Jackie’s Boy honoured to be on album featuring Chris Gayle

It was in a roundabout way that Grammy award-winning songwriter Carlos Battey, known in music circles as Jackie’s Boy, got involved in a project by a Jamaican producer.

Described as “one of today’s songwriters in music industry contributing success to some famous hits of Madonna, Sean Kingston, Flo Rida, Johnny Gill and Charlie Wilson,” Jackie’s Boy is now one of the big names on the soon-to-be-released compilation album, Tropical House Cruises to Jamaica: The Asian Edition.

The four-time Grammy nominee, who has achieved 12 number one records, shared how he became aware of the project and why he accepted.

“I was approached by Belee Kaur and Rath in regard to this project, and I was very excited about it. To work with DiPresident and Chris Gayle is an honour,” he declared.

Executive producer of the album, Sean ‘Contractor’ Edwards, is excited that the Asian edition of his Tropical House series – which for the first time is headlined by Chris Gayle, also known as the Universe Boss – is mushrooming in ways that he never expected but certainly hoped for. He explained that since the album is specifically targeting the Asian continent, he “wanted a bona fide Indian artiste on the album”.

“Belee Kaur, a young female artiste [who is] originally from Punjab in India, reached out to me regarding The Asian Edition, and I agreed. She then asked Jackie’s Boy to produce her track. And he was only too happy to accept.”

Jackie’s Boy, who has visited Jamaica before and spent some time in Negril and Kingston, is passionate about the music.

“Reggae and dancehall affect me on so many levels. I have been a fan since I was a child. One of my favourite artistes is Maxi Priest. I wrote a song for him called Without a Woman,” he said.

The singer/songwriter, who has sold over 18 million albums, and won a Grammy in 2011 for Madonna’s best remix recording, Revolver featuring Lil Wayne, speaks easily about his friendship with A-listers and certainly not in a showy way.

“I met Sean Kingston through Bruno Mars and Phillip Lawrence, great friends of mine,” was his response when asked how he knew the US-based Beautiful Girls singer, whose parents are Jamaican. “And I began writing songs for him such as Dumb Love and Eeenie Meenie featuring Justin Bieber.”

He has a special appreciation for life that, for him, has emanated from a life-changing surgery.

According to his bio, Jackie’s Boy, in December 2016, had a seven-hour operation to remove a tumour in his bottom right jaw known as ameloblastoma. He credits his change of path to his solo singing career when he faced permanent paralysis of his mouth when undergoing this surgery.

“It taught me the urgency of things ... not to take a minute for granted. Music doesn’t have to be perfect for you to release it. It just needs to be consistent and from a real place,” Jackie’s Boy told The Gleaner.

With a full recovery came a refocus of his energy as he released several singles that have topped the charts in Germany, Japan, the US and Canada.

Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Jackie’s Boy credits his mother as the source of his love and inspiration for music. He relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music and acting. His acting credits include Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001), Marmaduke (2010), Steps Of Faith (2014) and Bryant Myers: Low Key (2019).

yasmine.peru@gleaner jm.com