Interviews

[Exclusive Interview] Young Money Artist Shanell Speaks To NewLilWayne.com About Her Music & Working With Lil Wayne

Exclusive Interview with Young Money Artist Shanell
By NewLilWayne.com writer Patrick

“In today’s slumping music industry, there lacks a lot of talent from rappers and singers who just follow the crowd and do as they’re told”. However this is not the case for labels like Cash Money Records and Young Money Entertainment. Recently we caught up with Young Money artist Shanell, who is taking the music industry by storm. Shanell, also known as “SnL”, considers herself the soft and sexier side of Young Money Entertainment, and as a singer and songwriter she has lots to bring to the table.

Newlilwayne.com: Shanell, we just want to start off by saying thank you for the opportunity to interview you.

Shanell: No problem.

NLW: Shanell we know you have been involved in the music industry for a while now, can you tell us a little bit about your past before you became involved with Lil Wayne and Young Money?

Shanell: Well I started off actually as a dancer, and I used to background dance for a lot of artists. I always did music and one day I just decided to go hard on my music and started to just come off the road with my dancers and work on my music. I met with a lot of people and started writing for a lot of people as well as working on my solo project.

NLW: We know you have worked with Kelis, Danity Kane, and many more. What was that like?

Shanell: It was cool, I mean at first I wasn’t a writer I was more of an artist. I think when I use to go in and work with other artists I understood more of how important it was to get their idea crafted instead of just writing a song which a lot of writers do. I try to really get to know the artist and what they’re trying to get across in their music so it ends up being like a collaboration at the end of the day.

NLW: Can you tell us about some of your influences in the music industry right now?

Shanell: In the industry right now I would really say, well with my time that’s where my influence comes from. I listen to a lot of Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, and Janet Jackson. [Laughs] but then I also listen to Wu Tang Clan and Nas and a lot of that kind of stuff. So my music is a collaboration of that kind of stuff if you can imagine what that sounds like. I would call myself the funky 2009 Cyndi Lauper with like a hint of real east coast hip hop from like the eighties. That’s what I listen too, and that’s what I listened to growing up. Right now I mean there are people I listen too; of course I listen to Wayne, Drake, and Robin Thicke. I mean I listen to a lot of people, I think a lot of people are great, but my influences kind of come from what’s embedded in me from when I was growing up.

NLW: Shanell, we know you wrote and are featured on Lil Wayne’s new single Prom Queen. Can you tell us about the song, and what it means to you? How did the song come about, and how did Wayne choose it to be his first single?

Shanell: Prom Queen [long pause and laughs]. “Well what it means to me, it’s something I think that if you want the victim of the Prom Queen be it “the Prom Queen or the guy in that story”, like you’ve seen its the guy that likes the popular girl and she disses him all throughout school and then maybe later on in life when they get older they might meet up and you see that same popular girl and that same guy but the role reversed”. Now that guy that was supposedly not so popular is doing well for himself and he’s like “I used to like her?” [Laughs] So that’s where the concept kind of came from and I thought that working on Wayne’s Rebirth like he’s doing a lot of different stuff and when I brought that to him he really liked it. I thought he could best get that song across, so we decided to work on it and record it. In terms of it being the first single, [laughs] honestly I don’t know. They just told me that it was going to be the first single and I think he just really liked that it had a storyline that a lot of people could relate to. You know being that he’s branching off into [interrupts] and I want to say this to, a lot of people are calling this his “rock album” and he is to, and it’s really an album of a different type of Lil Wayne music. Rather than putting a stamp on it and saying that its rock, it’s more of a different side of Lil Wayne where he can express his intellectual side or more fun side just to reach another demographic of people. He thought it was a good song and it had a great story line and a lot of people can relate to it.

NLW: Shanell, what was it like to be featured in Lil Wayne’s music video for Prom Queen? Also can you tell us about the concept of the video since it’s a bit more edgy than what Wayne usually goes for?

Shanell: Yes, well I guess he was really kind of trying to get the story across. We worked with Dave Meyers on the video and you know they had come up with the concept of just drawing together the picture of what was in the song. Bringing Korn in to be a feature group as well as myself, [gasps] which was like amazing [Laughs]. It was different and just very interesting. So you’ve seen the Wayne videos and it’s like ok, “let me just surprise people and show them the other side of me”. I would think like his real fans would appreciate this, because you know there are some people that like hip-hop and some people that like rock. However there’s some people that can’t hear anything but one type of music, and I think he really wants to show his listeners from both sides of the spectrum like how to appreciate the other type of music. His true fans are definitely the ones that are going to get it and support him.

NLW: Yes, we totally understand this because a lot of people hate on the fact that he’s branching out and they’re not looking at the bigger picture.

Shanell: Yep, and I mean the same thing kind of happened with Outkast and even Kayne West. I mean at the same time you’re reaching another whole world of people that don’t get it. I mean it’s not like he’s done rapping, we’re working on The Carter 4 album as we speak. For those who can’t hear anything past rap, there’s something for you coming up [Laughs].

NLW: Well we’re excited for both.

Shanell: Good. I mean this album Rebirth is going to be fun, fresh, and dope.

NLW: Most recently you just got done with the “I AM MUSIC TOUR”, can you tell us about sharing the stage with some of the biggest names in hip-hop?

Shanell: It was crazy [Laughs], in a good way. Like the first night I was backstage waiting for my cue, and I was just like wow. I mean like even as a dancer I’ve done big shows, but my nerves were just going crazy backstage. I was like come on man; you’ve done this before [Laughs]. It was just a whole different thing to be up there with a microphone holding it down just as much as Wayne, Keri Hilson, Keyshia Cole, and T-Pain; so it was really cool.

NLW: Yep, I actually made it out to three shows myself.

Shanell: Wow, really! What cities?

NLW: Well I was front row in DC, which was amazing. I was also at the show in Hampton, VA and Baltimore.

Shanell: Thank you so much.

NLW: You’re welcome.

Shanell: For those who didn’t come see the show, I don’t think they understand it was like more than just a “rap show”. I know a lot of people that I invited were like oh ok, but then realized what was behind it. We had so many different elements in the show; from the band; to the singing, to Young Money coming in, and the dancers and everything. It was just so much more than what use to be a “rap show”.

NLW: I definitely saw that. You know I have been to a lot of concerts and you know it’s usually just the rapper and his entourage or hype man. This was so much different, he had the band floating in the air, and he came in with the introduction to the theme song of Saw; “that was just incredible”.

Shanell: [Interrupts] Wow I’m impressed you picked that up! Not a lot of people picked up that small detail.

NLW: Yep, it was just like those small details you guys put together that made the show all the more amazing. You know the backup dancers, the pyrotechnics, you singing backup vocals, Young Money coming out to shine (Nicki, Twist, Mack, Gudda, T-Streets, Drizzy, Chuckee, and Millz).

Shanell: Thanks.

NLW: Shanell, we are really feeling your new song on Nicki Minaj’s mixtape “Beam Me Up Scotty”, can you tell us about the track “Handstand”?

Shanell: Yes, well Nicki was working on her mixtape and a producer that I have worked with since the beginning of my career was Bangladesh, so we got some stuff from him. We went in and were just like we have got to collaborate, you know we’re the girls of Young Money [Laughs]. You know they got “Every Girl”, [Laughs] so we got to represent for the ladies. So you know we were in Atlanta, and we went and recorded. It was real fun and we just had a good time.

NLW: That’s crazy, we definitely see that. You and Nicki on a track is dope, you know you’ve got that softer and sexier side of Young Money but it’s mixed with that fierce flow as well.

Shanell: Yup, and you know I’m going to put a mixtape out soon as well, where the ladies can represent and we can have our voices heard.

NLW: Can you tell us about your musical relationship with Wayne? We understand you helped him a lot on the new album The Carter 3. Is it true that you helped Wayne find both “A Milli” and “3 Peat”?

Shanell: Yes, “A Milli” has been someone I’ve worked with forever. Maestro who did “3 Peat” is also someone I’ve worked with for a long time. Those are two producers I was working with in Atlanta on my stuff at the time, so when Wayne was working on The Carter 3 I decided to bring him some music and see if he liked it. Those guys were the first on my list and you know they trust my judgment, and Wayne trusts my judgment so you know it worked [Laughs]. It really worked [Laughs].

NLW: Yes, well we’re definitely feeling it. You know there’s fans out there that I think sometimes don’t realize what goes into putting an album together. They think you know Wayne just goes in there and boom “it’s done”. But we know that the Young Money family and that the producers you know have a collaborative effort as a whole, and we really respect that.

Shanell: That’s the one thing you know that I appreciate about being a part of Young Money. It’s a family thing; we are all in their helping each other out and giving each other ideas. I think at the end of the day it shows, when you get on stage and when you’re selling records. People might not see what goes into it, but they can feel what goes into it. We have fun, and we create good music.

NLW: Could you enlighten us on how you met Wayne, and how you were signed with his label Young Money?

Shanell: Well I was on tour actually dancing for Ne-yo at the time. I was just always recording when I was on the road; you know I had my little studio set up and all. I was playing music for different people, and you know Ne-yo and Wayne really appreciated it. Wayne was like if you want to really do this writing thing, go ahead and do it. So he kind of took me up, and was like let’s do it and that’s how I became “Shanell of Young Money”.

NLW: We know you have a group called the Girls Club. Can you tell us about that?

Shanell: Well what it is basically, is like a female sorority in the music business. “You know, nothing against guys, we love you all” but we were trying to create a support system for all the women in the industry. Be it artists, radio, Internet, choreographers, or any women that just have to stand alone. It was me, my sister D. Woods, and Mika Means who is an artist on universal. We kind of grew up broke, you know me and my sister grew up together [Laughs]. But we all grew up around each other and we just decided to put something together for the women.

NLW: Can you tell us about your writing in the industry? What artists have you written for?

Shanell: Of course Kelis, Danity Kane, and Lil Wayne. I’ve worked on projects with Keri Hilson, Usher, Beyonce, and a lot of other different people. You know you kind of learn working with different artists that the creative world is kind of hard. There is not a book or a recipe that’s written for it, so you just have to take it as a learning process and work with artists as well as yourself.

NLW: We know you are working on the upcoming Young Money compilation album, what other projects are you working on?

Shanell: Well right now we’re really just trying to focus on finishing up Rebirth and the Young Money album. But after that then I really want to hone in on a lot of my work. I mean right now I haven’t been really working on a lot of different stuff because I am trying to give Young Money and Wayne a lot of my time. I will definitely get back to writing for other people, but right now the focus is making Young Money the greatest it can be.

NLW: Can we expect to see you and Young Money on the new tour that Wayne just announced with Soulja Boy, Jeezy, and Drake?

Shanell: Of course [Laughs].

NLW: That’s great; we’re very excited and hope to come catch a show or two.

Shanell: Yes, so everyone look out for your girl Shanell aka “SnL”. Also look out for Nicki Minaj and Drake, get their mixtapes if you have not gotten them. I tell you, we’re trying to take over the world on every side of music [Laughs].

Please leave us some feedback in the comments and on the forums about the interview. Also stay tuned we have a lot more exclusives and interviews coming soon. Also for more information on Shanell check her out on myspace as well as on twitter. The link for her twitter is http://twitter.com/shanell_SnL and the link for her myspace is http://www.myspace.com/snlent

To stay up-to-date on Lil Wayne, follow us on Facebook or Twitter

©2007 - 2010 New Lil Wayne Sitemap | Privacy Policy | Links |