Born in Brooklyn, New York. Raised in Switzerland. A long-time Canadian who lives in Toronto. That’s Shakura S’Aida, a truly international artist whose involvement in the Canadian music scene has been ongoing for the almost 25 years. Along the way, she has enriched the jazz, blues and classic R&B communities with her soulful voice, enthusiastic personality and commitment to her deep soul music.
And Shakura takes her music wherever there’s an audience. In the past two years alone she has performed in the Caribbean, Moscow, Dubai, Romania, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Australia, Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Macedonia, Switzerland and helped organize a festival in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
Whether she’s speaking Swiss-German, French or English, Shakura instantly connects with her audience — and at the same time richly demonstrates the multiculturalism that Canada prides itself on.