West African singer and songwriter Shirazee has released his new music video Different. The video – shot in 13 different countries – was filmed entirely on an iPhone 6s.
‘Using a smartphone just felt the most obvious choice when the idea of shooting in 13 countries was born,’ Shirazee said. ‘Beyond practical reasons, today I feel like we have so much power in our hands via our phones that we are overlooking.’
Born Paolo Shirazee Prudencio, he was raised in Benin, West Africa. He went to high school in Ghana (where a passion for hip hop led him to discover OutKast), then to the UK for a brief college stint, then South Africa before heading to Paris. He found himself in Atlanta and then finally, he set his sights on the Big Apple where, within eight months, he had signed his first publishing deal.
And although you may not have heard of his name yet, you’ve most certainly heard one of his songs. The singer has written for Kiesza, Sting, Ty Dolla $ign, and many others. But, by 2014, dissatisfaction in the lack of music creativity drove him to take to the stage and make music for himself.
‘I felt like I was hearing the same thing in music over and over again. I was frustrated, wondering if our generation wouldn’t be remembered for real music. I wanted to make sure I had my own voice. I wanted to take people on a journey.’ And boy, does he like to travel.
Find him here facebook.com/ShirazeeOnline/