By Del F. Cowie

With the throwback spirit of her charming single “Silly Happy Wild” garnering her new fans, Toronto R&B singer Tanika Charles is paving her own unique path with a retro meets hip-hop style. Known previously for her work as a backup singer for Zaki Ibrahim, Charles’  “What?What!What?” EP announces the arrival of a talented singer and performer. She recently opened for Nigerian singer/songwriter Nneka and Sway caught up with Charles at Toronto’s El Mocambo just after her sound check.

Sway: The last time I remember seeing you, you were riding your bike down Queen Street. When I listened to your EP, I realized this was exactly what you were doing in the song “Parkdale”. Are all your songs based on personal experience?
Tanika Charles: Absolutely. I was living in Edmonton, on a farm. I was going to get married. I’m gonna be really real here, it wasn’t for me. It was a very strange time in my life. I then moved from Edmonton to Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood, and so the story goes. Each song is a point in my life since I moved here and right before I moved here.

“Silly Happy Wild” reached No. 1 on the New Flow 93.5 FM’s Megacity Countdown and stayed there for four weeks. Is it surprising to you that the song has caught on so quickly?
Yeah, actually it was surprising. I was happy while it was at No. 3. I can’t actually believe it moved that fast. When it hit No. 1, I actually started crying. The work that producer Rich Kidd and I put into that song, with the live elements and all that good stuff, it took a long time and it was pretty stressful. I’m really pleased with where it is right now.

On the EP, you have created this “Ms. Chawlz” character. What’s the difference between Ms. Chawlz and Tanika Charles?
Ideally, Ms. Chawlz is a little bit older than Tanika. She is an emotional, sensitive and passionate woman, so she’s gone through heartache. She loves hard and a lot of the time when her heart is broken, she tries to feel sexy again. She tries to feel like she’s worth something even though she’s breaking down. She loves to drink a little bit. How does she overlap with Tanika Charles? I’m a passionate person, for sure, but I’m happy. I love people. Ms. Chawlz loves people too — men more.

You draw on a lot of eras, musically and also in your presentation. There’s kind of a retro feel to what you’re doing. Why is that?
Why not? The Motown sound, I’ve always loved. When [producer] Gigz gave me the beat to my song “Think of You”, I could hear that it was old school, but there’s a hip-hop element to it. I am definitely a beat junkie, 100 per cent. So, I thought, ‘OK, why don’t we just try doing Motown-feeling songs and add hip-hop so different ages can listen to it?’ There’s a lot of adults — I’m talking like 40, 50, 60-year-olds — that have approached me and were like, ‘I really love your music.’ Then there’s also [young kids] and there’s that community of heads in their late 20s and early 30s who like it too.

How does your recent EP No Turning Back speak to where you are in your life and career right now?
I finally made the decision to quit my day job and give music my 100 per cent. To me, the EP represents that change in my life. It’s about deciding that I want better for myself. It is also about the realization that I can’t focus on the mistakes that I’ve made in the past and that I really need to start looking to the future.
For more about Shaharah, concert dates or to purchase No Turning Back, visit shaharah.com

SWAY: Montreal is seen as an artists’ haven. How would you describe the city’s music scene?
SHAHARAH: There are a lot of aspiring artists, so you’ve got