Shakaya are an Australian

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

formed in

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 2002 by Simone Stacey and Naomi Wenitong. The two met in 1999 while studying an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music course and they had both been writing individually before they met each other."Shakaya at Girl.com.au"
''Girl.com.au''. Retrieved 3 June 2007."The power of two"
. ''VIBE Australia''. Retrieved 3 June 2007. The girls were initially discovered in Cairns by Reno Nicastro and Michael Pearson-Adams. Nicastro produced most of the girls' songs and gave them free studio time for two years. The band's name, 'Shakaya', was originally going to be 'Kashaya', but then their manager mixed the letters around and it became 'Shakaya'. Stacey and Wenitong did some research and found out that the word "shakaya" has a broad range of meanings in a lot of different cultures. The one that really stood out for them was the meaning "voices in the wind" (which they incorrectly credit as "Native American Indian", but is actually a Hindu female name)."Meaning of Shakaya"
Retrieved 2 February 2014. For a time, Shakaya became Australia's most successful female urban pop act and they toured with

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fiel ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

and Ja Rule. Naomi went on to become a member of the hip hop group The Last Kinection. In April 2013, Simone auditioned for Season 2 of ''

The Voice Australia ''The Voice'' is an Australian singing competition television series. It premiered on the Nine Network on 14 April 2012, before moving to the Seven Network in 2021. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice '' ...

'' and after successfully having three judges turn their chairs she chose Seal as her coach.

Music career

2002–2003: ''Shakaya''

The girls were in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in August 2001 and that morning they had a showcase lined up at

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

. It was a small, intimate room where they had to perform and they performed four songs. At the end of it, they walked out of the room and within five minutes Sony Music came back and told them they were signed. On 18 January 2002, the duo released their first and debut song called " Stop Calling Me". It is a song about stalking situations based on a real-life experience that they and their male and female friends have had. The song entered the charts at number forty-five on 25 February 2002. The song rose up the charts from then on and because of more airplay the song managed to peak into the top ten at number five.SHAKAYA - STOP CALLING ME (SINGLE) (287538)
''Australian-charts.com''. Retrieved 3 June 2007. It became Shakaya's biggest hit of their career, being certified platinum by

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

,ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2002
''ARIA''. Retrieved 3 June 2007. becoming the forty-third highest selling single for 2002,
''ARIA''. Retrieved 3 June 2007. and being nominated for the "Highest Selling Single" for the 2002

ARIA Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

s."Artist: Shakaya ARIA Awards information"
. ''

s''. Retrieved 5 June 2007. The second song released was "

Sublime Sublime may refer to: Entertainment * SuBLime, a comic imprint of Viz Media for BL manga * Sublime (band), an American ska punk band ** ''Sublime'' (album), 1996 * ''Sublime'' (film), a 2007 horror film * SubLime FM, a Dutch radio station dedic ...

", released in Australia on 17 May 2002 and became the duo's second top twenty single peaking at number nineteen in June 2002."SHAKAYA - SUBLIME (SINGLE) (287539)"
''Australian-charts.com''. Retrieved 3 June 2007. " Cinderella" was the third and last song released by the duo; it became their third top twenty single, peaking at number sixteen,"SHAKAYA - CINDERELLA (SINGLE) (287536)"
''Australian-charts.com''. Retrieved 3 June 2007. and it was certified gold by ARIA. Their debut self-titled album '' Shakaya'' was finally released in Australia on 18 October 2002 and was received well, debuting in the charts at number five on 28 October 2002."Charts 28 October 2002"
''

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

''. Retrieved 3 June 2007. The album fell to number forty-eight the next week and only spent seven weeks in the top one hundred. On 14 April 2003 the band released a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

hit " The Way You Make Me Feel"; the girls said it was amazing to cover of one of his songs because he is the King of Pop."Shakaya Release New Single"
. ''Shakaya.com.au''. Retrieved 5 June 2007. The song had a minor success on the charts peaking at number twenty-one and staying in the top fifty for seven weeks."SHAKAYA - THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL (SINGLE) (287537)"
''Australian-charts.com''. Retrieved 5 June 2007.

2005–2006: ''Are You Ready''

Are You Ready Are You Ready may refer to: Music Albums * ''Are You Ready?'' (Abraham Mateo album) or the title song, 2015 * ''Are You Ready'' (Blue Rodeo album) or the title song, 2005 * ''Are You Ready'' (Bucks Fizz album) or the title song, 1982 * ''Are ...

'' was recorded over an eighteen-month period in

, Sydney and the United States with a range of producers."Are You Ready"
. ''Shakaya.com.au''. Retrieved 5 June 2007. The first song released from the album was titled "

" and was released on 10 June 2005; it was written and produced by the MadNotes team (who have previously worked with

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

and

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

)."Are You Ready For Some Shakaya Instores, Sydney??"
. ''Shakaya.com.au''. Retrieved 5 June 2007. The song was promoted well and peaked at number twenty-five on the

singles chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

."SHAKAYA - ARE YOU READY (SINGLE) (287535)"
''Australian-charts.com''. Retrieved 6 June 2007. Five months later, the duo released the second and last song from the album, " We Ain't Goin' Down", on 13 November 2005, and it was their lowest charting single, peaking at number fifty."SHAKAYA - WE AIN'T GOIN' DOWN (SINGLE) (261869)"
''Australian-charts.com''. Retrieved 6 June 2007. The album was finally released on 5 March 2006 including the two singles but did not chart in the

top 100 albums. The group disbanded due to Naomi Wenitong joining the group The Last Kinection in 2006.

2021–present: Reunion

In October 2021, Wenitong and Stacey reunited as Shakaya for the first time in over 15 years to perform at the Pride Fair Day in their native Cairns. They would later perform as part of Yabun Festival in January 2022, and are set to perform at the Quandamooka Festival on Stradbroke Island in August 2022.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards and recognition

ARIA Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. , - ,

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, , " Stop Calling Me" , ,

ARIA Award for Highest Selling Single The ARIA Music Award for Highest Selling Single was an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards. It was presented from 1987 through to 2011. Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter ...

, ,

Deadly Awards

The Deadly Awards (commonly known simply as The Deadlys) was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. They ran from 1996 to 2013. , - , rowspan="4",

Deadly Awards 2002 The Deadlys Awards were an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. Music *Outstanding Contribution to Aboriginal Music: Candy Williams *Music Video of the Ye ...

, rowspan="2", themselves , Band of the Year , , - , Most Promising New Talent , , - , "Stop Calling Me" , Single of the Year , , - , "Sublime" , Video of the Year , , - ,

Deadly Awards 2003 Deadly Awards were an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. Music *Male Artist of the Year: Troy Cassar-Daley *Female Artist of the Year: Christine Anu * ...

, ''Shakaya'' , Album of the Year , , -

References

{{Authority control Australian hip hop groups Australian pop music groups Musical groups established in 2002 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Australian girl groups Indigenous Australian musical groups Queensland musical groups