Vanessa Bling upbeat about all-female riddim

Dancehall artiste Vanessa Bling is turning up the heat with her groundbreaking all-female project, Truly Gifted Riddim, a celebration of women uplifting each other in the male-dominated music industry.

The electrifying riddim, released under Vanessa Bling Records on Friday, showcases a dynamic line-up of fierce female talent and is already making waves.

"This idea came from the fact that women need to unite more on projects as our male counterparts do all the time," Bling told THE STAR.

"The genre is male-dominated, but a lot of female artistes are doing great in the music; doing big shows everywhere all around the globe, representing the female side of the music, and it's a great look."

Featuring Vanessa Bling's commanding lead single Respect, the project includes powerful tracks like Pamputtae's Thankful, harmonised by Bling herself, Tifa's uplifting God's Favourite, D'Angel's fiery Too Badmind, Marcy Chin's relatable Fake Friends, and Suspense's defiant No Way.

With previous single releases under her label such as Have Mercy On Me Lord and Chosen, Bling said the six-track compilation is just to "kick off the project" and hopes to finalise the full release soon with a few more songs to be added from other prominent females in the music space. She described the musical juggling as a "mixture of women emotions and what they are experiencing laid out over a riddim".

Pamputtae, one of the standout voices on the project, applauded the concept for fostering unity among women in dancehall. "Honestly, I feel good because unity is strength," she said. "Dem seh is a 'man's world,' and wi affi pay fi live inna it suh when di females dem come together, dat is power."

Her single Thankful is a deeply personal anthem that she says brought her to tears in the recording booth.

"It's [about] everything weh mi a guh through," Pamputtae shared. "I have to give God thanks because mi affi thank Him fi di good times and the bad times... Yuh see where I'm coming from as a single madda with two boys, mi couldn't even find nothing fi buy tin feeding or buy a pack a pampers. I was literally crying in the booth when I was doing this song."

Fans have been moved by Pamputtae's heartfelt lyrics, showering her with praise.

"Dem seh when dem hear di song, di anointing tek dem ova and the Christian dem love it," she revealed.

Vanessa Bling is no stranger to hardwork and innovation. She credited the seamless synergy among the artistes for the project's success.

"Women are sometimes hard to work with, but this project was easier as everyone who's involved has the same goal to push and highlight the females as the males do each other," she explained. The feedback has been "awesome [with] straight positivity all around," including support from several male artistes.