Star On The Rise: Teacher, former students serve up sex appeal

Hailing from the west, #R@W hopes to take on the dancehall and the international pop world by storm.

The group is made up of a teacher, Raheim Fender, 36, and two of his past students, Brianna Spencer Andrew Gibson, both 19.

This new dancehall-pop trio have begun charting their path to stardom. So far, with a healthy dosing of sex appeal and raunchy lyrics, they have already climbed to nearly 130,000 YouTube views collectively for their first two music videos.

#R@W released its first single, Like A Drug, six months ago. It has been viewed more than 28,000 times. Last month the group released So Sexy, which has been viewed more than 103,000 times.

Fender, aka Fendz, has taught performing arts at the Cedric Titus High School in Trelawny for the past 10 years.

There he met Spencer, aka Bumpa, and Gibson, aka Upgrade. He taught from grades seven through to CAPE.

"They were getting ready to do Theatre Arts in CXC in 2015 and they were giving a whole heap of trouble," Fendz told THE STAR.

During his reprimand, Fendz mentioned that he could be spending his time recording an album, an expression that caught the troublemaking pair's attention.

"They started asking if I can't put them in the album. So I said, if you guys show me that you are capable, then yes. I told them, if you show me you're serious, I'll bring you on. Then during the exam process, they got the highest scores," he said.

To supplement their burgeoning music career, Bumpa is primarily a make-up artist while Upgrade is a call centre agent.

"I would love to become a recording artiste, but to reach that level you have to do other stuff. So I want to have my own business while still doing my music. I want a plus-size store, a nice boutique. But music is my dream," Bumpa told THE STAR. "Whatever I do has something to do with art. I have the art inside of me. We're all about the drama!"