Singer Denyque ‘born ready’

It was a few minutes to 11 a.m. last Wednesday when Denyque was sent a WhatsApp message checking on her state of readiness for an 11 o’clock interview.

Her sassy response came back fast and unpretentious: “Born ready.”

As Gen Z-ers would say in affirmation to that mic drop, “ Purr”.

Denyque is that artiste who has been labelled “the pretty, uptown girl” in an almost condescending kinda way, which somehow seeks to diminish the talent of the singer who established herself early in the game when songs such as Summer Love, How to Rave and Make Me Believe You all hit top ten charts in more than 100 countries.

But, as she herself says, there’s way more to her than a pretty face. She is not afraid to get her hands dirty building things, even a bed for her son, and one of the things that people would be most surprised to know about her is that she “speaks three languages”.

A good friend of hers put it best in a sentence that she has long wanted to share. He said, “Denyque, you are not someone who I can just describe to people, ... people have to experience you.”

In the past two years, Denyque has been through a lot, including the breakdown of her marriage, but this chapter is not about that, it is about Denyque snatching back her power, building her confidence and her super team, and releasing new music which is shaking up the place.

Her latest project, appropriately titled R.E.A.D.Y – an acronym for Release Everything And Do You – was released at midnight on Thursday, February 2, and the numbers are more than encouraging, especially since the five-song EP is classified as hip hop/rap rather than reggae/dancehall.

LIKE A WHIRLWIND

The first days of its release were like a whirlwind. By 6 a.m. on Friday, R.E.A.D.Y was added to Spotify and, by 10 a.m., it had accumulated more than 16,000 streams and found its way on to 25 hip-hop playlists. By 6 p.m. Friday, the EP debuted on the iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap charts at number 26. Four of the songs, Ease My Mind, Long Way Down, Make A Wish and Between Me And You, have also charted, breaking into the top 200 Hip-Hop/Rap singles chart by occupying the 194 to 197 spots.

And there’s more. Songs from the EP were previewed live on YouTube during an interview with Dr Empress Rose on the 1-on-1 Music Review show on the Friday afternoon. According to her team, this helped her numbers on the charts, as she moved up to 20 then up to 15 before finishing the night off at number 14, surpassing Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 (Gag City Deluxe) album.

Denyque is “over the moon” at how R.E.A.D.Y is flexing its muscles and making her “the first independent female R&B singer from Jamaica to break into the hip-hop chart in the US”. Although it is a professional success, it is also something that is deeply personal. Interestingly, she speaks about “letting go and allowing God to lead the way” during this particular stage of her journey.

“When I first started this project, I had a list of names ... one was Ready, Set, Go ... but something said to me ‘No, just Ready’. I was ready to let things go and pour more of me into me,” Denyque told The Sunday Gleaner.

She added, “It has been a transformation. I have evolved so much; I am more confident than I have ever been. So many things were happening in my life ... things were up and down and I was figuring it out. I could have given up, but that is not in my DNA. I realised that this was something that me and God had to do ... and I now have this incredible peace,”

Recalling one of the tumultuous moments along her journey, Denyque said, “I remember one of those moments when I stepped out of myself and watched things unfold like the scene from a movie.

“Any move I mek now is a God move,” she reiterated.

R.E.A.D.Y, which is distributed by 21st Hapilos Digital Distribution Inc, was produced by Levels To Life Productions, in collaboration with Lee Milla Productions and Denyque’s own Denym Entertainment label. Other producers also include Emudio Records and ThatBossEvan.

Denyque was also full of praise for her team.

“I finally have a team who sees my vision, but I am not bashing those who were there before, because people can only believe in you to the place where dem vision buck. German and Levels To Life Productions ... they are my rock. I am really grateful for my team ... when I win, I want everyone to win,” the Lifespan spokesperson emphasised.

Denyque is getting ready for a US tour, as well as appearances on various television and radio programmes. She is also excited about being featured on the remix of Devin Di Dakta’s song titled Think Like A Man, which is set for release on February 16.

In closing, a bubbly Denyque, who Anthony Miler rightly described as “hard not to love”, said, again with quite a bit of sass, “No monkey don’t stop my show”.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com