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Chuck Fenda to light another fire with fresh sounds - Reggae singer aims to foster upcoming talent

Published:Thursday | September 24, 2020 | 12:07 AM
Reggae artiste Chuck Fenda and up-and-coming singer Krisique a share special moment on the photo shoot for their collaboration.
Reggae artiste Chuck Fenda and up-and-coming singer Krisique a share special moment on the photo shoot for their collaboration.
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The song that introduced everyone to the softer side of Chuck Fenda was the 2007 collaboration Coming Over, which featured the gentle sounds of songbird Cherine Anderson. The time-honoured hit single, which was produced by Christopher Birch, is one that will always be part of disc jockeys’ playlists – whether in the warm-up segment, as a mood-changer that compels one to sing out loud, or to wind down the night on a romantic note – and the reggae artiste confessed that “from ever since, I have been trying to search for another song and female singer to create something similar”.

The two had the chance to collaborate again in 2011, where Chuck Fenda was featured on her single titled Call On Me.

“People always ask, ‘Why yuh nuh do another song like the one with Cherine?’, and the opportunity did actually present itself, but we were not able to promote the song to the fullest,” the Living Fire artiste said, before letting out a deep breath.

Chuck Fenda’s unease was valid; the song that shared similarities was Believe, which featured Jada Murphy, more popularly known now as Jada Kingdom, but the hot number was only 15 years old at the time of its recording. With her parents’ consent, Chuck Fenda set up the studio session to put in motion another soulful hit.

“She is a singer. She bad, man, and I always believed she was going to be the next big thing[ and I can’t say I am surprised at how far she is now,” he said. “As for the collaboration, Believe, it was hard to promote it the way the team wanted to and the visuals could not reflect that – social distancing was a must – you know how people stay. With the type of emotion, it’s something that needed to be believable or emoted in the video and we couldn’t do that.”

Found “the one”

The search continued for another distinctive and fresh-faced songstress. Six years later, Chuck Fenda says he’s found “the one” – and don’t worry, she’s the right age.

“I’m not trying to find a Cherine or a Jada per se, but somebody who has the talent and the drive – Krisique is the next big thing of this generation . This girl nuh take nuh time to get together her lyrics and record,” he told The Gleaner.

He met the 25-year-old singing sensation on social media and. eventually, in their conversations, realised they shared some things in common – both hailing from Spanish Town.

He said, “I like to build up new talent, especially with the female singers, and just watch them evolve right in front of the world’s eyes. What’s so special and real about this collaboration is that it is the first song recorded that I play the role of executive producer and it has the lover’s rock feel for the ladies, that they been longing for from me.”

The track they have recorded is So Real, which is steadily garnering support from local and international media with airplay and streams. It will be one of potentially nine songs on Chuck Fenda’s album produced by his Living Fire Records label, set to be released at the end of the year.

“The album will explore my vision for reggae music and that of the artistes, as well as introduce new sounds from who is featured on it,” he said.