First, I heard the demo for “Impossible”– I was actually on tour with Beyonce, I was the supporting act—and I just remember them sending it out saying ‘Oh my gosh, I think we found you a song.’ Everyone was saying, “Okay, Shontelle, it’s been a minute, no more touring, you need to get back in the studio.” So the song comes in and I’m just like, “Wow, okay, this definitely is going to get me right back in the studio.”
It was just such a power ballad and then I thought about it and I was a little bit nervous at first because all the songs on the radio right now are up-tempo stuff and I didn’t know if people were going to want to hear a slower song. But then I was like ‘Ya know what, I’m bringing ballads back.’ I know there’s people that really want to hear this and everyone I played it for was like “oh my gosh, I love that song!” I just like being able to have fun and I love being able to touch as many people as I can with my music. I want my music to be a blend and to reflect my personality.
When I was recording this new album, everyone was saying that they hope I don’t leave my roots behind and I was like, “Oh no”; I always find a way to inject it, trust me. I can’t help it, it’s in my blood, so you’re definitely going to get little doses of that island girl.
One to big question people always asking me, is about Rihanna. Especially in the beginning when I was first putting music out, a lot of people tried to spin it like there was some kind of beef between us, some sort of competition, and no one has any idea that we’ve been so supportive of each other since day one. We actually knew each other before all this. And then people were saying how she looked like some sort of Barbie doll, and there’s no way she was in any sort of military thing and I’m like ‘are you kidding me?’
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Did you see the video for ‘Hard‘? We’re GANGSTER! Boots, crawling through mud, marching up and down…it was official; cadets was no playing. I’ve propelled out of a helicopter, I’ve done beach landings and had to drive a boston whaler and dock it next to a ship. Hiking with all your food, everything on your back, make a tent out of a poncho in the dark in the middle of nowhere. And Rihanna (she went to the school my dad went to), her school and my school are very competitive. And I’ll never forget at summer camp: she was always a hot stepper.
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When I was younger, I liked to be cute but I was more of a tomboy. She was definitely the glamour girl, lip gloss always popping. And I’ll never forget: they did a fall-in, and she was late, and it was because they were in the bathroom glamming up. And they came and I was like “y’all know what you gotta do: drop and give me 10 pushups.” And those are the things we laugh about now because, ya know, I’ve done my share of all of that, and you can’t go through it without getting in trouble at some point. It’s so funny to look back on those things, and now she’s MY drill sergeant, she’s the one pulling all the rank in the music world and I’m learning from her now. We’re both supportive of each other so it makes no sense that people…
We’ve actually done duets before, like on the ‘Save the Last Danc
