Shann - Interview

"More than just a female rapper,” GB Records artist Shann is a young storyteller who is set to become a voice for her generation. Dedicated to her mission in empowering young people through her music and carving her own path in the rap world.

Introduced to the world as ‘Little’ Shan Shan in 2019 when starring on ‘The Voice Kids UK’, Shann at the tender age of 11, proved herself to be a skilled, talented and high energy performer - holding her own lane by rapping and performing her way into the hearts and conscious of the nation, leaving a long lasting impression on all four coaches throughout the show. Notably, the first child contestant to introduce the show to rap music, Shann would go on to compete in the competition under the mentorship of Will’I’Am - surfing her way into the finals and securing her position as the season's runner up.

Studying music production, Shann is committed to becoming a well trained and competent artist. Working with the likes of Karma Cruz and Raz The Producer to create melodic and harmonic projects that combine high frequency lyricism and perfectly timed ad-libs, Shann has always been surrounded by music - born to a singer and rapper, her home was always playing a range of different eras and genres of music, with her fondest musical influences being Neo-Indie soul queens Erykah Badu, India Airie and Lauryn Hill.

Whether it’s Drill beats or Grime beats, there isn’t any genre that Shann doesn’t feel that she can’t flex on - although she’s taken a liking to what she calls “Good Trap” - an eclectic sub genre that blends uptempo hip hop and melodic trap-soul, a relatively new genre.

Although young in age, Shann is far from immature in mindset - she credits this to her close relationship with her Grandma who she shares is her true “greatest influence” - this relationship has contributed to Shann’s approach in making real music and the power she has found in observing the world to create a sound that resonates with her whole generation. Making her Shann the realist from now on and no longer ‘The little one’.

Shann sat down with Wordplay Magazine to chat about all things music:

1. So, tell me how it all began, what sparked your love for music?

From a young age I’ve always been surrounded by music, my Mum singing, my Dad rapping. Waking up always hearing music, it was just constantly around me - from the age of 5 I just fell in love with music.

2. What led to you deciding to try and make music a career for yourself?

I would say where it initially started was when I went on The Voice: Kids; that’s when I realised, I wanted to make it a career. At that time, I was about 10yrs old and I’d asked my Dad to apply for The Voice: Kids, because I’d never seen any rappers on it before and thought this was where I could change the game. As I got further through the stages and I’m auditioning I’m rapping to different kinds of people, I realised then that this is what I want to do as a career.

3. Who are some artists who influenced you and who you might possibly like to work with in the future?

I would say artists like Lauren Hill, Erykah Badu, but you would never hear that through my music. My music is influenced by my experiences, but artists I look up to are artists like that. They’re my real inspirations. For who I’d want to work with in the future – right now I’m just focusing on getting out my own music, so I’m not going to say any names at this moment but there’s definitely a few artists right now I’d want to work with in the future.

4. What projects have you got coming up, and more importantly can you share any info on them?

Right now it’s just about releasing music and trying to stay consistent, there isn’t any big, big projects as I took a long break from music when I was younger. I was doing it quite consistently - I took a break for about four years and now it’s just about staying consistent; singles, music videos. No big projects at the moment, but an album is in mind.

5. How would you describe your sound?

Very authentic; I’m a big fan of music, I look at music from the perspective of a listener and I don’t really hear anyone that sounds like me, so I’d like to say authentic.

6. What’s your proudest moment to date, as an artist?

I have two. After doing music for a while when I was younger – I officially started when I was about 10, stopped at 13, but when I was around the age of 12 I went to L.A, Hollywood. I was meeting with a lot of artists and a lot of managers in the industry, but just being in L.A and getting to perform to different people, seeing the ‘star life’ - walking through L.A. just telling people who I was, rapping down the street. That is definitely one of my proudest moments. The second one more recently was getting signed to GB Records, trying to get my music back on track. Being signed at a young age is definitely a proud moment for me.

7. Do you have any advice for our readers who might also be trying to play the mad game of music?

Definitely. I would say being authentic is very important. With social media, naturally you’re going to get a lot of hate, people are always giving their opinions. But if you’re doing music for yourself, other outside opinions shouldn’t really matter. Just being your authentic self at all times is very important. Who it resonates with is who it’s going to resonate with, you can’t force people to listen to you, but whoever gets it, gets it.

8. Are there any artists on your radar at the moment you think we should check out?

There’s an artist I found not too long ago called Deed0t he’s actually from Manchester. He is just so hard, his music for me is up and coming – I’d never really heard of him before but heard more on TikTok, scrolling through hearing the sound thinking who’s this? That’s my main one for now. Also, Catch – I think she’s really talented as well, she’s definitely got that authentic sound. I can really hear her experiences through her music.

9. What albums have you got on heavy rotation on your playlists right now?

Of course, Erykah Badu – Mama’s Gun, my favourite album. With albums I can’t really remember the names; if there’s music in my playlist I just scroll through.

10. What do you like to do when you’re not making music?

Currently I’m in college – I do creative media and media production, so I’m in college grinding, trying to get those A levels. Aside from that I like to skate – roller and ice skating. I’m very in touch with my fitness, I used to do gymnastics. Roller skating has become my new thing.

11. Tell me three things that you can’t live without when you’re in the studio?

I need my water, my sweets and my phone.