Shalli on a musical roll

Reggae singer, Shalli, is on a musical roll. She has been spending quite a bit of time between Canada and Jamaica, as she makes it her business to claim her share of the reggae pie.

The talented artiste, who is always seeking ways to diversify her product offerings, recently collaborated with Rory of Stone Love on a remix of her culturally defining single, Down In Jamaica. Accolades have already been heaped on the video, which shows off the immense beauty of Jamaica and the sincerity of Shalli’s mission. On her visit to Jamaica in March, Shalli went into the studio with Rory and the result is a remix that is totally captivating.

“It was really a pleasure working with Rory, as he is someone who I have admired for a long time. He is a top class selector, so it is easy to understand that with his knowledge of the music he is also a great producer and has that ear for hit songs. And we all know just how important that is,” Shalli said.

Armed with a mission to give her fans more and more uplifting music, Shalli has also done a collaboration witOr lando Octave entitled Fire on the Happy Feet riddim. Wasting no time, the video for this was shot on April 1 and both artistes and their management are happy at the outcome. A very uptempo offering, this could have been specifically made to celebrate carnival in Trinidad, and with the natural chemistry between the artistes, the song and video jelled perfectly.

“The riddim is called Happy Feet because it is just that – happy. The single is already getting a lot of love, especially in the Caribbean,” Shalli explained, happily.

The singer, who celebrated her birthday on March 8 , treated her Facebook fans to a special Shalli video week where she showcased  five  videos, with a promise that “there will be more for you this year.” She also told fans, “I would love to get more of your comments good bad or indifferent.”

Shalli has also been busy doing live performances, among them Club Sagittarus in Brampton on March 16, where she opened for reggae artiste, Erup; March 29 at the Ace of Hearts Club in Vaughan, Ontario  and the Mirage Convention Center in Ontario on March 30.

Shalli has been singing for audiences in her church choir since the age of five; by age 12, she was writing poetry and at 14 she was crafting lyrics to original songs. In her later teen years, she would perform some of these original songs with a musical group she helped to create.

She has continued to hone her image and powerful on-stage presence and has performed alongside many of reggae’s leading acts. She has performed at festivals, clubs and lounges in the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia to ever increasing acclaim. Her childhood exposure to multiple musical styles has borne fruit as she realizes that in spite of the language barrier between her and the audience, her music is a language of its own that has allowed her to bridge the gap between herself and many different cultures.