Artist Focus: Seyi Shay The Vocal Dynamo
No one does it like Seyi Shay!
Real name:Oluwaseyi Deborah Odedere Stage name:Seyi Shay Date of birth:December 21, 1985 State of Origin:Osun Nationality:Nigerian Genre:Afropop,R&B,Reggae
Seyi Shay is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, performer, and actress whose introduction toSound Sultan in 2011 started her on the course of relocating to Nigeria to pursue her musical career.
Born and raised inTottenham,London, both her parents are Nigerians (her father is a native ofIfe inOsun State while her mother hails from Northern Nigeria. Theirs is a family of four children and she is the last. She has two older brothers and an elder sister.
Seyi Shay and her siblings were brought up by their mother in a religious background. She has stated that she often felt like an only child as an adolescent.
Her visits to her native country started when she was two years old and she ended up attending the Command High School inMaryland,Lagos. Her undergraduate studies took her back to London where she completed her university program.
The singer’s musical influence is traceable to her family as her mum (who is now late) was a singer in the church choir and her sister composed songs for television. Additionally, her brother was a radio and club DJ.
Seyi Shay became a part of her secondary school choir and began performing at the tender age of 6. She performed for theLondon Community Gospel Choir during their world tour which saw them visit 13 cities inJapan.
Her rendition in Japan led to her being applauded and she eventually studied Music at a local college in theU.K. after which she bagged a degree in Business Management from theUniversity of East London.
According to her, her mother was never in support of her musical career as she wanted her to be a doctor or a lawyer. But before her death, the parent told her to focus on her musical path and put God first.
Seyi Shay’s foray into professional music kicked off when she signed a deal withNo Apology, a record label associated withGeorge Martin.
She formed a female group in the UK calledBoadicea and after a period of two years, they went their separate ways. That was when Seyi Shay decided to participate in theFrom Above UK singing audition. This was in 2008.
After the audition, the singer emerged as the lead vocalist for the now-defunct girl groupFrom Above. The group secured a deal withBeyonce’s father’s management company after he watched them perform.
After undergoing vocal and dance training, From Above supported Beyonce in her UK tour and later disassembled, giving Seyi Shay the opportunity to continue her deal withMatthew Knowles (Beyonce’s dad).
She also got a recording contract withSony and worked with several musical stars likeJustin Timberlake,Brian Michael Cox,Darey,Bilal,Michelle Williams,Chip,Rob Knoxx, andCameron Wallace.
After being convinced by Sound Sultan to go back to Nigeria in 2011, Seyi Shay launched her solo career in the country, signing withFlytime Promotions. Two years later, she announced that she had left the label.
That same year, she started working on her debut album and in November 2015, she released it with the titleSeyi or Shay. The album was a result of a collaboration with different Nigerian producers includingJay Sleek,Tee Y Mix,Del B, andCobhams Asuquo.
Her singing career in her native country had been promoted by the release of two singles (Loving Your Way andNo Le Le) in August 2011.
Seyi Shay released an EP in 2018 titledElectric Package and her foray into the Nigerian music scene has been successful. She was worked with popular music video directorClarence Peters and notable artists likeVector,Timaya,Wizkid,Kcee,Olamide,Praiz,Shaydee, andPatoranking.