She knew at the tender age of five that she wanted to be Diana Ross. And she worked for it and was well on her way. By 1995 Nadirah Shakoor had toured with Al Jarreau, Madonna and others and was a Grammy nominee as part of the hip hop band Arrested Development.
But life has its way of testing your commitment to your dream. On the heels of having been to the musical mountain top of the Grammy nomination came the news that Arrested Development was disbanding. Nadirah had uprooted her life to move to Atlanta at the request of that band, and there she was, an out-of-work singer and a single mom.
From crisis comes opportunity. And one of the several she had before her was to audition as a backup singer for a band reportedly fronted by a jazz singer. That “jazz singer” turned out to be Jimmy Buffett, and when she started listening, she cried. How would she ever fit in with this? But then she listened more, and she found that she appreciated the honesty of the lyrics, the style of the story telling, and yes, even the occasional twist of jazz in the music. But still, what would a hip hop singer and dancer do in Jimmy Buffett’s band?
Well, sing and dance, of course. She got the call from saxophonist Amy Lee to welcome her to the Coral Reefers. And she’s been a Coral Reefer ever since.
The lovely, multi-talented Grammy nominee, singer, dancer and recording artist Nadirah Shakoor will be the first Coral Reefer to arrive and appear at the epic 30th Annual Meeting of the Minds, brought to you by Margarita Island Reserve Resorts, appearing first as part of Coley McCabe’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Rum” on MOTM Wednesday, November 2nd on the www.MyWorldMeds.com Beach Stage.
