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Shaunda Betrice Butler was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas where she was raised in the fear and knowledge of the Lord. With her mother and grandmother being very active in the Church, as well as living upright Christian lives at home, Shaunda received Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior at the tender age of seven. It was not long after this that her faith in God was tested as she skipped the third grade was moved to the fourth grade. She has had to learn how to be who she really is in Christ in the face of persecution, confusion and peer pressure. This is the basis of her God given message to the world. So many teenagers and young adults are lost and confused in this world where so many conflicting messages are presented to them. Since her own teenage years, Shaunda has had a message of sound Godly wisdom, liberation and power in Jesus Christ for these young people. She has walked the walk that she is talking and continues in it.
Shaunda's music is as equally powerful and refreshing. She has been influenced by artists from both the Gospel and secular genres including Take Six, The Clark Sisters, Fred Hammond, Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Virtue, Trinity 5:7, BBJ, and Unity Klan. Shaunda received her Bachelors of Music Education from the University of Central Arkansas at the age of 21 in 1994. Her studies centered around performing on the saxophone and she took strongly to jazz music, giving both vocal and instrumental performances with the UCA Jazz Band. It was during her college years that she heard God call her into the Ministry of Music. She sang with the "Ebony Singers" a campus gospel choir in which she served as chaplain.
Shaunda has been enticed by the bumpin' beats and style of Hip Hop music but disgusted with the vulgarity, profanity and sinful nature expressed in it. She has developed her skills of rapping with a hard core Christian message. Those who hear her music are dancing and clapping to her jazz and hip-hop flow before they even realize it's Christian! She turns out talent shows, glorifies Jesus in praise and worship and inspires those around her.
Shaunda is presently a music teacher in the Pine Bluff School District. Teaching elementary students and a youth Sunday school group, she has seen how secular music affects the attitude and self-image of young people. She has a burning desire to see today's generation ascend to their rightful place in Jesus and God has placed the music in her heart to help achieve just that. It is a striking mixture of gospel jazz and hip-hop with an empowering message for youth and adults alike!