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The extravagant Rihga Royal Hotel, located in the heart of Manhattan's world-renowned theater district, amazes upon sight. With its plush carpeting, gourmet restaurant and old-fashioned telephones, the swank establishment isn't your average out of towners rest haven. But then again, Shanice is not your average out of towner. Presently, however, she's being treated as an average Jill. Her flight from Washington DC was delayed because of snow and she just got her luggage this morning after her airline lost her bags.
As I enter the Pittsburgh born, Los Angeles raised singer's plush abode to conduct a one-on-one interview, one thing is visually apparent---she's still very easy on the eyes even dressed down in blue jeans, a duo-toned crop top and white socks with no shoes. She may be dressed like a woman, but Shanice still has an innocent, youthful appeal. "I was 8 years old when I moved to Los Angeles and I got my first big commercial when I was 9. I did a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial with Ella Fitzgerald at 9," Shanice says of her beginnings. The young crooner was reared on the classics. "I love Ella Fitzgerald, but I grew up listening to Chaka Khan," she says. "My first song I ever tried to sing was 'Tell Me Something Good' by Chaka. I was seven months (old). I couldn't talk but I had the melody down." Shanice exudes rookie excitement while discussing her re-entrance into the flooded rhythm and blues arena. She recalls when she and her friends started screaming the first time they heard her first single from her current self-titled album, "When I Close My Eyes," on the radio. "It's been about five or six years since I had an album out," she says. "I've done other projects, like I did a duet with Jon Secada on the Pocahontas soundtrack and I sang with Kenny Loggins on his Live in the Redwoods album, but it's been a while since I've had my own album out, so I kinda feel like I'm a new artist. This all feels fresh to me. And when I see my video on BET or when I hear the song on the radio I still get real excited," she explains with giddy laughter 
Shanice has done a lot of maturing since she crooned her bubble-gum Grammy-nominated pop hit "I Love Your Smile" at only 14 years of age. She now has more creative control of her music and pens the majority of the tunes herself. The 25-year old also co-wrote a duet for Chante Moore and Keith Washington.Her personal life has also undergone several changes. "I've been in a bad relationship, so I know what it feels like to be hurt," Shanice says, " I've learned that you can't trust everybody. Like when I was younger, when 'I Love Your Smile' was out, I thought everybody was nice, I thought everyone was on my side. I was trusting everyone," she continues. " I've learned so many different things about life." Her elaboration on her relationships provide an opening for the boyfriend inquisition. "I have no boyfriend," she coyly responds. Finding it hard to believe a gorgeous, young potential diva like Shanice is single, I query her again. "I don't have a boyfriend, I really don't. I would like to have a boyfriend, but I don't want to rush into any relationship because I want a boyfriend. I want the right person," she says, "and I've already rushed into a relationship before and it was a disaster so I said you know, I'm just gonna wait, pray about it and just wait for God to send the right person. So I'm not out looking, but it would be nice if the right person came along." In addition to changes in her personal life, Shanice also experienced transitions with record labels. Her debut album Discovery came out on A&M Records, her Inner Child LP dropped on Motown and finally her self-titled current CD is on LaFace Records. She seems to have found a comfortable home at the Atlanta-based LaFace imprint. "I'm happy with LaFace for several reasons," she says. "L.A. and Babyface, have a good ear for music. A lot of times you get with labels and the owner or the president of the company is constantly sitting behind his desk and doesn't really go out to the clubs or he's not a producer so sometimes they really don't know (what's hot). They just know the business side of it," she affirms. "But when it comes to like picking songs, a lot of times they really don't know. A lot of times you can't call the owner of the record company up at home and say, 'hey what's up.' If you have a concern about anything, I can call L.A. up at home or I can call Babyface up at home. I'm so thankful that I get to work with them. This is like a dream come true for me. I sang on the Boomerang soundtrack, but I've always wanted to be a part of their team. Babyface and Shanice are all too familiar with each other as she's sung background on a slew of LaFace projects. With intentions of one day making her part of LaFace's immediate family, the acclaimed songwriter and producer had Shanice sing behind Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton and Usher. Unfortunately, Shanice's low-key role as a background singer resulted in a few harsh words whispered about her. "In the past, I've just seen like artists, not get along and try to outdo each other and that bothers me so much. And then when I was singing backgrounds with Babyface, I had, you know, certain artists make negative comments like, 'You just a background singer now,' That hurt me to hear stuff like that," she recalls. "Even to this day I will still do background sessions for him [Babyface] or anyone that wants me to sing backgrounds because I love to sing. Even if I'm in the background or in the front it doesn't matter." 
Although Shanice has already worked with many of the industry's elite voice boxes, she still has a wish list of people she wants to hook up with. "I wanted to do a duet on this album with Lauryn Hill, but I think she was overseas, and she was promoting her record and stuff so she couldn't do it," she says. "But Lauryn Hill was one, and Lil' Kim, she had heard one of my songs and she said that she would rap on it, and I just ran into her the other day since I've been here and she's like, (in pseudo Lil' Kim voice) 'Why didn't you call me, I told you I wanted to rap on it,' and I really wanted her to rap on the song, but I don't know what happened. So Lil' Kim was one that I wanted to work with and then since I'm good friends with Janet Jackson and Toni Braxton, I said it would be cool if all three of us could get together and do something. That's like a dream of mine."
If this all-star collaboration were to ever come into fruition, Shanice has no intention of singing background. Although she doesn't mind taking a backseat to lead singers, the potential diva has returned to the forefront and is making a lot of her own decisions in the process. "A decision is not made until they talk to me, so I'm like making a lot of decisions as far as like, what I wear, what director I want to use for the videos, just pretty much everything," she says of her creative input power. "Anything that's going on, everyone asks me, 'What do you think.' Back in the day, I used to say, 'whatever, whatever you guys want, I don't care, I would just go along with everybody." Tevin Campbell was also ready for superstar credentials. The 22-year-old singer, who debuted on the Quincy Jones produced "Tomorrow (A better You, Better Me) off Back On the Block, was being compared to King of Pop Michael Jackson before his crooning career hit a roadblock. Like his friend Shanice, Campbell is plotting a return to the thing they both love so much, singing. "I am so happy for Tevin, I met Tevin like when he had first started in the business," she says with a beaming smile. "And Tevin, oh my goodness, he's just so talented, that boy can sing. I think his favorite singer is Aretha Franklin, he grew up listening to Aretha, and you know Aretha can blow. He's just so bad. I just wanna see him blow up off of his album. He deserves it. We were gonna do a duet together a long time ago but it didn't happen, so maybe we can do something sometime soon." Shanice remains optimistic about a young star's ability to climb back into the arena after a premature exit. "I think as long as you have great music, and your imaging and everything is together, you're with the right company, I think you can always come back," she says. "And with the help of God, you're fine. That's what's been keeping me going over the years. I'm very spiritual, and I pray all the time and I ask God to be my manager, to be my record company, you know, just watch over me, and help me in everything that I do." |
