Girl Power, Jamaican Style
Talk about "Jamaican", "female", "reggae" / "dancehall" and her name will
definitely be called. Known simply as "Ce'Cile", this Jamaican diva has
consistently been tipped as the woman most likely to join Dancehall's men in the
mainstream. Style, wit, grace, intelligence, creativity and flare for
controversy are all key components for a budding diva. Add a bit of sexiness,
along with a large measure of talent and you've just defined the allure of
Ce'Cile – Dancehall's "Bad Gyal".
Already armed with raft
of popular Jamaican singles, albums released in Japan and Europe, it's her much
anticipated North American / Caribbean debut album "Waiting", (Danger Zone / SoBe
Records) that is most likely to thrust her to international stardom.
From the beginning Ce'Cile has been an innovator. This 'Bad Gyal' has kept
tongues wagging since first breaking into the Dancehall scene with the self
produced, shockingly refreshing and thought provoking smash "Changez" designed
as a marketing ploy by poking fun at her male counterparts. Rhythmically
inventive and catchy, it shot across dancehall's macho braggadocio,
light-heartedly lampooning the music's biggest male names with unflattering
speculation on their bedroom performance. Not surprisingly, it won her a legion
of female fans. Ce'Cile is a deadly combination of sex appeal with veracity and
though dancehall for the most part is purely a testosterone-driven sphere, to
miss Ce'Cile is to miss half the story. She writes lyrics that other females shy
away from for fear of being shunned in Jamaica's male dominated music scene.
Being the most outspoken, especially on issues concerning women, Ce'Cile has
never felt trapped from expressing her stance as being bold, calculating and
brutally honest in her lyrics and subject matter. Her hit song "Give It To Me",
(Coolie Dance rhythm driven) requesting reciprocal oral treatment (taboo in
Jamaica) was demanding and in your face. "Can You Do Di Wuk" a duet with Sean
Paul featured on his Grammy winning multi - platinum selling album "Dutty Rock"
was a testiment to her "badgyal" demeanor and the track became a natural pick
for djs worldwide and made it possible for her to join Sean in Europe during his
Dutty Rock tour for several shows including the Europe MTV Awards pre-party and
Wembly Stadium in the UK. On her album "Waiting", she delves into other topics
such as "Faking" disclosing the fact that many women have to resort to that
level in order to pacify their partner's inadequate performance. "Talk Talk"
playfully reveals the fact that many women are not above sampling their friend's
goodies due to the information they confide about their man. "Worth It" is the
ultimate "spend your money on me" tune, where she explains her "pro gold
digging" stance. These are just samples of her creative, controversial and fun
subject matters. However, Ce'Cile does not forget her roots, thus in addition to
spitting on hardcore dancehall bangers, she also delivers on a number of groovy,
roots reggae tracks.
Ce'Cile's sense of assurance can be partially
due to the fact that she's somewhat of an anomaly within the Island's music
industry as she stems from one of Mandeville's (one of Jamaica's key affluent
town) oldest, wealthiest and most prestigious families
The granddaughter of
Mandeville's cherished mayor, Ce'Cile unexpectedly fell in love with the tough
sound of dancehall and instead of battling her way through Kingston's hard
scrabble recording scene, she systematically and single-mindedly pursued her
career from the inside and began honing her signature "singjay" vocal style; a
blend of honeyed melodies and rapid-fire rapping delivered in English but tinged
with patios (jamaican dialect), otherwise known as chatting or toasting.
Ce'Cile's signature sound - the combination of sultry singing, along with finely
honed deejaying, has left in her wake a string of "Ce'Cile knockoffs" that have
started emulating her pioneering style, but Ce'Cile maintains she is a full
package that can never be duplicated. Ce'Cile has been widely acknowledged with
the bevy of award nominations received over the past five years which include
capturing accolades for; the Irie Jam Radio Awards, Jamaican Federation of
Musicians, 2 IRAWMA awards, South Florida Reggae Awards, Stone Love Awards, Star
Awards, Richie B's awards, Tamika Awards and more. To date, Ce'Cile is still one
of the few Dancehall artists to be featured in Source Magazine, Vibe Magazine
and XLR8R Magazine. Ce'Cile also yearly tours Caribbean, USA and Europe bringing
her fresh style to all audiences (by the way she is as comfortable in front of
an audience of 30,000 as she is in front of an audience of 3000). This
groundwork has lead to crossover hits in Germany such as: "Rude Bwoy Thug Life",
"Hot Like We", a collaboration with DJ Tomec and other genre-crossing
collaborations with British breakbeat producers Stanton Warriors and the
electornica wizard Amon Tobin. Ce'Cile has managed to secure collaborations with
elite artists including; Trina, Shaggy, Timberland, Beenie Man, Elephant Man,
Sean Paul, Lady Saw and Olivia. Ce'Cile has come this far by doing things her
own way, in her eyes being true to herself and her music is why she is Jamaica's
(and soon the world) loving Bad Gyal. Such an uncompromising attitude makes
Ce'Cile truly an original voice. Ce'Cile's North American Debut is on the Danger
Zone / SoBe Record label (indie) and is available on Itunes. The first
single "So Fly" (a duet with Beenie Man) has already been charted number 1 on
the NY Reggae Charts, and in the top ten on the South Florida Reggae charts and
is now added to Miami's Power 96.
Songs from the album can be heard at www.myspace.com/cecile
Collaborations on this album include
Shaggy, Ding Dong, Beenie Man and Trina.
Producers on the album are: Scot
Storch, Danger Zone Records, Lloyd "Baby G' Jammys, Dale "Dr. Dizzle" Virgo,
Steelie and Clevie, Cordel "Skatta" Burrell, Ariff Cooper, Kirk "Kirkledove"
Bennett, South Rakkas Crew, and Ce'Cile Charlton.
EPK can be viewed at www.myspace.com/cecile
Bookings: 1876 998 5083
Album Info and Orders: Waitingalbum@gmail.com
Label:
Dangerzonemusicgroup.com
Label: www.sobeentertainment.com
Online Now!
