Sophia Brown teams up with Duane Stephenson for ‘Love Is My Religion’
Published:Saturday | April 24, 2021 | 12:12 AMShereita Grizzle/Gleaner Writer
Reggae singer Sophia Brown has teamed up with Duane Stephenson for her latest single, Love Is My Religion. In an interview with The Gleaner, Brown said that with a tumultuous 2020 behind her, this year is one of endless possibilities and she is ready to take some giant leaps in her career.
“Last year was a rough one for all of us, but especially us entertainers. Still, we pushed through, used the time to tap into our creative sides and many of us came out with some really great projects,” she said, adding that she took the opportunity to release new music.
“Over the last 12 months, I got to release two songs that did really well — Baby When You Left and Stronger, and this year I am looking to release even more music,” Brown said.
Love Is My Religion pulls on the experiences of 2020. “The song was inspired on the events of the past year. So many of us faced withdrawals, depression and anxiety issues from the ongoing pandemic. That coupled with the issues of racism that affected our black brothers and sisters overseas made life painful for all of us who were paying attention,” she said.
As its name suggests, love is a major theme in the song. “The song is basically telling us all that we need love and that we should practice showing love to each other more often. Love is what’s saving many of us in these hard times,” she said.
Brown went on to say that with Stephenson sharing a similar mindset, he was the perfect candidate for the feature. “Duane Stephenson is my musical brother in the industry. He has similar values, and so he believed in the message of the song. Working with him was amazingly awesome because as artistes, we both see and recognise the importance of our work and how impactful message music can be,” she said. “I am thankful I got to put this positive vibration out there in the world with my brother Duane.”
In addition to her latest single, Brown said she has been working on an EP as she anticipates the day the world reopens. When the latter happens, she wants to be ready to hit the ground running with a surplus of new material to share at concerts etc. Brown has also been working on her charity, Angels of the Hearts and recently donated tablets to the Jamaica Down Syndrome Foundation to assist children living with the condition. If all goes well and the world gets up and running again, she will be using the funds generated from future tours to give back to more organisations through her charity as she believes the pandemic has created more needy persons.