By Kashif Stone, Staff Writer

Published in print Apr. 1, 2015

Shaniya Wells is the all-around “It Girl”; she has beauty, the brains, and an angelic voice that could transform you into a euphoric trance yearning to hear more of her soft subtle soprano ranged vocals. Wells is currently a junior at UNC-Greensboro majoring in Communications and minoring in Media Studies but her overall passion and dream in life is to pursue a career as a singer/songwriter.

Born in Rockingham, N.C., Wells became a resident of Greensboro after transferring elementary schools in the third grade. Her love for music originated from her family mainly announcing her grandmother as being her biggest influence whom, till today, she idolizes and pulls inspiration from to perfect her craft and continue her dream. As a child her grandmother would force her to utilize her gift of singing because singing was a part of their family culture. Wells was a member of her church choir often singing the lead and until freshman year of high school, she participated in the school’s chorus program.

Wells believe that music is a way to channel inner emotions that are unexplainable. “I feel like music is a way to pull from different parts of someone,” she said. “You can always talk to someone to see how they feel but I feel like music grabs an emotion that you can’t really explain.”

The Greensboro music scene has proven to her that she wants to further her singing career in new places. “I feel like it’s growing,” she related, “but the connections and networking here in Greensboro isn’t as strong it should be which is why people have to leave Greensboro to jumpstart their dreams.” During her grandmother’s singing days, she would travel back and forth to New York to pursue her dreams. Wells implied that her grandmother’s determination pushes her closer and closer to expanding her career outside of the Triad.

Prior to my interview with Wells, she sang an original piece entitled “Say Something”, drawing inspiration from rapper Drake and his song released under the same name. The song was lyrically creative and her voice was similar to the ear-soothing sounds of Jhene Aiko. Wells likes to classify her artistry style as alternative R&B stating, “I say alternative R&B because I feel like some people try to put me in a box because of the way my voice sounds – but I listen to all types of music. I want to show people what I listen to outside of R&B and then implement it into R&B so I won’t be categorized into a certain music genre.” She believes in the versatility throughout the music industry, looking up to icons such as Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as an example of how artist should cross over and one day wishes to mesh Indie or Rock into her craft.

Lately, Wells has been busy in the recording studios around the Greensboro area in preparation for her next project, to be released by the end of April. Furthermore, she excited for her upcoming performance in New York City next month where she will be breaking into a new music scene showcasing her vocals at a Brooklyn open mic showcase called “Good Minds, Good Vibes”. This will be the first official performance for Wells outside of Greensboro.