B I O
Manuela Modupe Udemba known as Shanga was born in Bern, Switzerland to a Nigerian father and a Swiss mother. Her early memories of singing involve recording herself on a toy tape recorder at the age of three. She would sing back songs she heard on the radio and make up new melodies.
Growing up, there was always music in her home, with songs by The Beatles, Michael Jackson, all the way to Fela Kuti, and not to mention her father, who played a variety of African drums. She had her elementary and parts of her high school education in Nigeria – a period she describes as the best character-molding years of her life, and she remains grateful to God for the experience.
Much against her will, in her teen years, she and her family moved back to Switzerland, where she started writing lyrics and developing her music skills. The decision to face her music squarely was made during a visit back to Nigeria after several years of absence and missing the country. The energy of the vibrant city of Lagos gave her the extra push to take the risk and pursue her dreams.
The ball started rolling in the right direction for her when she decided to change career paths and enrolled in an Audio Engineering School in Hamburg. This experience helped her to push harder to perfect her sound, and gave her the ease to record herself. To further help her compositions and stage performance, she took up playing the guitar.
Shanga later introduced her debut EP Album “Embracing Vulnerability” in 2013 and performed in various countries such as Nigeria, France, Germany and Switzerland.
With the aid of her spouse, who is a producer, Shanga now explores more genres with a fusion of Jazz, Neo-Soul, Afro, Rap, Gospel and Blues to her initial art, which is reflecting on her new musical quest. Today, she is deemed successful in anything she does. Globally, her music and lifestyle is being channeled to female music legends such as Sade, Asa, Ms Lauryn Hill and many others through the content of her alluring lyrics.
Growing up, there was always music in her home, with songs by The Beatles, Michael Jackson, all the way to Fela Kuti, and not to mention her father, who played a variety of African drums. She had her elementary and parts of her high school education in Nigeria – a period she describes as the best character-molding years of her life, and she remains grateful to God for the experience.
Much against her will, in her teen years, she and her family moved back to Switzerland, where she started writing lyrics and developing her music skills. The decision to face her music squarely was made during a visit back to Nigeria after several years of absence and missing the country. The energy of the vibrant city of Lagos gave her the extra push to take the risk and pursue her dreams.
The ball started rolling in the right direction for her when she decided to change career paths and enrolled in an Audio Engineering School in Hamburg. This experience helped her to push harder to perfect her sound, and gave her the ease to record herself. To further help her compositions and stage performance, she took up playing the guitar.
Shanga later introduced her debut EP Album “Embracing Vulnerability” in 2013 and performed in various countries such as Nigeria, France, Germany and Switzerland.
With the aid of her spouse, who is a producer, Shanga now explores more genres with a fusion of Jazz, Neo-Soul, Afro, Rap, Gospel and Blues to her initial art, which is reflecting on her new musical quest. Today, she is deemed successful in anything she does. Globally, her music and lifestyle is being channeled to female music legends such as Sade, Asa, Ms Lauryn Hill and many others through the content of her alluring lyrics.
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