To carve out a name for herself on the music scene has always been a childhood dream for Shareefa Aminah Abdul Shariff.
She wrote her first song when she was 11 years old and five years ago, she uploaded her first music video on her YouTube channel Shazza. The original composition, Get Well Soon, raked in more than 74,000 views and marked the start of Shareefa’s music career.
The 22-year-old singer, who can play the guitar and piano, shared more music videos of her singing covers as well as her own compositions and got the attention of netizens and music companies. She joined local music label Cross Radio Entertainment earlier this year and featured on a Times Square billboard in New York.
Shareefa respresented Singapore and Malaysia in Spotify’s Equal Campaign, which featured up-and-coming women singers on the streaming platform and aimed at fostering equality in the music industry.
In September, Shareefa held her first solo show at the Esplanade to showcase her debut album, Chapter One. She sang to a full house and was accompanied by an 11-piece band in the 75-minute event.
In recognition of her achievements on the music scene, the singer-songwriter was on Nov 4 awarded the Malay language newspaper Berita Harian’s Young Achiever of the Year Award.
Berita Harian editor Nazry Mokhtar said: “The awardees are role models who can inspire our youth and the Malay/Muslim community.”
Shareefa told tabla!.: “I am humbled to receive my first achievement award which recognises me as a singer-songwriter, Youth like me should first put their heart at the right place and pursue what they like.”
Shareefa, who has a brother and is the only one musically inclined in her family, said that she was “naturally drawn to music”, inspired by the songs she used to hear on the radio.
The Nanyang Technological University communications student, whose favourite singers are Dolly Parton and Norah Jones, believes she still has a lot to do to improve her style – especially since she has plans to pursue music full-time after graduation.
In the meantime, she hopes to inspire more young people to chase their dreams and put out good music that transcends generations.
