STAR of the Month : I still do dancehall - Agent Sasco

Despite receiving the alias 'Assassin' for being a lethal clash artiste while in high school, Jeffery Campbell now performs under the stage name Agent Sasco.

The change in name was accompanied by a shift in his musical offerings, with most of the songs he now produces being laced with uplifting lyrics and positive messages.

The Winning Now artiste attributes the change in the contents of his songs to his personal development and maturity.

"My career started when I was 17 and I am now 34 years old. Mi woulda hope say in 17 years, I woulda grow somewhat and I think it is just that you start to grow naturally towards a different kind of expression," Agent Sasco told THE STAR.

STILL DOING DANCEHALL

And although he has moved away from creating songs based on certain themes that he deejayed about in the infancy of his career, Agent Sasco says he still does dancehall music, despite several of his songs being classified as reggae.

"I am now mentally at this stage of my personal development where the mode of expression that best suits what I want to represent, and how I feel I can contribute to the music is more along the lines of reggae," he continued.

However, he noted that he has always been recording positive songs in dancehall music.

"I recorded a lot songs that I know wouldn't be the dancehall champion song weh a man a go play 2:30 inna the morning, Hand to Mouth for example. Mi know seh is not the kind of song weh a man a wait fi bawl out him throat pon at 3 o'clock when the dance hot and gi money pull-up, and dem thing deh, but I have always felt that the artiste should represent more of themselves than not and more of their true ideas," Agent Sasco said.

Vybz Kartel had a song, Set Mi Free, on the same rhythm. Agent Sasco said that even though he heard that song, which is about 'relationships and girls', before his song was recorded, he chose to voice Hand To Mouth.

He said he chose to do a song that chronicled the day-to-day struggles people may face, rather than voice a single that would work well with Kartel's song when the rhythm is being 'juggled'.

"Mi decide seh mi get a idea for this Hand to Mouth song and mi decide seh mi a go do this song and it a go be fi people who sharing that experience and can identify with it. Up to now is one of mi biggest songs and that was just by staying true to weh mi feel and just doing positive dancehall," he explained.