Keshia Chanté
| Keshia Chanté | |
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Promo Photo (2017)
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Keshia Chanté Harper |
| Born | June 16, 1988 |
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | R&B, Alternative R&B, Pop, Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, actress, television personality |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Associated acts | Drake |
| Website | keshiachante |
Keshia Chanté (born June 16, 1988) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and television personality. She is a teen star, having released three albums exclusively for Canada and in 2012, she rose to international prominence hosting BET's iconic 106 & Park.
Chante's music has garnered numerous awards and accolades. She is a Juno Award winner, six-time nominee and has won 5 Urban Music Awards & two Radio Music Awards. Chanté was given a star on the Brampton Walk of Fame for her achievements in Canadian Music & Film.
Chanté has had many number one singles on radio in both Canada & Japan, as well as 8 singles hitting Top Ten on the radio music charts. She has earned SOCAN number one Awards for her songwriting efforts. Her single "Table Dancer" went #1 on the Billboard Charts in Japan.
Keshia Chanté Harper was born in Ottawa, Ontario. Her mother is Puerto Rican and Portuguese and her father is Trinidadian. She was 6 years old when she first performed, receiving a standing ovation for her rendition of Dear Mama by Tupac Shakur Through talent shows, she got the attention of a local DJ who, in 2002, sent a video of her performance to SonyMusic Canada. After performing for execs, she was signed to the label exclusively to release her music in Canada.
At 14, Chante moved to Toronto, which she cites as the city that raised her. Chante was valedictorian and graduated with honors.
In 2002, at the age of 14, SonyMusic Canada signed Chante to a long term record contract to release her music in Canada. In early 2003, she released "Shook (The Answer)" which won an Urban Music Award for "Best Pop/R&B Single". The follow-up, "Unpredictable" went #3 on radio charts, and her first video hit number one on YTV and the top ten on MuchMusic. In November 2003, the CD single of "Unpredictable" was certified gold and later went on to win Chante the Canadian Radio Music Award for "Best New Solo Artist". In early February 2004, Chanté's third single, "Bad Boy", was released. It was also successful, breaking the Top 10 on radio and sitting at #3 on MuchMusic for 4 weeks before later earning the #1 position on the chart. The video was directed by Director X. Later, in June 2004, Chanté's fourth single "Does He Love Me?" ft. Foxy Brown reached top 5 at radio. The video was also directed by Director X and became #1 on MuchMusic for 3 weeks. The video also garnered her an Urban Music Video Award for "Video of the Year". On June 22, 2004 Chanté released her self-titled debut album. On December 3, 2004 it was certified gold. In October 2004, at the Canadian Urban Music Awards Chanté swept all three of her nominations, winning awards for "Best New Artist", "Video of the Year" (for Bad Boy), "Fans' Choice Award" and by surprise taking home the "Rising Star of the Year" award. This brought the attention of the President of BET, Stephen Hill, who became Chante's mentor and putting the video for "Bad Boy" into heavy rotation. In that same month, she sang the national anthem at the Canadian Football League's Grey Cup championship game. She was also selected to represent Canada at Expo 2005 held in Japan. In July 2005, Chanté went on a cross-Canada tour and later opened up for Destiny's Child during the Canadian leg of their Destiny Fulfilled ... And Lovin' It tour, and is also included on the Destiny's Child Live In Atlanta Tour DVD. In October 2005, Chanté received four nominations at the Urban Music Awards. In 2006, Chanté toured with Teen People Magazine and Seventeen Magazine across select cities in the U.S. In July 2006, Chante released her new single "Been Gone" with a video shot by Director X (marking her third collaboration with him). Her second single, "2U" was released in early November. Also in 2006, Chanté made a featured cameo appearance in Bow Wow and Chris Brown's music video "Shortie Like Mine". Her second album, which Chanté executive produced was released on December 5, 2006 in Canada and Japan through SonyMusic Canada. MTV's "The Diary of Keshia Chante" aired in Canada December 6, 2006, showing footage following Chante as she travelled to Miami and LA working on her album. In 2007, during her last year of high school, Chante took a departure from music to study to learn more about the music business and be mentored by respected entertainment lawyers in LA and Toronto. She later made the decision to move to Atlanta and West Hollywood, where she worked closely the camps of Ne-Yo, Missy Elliott and OutKast. She began honing her skill as a songwriter and her acting chops, starring as the lead actress in the TV series "Soul". In 2010, Chanté released her third album "Night & Day" in Canada through Universal Music Canada. Chanté released "Table Dancer" and "Test Drive" which were both nominated for Juno Awards; R&B Recording of the Year for "Test Drive" and Dance Recording of the Year for "Table Dancer". Both songs entered Top 10 at radio. On February 14, 2011, Chanté released the Taio Cruz penned song "Set U Free". On December 31, 2011, Chanté performed on ET Canada's New Year's Eve Bash in Niagara Falls, which later set a record becoming Canada's #1 Year End Countdown Show with 4.8 million viewers. In April 2012, Chanté was announced as the new music judge for a music competition show on YTV called The Next Star. On the week of November 28, 2012, Chante's first single release "Table Dancer" went #1 on the Billboard Charts in Japan and #6 on Hot 100, #3 on Digital & Airplay & #11 on regular charts Chanté guest starred & judged on TV shows Top Chef Canada and Canada's Best Beauty Talent with supermodel Coco Rocha & Flare Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Lisa Tant
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