the founder of hair brand KHAIR Early life Keshia Chanté Harper was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario and spent summers with her grandparents in Hinesville, Georgia. At age 12 Chanté moved to Toronto, Ontario. Her father is Afro-Trinidadian and her mother is Puerto Rican and Portuguese Chanté is an only child. She was 6 years old when she first performed, receiving a standing ovation for her rendition of Dear Mama by Tupac Shakur. Through talent shows, she got the attention of a local DJ who, in 2002, sent a video of her performance to SonyMusic Canada. After performing for music executives, she was signed to the label to release her music exclusively in Canada. She went to middle school at St. Peter Catholic High School before moving to Toronto, Ontario at the age of 12. Chanté was valedictorian and graduated with honors. Career 2003–2012: Singer and actor In 2002, at the age of 13, SonyMusic Canada signed Chanté to a long term record contract to release her music in Canada. In early 2003, she released "Shook (The Answer)", a response track to Shawn Desman's song Shook, which won an Urban Music Award for "Best Pop/R&B Single". The follow-up, "Unpredictable" went No. 3 on radio charts, and her first video hit number one on YTV and the top ten on MuchMusic. In November 2003, the CD single of "Unpredictable" was certified gold and later went on to win Chanté the Canadian Radio Music Award for "Best New Solo Artist". In early February 2004, Chanté's third single, "Bad Boy", was released. It was also successful, breaking the Top 10 on radio and sitting at No. 3 on MuchMusic for 4 weeks before later earning the No. 1 position on the chart. The video was directed by Director X. Later, in June 2004, Chanté's fourth single "Does He Love Me?" ft. Foxy Brown reached top 5 at radio. The video was also directed by Director X and became No. 1 on MuchMusic for 3 weeks. The video also garnered her an Urban Music Video Award for "Video of the Year". On June 22, 2004, Chanté released her self-titled debut album. On December 3, 2004 it was certified gold. In October 2004, at the Canadian Urban Music Awards Chanté swept all three of her nominations, winning awards for "Best New Artist", "Video of the Year" (for Bad Boy), "Fans' Choice Award" and by