Shay
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Biography
With her mix of leftfield R&B atmospherics, trap and Afrobeat roots, Belgian rap queen Shay began receiving tens of millions of YouTube views when her breakthrough hit 'PMW' dropped in 2016 and was quickly marked out as a major new talent. Born in Brussels to parents of Congolese descent, Vanessa Levinsky aka Shay is the granddaughter of pioneering African rumba singer Tabu Ley Rochereau - who enjoyed a successful career in the 1960s and 70s - and the niece of hip hop star Youssoupha. She started rapping in her teens but struggled to fit in at the prestigious schools that she attended and in a bid to set the troubled adolescent on the straight and narrow, her parents sent Shay to live in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a year. When she returned she became a protégé of French rapper Booba and featured on his track 'Cruella' in 2011. She also successfully released underground singles such as 'Par Habitude' and 'XCII' through his 92i label. As 'PMW' grew from a pirate radio, club favourite into a viral hit, Shay was dubbed as the 'The First Lady of Belgium rap' and her debut album 'Jolie Garce' (2016) featured the full-throttle, defiant feminist statement 'Biche' and the dreamy, tropical pop-infused 'Cabeza'. Shay featured on 'Ivre Sur' by Benash, 'Guerrier Sur' by Fally Ipupa and 'Pim Pom Sur' by Jul, before returning in 2019 with new singles 'Cocorico' and 'Notif' and second album 'Antidote' on Capitol Records.
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