Knaxx has a song for all

Knaxx is certainly an interesting personality within the collection of dancehall acts emerging on the scene right now. Hailing from Waltham Park, St Andrew, the deejay, who was first introduced as Vaitnam, earned his stage name from a response he used to give when hailed.

"It's really a slang that I use in the streets," said this week's STAR On The Rise. "It funny to me how 'knaxx' really took over and stayed with me, because I'd say 'knaxx dem and nuh ask dem' to people, but since the streets named me, I accept it."

The change generated some recognition for the artiste who popped up from seemingly nowhere a year ago with the single Place Nuh Nice Again, earning a sizeable buzz on streaming platforms. His trap-dancehall and R&B influenced style, combined with catchy yet focused lyrics, shows ingenuity and a strong grasp of the audience he is trying to attract. However, Knaxx's catalogue may be read as heavily hardcore, and sometimes misunderstood. But he says "it is only based on everyday life experiences".

"People should recognise that artistes like me also sing about things we not doing too. This not unique to Jamaica, it happens all over the world in every musical sphere, especially in hip-hop. We also sing about flossing and being rich, but we nuh rich (yet), it's just a thing enuh, art imitates life and vice versa. Besides, I have song for all," Knaxx said.

Knaxx, given name Ramone Antwaine Mitchell, has already worked with some of the top hitmakers like Alkaline and popular record label Sponge Music.

"I'm lucky to have people like Alkaline in my corner; he is my family and it's good that we have a great working relationship," he said, adding that he's also worked with various producers who promote the collaborative work they create for the artistes.

He says that consistency and the rate at which he releases music is also one of the reasons he is where he is now. He released a flurry of projects in 2020, including Easy Fi Switch, Top Choppa, and Born Ruff, and recently released Gunman and Like You. His latest release, Tawch Up, produced by Jungle Jesus Entertainment, has given him a similar buzz.

"It was a joy to me to watch Tawch Up rise up the trending ranks on YouTube. I appreciate the success the song has been seeing so far, trust me I'm grateful. I released the song and video on July 3 and it has seen over 100,000 views. Me ova di moon," he said.

Knaxx continued, "My ultimate aim is to be successful in anything I am pursuing, and to surpass my own expectations and make myself and my family proud. I don't think negatively about myself and what I do, so I'm not thinking about if things do not work out. I just know that it has to work."