After her appearance on the reality talent show Ireland’s Got Talent and being a finalist in Junior Eurovision 2018, the 18-year-old Filipino singing sensation Shaniah Rollo is making waves in the music industry with a new single she sang and composed herself.
Her appearance on those two shows gave her the confidence she needed to jumpstart her career as an artist.
“Ever since that day, I became more passionate sa music, and I gained a lot more confidence than when I was younger.
When I was younger, I didn’t have that much confidence. I didn’t really believe in myself,” Shaniah told Manila Standard Entertainment in an interview.
Yet her eagerness to improve her craft gave her a renewed sense of purpose, especially after receiving positive feedback from the audience and judges in the international competitions.
Shaniah’s love for music is born of her family’s close influence on her. Her mom was a singer, her dad was a guitarist, and her sister participated in musicals to exhibit her musical prowess. Shaniah, on the other hand, dabbled in songwriting.
At 14 years old, she made her first composition, “Just Stay,” which she recently released as her first single under RJA Productions, the talent management company that signed her. Her inspiration was the American singer-songwriter and YouTuber, mxmtoon (or Maia). Her song, “Feelings Are Fatal,” resonated with Shaniah on an emotional level.
The song gave Shaniah an optimistic perspective that maybe she could also write straightforward yet meaningful songs.
“Just Stay,” according to Shaniah, is a song that asks for reassurance from a person they admire.
“We often ask stupid questions to our partners when we are in a relationship, like whether they’re going to stay until the very end. We already know the answer, but all of us deserve to hear those words [of reassurance] all the time because we want emotional security,” the young artist shared.
If you ask Shaniah who she wants to stay in her life, she’d answer her friends. Throughout her life, she lost friends along the way, which she thinks of as a normal process. Yet it was difficult for her when she moved to Ireland from the Philippines when she was 12. Not only did she have to start over again, which is a challenge for the introverted Shaniah, but she also saw how her friends back home slowly lost touch with her.
The young artist proceeded to share that it was the lowest point in her life, and she hoped her friends from high school, since she had just graduated, won’t forget about her easily.
However, as an artist, Shaniah won’t be soon forgotten by her fans and music enthusiasts. She is looking forward to returning to the Philippines by December 2022 or January 2023 to do gigs and meet new people.
Underneath her timid personality lies a creative and sensitive individual, making her a young artist who’s here to stay as she slowly makes a name for herself in the music industry.
Listen to “Just Stay” on Spotify and subscribe to Shaniah’s social media accounts to learn more about the artist.