Sheila E.

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

Every girl of culture's got a favorite car
The kind of car that makes a girl lose her cool
My daddy had a yellow Riviera Star
That he used 2 let me drive 2 school

All the boys would follow me after class
Never let 'em take me 4 a ride
I didn't want 'em thinkin' that I was fast
I mean nearly every girl has got her pride

Every cheerleader in the senior class
Really, really hated my yellow pants
Maybe it was the way they hugged my ass
But I was the one the fellas asked 2 dance

Zina is the sister that I have 2 raise
She's younger
But her chest is bigger than mine
But my voice is deeper
So I got it made
Real live men hate girls that whine

Every man wants a dame with style
A saint by day and a sinner at night
I maybe talk dirty 4 a little while
If he buys my dinner
That's alright

Most boys think they're so c-cool
As far as she can see
Most boys are jerks
Double time talkers with half-time jewels
U know that ain't the way Sheila E. works

I met a little pretty with yellow hair
Wanted my body and my car 2
I gave him everything cuz I didn't care
Now this little yellow girl is blue

Yellow's a happenin' color
If U're a banana
Countin' the days until U're a prune
But blue's a better color
If U're lookin' 4 a lover
2 show your pretty colors 2

Sheila E., born Sheila Escovedo on December 12, 1957, is a singer, songwriter, and percussionist from Oakland, California. Her honorific title is “The Queen of Percussion”.

The daughter of a Mexican jazz percussionist and Creole/African-American factory worker, Sheila comes from a family of musical royalty – father Pete Escovedo and uncle Coke were members of the Santana band for a time. Her other uncles are Alejandro, who has had a sustained alt-punk career; Javier, who led the early punk pioneer band The Zeros; and Mario, who fronted the 90s group The Dragons and MEX, aka Mario Escovedo Xperience. Sheila’s brothers Juan and Peter Michael are also percussionists, with Peter working on The Wayne Brady Show. Sheila is the goddaughter of Tito Puente, a Latin Jazz pioneer and Spanish Harlem legend.

“Before I had language, I had rhythm,” she wrote in The Beat Of My Own Drum, a 2014 memoir. “I learned it before I learned my mother tongue.” At the age of 20, Sheila became a member of George Duke’s R&B jazz band, and worked with him from 1976 to 1980, during Duke’s early Epic/CBS years. By the age of 26, she had already worked or toured with Marvin Gaye, Herbie Hancock, Diana Ross, and family friend Lionel Richie.

more tracks from the album

Romance 1600

From the album

Romance 1600 (1985)

Sheila E. popular songs

YellowSheila E.

Sheila E.

Romance 1600