Five Questions with Kim Nain

This week's Five Questions With ... features up-and-coming artiste Kim Nain.

Nain, who is signed to artiste manager Shelly Curran, could be considered by many as an academic. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Technology and a diploma in education. Despite having the ability to have a successful career in either field, Nain could not shake her love for music. She admitted that music has been her passion since she was a child, so she decided to pursue music full time.

She made that decision two years ago and says so far, she has no regrets as music truly is her happy place. She made her Reggae Sumfest debut this summer and is getting ready to release her debut album in a few weeks. Here's to getting to know a little more about Kim Nain.

How would you describe your sound?

I don't just do reggae. I was born into it, but I'm also influenced by other genres. I want to show that versatility in my music. This album, actually, is a nice compilation of the different elements. It showcases who I am as an entertainer, what sounds I'm influenced by, and has something on it that everyone can relate to. You will hear a little bit of R&B, reggae, dancehall, even trap and EDM. I have found a way to fuse the different influences, and you will hear that coming out in this project.

You have a song on the upcoming album called 'Deal Wid It' with Destiny Sparta. A lot of persons didn't expect this collaboration. How did that come about?

Deal Wid It, the song, is different from the album title. I did the song two or three years ago, and of course, at the time, Destiny wasn't on it. I loved the song because I am a little bit more out there with this song. People think that I'm super conservative 100 per cent of the time, and I'm not like that. I'm every woman. But even with being more out there than I am usually, I still was not as 'raw' as I needed to be, and I needed that to come across in the song. It was my manager that thought of her, and I said, 'Yow, she woulda bad pan it fi real'. We hit her up, and she liked the song and came on board. She did an excellent job because she brought across what I couldn't. It's a mix of sweet and raw.

What's the creative process like for you when writing a song?

I will just go to the studio, and I will say, 'Dale (Dale Virgo of DZL Records), I feel like writing a song about this' or 'This is the mood I'm in - I feel like I'm in an R&B mood today or reggae,' and he'll say, 'OK' and he'll go straight to the piano and start building a beat, and I will start vibing to it immediately, and then just like that, we'll have a song. I'd literally just lay out the melody, write the lyrics, record the song, and he mixes it, and we'll finish just like that.

Do you think you will ever pursue law in the future?

I finished my degree; it's right there still. I did work in court for a bit, but it's just not my passion. It's not because I can't do it. Life is just too short for me not to do what I love. I had to do music because this is my passion. I had to do it and see where it takes me. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. I'm still young. I can always go back to school.

Where do you see your career going?

I have to be very careful in answering this question because I remember the backlash Spice got when she said she outgrew Jamaica. I understood what she was saying, and I think it was taken out of context by many. As an artiste, we have to think bigger than Jamaica, and it doesn't mean that you're better than Jamaica - it just means that once you've achieved everything in the Jamaican space, you have to step higher. We have to think Grammys and brand building. If you want to become a brand, you can't just be queen of Jamaica, you have to be queen of the world, too. When I look at people like Rihanna - Rihanna is honestly goals for me. She's from the Caribbean, but now she's a megastar and a brand. She's gone into acting, fashion, everything. I want to get to a similar place one day.

shereita.grizzle@gleanerjm.com