SINGER and songwriter, Shannon Jagers, from Algoa Park, was able to overcome her battle with low self-confidence and now she wants to use her music to inspire young people to never focus on impressing others, but to be authentic to themselves.
R&B artist Jagers’ passion and love for music began at a young age.
When she was nine years old, she began investing more time and energy into singing.
However, due to her lack of self-confidence, she did not fully embrace her talent.
Jagers, who is also known by her stage name, Shannon, said she was very shy growing up and dealt with a lot of insecurities, but music provided her with an escape from her reality.
“Music was therapy for me. It brought me happiness and peace. The way I get through life is by writing down how I feel and what I have been through,” said Jagers.
As time passed, she slowly started embracing her love for music and when she was just 13 years old, she began writing her own songs.
In 2017 she released her first single, titled Purpose, which received airplay on Bay FM.
She wrote Purpose to encourage and uplift people who felt as if they had lost hope.
“There have been countless times when I have felt hopeless, but to be reminded that God has created all of us with a designed purpose to fulfil. All we need to do is to keep pushing, no matter what; He is in control,” she said.
Jagers, together with her family, moved to Johannesburg when she was five years old; they then moved back to Port Elizabeth in 2018.
After moving back to the Bay, Jagers began singing in the youth choir at Ebenezer International and her self-confidence improved greatly.
“I feared that people would judge me but singing in the youth band and being on stage in front of a crowd of people helped boost my self-confidence. My fears went away when I realised that most of the people were listening to the songs that I sang and got lost in the music instead of judging me,” said Jagers.
She would therefore encourage young people to be themselves and to never be concerned about what others think of them.
“Young people shouldn’t worry about impressing others or changing their authentic selves to be accepted or to be liked. Be you and stay true to yourself,” said Jagers.
This year she decided to focus on her music and has been travelling to Johannesburg often to work with producer Orapeleng Semenya, founder of Cakewalk Music Entertainment.
With hard work and dedication, she has already released five singles for the year, and she plans to release many more songs.
Next year she plans to release her first album.
“As tough as it is sometimes, I wouldn’t want to live my life regretting one day what could have been. I am ready to share my music with the rest of the world,” she said.
Jagers’ music can be found on SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes and YouTube.
