Shade Jenifer… Poised & Passionate!

Up and coming R&B singer/songwriter Shade Jenifer has recently released his self-titled debut album on DYMG Entertainment. Shade is an impressive young man, mature for his age, with a positive outlook and passion for the game!

So who influenced young Shade? “My influences coming up were Usher, Chris Brown, Trey Songz… those cats. And from them I found out about the older cats like Michael Jackson, James Brown R. Kelly, Keith Sweat, Ginuwine. I grew up listening to real singers.”

It must have been a trip to hear your song on the radio the first time? “The first time I heard one of my songs on the radio… a whole bunch of my friends started tagging me and after I had gotten like a hundred tags,” Shade recounts. “It was kinda unreal. I was in a state of shock but I was also very glad because I know I had worked hard to get to that point. It’s still a great feeling seeing my mom’s reaction. I was in the car with her the other day and one of my songs came on the radio and I saw a big smile come on her face. I was proud to be able to make her happy.”

The first single from the album, Ain’t No Problem is still getting Urban and Rhythmic airplay. “The success it’s been getting is really amazing,” says Shade. “When I came out it was among the top five most added on Media Base alongside Rihanna, Drake and Jeremih so seeing my name up with them was awesome. It has a nice little summer time vibe to it, a fun feel… I just wrote from my heart and it ain’t no problem. It’s a song that everybody can dance to, young, old, middle aged, it’s a really cool tune and the response has been great. It’s cool performing it because people know the song now so people sing along with me now.”

“‘Say Yes‘ is my current single. I was in the studio just listening to some beats with one of my producers and when I heard that I really liked it because it was different and had a nice Bryson Tiller/Drake vibe to the beat. It has an emotional feel to it. So I wanted to write a song that females can relate to. It’s kind of a song to get girls. It tells girls that have been treated wrong by a dude that they don’t have to put up with that and if you give me an opportunity to show you what I can do, I got you. That’s how that came about. There are not a lot of songs like that on the radio, especially for people my age.”

There’s another song on the album that caught my attention. It’s called “Make Love.”

“’Make Love’ is one of my favorite songs on the album. It was inspired by a Chris Brown song. When I heard the track I said I gotta sing on this. I gotta sing R&B… ‘cause I love R&B and in a way R&B is dying cause people forget about real singing. I wanted to take it back and go hard with the vocals and that’s why it’s one of my favorite songs on the album.”

Another standout song on Shade’s album is “Alone.”

“Alone” may be my favorite song on the album; I actually wrote that song while I was in high school. They say kids don’t know nothin’ about love when they’re growing up but I swear I felt like when I was in high school I was 27 instead of 17. I made that song about a girl while I was feeling alone. I’ve been through that feeling and now so many other people can relate to it.

So what’s Shade, the man, all about? “I’m really into sports. I love basketball and football but I like to play basketball. I’m a huge Dwayne Wade fan. Plus I’m a Superman head. I’ve been into Superman since I was a little boy. I love super heroes. I played all the super hero video games as a kid. I was all into that.”

“If I wasn’t pursuing this music thing– I would be an electrical engineer. That’s what I wanted to do when I was in high school. I took a bunch of AP classes. I was smart and knew what I wanted to do. One day my dad asked me if you could do one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? And I said music. I was into engineering and sports but I would drop whatever I was doing to sing! So I always knew, music is what I wanted to do for my life. What I want to accomplish with my music is to let people feel it.”

Now that your album is out, you’re doing shows and enjoying success… do you feel like you’ve made it? “I feel like I’m the radar. I don’t feel like I’ve made it yet because I need to put in the work and there’s always room for improvement. I’m always trying to get better. The more I work the more it becomes second nature. This is what I want to do so I don’t feel nervous or pressure from the outside. If anything, I put pressure on myself to reach a certain level. I strive to be the best that I can be. Every chance I get I want to do the best that I can do and give myself the best opportunity to the level I wanna achieve one day.”

Shade Jenifer’s self-titled CD is available now on iTunes and Spotify and all the outlets, with videos on VEVO and YouTube. “We’re doing some really big things. I’m getting ready to shock the world!”

Contact: Ed Strickland, DYMG/N.S.U.C. Entertainment Group [email protected]
Publicity and Media Relations: Juanita Stephens [email protected]