Sizzla and Yeza in ‘Glory’
Published:Friday | April 22, 2022 | 12:08 AMSade Gardner/Staff Reporter
As if Yeza’s Glory wasn’t enough to charge listeners to rise up and occupy their greatness, a remix with Sizzla Kalonji and the story of how it came together amplify the message of believing in oneself.
Glory (Remix) premieres today with ‘Dada’ flowing effortlessly over the hip hop and rock-infused Yo Christon production, toasting to an unstoppable mindset and otherworldly consciousness, or as he raps, “ I’m in the clouds, I’m in the streets, camouflaged at your feet.”
Ironically, the original track, which debuted in February, saw Yeza showing him love with the lyric, “ Left the fire pon the street, Sizzla Kalonji.” For the singer, it’s a nod to the power of manifestation.
“Me shouting him out in the actual song was like the anchor that led to him being a part of the remix, sincerely,” Yeza told The Gleaner. “Originally, we [her team] said it would be really cool if we had him in the music video; maybe shoot a clip up by his place but that never happened so we kinda let it go.”
Fast-forward to a Gleaner article published about the song, and divinely, another article about Sizzla carried that same day.
“I was speaking to my friend and jokingly said, look at Sizzla beside me, still trailing me. Based on that thought, I said to my team, we never get fi get Sizzla for the music video, but if he was actually on this track in the form of a remix, that woulda sick. Same time my co-manager Xavier took it seriously and said he knows Sizzla and drove to link him. He listened to the track and said he loves it, and he saw that the love and connection deh deh for true and it wasn’t a force ripe thing. I think that’s the energy that sold him and him just seh ‘Yeah’,” Yeza shared.
This organic energy further exudes in the Vartex Studios-directed visuals, filmed in Yeza’s Star Lane, Bull Bay hometown and Kalonji’s Judgement Yard, August Town base as well as in the photographs captured by Marlon McKoy. It was a full-circle moment for the singer who shared growing up and listening to his albums (even shouting him out again in another track on her upcoming album in collaboration with Rory Stone Love).
“I feel amazed and I don’t take any of this for granted,” she said. “I hope I can inspire people that this didn’t happen because of me being more special than anybody. It really happened because I had a thought and I believed to some degree that it could come true. I feel more empowered now to do other things and be confident in it and trust that it can work as long as you believe it and can find your way around it. Just believe inna yourself because sometimes it’s the lack of belief why we nuh even mek a certain move because we a seh this a go too big for me or whatever the case.”
She said this while going through an “unsettled state” because of personal issues, countered with the highs of the Kalonji Glory (Remix). Yet, she used her own circumstance (as she does in her music), to encourage people to press on.
“I’d like to remind people that sometimes it’s when that moment is coming up, it starts to feel a bit more challenging and drastic. You just need to reach for that strength you need and push through it because sometimes on the other half of that is really ‘glory’ waiting on you. Big up the team for making this a reality, and much love to all the supporters.”