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Shingai Elizabeth Maria Shoniwa, better known as Shingai, is a famous singer, musician, and songwriter.
She was born on September 1, 1981, in Lewisham (south-east London), where she spent most of her childhood. Her parents were migrants who moved to the United Kingdom from Zimbabwe. From an early age, the girl showed the makings of a real artist. She admired the work of actors and once dreamed of becoming an actress herself. This dream forced Shingai to study various arts, including even circus performances.
Over the years, this intense desire to connect her life with some type of art has not gone anywhere, and after graduating from school, Shingai decided to enroll in drama school. At the same time, she was fascinated by music. The girl always had a good voice but only now began to actively use it. In this period of life, she met guitarist Dan Smith.
Having shown herself on the good side, Shingai took the next step towards her dream and went to study at the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology, which was located in Croydon. During this time, Shingai was actively developing in the musical direction and even became a member of the band Sonarfly. Although the band did not gain popularity, those who heard their songs responded positively to the girl's fantastic voice. After a while, Shingai and her friend Dan Smith decided to try performing together. Even to them, it was evident that the combination of Dan Smith's unusual riffs and Shingai's voice was simply incredible. This is what gave them the idea to create a group which they called Noisettes.
Of course, in the beginning, almost no one knew about this band, but later people began to notice their songs. Unusual rhythms and melodies at the time fascinated more and more people, thus bringing Noisettes popularity. Various music publications also began to notice this duo and even responded positively to them, especially to the voice of Shingai.
Their first album, "What's the Time Mr Wolf?" was released only four years after forming the group. The album contained 11 songs, and since the band had gained popularity by the time of release, it showed itself quite well. "What's the Time Mr Wolf?" even managed to get into the UK Albums Chart, though only in 75th position.
In the same year, Shingai joined the famous Scottish singer and songwriter Ann Lennox on the album "Songs of Mass Destruction". To be more precise, she appeared in the song "Sing", which openly discussed the fight against AIDS and HIV. In addition to Shingai, the song featured more than 20 female artists, including Madonna, Celine Dion, Pink, Shakira, Melissa Etheridge, etc.
The band's second album, Wild Wild Hearts, was released on April 20, 2009. Like the first album, it contained 11 songs. "Wild Young Hearts" performed better than the first album and even was able to get into various tops across the country. Songs like "Don't Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go)" and "Never Forget You" became especially popular. Music critics and certain publications, such as Digital Spy, Essence, and Metacritic, also praised the new album.
At the same time, Shingai continued to participate in various collaborations actively and help charities in every possible way. In 2009, she performed in a charity event at the Royal Albert Hall with renowned English rapper Dizzee Rascal.
Noisettes' last album was released in 2012 and was called Contact. Compared to the previous two albums, the third was quite unique and contained some new exciting ideas. It was almost entirely performed in the pop genre with pronounced indie elements, which made it not only original but also extremely interesting to listen to. And again, positive reviews and praise from critics and listeners. In the UK Albums Chart, "Contact" at one point took 30th position, which was a pretty good result.
The next few years were relatively quiet for the artists. New songs were not released, although their performances could still be seen in some collaborations. The year 2019 came as a surprise when Shingai suddenly announced the beginning of a solo career and released the first song called "Coming Home". The music video for this song has already garnered more than 100,000 views on YouTube. The song itself only once again confirmed that the style of Shingai could really be called absolutely unique. "Coming Home" resembles a mix of afrobeat, pop, and electro music, which in combination with its mesmerizing voice, creates an unusual but pleasant vibe.
As it turned out, "Coming Home" was just one of four tracks included in her debut solo EP "Ancient Futures". In addition to the first song, it also includes "Zimtron", "Revolutions" and "Champion Styles". As in the case of "Coming Home", all these songs simply can not be attributed to any one genre. Their melodies are almost like nothing you’ve heard before and thus interest the listener from the first seconds.
After the first EP, couple performances, and remixes of songs, Shingai released several singles that will be included in the future solo album "Too Bold". These singles include "We Roll", "War Drums" and "Echoes of You". Each of them once again proved that the album would be performed in a unique style and therefore listening to it will become a pleasure. Already in the fall of 2020, the album "Too Bold" was released. It contained 14 songs (including intro and outro), and its total duration was almost an hour (57 minutes).
Of course, the release of the album did not change her attitude to collaborations, and in 2021 Shingai took part in the song "Feel The Pressure" by Mark Knight. To this day, she actively develops her solo music career and participates in various projects and collaborations.
Since 2019, Shingai has been rapidly developing its solo career every year. Few people can boast not only an EP but also a full-fledged successful album in the first 2 years after the start. In 2021, Shingai has already released 2 singles, namely "In This World" with radio host DJ Lara Fraser and "Too Bald" (Diamond Remix), which was attended by a large number of artists such as Nova Twins, Tawiah, MVM, Celisee Henderson, and others.