Shareefa Biography & Awards

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Artist Info

Born

1984 East Orange, NJ

Biography

Referred to as "the soul of Disturbing tha Peace," gritty vocalist Shareefa spent the first 14 years of her life in New Jersey before relocating to Charlotte, NC. There, she became involved with a crew of car thieves, was eventually caught, and wound up serving jail time. After that, she began to focus on music; she came to the attention of Teddy Riley (Guy, Blackstreet), who was the first significant person in the music industry to provide her with guidance. Ludacris snapped her up for his Def Jam-affiliated Disturbing tha Peace group and label; two featured appearances on the group's late 2005 album -- especially "I'll Be Around" -- built anticipation for her debut album, Point of No Return, released in the fall of 2006. Riley, in addition to Chucky Thompson (Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans) and Rodney Jerkins (TLC, Britney Spears), chipped in with songwriting and production. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide