Still a teenager having just entered sixth form, Shanique aka Shani Cuppcake tore up the airwaves last year when she featured on Ill Blu’s Say Yes which catapulted her into the UK Funky scene supported by the likes of DJ Cameo and many others. This year following the sharing of stages with the likes of Skepta, Tinie Tempah and Scorcher she’s set to make her own mark with new single Take It Low just getting it’s visuals finalised and her A64 becoming the most watched ever within just a week on SB.TV; it’s no wonder she’s working with the likes of Tru Tiger, Wizzy Wow and previous pairing Ill Blu on her debut EP dropping later this year. Nardene Scott manages to sneak a little time for a quick chat with the teen songstress in between her hectic schedule of touring, recording, dancing and A-levels!

Can’t believe you’re still at school with a voice like that! How long have you been singing and when did you start taking singing seriously?

I’ve always sort of sung from a young age but that was just because I enjoyed it. I’ve been recording music and stuff for the past year or so…

When you sang Say Yes did you have an idea of how big the track was going to be?

I really didn’t expect the feedback that I got from that …because obviously it was my first track so I just did the cover and I was just like wow…I’ve got so much feedback from that it’s all just positive and really nice. I recorded that when I was 15 and I’ve just turned 17!

Which artists inspire you both UK and US wise?

Loads of artists, I’ve always loved Beyonce she’s like my idol she’s really cool such an amazing performer and I really try to learn, like pay attention to how she sort of carries herself. In terms of her performance she really goes all in and yeah it’s amazing I’d really like to see her properly live, I’ve just never had the chance. I quite like Rihanna, erm Lady Gaga she’s really different, I know everything is a bit controversial with her but I think she’s quite cool she’s really different.

You’ve already shared the stage with the likes of Skepta, Tinie Tempah, Donaeo, Mz Bratt and Princess Nyah, what was that like?

Yeah, it was really fun, it was quite overwhelming because it was a lot of large crowds but I think it was a really good experience, I felt so privileged. I’ve been able to be like yeah I’ve been on tour.

So where can people catch you next have you got more dates planned for the summer?

Right now I’m just trying to work on my EP, I’m preparing to shoot my new video which is going to be for my funky house track Take It Low and my EP should be released later this year. So it should be good, looking forward to it.

Your new single Take It Low is out soon where did the idea of the track come from and who produced the track?

As well as Say Yes, Ill Blu produced the track, Take It Low, it wasn’t supposed to be my first single but because of the feedback I’d been getting from it, I was just like lets just go with the flow, so we’ll see how that works out.

Have you started working on the video for Take It Low yet or do you know what the concept is going to be?

We’re keeping it young were going to do it at school, it’s just going to be a fun video.

Are you going to get some of your friends in the videos? How do they feel about what you’re doing?

Oh they’re really supportive it’s actually lovely how supportive they are and it’s cute how they come and tell me “Oh my god I heard your song on the radio” or “Oh my god I’m so proud of you”, “I told them that I know you”. But it’s important that you have good people like that around you because otherwise it won’t really work. it keeps me grounded.

Obviously working with Ill Blu and touring amongst some of the UK’s finest artists you must have set up some good links but if you had the chance to collaborate with anyone who would it be?

Anyone I’d like to work with in the UK? I have no idea there’s so many people I’d like to work with for different reasons because at the moment I’m sort of toying with sounds but I’m a pop geek that’s my thing but I like dubstep…so I’d obviously like to work with people from different scenes. UK wise it would be quite cool to work with Tinie Tempah, there’s a US artists called Demi Lovato who’s really cool because she’s not the typical you’d want to work with her she’s got an amazing voice and she’s young like me so I think it would be really interesting to work with her.

Your EP is due out later this year with production from Wizzy Wow, Ill Blu and Tru Tiger can you give us an insight into what that’s sounding like, is it going to be funky based?

No, its not going to be funky based we’ve done enough funky now but yeah it’s mostly pop but there may be like a dance track on there, maybe a dubstep track that could be like a bonus track. I’m just really looking forward to it, it’s just poppy. Most of the songs well one song was written for me but I try myself to write my songs because I don’t really want to be like a puppet so I always write or I co-write.

What inspires your songwriting?

I try to listen to the music and see what kind of feel I like get from it, sometimes I like to ask the producers as well like when you was making it what was you feeling because it would be cool to sort of reflect what the feeling was as they were creating the actual beat.

There are a few people going around saying Funky is dead compared to the sudden rise of other UK homegrown genres like dubstep and grime, what do you think about that?

I don’t know that’s a bit controversial. I wouldn’t say it’s dead I would just say that it’s only because some of it is a bit same-ish. Obviously funky isn’t just like one thing it can vary I think there’s some really good songs out there, maybe it’s because it was so popular and people rinsed it out and they’re bored of it but I don’t think its dead though.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

Hopefully I would have released an album, if everything went how I wanted it to go I’d be like faaar! I would have had an album out hopefully had a really good single like a hit or something. It would be cool to work with a few US artists as well that would be nice. I think the pop scene in the US is not stronger they just do a lot more of it over there.

Follow Shani Cuppcake on Twitter @ShaniCuppcake and go and support her new single Take It Low which is out now.

Tags: DJ Cameo, Dubstep, Funky, Grime, Ill Blu, Interviews, Pop, SB.TV, Shani Cuppcake, Soul, True Tiger, Wizzy Wow