Shilah Phillips Holiday Album Is A Multi-Cultural Experience

Shilah Phillips burst onto the national music scene by making it as a semi-finalist on American Idol season 3 where she worked alongside Jennifer Hudson.

Shilah grew up in Denver, where she attended a performing arts school from sixth to twelfth grade. She studied voice at Howard University before dropping out and moving to California to try to become a singer, making demo records and auditioning for American Idol (Season 3).

She returned to Texas, studying vocal music at Collin County Community College.

In 2006 Shilah was crowned the 1st African American Miss Texas in the pageant’s 72-year history. Shilah went on to become the 1st runner up to Miss America and overall CMT viewer's choice talent winner, setting a record that stands to this day.

Shilah was featured on MTV's hit show “Pageant School”, a reality TV show leading up to the Miss America pageant. In 2011, Shilah completed her Jazz Studies music degree from The Grammy award-winning, world-renowned University of North Texas.

In 2009, Shilah appeared on MTV's hit show "Made: Kyra Gray Episode" where she turned a street skater into a "Pageant Queen” Shilah used her scholarship money to complete her Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas in 2011. In 2010 and 2011 Shilah performed with Jazz great pianist Larry Fuller. Shilah has had the opportunity to be the featured Artist with the Plano Symphony in 2012 and the Irving Symphony in 2013 conducted by Hector Guzman. Shilah worked on the Emmy award winning Christian TV program “Celebration” with Marcus and Joni Lamb and “The Marcus and Joni Show” as one of the DayStar Singers. In 2013 Shilah was voted top 20 most beautiful women in Dallas by D Magazine.

Alan Mercer:  Shilah, when did you decide you wanted to make a Christmas album?

Shilah Phillips: I decided I wanted to make a Christmas album 2 years ago and I’ve been working on it ever since. I had the pleasure of working with an amazing producer, Josh Goode. He was so wonderful and fun to work with.

AM:  You only have one cover, and the rest are originals.

SP:  I wanted it to be an album of original songs and I wanted to be involved in the entire process of creating this album. The name of the album is ‘Happy Christmas’ but it’s a multi-cultural experience to listen to the album because it talks about my own family backgrounds. This album represents who I am as an artist. ‘Happy Christmas’ references a very popular South African song by Brenda Fassie at the beginning. That is a song my family loves to dance to, so I wanted to make a reference towards that. Then I speak a little bit of Krio, which is a West African dialect. When I am with my family, they speak a lot of Krio with me, so I wanted to add it into the album. I think it’s important and would add more world flavor to the album. When my dad heard it, he was so happy. He couldn’t believe I was singing in Krio.

AM:  This album is so good. I can’t stop listening. It is multi-cultural, and I love that. Are you a multi-cultural person?

SP:  I am a multi-cultural person. My stepdad is from Sierra Leon, West Africa and he was raised in London. That gave me more of a world outlook. He’s a wonderful dad. My mother’s background is Native American. That gives me 3 or 4 different cultures. It’s all about who I am and the kinds of things we experienced around the holidays. It was important for me to show that in my video. You will see different cultures represented there.

AM:  That video is so good. It looks like a family having real fun.

SP:  We had so much fun! The producer, Louie Partida and director, Israel Luna were so amazing. He’s an outstanding filmmaker and so talented. It was an honor to have him direct my video. It’s a wonderful feeling to have this video out. People like to see visuals to the music. It lets them know where you're coming from.

AM:  Was the video your vision?

SP:  It was a shared vision between Israel and me. I told him the most important thing for me regarding the holidays is being with my family. I have a big family and when we get together, we move the chairs out of the way and dance to all kinds of music. We are very lively. I think the album and the video represent family love very well.

AM:  You only have one cover and it’s the most famous Christmas song, but you made it yours by turning it into a beautiful ballad and that song is Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.

SP:  I have always admired Mariah Carey. She started when I was a little girl and one of the reasons I love her so much is because my mom told me that if I worked hard, I could grow up to be a singer like Mariah and have a horse ranch. Obviously, I wanted a horse for Christmas, and I wanted to grow up and be a big singer like her. She is a huge influence.

AM:  Let’s talk about some of the other songs on the album.

SP:  I was excited to write the songs because I believe they represent who I am. I also wrote a song about Hanukkah. With everything going on in the world today and all the antisemitism that I am very much against. All people deserve to be treated equally and fairly, regardless of their race, religion, or cultural background. I’m a big believer in human rights. The song was actually inspired by the Hebrew National anthem. I like that song and I can sing it in Hebrew. I wanted that to be the underlying reference for the song. I believe we need to celebrate different cultures and accept people with different religions. It was very important to have that song on my album. Sometimes Christmas and Hanukkah overlap. I have always been supportive of Israel and the Jewish people. I didn’t just put it on there to have a Hanukkah song. It’s something I feel strongly about and it’s important to me.

AM:  I do love the big festive, party quality to the song.

SP:  It’s so cheerful. All the background singers had to learn to sing in Hebrew. All the songs on my album are so different. If you want to create timeless art, you have to put yourself out there. You shouldn’t go with the current trends; you must put out what’s in your heart. That’s the direction I went with this album.

AM:  I love the salsa song too.

SP:  Thank you! That song represents my family. We all salsa dance and we love the music. That song is big and fun. I see people dancing to that song over the holidays. Another of my songs is called ‘Home For Christmas’ and it represents a culture many people don’t know. It’s called Go-go music. Go-go is very popular in Washington DC. I had the pleasure of spending some time there and the radio stations play a Go-go mix at night. I wanted this song to be very horn intense and have the Go-go type of beat that was created by Chuck Brown quite awhile ago. When you are in that area people recognize that kind of music. It makes the song more fun. The message is just make it home for Christmas, no matter what you have to do. Get home. I think it’s important to spend time with your family during the holidays if you can. That song is inspired by the fact that I travel so much singing, and I have a brother on the West coast and 2 sisters on the East coast. When we can all make it to mom’s house, it makes it really special.

AM:  You also have a fun, sexy song on there that you wrote. Tell me about that one.

SP:  Yes! (Laughing) That’s my type of Eartha Kitt song. It’s called ‘Sant Bring Me A Man For Christmas’ and that song is sadly inspired by my own life. (more laughter)

AM:  That’s hard to believe!

SP:  That song is about the challenges in a relationship. During the holidays your family always asks if you are in a new relationship or in a serious relationship, and if you’re a woman you have to hear, “When I am I gonna get grandchildren? How are things going with you in the love department?” I promise you my family prayed last year that I would get married. It was dear God, please send our daughter a man for Christmas. So, I thought I would ask Santa to bring me a man for Christmas. (Lots of laughter)

AM:  That is such a fun song, but to close the album, you chose a beautiful song that sounds and feels spiritual to me.

SP:  That song, ‘This Christmas’ is spiritual to me. I’m happy you got that vibe from it. The message is to let love fill your heart this Christmas. That is the whole theme I am going for. The holidays are about love, not hate. It’s not about who’s right and who’s wrong or politics. Sometimes that comes up in family gatherings but it’s not about receiving, it’s about giving from your heart. I believe this and I want to spread this message of love and kindness and giving to the world. That is really important to me. The world needs love right now.

AM:  Were you always known for your voice?

SP:  I started singing at church when I was 3 years old. The funny story is my mother was the children’s choir director and I was not a member of the choir, but I used to go with her to just watch and a girl got sick. My Godmother was the one to suggest that I fill in for her since I would know the song. My mom said, "No, my daughter is too young, and she can’t be in the choir", but they did let me sing and my mother told me I sang with really good time and pitch and that I had pretty good stage presence. She was impressed, so I joined the children’s choir.

AM:  When or how did you get interested in pageantry?

SP:  I dabbled in pageantry when I was little. My mom entered me in some of the little talent contests, so I did some singing. I wasn’t really interested in the pageantry part. I was serious about singing, acting, and modeling. As a teenager I didn’t think about it, but when I was entering college, I wanted to go to school at the University of North Texas. It’s a very famous and respected school for jazz musicians. I needed to get a scholarship because my mother had gotten sick a year earlier and a lot of my college tuition went to her medical bills. My friend then suggested I enter the Miss Texas Pageant. Someone else told me I should enter a pageant and it was Simon Cowel from ‘American Idol’.

AM:  How did that make you feel? 

SP:  At the time, I was so offended. (Laughing) I did not like that, but my friend told me it was a great opportunity for you to get a scholarship and it would also help my singing career. She literally signed me up to a local pageant. I entered the Miss Plano/Frisco pageant and I won on my first try. We trained very hard to be in Miss Texas. I didn’t even know it would be on television all over the state. I also didn’t realize that no one of African American ancestry had ever won the pageant before. They asked me what I thought about that, and I said, “Why not? Now is as good a time as any.”

AM:  How did you feel being in such a big pageant?

SP:  I was a little intimidated and out of my element. With my singing and theater background, I just wanted to do my best and I really did need the scholarship money. I said a little prayer, worked hard and went for it and I became Miss Texas on my first try, which was amazing. That was a huge blessing. Then I went on to Miss America where I was the overall talent winner and ended up being first runner up. It was all wonderful and gave me enough money to go to school and finish my degree in jazz studies.

AM:  Now that the Christmas album is completed, are you going to be writing and recording any more music?

SP:  Yes! Actually, I have already begun work on a new project that will be out sometime next year. I think most of them will be original and written by myself and with co-writers. I’m hoping to work with Josh Goode again on this project.

AM:  Thank you for going through all the hard work for 2 years to make this incredible album happen. 

SP:  Thank you for taking my cover shot.