Anjulie

Raised by parents of Guyanese, Canadian, and Indian descent in the Toronto suburb of Oakville, singer Anjulie has her feet planted firmly in the world of pop, but her music is influenced by the multi-cultural sounds that were favored by her older siblings. At 17, she landed an internship at the Metalworks recording studio in Toronto. It was there she met Jon Levine, the keyboardist from the Philosopher Kings. The pair became songwriting partners, writing tracks for teen pop singer Emma Roberts’ debut album, along with the Philosopher Kings’ album Castles, both released in 2005. Three years later, Kreesha Turner would have a Canadian Top 10 hit with the duo’s song “Don’t Call Me Baby.” In 2008, Anjulie released her own single, “Boom,” which hit number one on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Songs chart. Her self-titled debut album arrived on Hear Music in 2009, and featured two more Top 10 club hits (“Love Songs” and “Rain”), but narrowly missed hitting the Top 100 of the Billboard 200 album chart. Anjulie’s 2011 single “Brand New Bitch” would prove to be her biggest hit yet in her native Canada, hitting number 16 on the pop charts and being certified platinum. Anjulie’s single “Stand Behind the Music,” also released in 2011, was a minor Canadian hit, and was covered the following year by Cher Lloyd on her album Sticks + Stones. Anjulie released singles “Headphones” and “You and I” in 2012, the latter of which hit number 25 on the Canadian pop chart and won a Juno award for Best Dance Recording of the Year. She co-wrote Nicki Minaj’s single “The Boys” during the same year, and later penned album tracks by Icona Pop and Kelly Clarkson. Anjulie’s first solo single in three years, “Falling in Love Again,” appeared in 2015. The next year, she sang on “Arrows in the Dark” from Cash Cash’s Blood, Sweat & 3 Years and released the singles “Dragonflies” and “Golden Handcuffs,” featuring Rmdy. In 2017, she issued the solo singles “Emotional,” “Dream Again,” and “Badhdad,” and collaborated with artists like KOWL and Vinai. The following year brought another flourish of solo cuts like “Dancing with Girls” and “Lose Me” as well as featured appearances, most notably on Elephante’s 2018 hit, “The In Between.” ~ David Jeffries