‘Rising Stars’ 2009 winner Shuga talks her ‘Journey’

Some things are not that hard to ‘maths out’. For example, if a producer gives Shuga a rhythm that is particularly inspiring and she has some hard truths to tell, she’s going to chat. And that’s exactly what she has done on her latest single, The Journey, in which she encapsulates her life in three explosive and riveting minutes.

It has been close to 15 years since the then Brown Shuga won the popular ‘Digicel Rising Stars’ competition and some may say that she should have achieved more on her journey, but as Shuga told The Sunday Gleaner, it’s not because of lack of trying, it’s more her determination to focus on a path of consciousness. “[But] mi nah try fi be no holy righteous nor nutten like that,” she cautioned quickly.

“Sometimes mi just waan bruk out and gwaan wid myself ... and I do bruk out and gwaan wid myself when mi hear certain songs that call for it. But I choose personally not to do certain songs because I am a mother. It wasn’t always me ... because mi used to waan follow everything mi see inna di space. And when I did that it just never felt like me. I would draw back .... step back . Mi can go in the studio and stand behind the mic and seh ‘ Fling dah foot so and dash yah one deh deso.’ But how am I going to present that on stage?”the mother of two sons asked.

Elaborating that she once got caught up wanting to follow trends because it seemed as if only the negative was getting that vital push, Shuga was determined to “walk away from that mentality ... because yuh see follow fashion, a something that will mash yuh up”.

“So I started paying more attention to people like Bob Marley and Marcia Griffiths. Mi nuh see Bob Marley a look nuh forward, him just a sing some strong songs that meaningful. Him is a messenger, him bring the message and deliver the message and him job done and if di people dem tek it, dem tek it and right now his music stands,” Shuga stated, making a plea for “balance” in the music industry.

“Mi have a big strong voice and mi nuh shape bad neither and mi nuh think mi too ugly. Mi can do some things and mi can put on shorts and mi have mi nice bow legs and mi nuh have too much cellulite and mi can do all of that. Is not a fyah mi a bun pon nobody ... but there is no balance,” she insisted.

When her path of righteousness seemed to “nah go nowhere” that led Shuga to demand: “ Gimme a riddim mek mi chat yuh know man cause mi have couple tings fi address yuh know man.”

And what was intended to be simply a freestyle was officially released as a full song in February and now has an accompanying music video. It is a song giving kudos to those who provided an assist on her journey, but it is also a tune born out of frustration.

“ Nowadays yuh haffi do the wrong tings dem fi buss ... follow the agenda, lose yuh focus, fall in line yuh will get a plus,” Shuga sings in The Journey.

EXPECTATIONS

Shuga recalled that when she won ‘Digicel Rising Stars’ in 2009, the expectations were very high.

“Coming from ... and I’m going to use the word ‘a nobody’... somebody [who] nobody knew in this music space ... to being on this big platform ... everybody now recognise the name Shuga. They are aware of this talent, and they are not getting any of this Shuga. It frustrating bad you know. When I walking on the road people are saying ‘What a gwaan Shuga? We vote fi yuh but we nah hear yuh.’ Like mi seh inna di song, ‘ Win ‘Rising Stars’ 2009 and everyday since then mi deh pon di grind’. Mi neva stop work yet,” the girl who hails from Bogue in St James shared.

But the biting comments still persist.

“Mi have people a tell mi inna the comments section, ‘Listen, gwaan go sell some orange, get a handcart and go dung a market and stop the foolishness bout yuh a do music.’ Mi have friends who tell me go look a work ... like mi a call and beg dem nutten,” Shuga said.

But how does that make her feel?

“Mi feel bad. Mi feel alone. Mi feel singular,” she said, with a genuine laugh.

She got a taste of the topsy-turvy dancehall world when a songwriter she was working with was given an ultimatum by another female artiste. The writer was told that he had to choose because he couldn’t write for them both. He didn’t choose Shuga. Another slap came when a producer held her music hostage.

But Shuga is chill and knows what she wants – to send messages of love and hope.

“Mi waan nice people fi pay attention to the message inna the music again. Mi waan the people dem fi wake up and realise seh we need balance. That one side summ’n deh nah go work. We have the little young girl dem coming up and we don’t want them to think that ‘if mi a go da music summ’n yah a this mi going haffi do,” Shuga said.

Currently working with award-winning producer and artiste manager Donovan Germain, Shuga praised him for being “like a father figure” and in fact, he comes in for big-ups in The Journey. So too does Tanya Stephens, who recognised her talent early on and took a teenage Shuga on tour as her backup singer.

“I was told that she was looking for background singers. So me and one of my friends just learn every song ... and we siddung and study harmony, you woulda think a CXC. Massa God ... and we go a di rehearsal, and when we got there it was like .. everything was jelling ...perfectly and we got the job. Mi not even did have passport. I did an express and by the next week I was in Martinique. Then yuh want see mi pon private jet a eat peanut,” Shuga recalled.

Sharing that her journey is forever intertwined with music, a lyrical Shuga stated, “There is always a song in my head ... and another song that I want to record. Music is a beat for every mood and a melody for every emotion. Music is a very beautiful tool that has been used for many years to send messages across. Mi neva go a some place yet but people in different regions they know some of my songs ... and God bless who know them ... I am grateful.”

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com