Thursday 30 January 2014

A NEW BREED OF JAMAICAN FEMALE ARTISTS GEAR UP FOR A 2014 PUSH ONTO THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE

D'ANGEL
The women of Reggae/Dancehall have always had to fight for what they want, ultimately breaking the doors down, in a male dominated market.  Lady Saw who have had her own battles on her way up; but overcame them to find Grammy winning success; she recently released her new remix featuring Flo-Rida (Heels On) which is steadily moving up the charts;  When I interviewed her last year at Rum Bar Rum Road flex it was still in the pipeline but she was confident and excited about the collaboration.

TIFA
Hip hop and other Genres around the world have always looked at Jamaican artists as trend setters, and over the last couple years I’ve watched; both Nikki Minaj and Rihanna pay there respect to Jamaica and Reggae/Dancehall with successful renditions of Reggae/Dancehall music on the commercial front; which leads me to believe now more than ever that it’s time for another Jamaican female to take the spot light; like their pop star predecessors; Marcia Griffths, Rita Marley, Dawn Penn, Grace Jones, Diana King, Patra, Lady Saw, and newcomer Tessanna Chin.

SAMANTHA J
Road Show Ja has been paying close attention to a new breed of resilient Jamaican female artist on the move; like Ishawna, Raine Seville, Tifa, Lisa Hyper, D'angel, ICandy, Samantha J, Shanhill, and Konfydence; who have turned to the social networks to give them the edge needed, to break into the international market and it’s working.

ISHAWNA

Samantha J, Tifa, and D’angel seem to be running for gold as they make strides into the commercial market; Tifa in particular has turn to platforms such as Facebook, instagram and twitter; marketing herself as a brand not just an artist, and is reaping the benefits; while attracting major corporate brands left and right offering them exposure to her fans around the world. In the latter part of 2013 Samantha J seemed to live on HypTv which prepared her; to take the BET 106 and Park Stage by storm showing young America a preview of what is to come; which also resulted in somewhat of a social explosion on twitter and other social networks that she took full advantage of.


LISA HYPER
After a successful year; with only 5 days to go before the New Year D’angel took on; Bring the Sting, and became the highlight; keeping with tradition only to ridiculed by the media; but D’angel emerged as the victor receiving great review on international social media; attracting new fans.    

Road Show Ja caught up with Lisa Hyper while in the studio with producer/Artist Esco as she was laying her vocals on the Motown’s Pop group B5’s remix to “Say Yes” which Bling Dawg also appeared on. We asked Lisa what was her take on social networking, and if she feels she can make it using the cyber word? “For me It’s just a matter of time, mi a work hard, and a mak the right connections, Facebook allows booking agent from around the world fi book mi, mi post pictures to Instagram everyday so mi fans dem can get to know me better; I’m more than an artist am a woman on a mission; I want people to see mi for who I am on the way to the top, Jah kno mi a go make it”. Lisa hyper might possess that extra edge it takes to make it, has the fans base to prove it. 
KONFYDENCE

Before the world can see or hear you, you must first commit hard work to gain any form of recognition, and Maypen’s rising star; Konfydence seems to be working overtime; making her presence known; which makes her one to watch out for this year; as she moves into the cyber world; while on the other hand the sexy sultriest Ishawna, is making her own push for success coming off a slew of hit in 2013, she turned to youtube posting video after video; according to Youtube she has almost 3 million hits on her content overall; so I’m sure the Downsound team plan to capitalize on her monetization and sale conversions as they gear up for a 2014 assault.

RAINE SEVILLE
Last on our list is Raine Seville, Icandy, and new comer Shanhill. With a great run last year Raine Seville seem to be on a steady rise making hit after hit while attacking the social network for her piece of the pie; hovering over twitter; showing love to all her followers while she skillfully diverts them to Youtube as she builds her channel pulling in more than 900,000 hit last year overall.

iCANDY
As for Icandy who we all know comes from a family of hit makers (brick and Lace); more than anyone on this list has been on the front line with her sisters, and now is harnessing all that knowledge to make her own run for 2014; with a major social network presence. Road Show Ja was granted an exclusive closed door listening session with her producer Esco where I got a chance to hear what Icandy has in store, all I can say is #slapway; it done.

Last but not least; at last years Young and in charge Concert; a new voice caught my ear by the name of Shanhill. So I caught up with her production and management team (Starstruck Production) while preparing to take a trip overseas to record with producer Carlos Jordan of NuComm Entertainment; an affiliate of the Sony USA; with Flo-Rida, Kat Dahlia, and many more under his belt. 


SHANHILL
Road Show Ja reached out to Mr. Jordan to find out what he thought about Shanhill “I heard the song “How You Hurt Me” on Youtube, and was taken by surprise, everyone in the studio stop to say is this Rihanna all over again, so I had to reach out to Starstruck, to make my mark on this album”. We then turn our attention to Starstruck’s Ceo who said “Were rolling a loaded dice on this one; we can’t lose, you heard her with your own ears, she’s a diamond in the rough, we plan to take our time so she can master her craft before we present her to the world, we’ll leave no stone unturned with this one, we recognize that were working with a female artist in a male dominated market, and will give her the support needed to break out of Jamaica and touch the world stage; look out for Startruck Production in 2014; trust this will be one for the history books”. We dug a little further and found out that the Queen Lady Saw herself has bless, Shanhill, and played a vital role her early development; So get ready for Shanhill. 

The world today; is literally one click away, and these ladies are taking full advantage of it; so keep an eye out for them, and show your support. I leave you with a new hashtag #jamaicangirlsrock 

Writen By: Debbie Debz















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