Shmood goes into ‘Sportmode’

When singjay Shmood took a sabbatical from the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) to concentrate on his music career, he swapped a possible career in forensic science for the arts.

He may be on the verge of a breakthrough with his latest release, Sportmode.

"The feedback for the single has been excellent so far. The girls dem love it, the mixtape selectors ah work with it, and we hope to get in rotation on the radio. We will be releasing a video soon for the project," said the 23-year-old artiste whose given name is Morris Roberts.

He didn't start experimenting with music until 2016, when he was in sixth form at Camperdown High School.

"I decided I was going to attempt writing a song and sang it for a few friends and based on the feedback, I decided later to continue and make it into a career that I love. Music is in my blood. My father was a singjay who performed under the stage name Marz, so I have the star quality, the full package," he said.

He recorded his first single, Issues, in 2016, and he continued to write and record songs and hone his craft. He also performed for his friends and family at community events.

"In 2016, I sang for a girl and she used the word 'Shmood' (smooth) to describe how the song sounded. At the time, this was a popular slang and I decided to use the word as my artiste's name," he said.

He did his first official stage show performance at The Apollo Series, held at Hillcrest Avenue, St Andrew, in 2018. Shmood's repertoire of songs is mostly centred around romantic songs.

"I gravitate towards songs for the girls because I get the best reaction from those songs, but I have written songs about upliftment and songs for the streets; but ah the girls dem mi ah defend right now," he said. "I think my music has the potential to cement me as an international artiste. Therefore in the next five years, I should be flying the Jamaican flag high worldwide."