Shafieka Patel has released her first single, which encourages others to move forward from past experiences and be positive about life.
The 25-year-old from Hazendal released the hip hop song called Let you go, which is about a past relationship and how much it hurt her. It speaks about moving on from bad experiences and using positive thoughts to live life without paying any attention to negative opinions.
She started singing when she was 15 years old at karaokes where people always encouraged her to go further with her music, saying that she was a great singer.
Last year, she started writing the song along with many others but only released the one with the help of her producer who goes by the name Nafty King Cole.
The song was played on Bush Radio on Monday January 28 and thereafter she received many positive comments but also negative ones.
“I choose not to focus on the negative ones but use the positive feedback to motivate me. I want people to use my music to move forward – you don’t have to sit back and feel hurt all the time,” she said.
Shafieka is the oldest sibling of four brothers and one sister and has been staying in Hazendal for three years.
She said releasing the song has been an exciting experience and she plans on releasing another soon in the R&B genre.
Her mother, Rukea Fredericks, said she has always supported her daughter as she knows how important a parent’s motivation is. “She was always busy with music and people always told me that she would go far with her talent. I support my daughter all the way – many children don’t have that support,” she said.
Shafieka is now trying to promote her work and remains positive about spreading her message.
“There were days where I allowed the negative comments to depress me but now I am positive. I have chosen music because this is what I want to do. I always use to sit in class and sing and I didn’t really know how to sing at the time so I would hum the music but I kept practising because of my passion for music,” she said.
The song Let you go has two versions; one with rap by Terry Adams and one where she sings alone.
Her advice to others is to ignore negative comments. “Keep pushing yourself and try harder. Believe in yourself and the outcome will be worth it in the end. My parents are very supportive and so are my listeners,” she said.