There
aren’t many 21 year old boys who have supported Beyonce, but then Shawn
Emanuel is most definitely not your average 21 year old boy. After touring
with Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland in 2003, Beyonce snapped him up for
her own European live dates, which also led to him supporting the group on the
European leg of their 2005 Destiny Fufilled world tour... Kanye West also
invited him to join his tour in 2006. He soon made a name for himself among the
top urban artists both in the UK and the US, and became well-known among their
fans. It was not long before he caught the attention of our very own Estelle.
She was so impressed that she immediately hooked him up with her management and
set him on the road to solo success. Now recording his album, due for release in
Winter 2006, it looks like his days as a support act will soon be over. Having
learned from the very best, Shawn does the urban pop thing very well. Promo
single Slow It Down fuses raw street sounds with a commercial edge, and
is just a taster of things to come.Tell me about the new single…
My first single 'Slow it Down' was the last track that I recorded for my album 'Dreamworld'. It was produced by Mr Dan Carey and written by myself. We put the track out late last year just to see if we could get a buzz on it and also to start getting my name out there and it took off. The best response was from 'Twice as Nice' who put it on their last major compilation CD 'Twice as Nice Weekender'. We then decided to make it my first/set up single for my album.
How did you get noticed by a major label?
My whole signing happened real fast. It happened before I had management or anything, I had been blessed with the opportunity to tour with Kelly Rowland and Beyonce and after those two tours (which took place in a matter of 3 months) I hooked up with my manager and we approached labels. EMI wasted no time. I literally had 2 meetings with them in a space of 7 days and on the 8th day the offer was on the table. I was signed in a matter of 2 weeks... it was crazy!
Would you ever set your sights on acting or producing?
No Doubt! I wanna push myself as far as I can... trust me I’m gonna be like a P.Diddy.
Do you think it's important to write your own material?
Yeah I do... I don’t see nothing wrong with singing songs written for you by other people but for me I’d rather sing songs I write myself because that emotion you hear in my voice and see in my performance is real...not just to you, but to me too.
What don't you like about the music industry?
I don’t like the lack of originality from the industry side of things. There are too many posers in it who don’t really have a clue and aren’t trying to move things forward, it’s frustrating.
Who have you liked working with the most?
In the studio - Dan Carey is the man! He produced 7 tracks on my album and took them in 7 different directions, he is a genius and is one of my favourite producers. On tour - Destiny's Child, because I was treated like family and learnt a lot about being a performer and loads about the stage from the crew. All three tours I did with that camp were like 3 crash courses on how to be a successful entertainer...it was heavy!
Is there anyone you've met and not liked for whatever reason?
A few people, I just think being a star is a privilege and not an obligation, so never believe your own hype! As easy as u get it, it can be taken away so I will never get comfortable with it and I want to work on every project like it’s my last.
Where can we see Shawn perform live?
Best thing to do is to log on to my website (www.shawnemanuel.com) and check out the dates or if you’re a Myspace junky like me get on there (www.myspace.com/shawnemanuel)...hit me up!
By Rashmi Shastri - May 2006