamilton's "Can I Live?" as Cannon's mother.

In 2007, she appeared in the short films Wilted, How To Have A Girl, The Malibu Myth, and First Sight which were made during the reality show On the Lot.^[4] She appeared in 2 episodes of the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Roxanne.^[5]

She is currently preparing to release her second album, which she describes as "an independent effort".^[6] The album is titled "The light".

She ranked #74 on VH1's 100 Greatest Kid Stars.

In early 2008, she lent her vocal talents to the song “Yes We Can,” a Will.i.am project supporting Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. She also appeared in the subsequent music video which gained coverage on ABC’s News Now’s What the Buzz.

Self:

1. "Relative Madness" (2008) TV series .... Herself (unknown episodes)
2. Yes We Can (2008) (V) .... Herself
3. "ReNew Orleans" (2007) TV series .... Herself (2007)
4. "Child Star Confidential" .... Herself (1 episode, 2006)
       - Primetime Princess (2006) TV episode .... Herself
5. Starz Special: On the Set of 'Glory Road' (2006) (TV) .... Tina Malichi
6. BET Awards 2005 (2005) (TV) .... Herself
7. "100 Greatest Kid Stars" (2005) TV mini-series .... Herself
8. "The Great American Celebrity Spelling Bee" (2004) TV mini-series .... Herself
9. "The Other Half" .... Herself (1 episode, 2003)
       - Episode dated 12 February 2003 (2003) TV episode .... Herself
10. Scenes by the Sea: Takeshi Kitano (2000) (TV) .... Herself
    
    
11. The 26th Annual American Music Awards (1998) (TV) .... Herself
12. "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" .... Ashley Banks / ... (1 episode, 1996)
        - I, Whoops, There It Is (1996) TV episode (as Tatyana M. Ali) (also archive footage) .... Herself / Ashley Banks
13. 26th NAACP Image Awards (1994) (TV) .... Herself
14. "Name Your Adventure" (1993) TV series .... Herself - Co-host
15. "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" .... Herself - Celebrity Gumshoe (1 episode, 1992)
        - Disturbing the Heavenly Peace (1992) TV episode .... Herself - Celebrity Gumshoe
    
    
16. "The More You Know" (1989) TV series .... Herself