Shay Lia

Shanice Dileita Mohamed (born 1993),[1] known as Shay Lia, is a French-Djiboutian musician based in Montreal, Quebec.[2] Best known for her collaborations with Kaytranada,[3] her solo debut EP Dangerous was longlisted for the 2019 Polaris Music Prize.[4]

Born in France and raised in Djibouti, Lia moved to Montreal in 2012 to study communication at the Université du Québec à Montréal.[2] She is the daughter of Dileita Mohamed Dileita, the former Prime Minister of Djibouti.

While in Montreal she posted videos of herself singing various songs to social media, one of which attracted Kaytranada's attention and led to them becoming regular collaborators, including on the song "Leave Me Alone" from Kaytranada's 2016 album 99.9% and his 2018 single "Chances", for which both Kaytranada and Lia received a nomination for the SOCAN Songwriting Prize in 2019.[5] Shay Lia dances prominently in Kaytranada's 2013 Boiler Room set.[6][7]

Lia released a number of solo singles in 2018[8] before releasing Dangerous in May 2019.[9]

  1. ^ "Shay Lia Is Making Music On Her Own Terms". Wonderland. 2 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b Mr. Wavvy "Shay Lia is one with the funk". Cult MTL, May 10, 2019.
  3. ^ "Meet Shay Lia, the French-East African Singer Writing Hits With Kaytranada". OkayAfrica, January 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "A list of the 40 albums on the Polaris Music Prize long list". CityNews, June 20, 2019.
  5. ^ "Politically Charged 'Blood // Water' Wins SOCAN Songwriting Prize". FYI Music News, June 24, 2019.
  6. ^ Pavlakos, Louis. "People Are Shocked Shay Lia Was One of the Dancers at Kaytranada's Boiler Room". Complex.
  7. ^ Enechi, Ada (2023-05-16). "Shay Lia Opens Up About The Famous Kaytranada Boiler Room Set And More". BuzzFeed.
  8. ^ "Shay Lia: The Cycle". Pitchfork, November 26, 2018.
  9. ^ "Listen: Shay Lia Shares New EP 'Dangerous' In Full". Clash, May 24, 2019.