Deeper Look: Shanelle Gabriel

This poem here sparked my interest in this young lady. I watched it soo much I pretty much know it by heart. I searched her youtube channel and became a fan. I seen her at the Wordspit showcase a couple weeks ago. I contacted her and fast forward to today and here we have a interview with Ms.Gabriel. 
I wanted to know the woman behind the poems.. 

Truth: Where are you from? Where did you grow up?  
Shanelle Gabriel: Born & raised in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn to Trinidadian parents.


T: What made you want to become a writer? What made you want to perform your work to a crowd? 
SG: I was always a reader, a complete bookworm. Reading made me love writing. My love of people made me want to share my work. I was already used to singing in front of crowds (I was known as a singer most of my life), so it wasn't a terrible transition. I remember seeing spoken word artists like Gemineye, The 5th L, and others perform and I thought to myself "Hey, I can do that." I tried it, and got bit by the poetry bug.


T: Now that you have a name and buzz for yourself , Do you get recognized a lot? 
SG: Yes, and it always surprises me. Someone will walk up to me in the most random of places and say, "I know you from somewhere...Do you do poetry?" Or I get "You're that poet! The 'You make me sick' poet!" (referencing my poem from HBO's Def Poetry Jam). Or they may have seen me at other venues and places. It happens almost every where I go, both in and out of NYC. I remember it happening in Tempe, Arizona. Random! I still don't expect it, but I appreciate the love.  

T: Now for me personally your poem "Why I love You" is my personal favorite? Did that come from a real experience? 
SG: Thanks! All of my work comes from personal experiences. Very rarely do I write about one specific situation. I tend to combine people and experiences to tell a story. That poem was about different types of quirks in different guys I've dated. Yes, a guy did once tell me to "suck it up" when I complained to him about some drama I was having. Lol. But those quirks were what made each of them unique and reminded me that we're all flawed in some ways. Love is about seeing the cracks & chips in a work of art and it still not losing its value in your heart.






T: I love the fact that you have jokes in your poems, its like your just talking to the crowd, does that make it more comfortable to be on stage?
SG: It's how I stay 'ME' in front of an audience. Anyone that knows me will tell you that I'm pretty silly, I love to laugh, and I love to make others smile. I treat performing as a regular interaction between me and a friend, except it's just a room FULL of friends that I may or may not have met yet. 


T: Do you ever get nervous performing ? If so how do you over come that? 
SG: Not really. Early on in my career as a poet, I realized that I can't take myself too seriously and that I'm human and so are the people in the audience. As stated before, it's a conversation. When you speak to your friends, you don't worry about messing up or making the wrong impression. You state what you have to state. If you mess a sentence up, you both laugh and keep it moving.  In a performance, if I mess up, so what? I can say "my bad" and continue. I may even laugh at myself on stage...or who knows, I may never see that crowd again. Life goes on. I just have fun. I love what I do.


T: Have you traveled to performed ? If so where are some  of the places you have been? 
SG: I've been to all but 12 of the 50 states in America. I've performed in Canada, Bermuda, and Jamaica. I'm hoping to go out to Europe and Africa in the next few months. 

T: I see that you have a Cd, was the transition from poetry to music easy? or difficult? 
SG: On my first album, Start Something, I actually combined the two. It was more of a poetry CD than music. Most people don't know that my background is more music than poetry. I sang in and led choirs, did hooks for various hip hop artists, and I wrote songs more than I did poetry. That album was an easy transition. I'm presently working on my second album which will be more music. That transition was actually more difficult because I've been focused on poetry so much that my music-brain had to get a kickstart. I'm so loving the work that's coming together on this project. I know everyone will love it to. 


T: Have you ever had a time where you found it difficult to express your feelings within a poem or song? 
SG: It was hard to write the poem "Vanity" about Lupus. I have a chapbook (it's ancient and I no longer sell it so don't ask lol), and I have one poem about my battle with Lupus. It was from a dark place. A few years later, I finally got the courage to really share how being diagnosed with Lupus has changed my life. I didn't want to tell everyone about it at first, but I felt so much better once I did. I'm actually presently going through a fight to write about a situation involving my mother. We'll see if I finally get it out.


T: What inspires you to write?  What helps you get into deep place to pull out the emotions needed to express what your trying to say? 
SG: Life is inspiration. Every interaction, every critical thought, and every experience is material. Some days I'm simply inspired and the words/melodies flow out of me. Other days it trickles. I remember a few weeks ago, I woke up at 5:30am with an entire song in my head. I was in the dark on my blackberry just typing into the notes section. The next day I was in the studio recording "Damn Near," a song which will be on my upcoming album.


T:Who are your favorite writers? Do you have a favorite line quote or poem or song? 
SG: Some of my favorite writers are bell hooks, Toni Morrison, and Andrea Gibson. I'd like to include musicians and lyricists as well: Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill (the Unplugged Album was dope), and Stevie Wonder (look at the lyrics to his songs! Poetry, if I've ever heard it.) 


T: Out of your own work what is a personal fave? 
SG:I love the words and the feelings within my poem "The Ingrown Hair." It was so well arranged. Shoutout to Rock at JahRock'n Productions. :)    

T: I heard that you have a BA in communications How important is education to you? 
SG: Very! I believe education is the key to a well-rounded view of the world. It made me much more introspective and aware of issues that affect me both directly and indirectly. 


T:How important is your degree to your career? 
SG: I admonish EVERY artist to pursue a degree in higher education. It's NOT a waste of time. Majoring in Communication Arts and minoring in Business Management greatly helped me as a performer, a writer, and a self-managed artist. It's the reason my brain is wired as a business person as well as an artist. While there are successful people who went straight into the industry, I can testify to how much I benefitted from being in college studying Radio, PR, interning at EMI, and being a college promoter for Def Jam & Sony. I also was able to learn a lot about myself as a college student around so many varying personalities. My degree is very much the reason why I've been able to be as successful as I am. And there have been some opportunities that would not have been available to me as a teaching artist if I didn't have a degree.

T:You've done Def Jam Poetry Jam and Have a BA and a CD .. How are you able to juggle it all ? 
SG: Well, those were all at different times. Def Poetry and the CD happened a few months after I graduated college. I took the four years as an undergrad to focus on writing and learning techniques that would help me as an artist once I left. I also used that time to perform anywhere on campus that I could. I am a busy person though. I balance it all by being super structured. If it isn't in my calendar, it doesn't exist. I live by To-Do-Lists and planning my weeks in advance. Being structured helps me to not forget things I have to do as well as keeps me from overcrowding my schedule. 


T:You said your poem Vanity is about Lupus, I read that your were diagnosis with SLE Lupus, Can you explain what that is exactly? Have you worked or plan on working with any organizations? and do you have any words for a reader that may be going through it as well? 
SG: Lupus is a life-altering and potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease where the immune system is overactive and attacks the body itself. It affects nearly 1.5 million Americans each year, and there is no known cure. You can find out more about it on www.shanellegabriel.com/Lupus. I work with the Alliance for Lupus Research as well as the Young Professionals Group of the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation of NY. Both organizations work to help people find a cure and ways to cope with living with Lupus. My advice to anyone with this illness and any other chronic disease is to learn how to listen to your body, to balance your life (taking care of your mind, body, and soul), and in all things stay positive. There is always someone worse than you, and your life can be a testimony to them.  

T: What would you say to someone that is coming up and want to follow in your footsteps? 
SG: Treat this like it's your business (it is!) Think all things throughly and deliberately. There are no excuses in this world; you have to MAKE things happen. Be sure that you're ready for the sacrifices and everything that comes along with being an artist. If you don't have the love and passion for it, don't even bother. You have to be self-motivated and persistent to do well. Look at non-traditional ways to get your work out there. Lastly, network with people who are like-minded and want to do what you do.   


T: Do you have anything coming up? Maybe a new cd or a performance? 
SG: I have a few shows coming up:
October 19th-  University of San Antonio (in the University Center) @8pm
November 7th- Hosting/ Performing in the Transforming Minds Benefit Concert featuring Lupe Fiasco, Maya Azucena at Terminal 5 in NYC

November 16th- Kansas State University @ 7pm
November 19th- "Rock and Soul" Festival in the Memorial Auditorium at Montclair State University @7pm


More dates at www.shanellegabriel.com
Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/ShanelleG and www.facebook.com/FriendsofShanelleGabriel


Look out for the new album "More Than One of a Kind" coming in Spring 2012. 

I just want to thank Ms.Gabriel for this interview Please keep your eye on her-Truth 

Kisses =* 

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