Island Def Jam’s Shonie: ‘I feel like I’m the female version of The-Dream or Jay- Z…’

By admin
May 26, 2009
6:15 pm

It’s hard to tell R&B artists apart these days. But Island Def Jam recording artist Shonie is breaking the mold with the upcoming release of her album, Passionate Pieces Of Me. The singer, who has been writing since she was 9 years old, linked up with super-producer Jim Jonsin and later, with Slip N’ Slide founder, Ted Lucas, before getting her big break. Now, the Bronx, N.Y.-born, Miami-raised R&B songstress’ new song, “Can’t Let Go,” featuring Fabolous, is creating quite a buzz. Calling herself the female version of The-Dream, Shonie talked to rolling out about her song getting major airplay and why R&B tells tales of the streets. –felicia J. barclay

How did you feel when you first heard ‘Can’t Let Go’ on the radio?
It didn’t really hit me because when I was living in Palm Beach my songs were always on the radio. But when I heard it in rotation on major stations, I was excited. Fabolous definitely put that swag on it.

You described R&B as telling traditional tales of the streets. Talk about that a little more.
I like to talk about things that I’ve seen. I’m young but I’ve seen a lot. I like to talk about things that I went through, my family, friends, etc. There’s too much going on in the world not to talk about it. I want to talk about things people can relate to, especially young girls, but also keep it flavorful too …

What do you think it takes to have longevity in this business?… You’ve got to come out with good music and keep [the] hits coming. And you have to have a great personality. It doesn’t matter how well you sing or how good you look, if your attitude is stinky, people are not gonna like you as a person.