SHONTELLE PAUSED TO TAKE a sip of her Caipirinha as she made a mental check-off list of upcoming and ongoing projects which might have slipped.
It has been a whirlwind last six months since she caught up with the Nation in the Hilton Barbados lobby. Topping the list of new ventures was a freshly inked collaborative deal with music pioneers Russell Simmons and Steve Rifkind’s All Def Digital and All Def Music. Operated through the Universal Music Group, the venture sets out to take the lead in online music dissemination and artist discovery through YouTube. Shontelle revealed she would be releasing music under the ADD imprint, and was happy to be a part of the movement.
“[ADD] is a network of industry executives and veterans who decided that this old school way of releasing labels and music isn’t working anymore. You can’t promote or sell music unless you embrace this digital platform . . . ,” she told WEEKEND BUZZ last Friday, while sitting in the shade at Lime Bar. A telltale bikini tan line peeked through her summery romper, accentuated with a classic Louis Vuitton bag and nude Tom Ford pumps.
“. . . It is not the traditional recording deal; it is a business deal where you make an agreement to produce, supply or deliver music at a certain rate for them to release. Once you deliver the music, it is released under this imprint and they keep track of sales, keeping everything in one pocket or network.”
The T-Shirt songstress also revealed that she will be working with Young Money/Cash Money in the near future with possible plans to combine management. The Impossible singer also confirmed a song placement on Jamie Foxx’s work in progress, writing for budding artiste Sevyn Streeter as well as writing and performing on soundtracks for upcoming movies.
As for her own project, fans can look out for a single, produced by DJ Khaled: “. . . It is such an exciting time to work with him because a lot of my music [that gets released] is very mellow . . . I can’t only be there when people are crying; [I have to] be there when they are turned up,” she said laughing.
The DJ Khaled project bumped Put Me On Blast as the lead single on Shontelle’s still-in-progress third album: “I guess the timing is better for what we are trying to do . . . so we decided to use it as a buzz single and get the excitement [out there],” the singer/songwriter explained.
“We are going to use it as the theme song for the entire project, as opposed to just as a single . . . We don’t want to just do a new album, we want it to be a new movement and project; it is almost like my superhero song.”
But the work for the song was not in vain – it is how she met 23-year-old pro skateboarder Theotis Beasley, whom she is currently dating. He played the leading man in the video, which was shot in Venice over a year ago.
“We are in this really cute phase of dating and courting, but it’s hard sometimes because I am in New York City and he is in Los Angeles. But we’ll see where it goes; we are having fun,” she revealed.
Theotis has not been to Barbados as yet, but Shontelle told WEEKEND BUZZ the skateboarder was interested in the island that produced Shontelle and Rihanna. And Shontelle said she was proud to show off her country.
“Anyone who knows me or follows me you would think I get paid to promote Barbados. On my Instagram, everything is Barbados, Barbados, Barbados. I like showing off Barbados . . . .You don’t have to coax me or convince me or pay me to do it. I’m gonna do it not only because it is my duty, but because I love to do it. When ya got something that you are fussy about, you just show it off. That is how I am with Barbados.”
