Biography
Shakura S'Aida, the blues singer whose name is pronounced "Shack-oora Sigh-ee-da," entered the world in Brooklyn, spent her childhood in Switzerland, and later made Toronto her permanent base. Professional singing began for her with the local group Mystique, after which she joined forces with the world music outfit Kaleefah. During the same period she built a separate theater résumé that included Canadian stagings of shows such as Ain't Misbehavin' while also securing acting roles on television and in motion pictures. Her session work as a vocalist encompassed backing Patti LaBelle, touring in a Ray Charles tribute ensemble, and contributing to releases by Bill King and Saturday Nite Fish Fry. The singer’s first solo album, Blueprint, appeared on the UMI label on February 19, 2008 and drew exclusively from blues repertoire of the 1940s and 1950s. Two years afterward the German imprint Ruf Records issued her second collection, Brown Sugar, whose tracks were chiefly originals written in collaboration with guitarist Donna Grantis.
Albums
