Sophia Michaels
Blend together love, motherhood, pop, drops of Persian and Latin, and dance rhythms, and the end result is the unique sound of Persian crossover artist SHAB.
The Iranian refugee has already captured the attention of young women across Iran and its diaspora. Now, she has her sights set on making waves in America with her music.
While chatting with Showbiz Cheat Sheet about her new single “Spell on Me,” the singer explained how she channeled her own life experiences into her music and shared what it is about her dance-pop anthems that make them so unique.
SHAB’s songs focus on her journeys of femme self-discovery
SHAB is getting ready to make her mark in the American music industry — one dance-pop track at a time.
She has already grown a solid fan base across the Iranian diaspora thanks to her dance-pop rhythms and rhapsodic lyrics.
Now that she has set her sights on crossing over to the mainstream pop charts, nothing is getting in SHAB’s way of making it to the top.
Her new single “Spell on Me” single was helmed by Grammy-winning producer Damon Sharpe, who is known for his work with Ariana Grande and Jennifer Lopez.
The track features a steady stream of feel-good hooks, as SHAB draws on her own romantic torment and sings about surrendering herself to intimacy.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdef7mwwRBg?feature=oembed&w=500&h=375]
“Imagine that there’s a girl, and she can have a spell on any guy she wants,” SHAB said. “And, there’s one particular guy who came from a different world, but she doesn’t know that though because the spell is not working on him. She’s still putting a spell on him that’s not working, and she’s like, ‘Wait a second, what is going on? Why don’t I have this spell on him?’ That’s where the story goes. When you think about it, the power of love makes us feel that we are powerless and powerful at the same time.”
When asked if love and relationships are what inspire her songs the most, Shab explained that life experiences, in general, are what influence her unique sound.
“Whatever inspires me in my life, whether what I’m going through, I always take that and make it into something inspirational,” she shared. “It might be a sad song, but I turn it into something that’s giving me power. Turning pain into power.”
Transitioning to mainstream music was something she knew she had to do
Though SHAB grew up in the United States, she didn’t start her music career singing in English.
Instead, she sang from her heart and soul and eventually worked up the courage to let her voice be heard by audiences all around the world.
“I’ve always had poems and things that I had written that I wanted to sing in English, but when you’re singing from your soul,” she shared. “Just crossing over to that place where you go through so many life changes that it shapes you into the adult that you become. I sort of gave myself that confidence, and I just did it.”
After finding the courage to start singing in English, SHAB got to work creating her own songs with lyrics and hasn’t looked back since.
“I just said, ‘I’m going to do it. I’m going to sing in English,’ and then I started writing and singing, and that’s the way it happened,” she continued. “It was the confidence I needed to find within me.”
Now that she is making that transition from Persian artist to a mainstream pop star, the singer has big plans ahead for herself and her career.
Though she’s already working on her second album, the singer has some big dreams she hopes will come true within the next few years. One is performing during one of the biggest musical events in American culture.
“I would love to perform at the Super Bowl,” she admitted.
But until that dream becomes a reality, SHAB is just going to focus on her music and keep working to reach that goal.
“I’m just going to keep going and put some beautiful art out there,” she said.
At the end of the interview, SHAB left us with some encouraging words that go to show that she is much more than a pop goddess; she’s a positivity guru.
“We can’t look back. We can only look forward and learning how we can adjust and trusting in this moment,” she concluded. “No fear, just love.”
Written by: CheatSheet
