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KIERRA SHEARD'S 'BOLD RIGHT LIFE': As her music grows, she drops nickname and 86 pounds.
At a very young age, "little Kiki" was joining her mother, Karen Clark-Sheard, on stage to belt out verses.
But that young "Kiki" is now a woman on her own. Adding even more rhythm to her gospel tunes, and subtracting her childhood nickname, Kierra Sheard has released her fourth album, "Bold Right Life."
"It's the name of my youth organization, which is a non-profit organization in Detroit," Sheard said of the album's title. She explained to EUR's Lee Bailey that a recent Bold Right Life Youth Conference in Detroit this past summer, she was inspired by the young people attending.
"A lot of young people were blessed and I'm just really aiming for Bold Right Life to be a movement," she said. So she decided to share the moniker on her latest disc. "With me wanting it to be a movement, I decided to attach it to my album. The record company thought it was a powerful movement. [It] stands for boldly living right."
The title "Boldly Living Right" refers to the bible verse Colossians 3: 1-6 "We are dead to the things of this world … boldly living right, getting ready for life." Sheard said that in her travels she's noticed that young people tend to back down when it comes to representing Christ in their everyday lives.
"A lot of young people would represent their favorite R&B singer, favorite rapper, favorite basketball people, or whatever hero they have - we would represent them boldly, but when it came to Christ, they would back down. You can represent Jesus Christ real bold," she declared. "If you don't want to go somewhere that your friends are going to, be bold and stand strong and don't underestimate your decision."
The young singer is definitely leading by example. She is living boldly spreading the word and in living right in more ways than one. Professing her maturity, Sheard has dropped her youthful moniker of "Kiki," hoping to portray an older, wiser, more serious artist.
"A lot of people would attach that t 'Aw, that's little Kiki, Karen's daughter' and just brush it off. God's doing a new thing in me and I am now a woman," she proclaimed. "I'm not just thanking God and wanting to spread the gospel and just going off of mom's relationship with God. I have my own relationship with God and my own experience. I would minister and it would be hard for [people] to receive what God has given me. I just want people to be able to hear what I have to say and not just think that I'm a little kid. God has given me more to say now. I don't want people to think that I'm just a little baby."
Listening to her powerful voice, there may be little chance of that. In addition to a name change, Sheard has also been changing physically. Once a dangerous 293-lb teenager, she has since lost 86+ pounds.
"I'm still on my weight loss agenda," she said, noting that the work is not over. "I took out my carbs and sugars. It's changed me in other areas of my life, just in taking that stance and being disciplined in that area. I'm exercising; I'm doing it the healthy way."
Sheard and her family were jolted into buckling down in their eating habits after the daughter of a family friend - who was just about the same age as Sheard - died due to complications of obesity. Furthermore, diabetes runs in her family.
"There were a lot of things that I could run into or could cause me to face death's door," Sheard said. "Plus, I was young and I had a real big problem with my weight. It wasn't healthy. It caused a lot of strain on me emotionally and physically. I had to make the decision for myself to be healthy and change my way of life. It really helped me. My esteem isn't low anymore. Now, I'm not doubting myself. I made the decision that there are a lot of things I can improve about me. Plus, my parents being concerned made me concerned."
"Bold Right Life" to Kierra Sheard is more than the name of her non-profit and her attitude about living. It is, as mentioned, a very powerful, up-tempo, new disc. Leading with the single "Praise Him Now," the album also features vocals and production and her brother J Drew Sheard.
"I would say it is the gospel and I would attach 'hip' to it," she described. "It's for everybody. Anybody can listen to this record. I've prayed over it and asked God to allow listeners to hear his glory and that he's doing a great thing. It is contemporary sounding, but I do have my Sunday morning church song on there. I respect where I came from and I'm not ashamed. I came from a foot-stomping, hand-clapping church."
"Bold Right Life" is available in stores now. To check out some of the tracks, hit up Sheard's MySpace page at www.myspace.com/kierrakikisheard.
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