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art of the SouthBeat Records roster, singer-songwriter Shonie is a voice to listen for. Although she struggled with self-doubts in the beginning, her dominance and charisma as an artist could not be denied. Now that’s she’s found her niche in the Miami market, Shonie is finally fulfilling her destiny. I hear you’ve been working with a lot of people in Florida. Who all have you collaborated with? I did a song with an artist named Greezy. I did a joint with Brisco. Right now, I’ve been focusing on the writing side. I’m trying to get that going. I wrote a hook for Monica which is going on Dirtbag’s album. Have you written anything for anyone else? Hopefully there’s a joint that Keyshia Cole will get on. If that happens, that’ll be big. How are things with SouthBeat going? Pretty decent. They’ve been handling things on their part and I’m handling some things of mine. Things are going good. You’re from the Bronx originally. When and why did you move to Miami? My mom likes to move all over the place. She can never keep still. I was back and forth at different schools. She finally decided to move to Miami for good when I was about ten years old, so I was raised down here. I went to Carol City Middle and High School. You started singing in church. Did you always know you wanted to be an entertainer? Nah, I was shy. I never thought I’d open up and want to be an entertainer. I never wanted to sing for people but once I started writing music, I opened up. I wrote my first song when I was 9 years old. Eventually it started sparking. I did performances and people noticed the talent. I just kept going with it and I’m here now. Are you still a little bit shy when you perform or does it come naturally? I’m not even going to lie; I do get nervous. But when I get up there, I receive that love from the crowd and it keeps me going. When I’m on stage and I feel that connection with the crowd, it’s over from there. What’s a topic you love writing music about? I like writing about everything. Everything inspires me. I can sit in one place and think about something and make a whole song out of it. I look at other people and stuff they’ve been through, things that I’ve been through, and I put it down on paper and it becomes a beautiful song.
You have an interesting name. Is that your real name? Yes, Shonie is my birth name. Where does it originate from? Well, my peoples are from the Bahamas so I guess you could say it’s kind of an island name. My aunt’s name is Shonie. Who are some people that have encouraged or inspired you to keep singing? My team, especially my mom. She’s very supportive and always kept me going when I wanted to quit. She’s my main inspiration. Even though I had problems and didn’t want to go forward with it, she was always there to keep me going and tell me that I have talent. Sometimes I would want to fade away. When things weren’t going right, I wouldn’t want to do it anymore, but she was always there for me. Are you still pushing your mixtape with DJ Khaled? We are. You can go on Myspace and download it www.myspace.com/shoniemusic. Are you working on your album? Right now we still have a few more tracks to go. We’re trying to figure out which one is going to be the single. Are there any songs you might be leaning towards for a single? We’re back and forth. We’re not really sure. We’re trying to get a big feature on one called “Control.” That’s probably going to be the first single but we’re not quite sure yet. Will you try to come out with a dance record first? We’re definitely leaning towards a club joint because we want everybody to party. But with me personally, I feel like if it’s hot, it’s hot. If it’s a slow joint, if it’s a banger, then let’s push it. It doesn’t really matter to me, as long it’s fire and the people love it. How have you been able to connect with your fans and build a following? Definitely Myspace. Myspace is the biggest thing right now. You don’t have to give out phone numbers now; you just go to Myspace. You mentioned your team keeps you going. Who all is on your team? I want to give it to my team ‘cause they’ve been there from the gate – Slick Salt Entertainment, all my stylists, my producer Midus, Kane – another producer that’s coming up. We’ve been sticking together. We’re doing it for ‘07. // OZONE | 33