On December 29th 1998 a gift was presented to the world! Shanay was born and raised in New York City! Home Of the Apollo Theater! She grew up in a two bedroom apartment with her grandmother mother and her aunt! They had a really big influence on her when it came to music! Every Saturday morning 10 AM sharp her grandmother would turn on rhythm review and on that station they played A variety Of artist from the 50’s to the 90’s! Because of her grandma she was introduced to her favorite singer in the entire world Ms. Anita Baker! Shanay listened to Anita Baker from the age of 11 – 17 every single day! And had to hear her favorite Anita Baker song at least once a day “Same Ole Love”.
Middle school is where Shanay realized she had talent. She realized that singing was something she wanted to spend the rest of her life doing! It was then that her guidance counselor informed her that she could take her talents where they would be appreciated and enhanced! Performing Arts High Schools! Her mother told her that she could only attend a school that was in the Bronx or Manhattan so that narrowed it down to about 5 school! Morant attended her second choice “Talent Unlimited High School for the Performing Arts” where she studied music theatre for 4 years!
At 17 Shanay skipped her High School Graduation to attend The American Musical Dramatic Academy a semester early. It was here where she blossomed into an artist that trusted her instincts and accepted everything about herself. She met a lot of amazing individuals including the amazing Thomas O’Leary! He was Shanay favorite professor. In his class she took off all the barriers that were placed on her and formed her own philosophy!
After graduating from AMDA Shanay auditioned and auditioned and booked absolutely nothing. She auditioned for Hamilton and got to round 3 and was sent home. She knew something was off so she took it upon herself to make a change. Shanay started taking acting classes again and 3 months later she booked her first film. She kept auditioned and was constantly booking for 4 months straight! After all these projects ended Shanay decided to take a break! She noticed that there was this void that she couldn’t fill. Her lease for her apartment was ending soon! The Walgreens she worked at closed down so she had to relocate! Shanay went into a slight depression. That’s when she moved from LA to Lancaster!
Shanay’s time in Lancaster was bittersweet! She had little to no gigs booked living out there! But it was there where Shanay had all the time in the world to explore herself musically! She recorded her first song professionally with then amazing Darrius Porter titled “What They Say”. Shortly after recording this song Shanay was approached by a dope artist by the name of Veetchy for a feature. You all may know that song today as “Let Loose” after creating the song and video with Veetchy both artists wanted to continue working and creating beautiful pieces of music!
Then February 2021 Shanay had to be rushed to the emergency room for Abdominal pain! She learned later that she was going to have surgery! 3 months off from work! Living with her big cousin and his family on the Air Force based they were stationed at! The recovery process took sometime! Having to learn how to walk again, dress herself, or even cook her own meals! Once Shanay recovered and went back to her apartment she was more inspired than ever! And her second single “Butta” was born. From then on she went on to make other bangers like “GYNA” and “Something Could Be Going On” Shanay has just scratched the surface of her artistry with these beautiful pieces of music! And is excited to develop more and give us the crumbs of her evolving into the best version of herself!
For more info about Shanay visit: www.Shanaymorant.com