Davianah 'Wanna Be' herself - Tony Rebel's daughter breaks free from public's expectations

Being the daughter of reggae luminary Tony Rebel comes with a lot of uninvited assumptions. As his daughter Davianah shared, she is often assumed to be a reggae singer and has tried to alter her brand because of who her father is.

But not anymore. The singjay is breaking free with her upcoming mixtape Wanna Be, which demystifies the entertainer, who actually has an affinity for trap, R&B and dancehall music.

"It's an introduction. I want people to get a good understanding of who I am and my personality," she told The Sunday Gleaner. "I'm getting a couple artistes who will be saying how they feel about me, so there will be a lot of clippings of me speaking, my father, and other artistes. The mixtape will also have a part of it where it's just interviews, so in-between tracks, you're going to hear clippings of interviews with me. This will allow people to get a little glimpse into who Davianah is musically."

This will be her first body of work since making her debut on the music scene in 2011. The title track is one of 10 on the mixtape, which is being produced by the family-run Young Rebel Records. Davianah hopes to release it by March the latest.

"I'm doing a little bit of what I feel - it's going to be a nice mix of reggae, trap, everything," she explained. "I don't really have expectations for it; I just want people to listen to it and tell me what they think about it. but I'm always putting out things just to let people have a chance to hear me and like me if they want."

The Making Moves artiste has been showing a more raunchy side in recent months in a series of trap freestyles on her social-media platforms. While this may be new to some onlookers, Davianah said she has always embraced her sexuality but was hesitant to publicly express it due to the affiliation with her father.

"It has always been me. what I'm doing now is sharing it with people of the world cause I never use to. seeing that daddy is who he is, I would always cover up a lot," she shared. "I would never post certain things on Instagram, but I want them to get a good idea of who I am, and if I was to be, 'oh, I'm this reggae girl', skanking all the time in the African print, I would not be real to myself. The truth of the matter is, I am a trap baby. I love short clothes and I love when my clothes very short and very tight. I want to show my pretty little body. I believe I am very sexy and 'flossy' from ever since. Daddy knows who I am; he tells people all the time, even when he brings me out on stage. it's just that the world doesn't know."

Mixtape aside, Davianah hopes to make further strides in her career in the new year.

"This year was amazing and very progressive. I think I stepped up a lot this year, and I'm hoping to go further next year. Two thousand and nineteen looks like a nice year for me, so me just waa continue climb and see how far I can go."