For songwriter, producer, artist, and entrepreneur RZ Shahid, music is just one aspect of a life spent balancing the arts in a constantly developing creative persona. With his creative entertainment company Art of Xanadu LLC, Shahid has built a brand for himself based off avant-garde, soulful vibes and the influences of lyrical, arts oriented hip-hop and R&B acts.
Shahid has recently released the EP Ahh Shii; with tracks ranging from the driving, bass-heavy Balanced to the melancholy Blue Pit with it’s jazz piano samples, he embodies a full range of feelings to elevate every day experiences into art. Growing up with a peer group which encouraged musical expression, writing, producing, and performing comes to him as second nature; nevertheless, he plans to take Art of Xanadu further with the launch of an associated clothing line, sync department, & publishing, and the prospect of touring with his music. Live performance has been a staple for him since his professional breakthrough in 2016, and as a part of the independent hip-hop scene in Minnesota’s Twin Cities area, his live experiences have included majority of the venues in the Twin Cities, guest speaking at Hamline University, & the unique Art Shanties Festival, which saw him perform to a crowd on the frozen surface of Minneapolis’s Lake Harriet as well as curate performances for the next years shanties.
Driven, focussed, yet never losing touch with the groove and flow of the music, RZ Shahid is an experimental artist carving out his own sound whilst constantly playing with new influences.