Booty Luv

Booty Luv features Cherise Roberts and Nadia Shepherd and formed in 2006 via the Hed Kandi record label.

Their debut single Boogie 2Nite peaked at No.2 in the UK charts and stayed in the Top 10 for an incredible eight weeks. The track was the most played record on Radio 1 two weeks in a row and eventually reached No.4 in the radio airplay chart. The follow up, Shine was also a monster radio and TV smash and also bagged them another top ten hit. If that wasn’t impressive enough the videos for both have racked up over 1.7million views on YouTube and their album Boogie 2Nite peaked at No.11.

Hi Cherise! Tell us, how did Booty Luv form?
Both Nadia and I were in a pop group called Big Brovaz but by the last album things weren’t going so well. We were getting a bit bored and wanting to do our own thing. Nadia and I have always loved electro dance and funky garage music and we were lucky enough to be signed by Hed Kandi.

Do you miss being a big group or prefer it to be the two of you?
There are advantages and disadvantages. Because there is only two of us we now make more money from gigs, which is always a good thing.

Do you borrow each others clothes?
Sometimes but we mainly borrow each others accessories. Although we sometimes buy the same item of clothing our styles are very different. I’m not brave when it comes to quirky, retro and throwing things together, that is more Nadia’s style.

Do you turn to each other when you have a problem?
Definitely. The thing is to be there for each other. It isn’t always about giving advice but listening.

I love your song ‘Boogie 2Nite’ – it has a real good feel factor!
Thank you. The song was written by Tweet and first released in 2000. It was Ministry of Sound’s idea to re-release it and they were looking for vocalists to record the song for a compilation album and we were picked.

What are you up to this summer?
Lots of festivals in the U.K. and gigs in Ibiza, we’ll also be recording for our own dance album; we hope the first single will be released in September.

What are you most looking forward to about performing at this year’s Trust Thamesmead Community Festival?
The vibe, the people…it is always amazing when people are up for a good time. We love festivals! We can’t wait to come to Thamesmead!

What can we expect from your show?
Good, strong vocals. We’ll be rocking out having a good time.

To tie-in with the Trust Thamesmead Community Festival sport theme...
What is your favourite sport and why?
I’m not very sporty but Nadia is – she used to play netball and run a lot when she was younger. She won loads of trophies for running; she used to run for Reading.