‘Shakeela’ pampers the soul

Known largely in the rapso fraternity, and for her strong lyrical content in the local oral tradition, Shakeela has taken her career to the next level, with her new album entitled Four Dollars & Some Sense.

At a time when there seems to be no end to violent crimes and the effects of the economic downturn that have most of us stressed, Shakeela is helping people, through her soothing melody and lyrics, to de-stress, relax and live better lives. In the first track on the CD entitled “Meditation,” Shakeela easily persuades listeners to look at themselves for introspection and to find meditation within themselves to cope with life’s stress and to heal the nation.

According to the entertainer, “I put my all into it. It’s smooth, its easy listening and it has an essence of meditation. In society more than ever, we need to take time to be still. We need to take that time out to meditate and understand ourselves more and the people around us. If everybody is up in arms anything can happen. We need to remember to take time out and just chill out. For some people meditation means different things. Meditation can be just talking about life with friends, it’s praying, it’s quiet time or a quiet evening reading, for some people a form of meditation can also mean going out and liming,” she explained. She continued, “But the main element of meditation is that you take time out to relax. We need that meditation to heal and feed the nation.”

Shakeela, a versatile artiste, was able to mix all genres of music to create a unique blend of melodies compatible with her strong vocals. The album focusses on reggae as the main genre to convey her messages, in what she describes as reggae fusion. The end result is a musical concoction that listeners would appreciate. “I wanted to do something that everybody could listen to. I wanted to do it at a level where anybody in any part of the world would be able to appreciate. I really wanted to up the ante; I wanted to do quality songs and I was able to achieve that,” Shakeela said.

The 12 tracks on the album features Shakeela tackling everything from love and spirituality to happiness and self fulfilment. In the track “Good Morning Love”, which can be classified as a mix of rapso and reggae, for example, the entertainer talks to her love, telling him, “Good morning love; I had to tell you what I was dreaming of; I had to wake you like a singing love, wake up and be my sunshine.” In the track “Ghetto Smile”, Shakeela tells those in the ghetto to smile, as their brightest days are ahead. A couple of the songs are already enjoying steady rotation on various radio stations.

The album was produced by the Jackie family at Corrosive Studios in Pt Fortin, with background vocals by Cindy Andrews-Duncan.

Songs listeners would find soothing include: “Number One,”,“Meditation” and “Good Morning Love.” Those that are looking for upliftment have a choice between “Ghetto Smile,” “Jah Jah Way” and “Weep Not My Child.” Other tracks on the album designed for easy listening include “Best of Me,” “Cover Me,” “Who Feels It,” “You Bring Me Joy,” and “My Only One” and “Some Day.”

Shakeela has been on stage for 15 years doing her own compositions in rapso, soul, calypso and jazz. Over the years she has delighted audiences with her unusual style. Four Dollars & Some Sense is her third compilatioin. Her first, Acoustic Diary contains songs such as “In this Lifetime,” “General,” “Spend my Life,” “It’s My Time,” “Keep Cool,” “Party Mood,” and “My Second Best.” Her second CD includes “Louisna,” “Water Me,” “Reach Out,” “Woman Rise,” and “Weep Not my Child”. For copies of her CD, Shakeela can be contacted at 344-9662.