Zarif Davidson, known professionally as Zarif or Mona Lisa Veto, is an English singer-songwriter of

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to peopl ...

-Scottish-

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian descent whose music incorporates

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

, funk, and pop. She performs with a nine-piece band and sometimes plays keyboard and guitar.

Early life

Zarif grew up in

Harrow, London Harrow () is a large town in Greater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of Charing Cross and south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a popula ...

with her Scottish father and her Iranian mother.New Band of the Day 448: Zarif
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' As a child, Zarif loved listening to music and some of her favourite artists are

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, Stevie Wonder,

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

, and Aretha Franklin. She wrote her first song as an entry to a '' Blue Peter'' competition and formed a girl band with her friends called Girls of Tomorrow. Zarif was educated at North London Collegiate and went on to study at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where she graduated with a

human sciences Human science (or human sciences in the plural), also known as humanistic social science and moral science (or moral sciences), studies the philosophical, biological, social, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand our ...

degree.

Music career

Zarif started her career performing in a series of venues in London in the city's soul singer-songwriter open mic circuit.

The Nextmen The Nextmen is a UK production/songwriting/DJ duo consisting of Dom Search (a.k.a. Dominic Betmead) and Brad Baloo (a.k.a. Brad Ellis). Often incorporating hip hop, drum & bass, dub, pop, soul and various other eclectic electronic and ind ...

saw her at one of these gigs and asked her to perform on three tracks on their album '' This Was Supposed to Be the Future''RCA
Zarif
as well as tour with them during mid 2007. At another of her open mic gigs, Zarif was spotted by a talent scout from Sony BMG. She was signed to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

in 2007, performed with

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

, and supported

Taio Cruz Jacob Taio Cruz (; born Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere, 23 April 1980), better known professionally as Taio Cruz (stylized TΛIO CRUZ), is an English singer, songwriter and record producer from London, England, currently based in Los Angeles. In 200 ...

and Chris Brown. She has performed live on BBC Radio 2,

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily ''BBC London News'' and weekly '' Sunday Politics'' on television, ...

and GMTV. In December 2008, Zarif's song " Box of Secrets" was featured in an advert for the TV channel Sky1 and released as a download. Her debut single, " Let Me Back", was released in April 2009. She supported Beyoncé on the UK leg of her I Am... World Tour during 2009, and the same year performed at festivals including

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

Wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

, and V Festival. Zarif was dropped by RCA Records and subsequently set up her own label called Bright Pink Records, with backing from a

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

firm. She released her debut album, '' Box of Secrets'', on this label in August 2010. In December 2013, Zarif premiered new material online under the name Mona Lisa Veto.

Musical style

Zarif has described her sound as "soulful and summery" and "upbeat and eclectic". ''

'' named Zarif "the next big thing in British soul" and ''Billboard'' Magazine said she was like "

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

with Madonna's pop flair." Also ''theguardian.co.uk'' described Zarif as a "chirpy, sassy cross between

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

and

Corinne Bailey Rae Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae (; born 26 February 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "Put Your Records On". Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC po ...

, or a lighter, frothier, poppier

". ''Touch'' Magazine said Zarif "exudes the kind of delicious, chocolaty tones and gut-wrenching melodies that Scott,

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

and even

Wonder Wonder most commonly refers to: * Wonder (emotion), an emotion comparable to surprise that people feel when perceiving something rare or unexpected Wonder may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * The Wonders, a fictional band ...

would applaud" and Hot Press said she has "a voice like a 21st century Diana Ross." She is often compared to

, however Zarif has said, "People are always going to try and find a comparison. I think our music's actually very different," to Digital Spy, "Obviously we're both kind of retro, but y music isa lot more upbeat and eclectic whereas my Winehouses'is more influenced by Motown. I can definitely see the similarities but I think at the same time that we do different things."

Discography

Albums

*'' Box of Secrets'' (2010)

Singles

*" Let Me Back" (2009) *" Box of Secrets" (2010) *" Over" (2011)

Other recordings

As Zarif

*Zarif sang on three songs for

's 2007 album, '' This Was Supposed to Be the Future''. Zarif performs on the second single from the album, " Something Got You", as well as on the songs "Move" and "This Was Supposed to Be the Future". *Drum and Bass artist

Danny Byrd Danny Byrd (born 4 May 1979) is an English DJ, record producer and musician from Bath in the South West of England. He is influenced by genres such as house, UK garage, R&B and the jungle sound. He primarily releases his music through Hospital ...

remixed Zarif's song "California" and the remix was released as a single in 2009. In 2010 Zarif recorded the vocals for the Danny Byrd track "Wait or Me" from his album '' Rave Digger''.

As Mona Lisa Veto

*Giom - "Red Light" *My Secretary - "Nothing Is Impossible" (produced by Giom)

Music videos

"Something Got You"
(July 2007, directed by Ricky Tart)
"Let Me Back"
(March 2009, directed by Rebel Alliance) *" Over" (May 2009, directed by Kinga Burza)
"Box of Secrets" featuring Ms. Bratt
(June 2010, directed by Andy Hylton)

References

External links

Zarif interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' April 2009

Facebook page for Mona Lisa Veto

Soundcloud page for Mona Lisa Veto

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zarif Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of University College London British people of Iranian descent English Jews English people of Scottish descent English male songwriters English soul singers Jewish singers People educated at North London Collegiate School Musicians from Harrow, London RCA Records artists Singers from London English women pop singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers