What do you do when two challenging opportunities are presented to you at once? Study at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar or release the funkiest Soul music album in years? Those were the options presented to sensational young artist Shu as he was recording his debut studio album, SHUSIC. He chose to seize them both! “I’m blessed to have two options that I'm equally passionate about, and I was compelled to keep sharing my songs, as well as to begin my studies,” said Shu during his year in England. “I could have focused completely on Oxford, but if I did that I’d be ignoring an essential part of myself. I’ve put so much into this album  I had to release and support SHUSIC.” Driven by his captivating voice and witty, poignant lyrics, SHUSIC combines the pulsing beat of Shu’s African homeland with the moans of America’s gospel south and the edginess of contemporary rock and hip hop in a truly original and seductive debut.

After graduating from Harvard, Shu made his way to Brooklyn, New York, where he enthusiastically embarked on a solo career as a singer/songwriter. At only 24 years old, Shu has already demonstrated a mature command of songwriting: This year, he was both the Grand Prize Winner and a Finalist (Runner-up) in the R&B category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. This prestigious, international contest is open to both amateur and professional songwriters, and routinely draws over 20,000 entries. The song "I Wanna Leave (But I Can't Stop Wanting You)" took top honors, with "Once Again" as a finalist. Shu was also named a top songwriter, with "Amor," in the Billboard Song Contest, 2003. Shu has so far generated enough activity with his independent release of SHUSIC to warrant recognition from ASCAP in the form of a merit-based ASCA Plus Award. The album has also created such a buzz and avid following in Japan that one of the top R&B/Soul labels in the country (P-Vine Records) has released it nationally, to feverish audience response.

“Once Again”, the infectious first single from SHUSIC, was produced by young, creative hip-hop beat-maker J. Marty and was featured on MTV2 in November 2004 in a spot for their Rock The Vote campaign. In this up-tempo, reggae-influenced song, Shu struggles to reconcile feelings for his true love with the thrill of infidelity. He wryly explains, “I love you but I miss her/because she makes me think about you.” The video for “Once Again,” destined to become an independent classic, was brought to life in intimate Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill as a beautiful and memorably eccentric Brooklyn montage by up and coming French director Frederic Colier.

Shu grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, with the strumming of his father’s guitar and simple Swahili songs about love and loss serving as his first musical backdrop. At the age of seven, he began training as a classical pianist, going on to win numerous national awards. Shu was also heavily involved in live theater, playing lead roles and winning best actor awards in national festivals. Despite this instrumental and stage success, however, Shu began to realize that singing and songwriting were where his heart lay. He began seriously creating and performing original music as a teenager, leading several all-male a cappella groups while also excelling academically through high school and into his college years at Harvard. In Boston, Shu continued cutting his musical teeth, becoming a sought-after songwriter, arranger, soloist and accompanist, and serving as the assistant musical director of Harvard’s premier choir for black music – the Kuumba Singers.

As a live performer, Shu's stage presence, personality, songs and virtuosic, heart-felt shows have won him avid fans around the world, whether playing with a full band or more intimately on self-accompanied piano. In his homebase of New York, Shu has played headlining shows to full houses at premier venues like S.O.B.’s, Joe’s Pub and The Cutting Room. Shu has also taken his music on the road to Atlanta, Washington DC, Boston and Philadelphia, sharing the stage with such notable names as Donnie and Raheem Devaughn. Internationally, Shu has played standing-room-only headlining shows in Kenya and England.

In addition to his artistic pursuits, Shu has always had an active academic life. In 2003, he successfully competed for the Rhodes Scholarship to study Material Anthropology at Oxford, and left Brooklyn for England after wrapping up post-production for SHUSIC in October 2004. After a year at Oxford, Shu has now returned to New York to pursue music full time, having successfully completed his masters thesis on Contemporary African Art and graduating with Distinction. He is continuing to play shows and grow his audience in New York and colleges in the surrounding areas, and will soon be heading to Europe and Japan to keep building upon SHUSIC's early momentum in those territories. With his abundance of talent and charisma, Shu is causing a serious stir and breathing some exciting new air into contemporary R&B/Soul music