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| 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.
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| 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.
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| SAMANTHA J |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
