Did you know that the music group Shai was formed in 1991 at Howard University? This R&B quartet took influences from Boyz II Men, Color Me Badd and Jodeci.
The members met at Howard University with three of the members being initiates of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. These three fraternity brothers are: Marc Gay, Carl Martin and Darnell Van Rensalier. They invited Garfield Bright into what would start out as an a capella group.
This a capella group went on to compete in the Howard University Talent show, where they won 1st place and made the group jumpstart their dream of becoming actual artist. A group with no professional singing experience decided to promote themselves in New York City and try to obtain a record deal.
Although there was no one that was willing to sign them, Carl Martin met Paco Lopez, a DJ at WPGC, gave him a cassette copy of their demo “If I Ever Fall In Love”. This demo would lead to their promotion in Maryland and also led them to their first record deal with Gasoline Alley/MCA Records.
Throughout the 90s, Shai continued to gain more popularity after their release of their first album called “If I Ever Fall In Love”, which made it to #2 in the U.S. and they sold over 2 million copies of that album. Their career continued to grow when they released their platinum album, “Comforter” and “Baby I’m Yours”. Both of these albums peaked at #10 in the charts in the United States.
Although Shai was gaining attention, they did not forget about Howard University. At Howard University they filmed their music video for “Baby I’m Yours” and it featured now television host and model Ananda Lewis and allowed a lot of the extras and love interests be extras in the music video.
Shai’s career also earned these gentleman nominations and awards. Shai won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist and was nominated for the Soul Train Music Awards. The quartet also had the honor to perform at Bill Clinton’s inauguration alongside with Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Diana Ross and Quincy Jones.
If you’re wondering where Shai is today, they are still performing and creating music. Although Carl Martin is no longer a part of the group, he was part of their great legacy.
Shai is a reminder that HBCUs create and build many Black creatives. Whether it’s musicians, models or TV hosts it can all start at an HBCU.
