Shaniya songs for covid19

When it comes to music, Shaniya Blackman is no stranger.

She is versatile and can play the violin, steelpan, and piano.

As such, it’s safe to say Shaniya is musically gifted.

So, with the extra time at home as a result of the restrictions imposed for covid19, it’s no surprise Shaniya took up a new musical skill.

What was it? Songwriting.

When schools closed in mid-March last year, to curtail the spread of covid19, Shaniya began experimenting with the art of songwriting.

To her surprise, she was able to pen two songs about covid19.

A song entitled Covid19 in 2020 to be performed to the extempo-style beat and a hip-hop song called Covid19.

“At the time I was writing the songs, at the beginning of stay-at-home orders, I decided to sing about how prices went up for the different products like hand sanitizers and how people were being kept at home with the different restrictions.

“In the song, I also compared covid19 to the other pandemics and epidemics the world had before,” said Shaniya, 12, in an interview with Newsday Kids.

The lyrics of both songs address topics like the closure of schools and businesses and the deaths of people who got infected by the virus.

For Shaniya, it was important to express her feelings about covid19 in a healthy way using art and, at the same time, help others learn about the pandemic.

So, on her YouTube channel called Shaniya Blackman, she has uploaded the songs.

In writing the songs, Shaniya admitted she experimented and didn’t reference any existing music.

“I didn’t really look up any other extempo songs while writing. I just thought of what was going on now and put it together into the song.

“It wasn’t really difficult to the write the song, I was just writing stuff and when I put everything together, I was surprised of how good it was.”

Apart from uploading them on her YouTube channel, Shaniya also performed the song for her former classmates at the Specialist Learning Centre, in St Augustine a few days before the SEA exam in August.

While this was Shaniya’s first venture into songwriting, she has other music capabilities.

At the age of eight, Shaniya started learning to play the violin with the St Augustine Chamber Orchestra (SACO).

“I stopped playing the violin because I found it was getting difficult.

“In my former primary school (the Specialist Learning Centre) there was a pan class which I attended.”

She now plays the bass and tenor pans.

And it’s no surprise she thinks it’s easier to play the steelpan than the violin.

What’s her favourite song to play on the steelpan? TT’s national anthem.

Even though Shaniya wrote an extempo-styled song, she isn’t a big fan of Carnival.

She likes soca music but prefers to stay home and bond with her family during Carnival.

Outside of music, Shaniya loves outdoor activities like football, netball, cycling and roller skating.

At her new school, St Joseph Convent, St Joseph, she has signed up for the netball club.

However, she’ll have to wait until schools are physically reopened to begin training with the club.

Shaniya wants to be a vet and credits her love for animals as her inspiration for the future careers.

At home, Shaniya has six pets which includes two dogs, three turtles and a bird.

“My favourite pet is Jessie (a Labrador) because Sandy (the other dog) will sometimes be a little rough, but Jessie is a playful dog.”

In her quiet time, when she’s not surrounded by her pets or family, you can find Shaniya reading Big Nate which is her favourite comic book.

Excerpt of Shaniya’s hip-hop song :

Covid19…you put the whole world on stop,

Your numbers are increasing to the very top,

You came out of nowhere,

Yeah, you give us quite a scare

And if you think about it, you made everything bad,

Yeah, you made everyone feel sad.

Excerpt of Shaniya’s calypso:

Covid19 is making ah big scene,

No funerals, no gathering,

People home feeling sad and dim,

Yeah, covid19 is making ah crime in this generation,

Covid19, please go away,

Ah sure nobody wants yuh to stay.