Entertainment

The next best thing... Rashida

Rashida

RASHIDA CONSIDERS herself an artiste in every sense of the word.

Although she says her passion lies in singing, the Scorpio, formerly known as 'Lady Natural', has other artistic skills.

She studied music at the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Creative Arts, but learned graphic arts, website designing, video editing and photography as well. Presently she works as a graphic artiste, but maintains that her deep love for singing calls her to the music business very often.

"From I was a child I wanted to be a singer," she told THE WEEKEND STAR. "People like Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Bob Marley had a big musical impact on my early life."

Since then, despite her full time job, she has nurtured her singing talent and developed her own style of music. "My style is a bit of culture mixed with R&B. In my music you will find themes of spirituality, love, and upliftment. I write my songs according to how I feel at the particular moment, not for the ratings."

Inspiration

Every now and then, you may see Rashida shuttling across Kingston on her scooter, something she gets inspiration from as well.

So far she has recorded a few singles which have actually been released locally. They include The One For You in 2003, No Woman No Cry in 2003, For The Love Of You in 2002, and since this year, Money Makes The World Go Round, a combination with L.A. Lewis.

Added to this, she has been steadily making her face known on the stage. She performed at 'Sting 2003', the Bob Marley Festival held in Trench Town in February, another stage show in St Elizabeth, and last week she performed for spring breakers at a show in Negril.

She feels that this experience is necessary and will only help her to achieve what she wants.

"I want to be the next best female artiste coming from Jamaica," she admitted. "I know there are many good ones but I want to be the next best thing. Rashida is a highly moralistic person, and my duty is to show respect to every person as I go along."

"Once I am comfortable with people they will get the very best out of me. I am so full of potential sometimes I surprise myself with the things I do."