Shakura S'Aida is a Canadian

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

vocalist, songwriter and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

. She is sometimes credited Shakura.

History

Shakura S'Aida was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and lived in Switzerland before moving to Canada. S'Aida was lead singer of the 13-piece world music ensemble Kaleefah, before embarking on her solo career. She has also performed as a backing vocalist for

Rita MacNeil Rita MacNeil (May 28, 1944 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian singer from the community of Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in 1987 and was covered by Anne Murray t ...

and

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

, as well as with jazz musicians such as Jimmy Smith and

Ruth Brown Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the " Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atl ...

. She has also been nominated for several

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

s for her music. S'Aida independently released her first solo album, ''Blueprint'', in 2008. Her second album, ''Brown Sugar'', was released in 2010 on

Ruf Records Ruf Records is a German independent record label, which was founded in 1994 by Luther Allison’s manager, Thomas Ruf, to promote Allison's career. The motto of the blues label is "Where Blues Crosses Over". The company's office is located in ...

. In 2012, she released a double CD, ''Time'', on

Electro-Fi Records Electro-Fi Records is a Canadian award-winning independent record label founded in 1996, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which specializes in the release of blues records. History Electro-Fi Records was founded in 1996 by Andrew Galloway, with a ...

. As an actress, she starred in a

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

production of George Boyd's ''Consecrated Ground'' in 2004, as well as

Sudz Sutherland David "Sudz" Sutherland is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. His credits include the films ''Doomstown'', ''Love, Sex and Eating the Bones'', ''Guns'', ''Speakers for the Dead'' and '' Home Again'', as well as episodes of ''Drop the Beat' ...

's ''

Doomstown ''Doomstown'' is a Canadian television movie, which aired in 2006 on CTV. Set in the Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown neighbourhood Toronto, Ontario, the film explores the issue of gang violence in the neighbourhood of Rexdale. ''Doomstown'' w ...

'' in 2006 and

Sharon Lewis Sharon M. Lewis is a Canadians, Canadian television personality and film director from Toronto, Ontario. She studied political science at the University of Toronto.John McKay, "Sharon Lewis finds activism experience a plus for new role as Counter ...

's film ''

Brown Girl Begins ''Brown Girl Begins'' is a 2017 Canadian science fiction film, directed by Sharon Lewis. The film was inspired by Nalo Hopkinson's 1998 novel '' Brown Girl in the Ring'', although for budgetary reasons Lewis opted to write and film a prequel stor ...

'' in 2018. In 2013, she was nominated for a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

in the 'Contemporary Blues Female Artist' category.

Discography

*''Time'' (2012, Electro-Fi) *''Brown Sugar'' (2010, Ruf) *''Blueprint'' (2008, independent)

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Shakura S'aida
on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:S'Aida, Shakura Actresses from Toronto Black Canadian actresses 21st-century Black Canadian women singers Canadian blues singers Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian voice actresses Canadian world music musicians Living people Musicians from Toronto Year of birth missing (living people) Ruf Records artists 20th-century Black Canadian women singers