Shanice Dileita Mohamed (born 1993), known as Shay Lia, is a French-

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Re ...

an musician based in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

."Shay Lia is one with the funk"
''

Cult MTL ''Cult MTL'' is an English language arts, culture and news website and monthly print publication, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its first print edition appeared on 7 September 2012. It was created only a few months after Montreal's last Engli ...

'', May 10, 2019. Best known for her collaborations with

Kaytranada Louis Kevin Celestin (born August 25, 1992), known professionally as Kaytranada (stylized as KAYTRANADA, shortened as KAYTRA), is a Haitian-Canadian record producer and DJ. Celestin rose to prominence after releasing a series of mixtapes, remixes, ...

, her solo debut EP ''Dangerous'' was longlisted for the

2019 Polaris Music Prize The 2019 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 16, 2019.

. Born in France and raised in Djibouti, Lia moved to

in 2012 to study communication at the

Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal ( English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Qu� ...

. She is the daughter of

Dileita Mohamed Dileita Dileita Mohamed Dileita ( aa, Dileita Macammad Dileita, ar, دليطة محمد دليطة) (born 12 March 1959''Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders'' (2003), page 142–143.Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Re ...

. 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% ''99.9%'' is the debut studio album by Canadian electronic music producer Kaytranada, released May 6, 2016, through XL Recordings worldwide and Ultra Records in Canada. The 15-track album features guest contributions from by , Vic Mensa, Litt ...

'' and his 2018 single "Chances", for which both Kaytranada and Lia received a nomination for the

SOCAN Songwriting Prize The SOCAN Songwriting Prize, formerly known as the ECHO Songwriting Prize, is an annual competition recognizing the best in Canadian emerging music, both anglophone and francophone. Established in 2006, the competition was designed to recognize som ...

in 2019."Politically Charged 'Blood // Water' Wins SOCAN Songwriting Prize"
''FYI Music News'', June 24, 2019. Lia released a number of solo singles in 2018 before releasing ''Dangerous'' in May 2019."Listen: Shay Lia Shares New EP 'Dangerous' In Full"
'' Clash'', May 24, 2019.

References

1993 births Living people Afar people Djiboutian emigrants to Canada Singers from Montreal 21st-century Black Canadian women singers 21st-century Djiboutian women singers {{Canada-singer-stub