Rapper SHAI-GIRL’s name is a Myers-Briggs dream of an acronym. Sincere, Humble, Ambitious, Intuitive, Gifted, In Real Light. “I just wanted people to know that I was quiet, but I’m very observant,” she says about her name. “When I speak, I want to say something profound.”
Each letter represents a characteristic of her personality, but it also relays everything listeners need to know about her music. The most consistent element in her music is a message of strength and empowerment through hardship, much like her story.
After surviving child abuse and depression, SHAI fought on, obtaining a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree, all while raising a child. What’s a strong woman to do in times like that, but share inspiration for others through music?
“I think it was something I had to prove to myself,” she says. “Just it being my dream and I always told people, ‘This is going to happen.'”
Like a lot of artists on the come-up, SHAI-GIRL was searching for that style she could call her own. She believes that she may have found it with her 2018 LP Phoenix. “Up until this project, I had been trying to find my sound,” she says. “I started out singing and I started rapping by accident, and I liked rapping more. I liked putting messages in my songs.”
There are singing and R&B flavors sifting through the brew, but she describes it as alternative hip-hop. The music of Phoenix isn’t really anti-conformist, but the composition of songs like “Hold On Me” is expansive and moving compared to the usual 808 hi-hats and low bass drums of radio rap. In their stead are electronic claps, a moody piano sample, and the distant croon of guest vocalist Tahj Christian.
“Didn’t want to play the victim, and so I didn’t/ Tell anybody and it became a hobby/ Internalize my feelings, detach myself from everybody/ This is how I can be vulnerable, so now it ain’t a hobby/ You can call that purpose,” SHAI raps on “Hold On Me.”
The rapper finds herself unguarded for most of the LP, discussing hard times. Ultimately, SHAI finds hope in the void and triumph in the struggle. “The inspiration behind Phoenix is the concept of the phoenix,” she says. “You have to struggle. Just when you think it’s over, everything is over and you’re about to die, you come back stronger than ever. That’s the concept and that’s basically my life’s story.”
“Not Your Ordinary” shows an empowering memo to all listeners. “The message of that song is, ‘Don’t be afraid to be yourself and to stand out,'” SHAI says. “I struggled socially because I was really different from kids around me and I was really down on myself, but then when I got older I realized it was actually good.”
On album closer “Rise,” SHAI ruminates on the album’s themes and reflects on the difficulties of overcoming herself. Over a looming keyboard, the rapper lays it all out. “You were under the illusion it was them against you/ But it was really you causing trouble,” she says in the opening bars.
In the track, SHAI quickly realizes that she can’t limit her thoughts to the negativity she makes for herself. “You’re a unicorn, not the usual form/ I do it for ’em, leave the uniform/ For the clones, put yourself on/ Step out there on your own/ And leave the rest and forge your own way to the throne.”
SHAI describes the song as an internal battle. “Sometimes you think the enemies are outside of you, but really it’s your way of thinking,” she says. “It’s like me speaking to myself or giving myself advice.”
Thanks to her success against adversity earlier in her life, SHAI has built her confidence and used it to pursue other crafts. In addition to engineering her latest LP, she wants to find other outlets for creativity. “I’m branching more out into acting. I’ve been acting for two years, so that side of me I’m getting to explore now,” she says. “I was very shy, but the music helped me open up and act.”
“I’m accomplishing a lot,” she adds, “slowly but surely.”
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.
