Jane MacGizmo sees gold in her future - Latest production, Midas, digs deep for the treasure
Published:Sunday | December 22, 2019 | 12:00 AMStephanie Lyew - Sunday Gleaner Writer
She’s not new to the Jamaican independent-artiste scene. Jane MacGizmo has been tinkling melodically along the yellow brick road, rising above tornadoes and passing ruins to stardom. In a recent interview with The Sunday Gleaner, MacGizmo shared: “The vision is long-term in creating a career and this new sound coming out of Jamaica. I was, and I still am, mentally prepared it wouldn’t happen overnight.”
Before the blazing season of summer, Complex Magazine named her one of the ‘10 Jamaican Artistes to Watch’ for 2019, expressing that this “gifted artiste inspires hope for tomorrow”, though having only liberated a few singles. However, persons can anticipate next year is loaded with great new music which she says she wants her listeners to treasure.
“It cannot be said enough, that timing is important and persons will see a more consistent Jane next year,” MacGizmo assured.
Her single, One Away, which was released close to the end of 2018 has garnered 45,000 streams on Spotify and over 100K views on YouTube within one year, is just one of her accomplishments for this year. The next is being featured on a Grammy-nominated album, having her vocals on the Blazin’ collaboration with Koffee, the third track on Rapture.
GOALS
“I couldn’t believe it! That is a goal you set for yourself into the far future and I am willing to work towards all the gold and awards. In a month’s time, who knows? I’ll have a plaque if Koffee’s album wins … giving the validation to say something can happen and for me having a different sound coming out of Jamaica and being part of the journey for so long, it means more than about me,” she said.
“Jamaican culture and music can grow and it’s something I have said before – it’s not cancelling out the original sound. I love the organic sound of reggae music and the straight one-drop beats but as all other genres are open to growing, for example R&B and hip hop, that doesn’t sound the same as it did 10 years ago, it shows the world is moving and Jamaica should move with it. It is a stamp on our growth.”
Her latest release, Midas produced by Teflon Zinc Fence and SOS Dynamikx, could without a doubt be taken as a stamp on her growth in making lyrical postcards. MacGizmo mines a fierce, sexy, neo-dancehall mix of funk and jazz, which also attributes to the mood of her music. It moves from earthy, freewheeling, to playful and boisterous, she explained, “The sound is a representation of me – the big fan of music that has a wide taste in music – I just want the productions to reflect my personal art.”
She added: “The lyrics are definitely from past experiences, exes on a whole; men have this thing for sending texts like, “Oh, we are meant to be together” … after the relationship is obviously over. I was alluding the word ‘Midas’ to my prowess in the bedroom, slickly talking about how a person gets emotionally involved while others are in it for the physical and manipulating emotions for that.”
A blessing and a curse, MacGizmo still has not resigned her duties as video editor of the visuals for her music, which are put together to create one magnetic visual project.
“Once I recognised the possibilities of putting my talents to work, doing it independently turned into a success … doing something that is not done in Jamaica and its reach without money behind it and simply the pure love of music makes me proud and want to dig deeper,” MacGizmo said.