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Shakielle Powell: The musical wordsmith

Published:Wednesday | November 28, 2018 | 12:00 AMVanessa James/Gleaner Writer
Shakielle Powell, Publication Committee chairperson, UWI Mona Guild of Students.

Music is the vehicle of choice that will drive Shakielle Powell to success, but the road is not without its bumps.

Powell's journey started at deCarteret College when he and a few friends noticed similar interests in music.

"For me, music started when I started high school. I was with a group of friends who were pretty much the same as me, where they were interested but still did not do anything until we all got together and said, 'Alright, we going to try a thing'. So we started writing some songs and doing some clashes with other senior guys, and they (the seniors) were surprised because we could hold our own against them," Powell told The Gleaner.

He admits that he did not know much of the technical aspect of music but could still hold his own because of the types of music that he listened to. "While a lot of people will say they grew up listening to '90s dancehall, I didn't. I grew up in a Christian home listening to gospel music, and I was drawn towards them, like the ones by Kirk Franklyn, because of the technicality and complexity of the instrumentals. But the sound was not too much for your ears; it was always smooth and sweet. I also listened to Bounty Killer when he used to clash, Vybz Kartel from Jersey days, and Aidonia from his days of people complaining that they can't hear him, because they used to say the same thing about me; I used to deejay really fast."

 

Powerful words

 

Described as a wordsmith, Powell believes that words are very powerful and that simple things can tell a compelling story. His love for words gives him the freedom to play with them and get through to his audience no matter their level of education or understanding.

"I used to be the youth who would try to say some things and make it sound really smart, but there are dimensions to this thing. I realised later that some people from my community couldn't understand some of the lyrics that I had; they would like how the song sounds, but wouldn't get it. So I decided to use simple lyrics and put in double or triple entendres on them so there would be different tiers of understanding and [everyone] can still enjoy the music."

Upon beginning studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Powell had no intention of making music in this form but actually started producing. He eventually sold some beats in his first year, one of which came full circle and was used by a well-known dancehall artiste. "I realised that I could make a decent 'food' off this (producing), but it just wasn't my passion anymore, so I started doing a few songs on my beats and I released an EP on SoundCloud soon after - the Gizmo876 EP - with seven tracks, seven different stories, and the feedback was great, which was shocking."

Music has helped Powell financially also as it is one of the reasons he is still enrolled, "Since I have been here at UWI, when I would run into a rough patch or I would have to clear some fees in a short amount of time, then it would always either be music or graphic designing that would help. The difference is, with graphic design it would take a certain volume of work to bring in the money needed, while with music, probably just one beat or two could do the trick," Powell told The Gleaner.

The pressure of university caused Powell to take a break from his dream. He was on the Taylor Hall Committee for two consecutive years and soon joined the UWI Mona Guild Committee in his third year as the Publications Committee chairperson. The 22-year-old is in his final semester at The UWI, where he studies computer science. He aspires to achieve the level of success where people will want to listen to his music just because he is the one who wrote it and they know the quality music he produces. He is working on projects and can be followed at GIZMO876 on YouTube, gizmorecordsja on SoundCloud and Facebook, and gizmo876 on Instagram.

vanessa.james@gleanerjm.com