Shide Boss

October 2012

A MUSICIAN from Basford has won Best Newcomer accolade at the Asian Music Awards.

Shide Boss, 24, picked up the award at Wembley Arena on Thursday night.

“It’s crazy,” he says. “To say I’ve only been around for one year, to win this is incredible.”

Shide, born in Lenton but raised in Basford, performed his next single, Kangna, at the ceremony, watched by thousands of people, including his mum and dad.

“They were on my table and they loved it,” says Shide.

“And I had about 20 family and friends in the crowd, who’d come down to see me.”

The tenth anniversary awards were hosted by BBC Asian Network’s Tommy Sandhu and BBC 1Xtra’s Sarah-Jane Crawford.

“To be performing on the same stage as Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Imran Khan, who are both living legends in the Asian music scene, was unbelievable.

“And my performance went down well. The crowd went crazy.

“A lot of people said I stood out because of my jacket. Everyone was talking about it.”

He bought the blue leather jacket from Nottingham vintage shop, Hyena, in Lower Parliament Street.

Shide went to the after-show party but the teetotaller was back home in Nottingham by 7am the next morning.

He says: “They had a hotel for me but I like getting back to my own bed.”

It’s not the first time the full-time musician has picked up an award.

He won a competition on the Hollyoaks Unsigned Music Show, a spin-off from Channel 4’s teen soap.

“We entered the show on the last day,” says Shide.

“I was at my friend’s house and he mentioned that the show, which is like a modern day Top of the Pops, was looking for unsigned acts to enter a competition.

“Two days later I got a call saying I’d made it to the finals in Liverpool.

“There were ten of us in all and it went to the public vote, a bit like The X Factor. And I won it.”

He adds: “As well as winning the title I was in an episode of Hollyoaks, which was really cool.”

Soon after he signed to Karman, part of the Sony group.

“I actually just wanted to be a songwriter but because they liked the way I sang and the way I looked they put me in the spotlight. I’m just running with it.”

Shide, who was a big Michael Jackson fan when he was younger, has only been making music seriously for around a year.

“I’ve been concentrating on the Asian scene but I feel I have the potential to cross over.”

His debut EP, Ni Sohniye, was released on iTunes last year and earned plays on Radio 1, 6 Music and 1Xtra.

His first proper single, Kangna, will be out in December.

He says: “It feels like the beginning. I’m firing on all cylinders now.”

For more about him go to www.shideboss.com.