“An international force, music is something that can tumble past barriers, something that can soothe sores. Newcomer SHAIMA embraces this, using her music to express a complex multi-national background.” - Clash Magazine

Shaima is a young, dynamic singer with a huge creative edge. She started in the music industry from the age of 14 conquering both stereotyping and also the challenges of musically uniting her mixed cultural identity. Her soul belongs to pop, hip-hop and R&B without forgetting her origins: uniquely mixing in the beats of traditional instruments like sitar, Arabic flute and tabla. Her new single Green Eyes exemplifies this magical fusion and was released globally on 6th March 2020 to be followed by an EP later in the year which will be called Unveiled.

Seeing a lot of similarities between the two cultures Shaima has always had a vision for combining Eastern and Western cultures in a way that brings the two together in a perfect unison, in what she playfully calls ‘Bolly Beats’. Not only that she insightfully combines these melodies with creative yet deeply meaningful lyrics representing contemporary global concerns and hardships, underscoring difficult topics that people often find difficult to talk about.

Her unique work encapsulated her beliefs in such a playful yet powerful way they eventually created quite a buzz throughout the music industry. Her breakout track Spread the Love was a huge club success and the follow up singles 911, Girl Gang and Phenomenol achieved great support and accolades from across the media including the BBC Asian Network. More recently she has been working with the likes of Skales and Chopstix, conjuring up an intriguing combination of world sounds and working closely with Bandit, Vodka, David Asante and Harry Clarke to form a unique and addictive cross-cultural sound.

Shaima cites MIA and Lata Mangeshkar as influences growing up. Raised in West London, she was heavily influenced by the multi-cultural environment around her. Her unique background - Indian roots from Jodhpur/ Jaipur – has given her a great insight into the cultural nuances of a bygone era. Being born and raised in West London Shaima feels it is time to connect back to her roots by remaking western pop music with a unique South Asian twist and to also give back to the community through development in the arts. In addition to this, Shaima wants to break the mould of being a young Muslim woman in the industry and to fight for the representation and empowerment of women worldwide.

Now running her own record label, M Dynasty Records, Shaima’s main goal is to unite the East and West through her lyrics and positive beats. To make music and write lyrics that appeal to all types of people from diverse backgrounds and bring them together. She is also an advocate of standing up to bullying and calling it out. Her latest single Green Eyes is about protecting yourself from negativity, hate and lies – to grow a thick skin and to flourish despite its ferocity– something Shaima has learned to do from a young age. As she says herself:

“this song is about how to deal with people hating on you. Really growing thick skin and not letting anybody take your truth away from you.”

Shaima knows her truth and is unstoppable: constantly innovating; exploring feel-good music that breaks cultural boundaries, encouraging freedom of expression and bringing people together. This 26-year-old singer, songwriter and self-taught producer from West London is clearly set to break norms.