Sheba

Evoking the glory and memory of the legendary line of Ethiopian Monarchs is the inspiration of Sheba: a Singer, Songwriter, Arranger, Producer, hailing from the majestic land of Ethiopia, reared in the concrete jungle of New York City. Sheba was named after the Queen of Sheba, the famed empress of Ethiopia, of whom she is indeed a direct descendent. As early as the age of four, she knew she loved to sing, but more importantly she knew she wanted to write songs. She recalls with humor the urge to write music in pre-school and the pure frustration of being unable to spell. Sheba instead made up songs off the top of her head to entertain her playmates, leaving her in awe of the power of music to move people. Eventually by the age of 11, with no formal training Sheba was regularly writing full songs and singing across four octaves. Eventually, she ended up at Cornell University where she earned a B.A. in Film Studies. Upon graduating, Sheba forged a musical partnership with Tommy "Madfly" Faragher (she began as his vocal student), himself an accomplished Songwriter, GRAMMY nominated Producer and one time recipient of the celebrated ASCAP POP AWARD. Sheba and Madfly are currently writing and recording Sheba's debut album. Sheba sings every note on her album, she writes every song lyric, rhyme, co-composes, co-arranges and co-produces every track. She made her stage debut on a small tour that took her from headlining at the Jazz Café in Camden, London, and Weekendz in Kingston, Jamaica to the Safari club in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her sound truly hints to the varied textures of what it sounds like having grown up an African immigrant in the multi-cultural, diversity of New York City, acquiring facility in various languages, dialects, cultures and living and traveling on four different continents. Sheba boldly fuses Soul, Dancehall, Reggae, Afrobeat, Hip Hop, and Middle Eastern quarter-tones with ease, mashing them up into a sound that is fresh and new, but still reflects what is being heard on the radio today.