Snoh Sheri Nowrozi[2][3] (born Shahrzad Fooladi,[1] 13 September 1987), better known by her stage name, Snoh Aalegra (/ˈsnoʊˈæliɡrɑː/), is a Swedish singer based in Los Angeles. Her debut album Feels was released in 2017, followed by Ugh, Those Feels Again in 2019.
Snoh Aalegra | |
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![]() Snoh Aalegra in 2016 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Shahrzad Fooladi[1] |
Also known as |
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Born | (1987-09-13) 13 September 1987 (age 35) Uppsala, Sweden |
Origin | Stockholm, Sweden |
Genres |
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Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 2001–present |
Labels |
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Website | snohaalegra |
Aalegra was born on 13 September 1987, in Uppsala, Sweden to Persian parents hailing from the south of Iran.[1][4] She grew up in Enköping, Sweden,[5] moving there with her mother following her parents' divorce.[6][7] They later moved to Stockholm.[8] She began writing music at the age of 9.[9]
In 2001, at the age of 13, Aalegra signed an artist development deal with Sony Music Sweden.[7] She would ultimately leave Sony Sweden with no music being released.[10][11][12]
In 2009, Aalegra began her musical career using the mononym Sheri.[5] She released her debut single "Hit and Run" on 16 February 2009, with production by Andreas Carlsson. The single peaked at number 12 on the Swedish Single Charts.[13] She released her second single "U Got Me Good" on 4 December 2009, reaching number 2 on the Swedish Single Charts.[14]
On 6 April 2010, under the name Sheri, she released the studio album First Sign, on Universal Music Sweden. It features a cover of the 1984 song "Smooth Operator" by Sade, and the singles "Hit And Run" and "U Got Me Good".[15]
She signed with No I.D.'s ARTium Recordings in 2013.[11]
In July 2014, she debuted her new name, Snoh Aalegra, and appeared on Common's tenth studio album, Nobody's Smiling, featuring on the song "Hustle Harder".[16][17] She released her debut single, "Bad Things" featuring Common, in October 2014, and her debut EP, There Will Be Sunshine, on 17 November 2014, through ARTium/Epic.[11] The EP includes "Stockholm, Pt. II (Outro)" featuring Cocaine 80s.[18]
In 2014, she became a protégé of Prince after he discovered her music and reached out to her.[19] He mentored her until his death in 2016.[7][20]
In February 2015, Aalegra said she had changed her legal name to Snoh Nowrozi.[21] She added "Aalegra" to her stage name because it means "joyful" in Italian (changing the spelling of "allegra" to make it her own), and because there was already an artist named Snoh.[22][23] On 11 February 2015, Aalegra released her first single as Snoh Aalegra, "Emotional", produced by RZA.[22] She also appeared on Vince Staples' debut album, Summertime '06 in June 2015, providing vocals for the song, "Jump Off the Roof".[24]
Aalegra released the EP Don't Explain on 8 April 2016, through ARTium Recordings, with features and production from James Fauntleroy, No I.D., Boi-1da, Christian Rich and DJ Dahi.[8][9] The EP features a cover of the 1944 song, "Don't Explain" by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr.[25] John Mayer plays guitar on "Under the Influence",[10] and the final track, "Chaos", was written by Sia.[21] In 2017, she went on her first North American tour, in support of Daniel Caesar.[12]
On 20 October 2017, Aalegra released her debut album, Feels, with features from Vince Staples, Vic Mensa, Logic, and Timbuktu.[12] The album is a "nostalgic blend of soul and R&B" which she calls "cinematic soul". Her single "Time" was sampled by Drake on "Do Not Disturb", the closing track on his 2017 mixtape More Life.[12][20] On 12 September 2018, her single "Nothing Burns Like the Cold" produced by Christian Rich and featuring Vince Staples, was used by Apple for their iPhone XS announcement video and commercials.[26][27] In the fall of 2018, Aalegra headlined her first North American tour with support from Mereba and Leven Kali.[28]
In August 2019, Aalegra released her second album, Ugh, Those Feels Again, on ARTium Recordings.[29] The album is considered to be a sequel to Feels, similar in mood and thematically.[17][30] The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard R&B Album Sales chart, number 6 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart,[31] and number 73 on the Billboard 200 chart.[32] The single "I Want You Around" reached number 1 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.[33] She recorded the song "Wolves Are Out Tonight", produced by Swizz Beatz, for the soundtrack to the 2019 EPIX television series Godfather of Harlem.[34] She released the video to her single "Whoa", starring herself and actor Michael B. Jordan, on 13 December 2019.[1] In the fall of 2019, she headlined a European and North American tour, with support from Baby Rose and Giveon,[35] and reached number 1 on the Bandsintown + Billboard Global Rising Artists Index.[36]
In February 2020, NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts released Aalegra's performance where she sang "Love Like That", "I Want You Around", "Whoa", "Fool For You", and "Find Someone Like You".[37]
On 9 March 2020, it was announced that Aalegra had signed a recording contract with Roc Nation/Universal Music Group with a partnership with her current label ARTium Records, and released "Dying 4 Your Love", her first single, through both labels on 10 July. She announced that she was working on her next album in an interview.[38]
Aalegra was featured on "Last Time", on Giveon's second EP, When It's All Said and Done.
On 9 July 2021, Aalegra released her third album, Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies, on ARTium Records and Roc Nation. The album was preceded by singles "Dying 4 Your Love", released on 10 June 2020, and "Lost You", released 21 June 2021, which was produced by Maneesh and No I.D. Aalegra began her 'Ugh, These Temporary Highs Tour' in Manchester, UK on 13 February 2022, her show at London's O2 Brixton Academy received rave reviews, with artist and personal inspiration to Aalegra – Janet Jackson in attendance[citation needed]. Her US tour is set to begin in late March[citation needed].
Aalegra cites James Brown, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince, Brandy, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, Robyn, and Mariah Carey as musical influences.[39][21][29][40][41][42] She also credits film score orchestras and arrangements with influencing her sound.[42] She has said she first fell in love with music when she was 7 and heard Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard soundtrack.[7][41]
After briefly living in London, Aalegra has lived in Los Angeles since 2012.[21] She speaks Persian, Swedish, English and a little Spanish.[4]
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
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2015 | Scandinavian Soul Music Awards | Best Soul/Pop Artist | Herself | Nominated | [21] |
2019 | Musikexportpriset | n/a | Nominated | [43] | |
Skap | Soul | Won | [44] | ||
2020 | Grammis | Album of the Year | Ugh, Those Feels Again | Nominated | [45] |
Artist of the Year | Herself | Nominated | [46] | ||
P3 Guld | Hip Hop/R&B of the Year | Nominated | [47] | ||
Soul Train Music Awards | Best New Artist | Won | [48] | ||
2021 | iHeartRadio Music Awards | R&B Artist of the Year | Nominated | [49] | |
Best New R&B Artist | Won | [49] | |||
2022 | Denniz Pop Awards | Grand Prize | Won | [50] | |
Grammy Award | Best R&B Performance | "Lost You" | Nominated | [51] | |
Best R&B Album | Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies | Nominated | [51] | ||
Grammis | Soul/R&B of the Year | Won | [52] | ||
Songwriter of the Year | Nominated | [53] | |||
Album of the Year | Nominated | [53] | |||
Artist of the Year | Herself | Nominated | [53] | ||
P3 Guld | Nominated | [54] | |||
Hiphop/R&B of the Year | Nominated | [54] |
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||
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SWE [55] |
CAN [56] |
UK [57] |
US [32] |
US R&B /HH [58] |
US R&B [59] | ||
Feels |
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— | — | — | — | — | — |
Ugh, Those Feels Again |
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— | 100 | — | 73 | 39 | 6 |
Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies |
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45 | 57 | 77 | 24 | 16 | 3 |
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Details |
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There Will Be Sunshine |
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Don't Explain |
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Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
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NZ Hot [64] |
US Bub. [65] |
US R&B [66] |
US R&B/HH Airplay [67] |
US Adult R&B [33] | |||
"Bad Things" (featuring Common) |
2014 | — | — | — | — | — | There Will Be Sunshine |
"Emotional" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
"In Your River" | 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | Don't Explain |
"Under the Influence" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Feels" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | Feels |
"Nothing Burns Like the Cold" (featuring Vince Staples) |
— | — | — | — | — | ||
"Time" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Fool for You" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Sometimes" (featuring Logic) |
— | — | — | — | — | ||
"Home (Remix)" (featuring Logic) |
— | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
"Out of Your Way" (featuring Luke James) |
2018 | — | — | — | — | — | |
"I Want You Around" | 2019 | — | 23 | 21 | 13 | 1 | Ugh, Those Feels Again |
"You" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Find Someone Like You" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Situationship"[68] | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Whoa" (solo or featuring Pharrell Williams) |
— | — | 20 | 16 | 2 | ||
"Wolves Are Out Tonight" | — | — | — | — | — | Godfather of Harlem OST | |
"Dying 4 Your Love" | 2020 | — | — | 24 | — | — | Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies |
"Lost You" | 2021 | 36 | — | 14 | 22 | 6 | |
"Neon Peach" (featuring Tyler, the Creator) |
37 | — | — | — | — | ||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
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"Hustle Harder" | 2014 | Common, Dreezy | Nobody's Smiling |
"Jump off the Roof" | 2015 | Vince Staples | Summertime '06 |
"Cruel Intentions (Remix)" | 2016 | JMSN | Non-album single |
"Way To Go" | 2017 | Joyner Lucas | 508-507-2209 |
"Comin Back" | 2018 | Kawala Bravo | Comin Back |
"Time" | 2019 | Boogie | Everythings for Sale |
"Between Us" | 2020 | Dvsn | A Muse In Her Feelings |
"You Save Me" | Alicia Keys | Alicia | |
"Last Time"[69] | Giveon | When It's All Said and Done | |
"Law Of Attraction" | 2021 | Dave | We're All Alone In This Together |
Studio albums
Title | Album details |
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First Sign |
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Singles
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
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SWE [70] | |||
"Hit and Run" | 2009 | 12 | First Sign |
"First Sign" | — | ||
"U Got Me Good" | 2 | ||
"Smooth Operator" | — | ||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Headlining
Supporting
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National libraries | |
Other |
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