Shoniqua Shandai’s Journey to Really feel My Love: A Evening of Development, Vulnerability, and Triumph
By: Wet ” Nation Cutie” Cates
It was a type of nights that felt like a quiet celebration—a gathering of people that believed in one thing extra than simply expertise. We had been seated round a desk in an intimate Atlanta venue, the form of place the place the power feels heat, like a shared secret between mates. The gang wasn’t big, however the air was electrical with anticipation. Tonight wasn’t nearly Shoniqua Shandai, the actress. Tonight, we had been right here for Shoniqua the artist, the singer—somebody we had been about to find in a wholly new gentle.As Shoniqua entered the house, there was an simple glow about her, however it wasn’t the form of glow that comes from the highlight. This was totally different. It was the form of heat that comes from somebody who has really embraced their journey—the form of heat that tells you, “I’ve struggled, I’ve grown, and I’m right here now, unapologetically myself.” And that’s precisely what we had been about to listen to, from the very first word.She opened as much as the gang, talking in a manner that felt like we had been confiding in an previous buddy. There was no pretense. She was actual, uncooked, and totally within the second. “In 2020, through the pandemic, I made a decision to get into the studio,” she started, her voice smooth however regular. “I used to be enjoying a recording artist in Harlem, however I used to be fearful of the studio. I can sing and not using a mic, however when it got here to recording, it by no means sounded the way in which it did in my head.”Her vulnerability struck a chord with everybody within the room. She wasn’t simply speaking a few tune; she was speaking about one thing deeper. She was sharing the journey of self-doubt, development, and perseverance that led her to this very second.“You may’t play a recording artist and never truly get into the studio,” she continued. “So, I made a decision to do the work. I received intentional about what I needed to create. And with every little thing taking place on this planet, I knew I needed to write one thing that spoke to me—and to the world round me.”What adopted wasn’t only a efficiency—it was a narrative. It was a mirrored image of every little thing that had formed Shoniqua over the previous couple of years: the challenges, the expansion, and the deep, simple perception that all of us have the ability to manifest the lives and love we deserve. “I imagine life and dying lie within the energy of the tongue,” she mentioned. “So I wrote one thing that might deliver into existence the form of love I deserve, though I hadn’t skilled it but. One thing God-fearing, passionate, and wholesome. This tune… it makes me need to inform a person, ‘Boy, I do know your momma is pleased with you!’ And that’s “Really feel My Love.”
The tune, 4 years within the making, was about a lot greater than melody or lyrics. It was the product of a journey full of persistence and development. She’d began writing it in 2020, however it wasn’t till now, in 2025, that she was lastly able to launch it to the world.
“I wasn’t the singer I needed to be once I first began,” Shoniqua admitted. “I used to be evaluating myself to legends like Aretha Franklin, and I wasn’t certain if I may ever measure up. However I stored pushing. I couldn’t let that cease me. So, I went by a cycle of dwelling, prepare, and report. House, prepare, report. For 4 years. And that’s how I grew to become the singer who may lastly sing this tune.”
At that second, I understood. This wasn’t nearly singing, it was concerning the energy of persistence. The facility of not giving up, even when the trail isn’t clear and the outcomes don’t come simply. For 4 years, Shoniqua labored by her insecurities, her doubts, her worry. And the end result was greater than only a tune, it was a declaration of power and self-love.- ADVERTISEMENT –
As she performed Really feel My Love for us that night time, the room fell silent. The music didn’t simply fill the house, it resonated deep inside everybody who was lucky sufficient to be there. It was an anthem for anybody who has ever needed to battle by their very own limitations, for anybody who has ever doubted their value, for anybody who has ever felt that the imaginative and prescient they’d of their thoughts couldn’t probably match as much as actuality.
However it will possibly. It does.
It’s straightforward to fall into the lure of evaluating ourselves to others, particularly on this planet of social media, the place the spotlight reel is every little thing. However Shoniqua reminded us of one thing easy but profound: Development takes time. It’s okay to stumble, to really feel uncomfortable, to take issues gradual. It’s okay to not have every little thing discovered instantly. However so long as you retain pushing ahead, trusting in your self and your course of, the outcomes will come.
That night time, I left with one thing greater than only a new tune to take heed to. I left with a renewed sense of what it means to actually imagine in your self, to belief within the course of, and to embrace each second of development alongside the way in which.
Shoniqua Shandai isn’t only a gifted actress or a gifted singer—she’s a girl who has discovered to like herself by the wrestle and triumph, a girl who continues to show us that the journey is simply as stunning because the vacation spot.
And so, because the night time ended, I spotted that Really feel My Love wasn’t simply the title of her tune—it was the power that she had introduced into the room. Love, in all its varieties. And it was one thing all of us felt, one thing that left a mark on each coronary heart in that intimate house.
At the moment, tomorrow, and perpetually—Really feel My Love.- ADVERTISEMENT –
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