Vanessa Lesnicki (born 16 August 1990 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

), known by her stage name Shay (, ; ), is a Belgian francophone rapper. After a collaboration with

Booba Élie Yaffa (; born 9 December 1976), better known under his stage name Booba, is a French rapper. After a brief stint as a break dancer in the early 1990s, Booba partnered with his friend Ali to form Lunatic. The duo released a critically a ...

in 2011, she has released many songs, notably a hit with "XCII" on the label ''92i''.Obs: Rap cru et ambition assumée : le féminisme selon Shay
Her debut album ''Jolie Garce'' was released on 2 December 2016 and was certified gold. The sophomore album ''Antidote'' was released on 10 May 2019. Her style is a combination of hip-hop,

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

urban pop Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythms, ...

and R&B. She is signed to

Capitol Music France A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numero ...

Early life

Shay was born in Brussels. Her father is Belgian-Polish and her mother is Congolese. She is the granddaughter of singer

Tabu Ley Rochereau Pascal-Emmanuel Sinamoyi Tabu (13 November 1940 – 30 November 2013), better known as Tabu Ley Rochereau, was a leading African rumba singer-songwriter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was the leader of ''Orchestre Afrisa Internatio ...

Musical career

In 2014, Shay joined the 92i label of her mentor

and released several singles like ''XCII'' and ''1200.'' In early summer 2016, Shay released the first single from her album, entitled ''PMW'', which was certified as platinum. On 7 October 2016, Shay released the music video of the song ''Biche'' from her album, which was viewed more than 7 million times. Her song ''Cabeza'' was released a few weeks late, and went on to be certified gold. On 17 February 2017, Shay released the music video of her single, ''

Thibaut Courtois Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois (born 11 May 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the best goalkeepers in world football. Courtoi ...

'', dedicated to the goalkeeper of the

Belgian national football team The Belgium national football teamfrench: Équipe nationale belge de footballgerman: Belgische Fußballnationalmannschaft officially represents Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the ...

with the same name. This song was also certified gold. In 2018, Shay posted an extract from a track entitled ''Notif'' on social networks. She also unveiled her return to the studio with producers Heezy Lee, Junior à la Prod and Le Motif on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. At the same time, Shay also collaborated with Jul on the track ''Pim Pom'', taken from the latter's album ''Inspi d'ailleurs''. She made her comeback and released the track ''Jolie'' on 30 November 2018, accompanied by a video clip directed by Guillaume Doubet. On 11 January 2019, Shay released ''Cocorico'', the second single from her new album, which she had previously announced would be released in 2019. On 22 February 2019, she released the track ''Notif'', accompanied by a video clip that, like the video for ''Jolie'', was directed by Guillaume Doubet. Her second album, ''Antidote'', was released on 10 May 2019. On 1 July, she released the video for the song ''Liquide, a'' duet with French rapper Niska. The track was certified gold.

Discography

Albums

Singles

As lead artist

*''Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.''

Other charted songs

*''Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.''

As featured artist

Filmography

Television

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shay Belgian women rappers 1992 births Living people Musicians from Brussels Belgian people of Polish-Jewish descent Belgian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent