Since the age of seven, Safanah knew that she wanted to be.a pop star. The 22-year old singer/songwriter, who has just released her debut album, Building Bridges, honed her vocal skills on her uncle’s karaoke machine in the pub he ran in Norfolk. This was her first experience of performing in front of a live crowd.

Safanah’s talent didn’t go unnoticed by her parents, who enrolled her into a performing arts school, which helped build up her confidence and gave her exposure to acting and dancing, as well as singing. 

While at the school, Safanah was spotted by a music talent scout and was quickly signed up by MEJ Management for two years to sing pop/dance songs. I was during this time that Safanah developed her love of soul music, which would later prove to be a  major influence on her own musical style.

After the contract finished with MEJ Management, Safanah was introduced to a producer called Scott Whitman, who she wrote and recorded a number of songs with for a project he was working on.  Still only 17 years old, this was to be the beginning of Safanah’s real music career.

Further collaborations with various artists followed until she was put forward to Aspect Ratio Productions, who she worked with on an album called Show U. After finishing the album she auditioned to go to LA with LAMD to record with some of the music industry’s top producers. She stormed the auditions and in January 2007 flew to LA where she hooked up with TJRizing Productions to work on some music with Mariah Carey’s producers.

She also co-wrote and recorded a track called City Life, which features Snoop Dogg’s cousin, Daz Dillinger. The song will be available to buy on iTunes in Autumn.

But it’s not just cousins of world famous rappers who Safanah has worked with. British artists including singer/songwriter Mica Paris and critically acclaimed, MOBO award winning jazz saxophnist and rapper Soweto Kinch have also tapped up the soul songstress.

Her latest project, however, is probably the most important. For last two years Safanah has been writing and recording her first solo studio album, which is available now.  Described as a mix of acoustic soul, R&B and pop, it promises to put Safanah on the music map. 

No bad for a girl who started singing on karaoke!