Recently acclaimed as the “Remix Queen,” this singer/musical poet keeps a song buzzing in South Florida. After breaking onto the scene a few years ago, Shonie signed a deal with Slip N Slide/Def Jam and is currently working on her solo debut album Passionate Pieces of Me. What’s new with you I’m working on my album. I’ve been working with a lot of people like Brisco and Trina. Right now we’re trying to figure out what the single is gonna be. I don’t want to move too fast, but not too slow either. I did a record with Flo Rida that’s crazy. I pray to God he puts that out. I did a record with Brianna that I’m thinking of putting out as a single. Shouts out to her, she’s definitely one of the best things coming out right now. I’ve been doing crazy remixes. I just remixed “Say Aah” by Trey Songz and I remixed Trina’s new single. We definitely goin’ hard. The album will be coming out this fall. It’s a new year and we wanna put out bigger and better things. So did you have any New Year’s resolutions Every year we just grind harder than what we’ve been doing. People that haven’t made it yet that thought ’09 was gonna be they year, they’re definitely gonna go harder. We gotta look back and figure out what we didn’t do. Every year we want to work harder and stay around positive people. You’re a signed artist still working as an independent, almost. Give us the specifics on the label deal you have. When I signed to Slip N Slide that’s when the Def Jam deal came about. My name’s been out there for a hot minute. I put out my mixtape when I was 17 and that’s what created the buzz. Def Jam saw the spins we were getting with my single at the time, “Can’t Let Go,” featuring Fabolous. That’s how the deal came about. In order to keep Def Jam interested, we gotta continue to do that, whether it’s putting out mixtapes or a buzz record. You can’t wait on a label, you gotta do it yourself. Besides your singing talent, you’re known for your songwriting abilities as well. Oh yeah, I’ve always been writing. When I was 17, I was already working on Trina’s album, working with Flo Rida, Brisco, the Diddy family, Day 26. How did you develop your talent Was it natural, or did you practice for a long time I was in the church. My mom was a minister so I stayed drawn to the church. I’ve always been around musical people. My mother sings; my father played piano. Even when I was younger, all I was taught to do was work on my craft. When you put out your first album, what impression do you want to leave with your audience That it’s real and I’m not trying to follow what everyone else is doing. I’m not just trying to come out with a club record like everyone else. I gotta do me at the end of the day. It’s what my feeling is. When they hear this, this is what I want them to feel. It’s too much going on in the world not to talk about it. Everybody’s going through relationship problems; everybody’s going through something. I want it to relate to everybody in the world, where everybody can believe in it. So are you totally opposed to doing a club record It’s an up and down thing. You try to figure out whether you wanna go club or radio or what’s gonna work faster. Every artist always goes through that. Honestly, it’s up to the people, because they have to accept it. They have to let you know what’s working. That’s what we’re trying to do now, let the people decide. We’ve been testing records on the internet and radio station to get everyone’s opinion. Do you have any concrete records that you know for sure will make the album Ah, we have one called “Lights, Camera, Action” that was produced by Midus of Golden Child Productions. It was a buzz record so I know it’s definitely going on the album. So what would be some of the biggest moments in your career so far When I sang in front of L.A. Reid. I didn’t think I was gonna get through that. My palms were sweating and that was a scary moment, but I got through it. When he said, “Welcome to Def Jam,” that was the greatest thing. A lot of people dream of that. Wherever God takes me, that is always gonna be one of my proudest moments. Where will you be during Super Bowl weekend I’m going to be everywhere, at all the hottest parties. We’re gonna pop bottles for Super Bowl Weekend. // OZONE MAG // 9
orch Words by Ms. Rivercity 10 // OZONE MAG