“Shontelligence” merely defines the knowledge that I have acquired throughout my life, the knowledge yet to be absorbed and ultimately the product of all my experiences which I then translate into my music. Singer, songwriter, rising star and aspiring lawyer? Not the combination that one would normally expect. But then again there is nothing ordinary about Shontelle - the 23 year-old Bajan singer-songwriter who’s set to take the world by storm after signing with music mogul Steve Rifkind’s SRC records. Shontelle’s unique story begins in the West Indies on the beautiful Island of Barbados.
The oldest of 3 sisters, Shontelle has always been an over-achiever who excelled academically while competing in several sports. However her true calling as a prolific songwriter and talented singer would draw her away from both the field and classroom and onto center stage. Shontelle’s fate seems to have predestined her to be a star. Her aunt Kim Derrick, a popular and celebrated artist in Barbados, saw her drive early on and encouraged Shontelle to pursue her dreams – despite her family’s concerns that becoming a musical performer would not be the best career choice. While in high school Shontelle attended “Cadets” camp - where she served as drill sergeant over a newcomer named Rhianna. “She was a good cadet, though there was one occasion when I had to make her drop and give me ten push-ups. We laugh about it now…I think she’s forgiven me.” Little did either of the teens know that they would remain friends and both follow the same dream of becoming international stars in the music business.
When Shontelle made the decision to attend the University of the West Indies she chose to pursue a degree in entertainment law. She has reaped the benefits of this decision to this day and credits her time studying law with opening her mind to different subjects and ultimately feeding her creative process. As Shontelle says “The next couple of years moved really fast “.Barbados-based music manager Sonia Mullins took the young writer-performer under her wing at this time , and Shontelle began to carve a reputation in the Caribbean music world by crafting songs for a number of top artists, all while attending the University.
Fast forward to 2005, and the up and coming talent scores a hit heard far beyond the Caribbean as the writer of the girl-power anthem “Roll”. Producers Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken of SRP Records , who had discovered Rihanna in Barbados and brought her to the world stage, heard the song on a Bajan radio station and felt that it had international hit potential. They sought out the writer of the song to license it for a cover version, and had a pleasant shock; “We couldn’t believe that she was such a great singer and so young and beautiful, and hadn’t been discovered yet” says Rogers. They signed her immediately, and spent the next six months creating her debut album, co-writing with her as well as pulling in a-list producers such as Stargate (Beyonce,Ne-Yo). Marc Jordan of Rebel_One (Rihanna) also joined the team. During a period Shontelle describes as “one of the defining moments of my life”, she flew around the country meeting with executives from the world’s top labels and eventually decided to sign to Steve Rifkind’s SRC Records - joining the ranks of the many successful artists in the Universal Music family.
Shontelle is once again on the fast track, with her upcoming album “Shontelligence” slated for a 2007 release, and she has been feverishly recording a bevy of hit records. When asked to define “Shontelligence” she states, “I was in the studio with Evan and Carl , and our engineer Al Hemberger came up with it while we were playing a word game with my name. We all jumped on it and thought it was fitting. The definition of intelligence is the gathering of new knowledge or information, the ability to comprehend and profit from experience. I hunger for that knowledge. It feeds my life and my music. The more I learn, the more I want to learn...the more I grow as a person and as an artist.”
On songs like the Reggae-Soul influenced “Life Is Not an Easy Road” she takes the beats down a gear, back to the sun drenched beaches of her native Barbados, while the lyrics punctuate the song with hard hitting social commentary. ‘I jumped out of bed in the middle of the night with this beat in my head. I started writing straight away just thinking about society, poverty and the underprivileged”. The Stargate-penned “Superwoman” is a world – beat anthem of liberation for women everywhere. On the snake-charmer influenced “Focus Pon Me” Shontelle delivers a dancehall pop smash of the kind we have come to expect her to craft for other artists. Showing the degree of her versatility, she tells a poem of yearning and desire over bittersweet guitars on “I Crave You”, while “Cold Cold Summer” is a soul-drenched instant classic that reveals her love of traditional R&B.
“Shontelligence” will showcase Shontelle’s diverse music influences which range from Bob Marley to Alicia Keys, with many stops in between. Shontelle may have put the law degree on the back burner for now, but she certainly has no regrets. “ I think I’ve known all along that it was my destiny to perform on stage and give something to people with my music”, she says with calm conviction. And as 2007 looks to be the year that Shontelle arrives on the world scene , she’s eagerly anticipating the excitement and challenges that lie ahead. “ I love music, it’s my passion, and I can’t wait for people to hear what I have to say…..And I’ve got a lot to say !
