SHIINA: a successful artist, more than a pretty face

Not everybody imagines the hidden talent behind her beautiful face. Shiina, besides being beautiful, is a great vocalist and successful composer. Cubamusic presents the story of her solo career.

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From the very beginning she knew the need for a stage name. Yoanna was too common, and as everybody called her "la chinita" (the Chinese little girl) because her marked Asian features, she (initially) developed into Sheena.

She is the co-author of hits like "Que suenen los tambores", "Hay que echar pa'lante" and "Hay que darles palo". Besides singing and composing, she is passionate about photography, audiovisual production, and even craftsmanship. In the midst of these tasks, she received us in her place at the popular neighborhood Centro Habana. She had various commitments after the interview, so we went straight to the point.

- Why did you choose the urban genre to launch your solo career? If you previously succeeded tremendously with pop, salsa and timba.

With the band Los que llegaron primero, I performed ballads and pop, later with Anacaona, I extensively sang timba, salsa, son and boleros. I have always liked challenges and new things, that is why when I became professionally independent, I emphasized on urban music, a genre that I had never done before and that I like a lot. Urban genre has been stereotyped in Cuba, but I believed it has plenty of talent. We partially underestimate urban music, certainly because there are songs that do not match the expectations, and cannot even be broadcasted on the radio or television. But this does not mean that there are not very good songs.

- You have a powerful voice, and this is not common in the urban genre.

Making art is complicated... and sometimes there are artists who are not vocally perfect but they have a lot of charm and charisma. For instance, El Micha.
El Micha is a singer with a particular rhythm. Everybody recognizes him when they hear his music. When I brought him to the studio for the first time to record "Dilo", he listened to the song only once, then grabbed the headphones and composed his lyrics on the spot, quickly, in five seconds and we liked it a lot.
Urban artists have as much talent as artists from other genres. But talent also has to be complemented. Quality is needed, but also are charm and charisma. There are many virtuosos on the stage that do not engage or connect with the public and at the end, people have the final decision.

- Now that you mentioned El Micha, we have observed that you are making emphasis on featuring in this moment of your career. Is this some kind of strategy for success?

The featuring helps me a great deal because when I am composing, I imagine the song in the voice of another artist. That happened to me with Insurrecto when we collaborated and with El Chacal in the song "Ya no siento nada". The featuring contributes to knowing two different styles in one same song.
I would like to make a featuring with Pablo Milanés, I hope one day I will have the opportunity.

- We have seen that this turn in your career brings a change in your stage name. Why?

The decision of using Sheena was due to my Chinese face features, I chose to write it in English but, then, we discovered that it was already patented. So, because of legal matters, we decided to change it into Shiina. Little by little, the public is getting used to it.

- Where will you go from here?

Right now, I am living a new stage of my life, full of happiness, maturity and strength to continue with my project. I am officially married and I have the pleasure to share my life with a person who supports me in everything I need.

I am launching my solo career here in Cubamusic.com, with the minidisc "SHIINA". It is a glimpse of my first solo CD that will be launched soon. We will begin to record shortly, there are tracks that we will gradually release.Cubamusic.com is the first company with which I share and sign an important amount of my songs. I am excited, I want to give the public what they are requesting from me, and the best place is this platform (Cubamusic.com) with so much good Cuban music.

A big kiss to my followers and let me tell them that Shiina will be here for a long time.