writing not singing is what gave shontelle her big break into the music industry
one song she wrote in particular blew up so big it made people curious to see what else she could do
and so began her singing career the comparisons to another very successful beijing beauty that came
before her were obvious and unavoidable then just when her career was starting to gain some momentum
business politics and bad timing caused everything to fall apart
let's find out whatever happened to bajan singer-songwriter shontelle
shontelle layne one of three sisters was born october 4th 1985 on the beautiful tropical
island of barbados in the parish of st james her early musical influences were american favorites
stevie wonder whitney houston and michael jackson and also of course a lot of soca and calypso music
when she was young she didn't have a lot of confidence about her singing abilities she even
went as far as hiding herself in a closet when she wanted to sing so no one would see or hear her
or so she thought one day there was a knock on the closet door it was her mother she told shontelle
there was no point to being in a closet since everyone in the house and the people next door
could hear her so from then on she started participating in any and everything she could
school choir pageants talent contests and showcases she also started writing her own songs
however her academic and business-minded parents fearful about the fickle entertainment industry
still discouraged her taking things to a professional level so much of her teen years
were spent getting straight a's and representing barbados in international swimming and track and
field events she even had a lengthy stint as an army cadet where she was a drill sergeant
over her friend rihanna yes that rihanna however over time her passion for music could no longer be
suppressed it was even in her jeans her aunt just so happens to be popular beijing singer kim derek
she played a significant role in encouraging shontelle to pursue a career in singing
while studying at university shontelle used what she was learning in her entertainment law courses
to set up her own publishing company she also found time to write the song that would win
her numerous prestigious awards in her homeland and attract the attention of
some big wig music producers afarin new york to be exact roll it gal was a smash hit for
british-born bajan soca artist alison hines but little do people know shontelle wrote it
after the song blew up so did her phone songwriter producer duo evan rogers and carl sturken who also
happened to be rihanna's managers helped chantelle secure a record deal with src universal motown
she began work on her debut album in early 2008 and by november
the wittily titled shontelligence was released the album name was a total flu she was hanging
out in the studio with a bunch of people waiting around for everything to get organized when one
person suggested to pass the time that they play a word game trying to come up with as many words
as they could with the letters of shontelle's name her engineer was the clear winner when
he came up with shontelligence everyone loved it and thought it would make the perfect album title
back in 2008 shontelle spoke to blues and soul magazine about how she was able to overcome the
typical obstacles people from her part of the world face to create the exact album she wanted
saying i just think i was lucky to have the opportunity to achieve what i wanted to achieve
because stereotypically when people know you're from the caribbean they expect reggae soca raga
or dancehall you know it's been a battle for a while for artists from the caribbean to break out
and show people that we can make all types of music and that we're not just limited to
those specific genres so i basically said guys how about giving me a chance as a songwriter
to experiment and blend different styles of music so i can create something more mainstream
and basically they said go ahead so that's what we did and while i'm very happy that i did get to
include elements of where i'm from which is the music i grew up with in barbados i'd definitely
say for the most part my record will come over as more or less a mainstream pop r b album the first
single t-shirt released the prior summer only became a moderate hit reaching number 36 on the
billboard hot 100 but it did much better overseas the album's second singles stuck with each other
featuring her label made akon didn't chart at all in the us but it did end up on the soundtrack of
the 2009 romantic comedy film confessions of a shopaholic that same year shontelle l also
got the opportunity to go on tour in the uk as a supporting act for new kids on the block and
beyonce after the tours were over shontelle went back to the studio with a new mission
she wanted to experiment and change her original sound for the next project also around this time
she got a call from her old friend rihanna who needed help on a track for her next album
chantelle would end up getting co-writer credit for that song the smash hit man down off her fifth
studio album loud chantelle's second album no gravity was released in september 2010
that title perfectly summed up her views on her life and career at that time she wanted to keep
climbing higher and have nothing holding her down or holding her back impossible the album's first
single and her most successful date eventually rose to number 13 on the billboard hot 100.
two other singles were also released but neither did very well
no gravity would end up being shontelle's last album at the time of the making of this video
the following year she revealed that she was working on her third studio album and a new
single was on the way she had also changed record labels and found a new home at universal republic
however due to some restructuring the label was shut down and all their artists shontelle included
ended up transferring to the newly revived republic records this would be a disastrous
move for shontelle's career and for her life overall more on this a little later it was soon
confirmed that the song put me on blast would be the lead single from her new album and the music
video was already shot and ready to be debuted the last information known about the album is that it
was given a tentative 2013 release date but the year ended without any further news about it
at the end of 2012 the season 9 winner of the uk's x factor james arthur
released his version of impossible interestingly it was far more successful on the charts and
in sales than shontelle's version but that didn't bother her she even reached
out multiple times to james to congratulate him on its success however he never replied
by 2015 shontelle had once again jumped shipped to another label
but seemed to be very excited to start a new chapter
unfortunately it wasn't meant to be since on new year's eve she reached out to her
fans on instagram in a lengthy post revealing her feelings about the year being the most difficult
and challenging of her life professionally and personally fans didn't hear much from shontelle
in the years to follow and apparently the reason had everything to do with the label hopping she
did starting with the move that landed her with republic records in a very candid interview in
early 2020 shontelle spoke to online magazine arabian moda about what really happened saying
the industry began to tank around the release of my second album no gravity almost everyone
at motown records was being fired and i didn't even have a staff to work with on my music
only big artists were getting support from the record label i winded up with republic records
but the situation was far worse there and no one took me seriously i saw it as a complete
waste of my time and parted ways with them too i disappeared for a while to heal and rebuild myself
i feel so much better now and i'm back to work she also touched on how all the upheaval in her career
affected her personally saying i experienced a major depressive episode i felt like my entire
life was taken away from me and i didn't think i wronged anyone to deserve such mistreatment
it took a long while to get back into a healthy headspace and start from scratch i don't expect
much from people either at times i feel paranoid too but i am working on myself every day
during her musical hiatus chantelle tried her hand at another passion acting she also left nyc
for her native barbados where she is based today to reconnect with family and friends her first
single in several years remember me was released in march 2020 and she expects that it will end
up on her eventual third album that she is in no rush to release 2021 started off with a bang for
shontelle when she dropped her new freestyle tomorrow in february the song delves into some
taboo topics such as racism police brutality and human rights her hope is that it will encourage
people to discuss these important issues facing all of us in the world today thanks for watching
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