Shane A Don fuels on positive music

Though born and raised in the "violence-plagued" community of Steer Town, St Ann, aspiring dancehall artiste Shane A Don said he uses music as a positive tool to "uplift the youths" in his hometown.

He said his inspiration in remaining positive stems from both his personal experiences and his day-to-day observations.

"[My style of music] delivers what the new generation is going through now. So it's not what I go through most of the time, you know, but persons around me and I'm around the younger generation. So it's just a new-age reggae, dancehall and when yuh hear it yuh ago love it," Shane A Don told THE STAR. He stressed the importance of artistes "reasoning with the youths" to match their level of understanding and personalities in order to know what content will appeal to them.

The up-and-coming artiste also emphasised that due to his rapport with the new generation, along with his "unique sound and image," he is destined to be great in his field while making a strong impact in music. With a keen eye for detail and a bold approach to artistic composition, the versatile singjay is now riding the wave of one of his latest viral songs, Pablo Seh, which was inspired by young dancehall sensation Pablo YG.

"I started listening to his music a lot and then he did a song called D.I.E. and mi listen it and seh 'Yow, dis bad,' and mi shoot di idea to my producer, 'Gorilatonebeatz' and him jus' do di magic pon di riddim and the rest is history. Pablo YG loves it; he co-signed it, share it, so yeah, dat good," he said, while noting that the comments and reactions to the single have been positive and encouraging as the song is now at 15,000 views on YouTube.

However, as he focuses on improving his career, the artiste is set to release his Mother's Day inspired single, Mama Don't Worry, followed by his seven-track EP No Emotions. The title plays on his feelings of 'numbness'.

"Me numb because me used to people, me used to everything. So nothing is new to me; nothing at all again surprises me. Things happen yeah and me feel a way but me numb, so me no really show a lot of emotion ... and on the EP you will hear dat," said Shane A Don, whose given name is Chadwin Robinson. The EP is scheduled to be released in June.

On Mama Don't Worry, he appeals to mothers who are the "burden bearers" of even their grown children, not to be overly burdened as he reassures them, that " everything will be just fine". The single is set for release today.

As the artiste aspires to be among the best in the competitive industry, he stated that one of his biggest challenges was finding honest, trustworthy producers to protect and properly present his craft in a fair manner. However, this obstacle pushed him into owning his newly established recording label, Jah Lyfe Music.

"So I'm doing most of the things by myself now; I have a strong team around me but I'm in control of my music," he shared. The artiste, however, advised other aspiring acts to be authentic, "love weh yuh do - do it fi di love and di money will come down di road".

Shane A Don said though his main wish is for his music to become a global hit "not [only] because of monetary gain but to share [his] message," he also wishes for the more influential artistes to inject more positivity in their music.

"You know like when [artistes] wudda tell di youth dem bout 'choppin?' Tell them seh remember yuh book and to stay away from certain company because yuh nuh waah go pon no little stupid thing down the road and then 30 or 20 years of your life, yuh in a prison. Suh stuff like that, just use your power to direct the youths the right way as musicians," he reasoned.