SHAKAYA

SHAKAYA ARE OFFICIALLY ON BREAK 2 WORK ON INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS
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Naomi Wenitong and Simone Stacey are SHAKAYA An urban/r&b/pop duo based in Australia...
ALBUM BIO: ARE YOU READY...On the strength of their 2002 self-titled debut album, Shakaya - 27 year old Simone Stacey and 22 year old Naomi Wenitong - swiftly established themselves as Australia’s most dynamic and popular urban pop act. The album notched up an ARIA top 5 debut and spawned two top 10 singles (“Stop Calling Me” and “Cinderella”), as well as a Top 20 hit (“Sublime”). Its success also set up major support tours with Destiny’s Child, Usher, Peter Andre (in the UK),Kylie Minogue and Ja Rule. But with the release of their truly stunning second album, Are U Ready, Shakaya have upped the ante yet again...
Recorded over an 18-month period in Cairns, Sydney,and the USA with a range of top-flight producers, “Are U Ready” is a world class recording that oozes confidence and reveals a new found musical maturity. The R&B pop smarts, the innovative production and the natural exuberance we’ve come to expect are still on show, but this time around there’s a newfound confidence and a musical maturity.
“On the first album I think we were more reliant on other people”, says Naomi. “But this time we had more time to experiment in the studio, we worked with different people and we came to the realisation that no-one was holding us back but ourselves”. Simone agrees, adding “We’re happy with our first album – it made us who we are – but it was entirely a learning experience. This time we’ve exercised complete artistic control.”
That control extended from songwriting to sifting through submitted tracks and choosing the production team - many of whom were based in the world’s urban pop capital, the USA. But as exciting as it was to travel to the US to work with top line producers who’s credits include such luminaries as Babyface, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Mariah Carey, Simone admits it also presented them with the challenge of ensuring they maintained their unique artistic identity.
“We’re Australians, mate”, she says proudly. “And we’re proud of our indigenous backgrounds and our culture and we want to express that through our music. We don’t want to be another stereotypical R&B act who are trying to be American. Of course we love American R&B - that’s why we went there to record - but we want our music to have an international sound without forgetting where it comes from. So every time we met a producer over there we’d say to them, ‘This is our background… do you know where we’re coming from? Have you read our bio?’ And it worked. One of our producers even put didgeridoo down a track before we’d even heard it!”
The indigenous flavour on “Are U Ready” extends beyond the album’s instrumentation – it also features indigenous slang and, more importantly, acknowledges Simone and Naomi’s position as role-models within their indigenous community. “I guess we’re the first indigenous artists to make it in the pop scene so that’s a big thing amongst our mob” says Naomi.
One of the album’s central tracks, “No Shame” – which features the lyrics “Don’t be afraid to show some skin… don’t be ashamed of who you are” - directly addresses Simone and Naomi’s role model status by exploring the issue of “shame” within their community. “For a long time our people have had the word “shame” going through our culture and it relates to the lack of confidence that a lot of young indigenous people have. And because we’re just normal girls from normal backgrounds, us breaking through inspires other young kids ’cause it makes them think that if we can achieve a level of success then so can they. But it’s a hard thing ’cause the shame is still real strong in our culture, and that’s what we’re trying to break”.
While Are You Ready does not shy away from its striking lyrical and emotional depth - there are songs here about addiction (the stand-out, string laden “Broken”), self belief (“We Ain’t Goin’ Down), jealousy (“Too Late”), and troubled relationships (“Something’s Gotta Give”) that reflect the life experience of Simone and Naomi’s over the past two and a half years – Are You Ready never loses touch with its sure sense of melody. And like the girls themselves, it still finds plenty of time to party!
From the slammin’ club beats of exuberant first single, “Are You Ready” through to the 80s breakbeat and rap of “Candy Rain”, the purr-fectly sexy charm of “Motor” and the irrepressible, insistent beats of “Tryna Find The One”, Are You Ready is an album whose moods and musical textures both challenge and entertain. It is, as Naomi says, “a record that makes you want to dance on the fast tracks and cry on the slow ones.”
Are You Ready is the world class sound of a new, more confident Shakaya and it’s an album of which they’re justifiably proud. And while the dream of a No. 1 is as strong as ever, Naomi and Simone refreshingly continue to find joy in the same thing that drew them together in the first place: their music.
“What used to be a dream for us is now a reality”, says Naomi. “But it still feels like a dream… it still doesn’t feel real. It will probably feel like a dream even when we’re old grandmas”, she laughs.
“We’ve really been blessed to do what we’re doing right now”, adds Simone. “We want to write and play music forever."
Are You Ready, the brilliant new album from Shakaya, is released nationally through Sony BMG.