Video Shareefa
Need a Boss feat. Ludacris

MP3: Hey Shareefa. Shareefa: How are you? All right. How you doing? Cool. Right on. So I just wanted to start off with some background stuff. You’re a new artist and a lot of people out there don’t know your history. When did you start singing and when did you start recording? I started singing when I was a little girl. I started recording when I was about 16. And how did you first hook up with Luda and with DTP? Two years ago I did a 12-song demo, which was handed to Jeff Dixon, one of the CEOs. I met him on a 114th in Harlem, sung for him on the spot. The next day, I met Ludacris and Shaka Zulu at TRL and it was on from there. And do you write your own material or do you collaborate with other writers? I do, I do. I write. Yeah. And I write off of personal experience. Excellent. So what can we expect from Point of No Return? Wow. You can get every emotion out of this album. This album is talking about being happy, sad, relationships, everyday struggles and phony friends and creeping, everything. It’s no holding back. Basically what you see is what you get. And who do you have on there in terms of producers and guests and collabos? We have Salaam Remi, Chucky Thompson, who is like my all time favorite producer, of course Rodney Jerkins who produced the first two singles, another upcoming producer, Justice League, which is about five of them from Florida, Needlz who worked with G-Unit, Teddy Riley, so that’s to name a few. And then as far as the features, Ludacris and Bobby Valentino, I kept the features minimal because I wanted to show the world that I could stand on my own. Nice, yeah that’s important because I think that so many people just clog their stuff up with features. And “Need A Boss,” is that the first single? Yes, “Need A Boss,” is. And “Cry No More,” is my second single, is which I shot the video to the day before yesterday. I was just listening to a couple of tracks this morning. I really like the “I’ll Be Around,” track. That’s tight. Produced by Salaam Remi. Yeah. Yeah, that’s real good. I thought that was really strong. Is there a set release date yet or are you guys still hammering that out? Yes, October 24th. And are you going to be touring to support the record? Yes, I’ll be on tour with Lyfe Jennings. Cool. Now you’ve got a very strong voice that’s definitely got kind of an edge to it that’s missing in a lot of singers. Were you classically trained or are you self-taught or did you sing in church? No, everything is raw. Straight from the heart and soul. That’s what’s up. In R&B today there is so many new singers out there and people trying to come up and make noise and make a name for themselves. How do you make yourself standout from the crowd? I think just be yourself, you know. Everybody’s not going to like you and a lot of people are. So I think the biggest thing is just staying grounded and staying focused and going hard and giving everything 110% every time. Right on. Now you’re currently living in Atlanta, right? Yes. Arguably that’s like the most powerful city musically today. Is it extra inspiring to be around so many people and artists down there that are doing big things? Oh, yeah. It’s inspiring to be around artists, period, other artists just doing their thing, period. Definitely. But I love Atlanta, you know. How long have you been down there for? For about a year. Okay, cool. So you’ve got the album dropping soon. It’s your debut joint. Where would you like to see yourself or where do you see yourself at career-wise a year from now? Movies, definitely. A little clothing line. More albums. And just, God willing, doing well. Is there going to be another DTP group album in the works? I’m sure there will be. Let’s see. I hope so. Okay, cool. Right on. Well what advice would you give to all the young ladies out there that’s trying to get on? Just to stay focused. And never give up. You got any last words for the fans out there? Just thank you for the support on the record with “Need A Boss.” You know, it’s harder for a new artist and I just thank you for the love and the support on that. So go get the album, Point of No Return, due out October 24th. Excellent. Well thanks for taking the time to do this, Shareefa. I appreciate it. And good luck with the album. Thank you. All right, take care. Bye.