Dem nah know mi determination, the will fi rise, me willing fi try, and touch the sky… you know I’ve written this great song, with the feeling to fly, the feeling fi rise, and brush against the sky.”
Jamaican Dancehall singer/songwriter Amity Sereavo’s “Determination” produced by St Lucian Kenson Hippolyte is without a doubt one of those songs you put on your play list and can’t help putting “pon de replay.” In what can only be described as a motivation Dancehall track with a super addictive beat that’s sure to get you moving, “Determination,” as the opening lyrics suggest emits a feeling of motivation to any person who listens to it. The track was recently released to St Lucian airwaves and ever since then has been rapidly increasing in popularity. St Lucians got the chance to see Amity perform for the first time locally at the Heineken Green Synergy Finals in Dennery earlier last
month. Off the stage Amity is twenty-one year old Romone Powell, and says he got into music while in high school. “I always had an interest in music,” he says. “In high school I linked up with some friends who rapped and they always had clashes at lunchtime and after school. I tried to rap like them and couldn’t get the American accent. So I used my native accent to rap and everybody said, “Wow that sound good. That motivated me. I was about 15 at the time. Even after I left school they would talk about me so I figured yeah, I had the talent to do it.” Once he left school Amity started pushing toward his musical goal. He worked as a freelance artiste, putting vocals on beats he liked and has since come up with tracks like “Come Over Tonight”, “Hotter Than Over” and Shake Up Yuh Body,” the latter an upbeat Dancehall/ Soca number. Listening closely to his lyrics its hard not to notice his passion for music and about life in general. “I write my own songs and the way I write, I like to express myself,” he told the STAR. “I write based on my lifestyle. It depends on the mood I’m in, just like anybody else. It’s like me personally on a record, my feelings me put on the record. Its not like I’d do a gun song or anything like that. I used to, but when it comes to the business side, like Kartel and Movado got banned from certain countries because of that, because of certain lyrics they spit out, me nah really do that.” During our interview Amity reveals that although music is a huge part of his life, it’s not his only passion. He loves art of all forms, does graphic designing, draws and also does video editing in his spare time. When asked what he’d say to a young person to encourage them to follow their dream, musical or otherwise he responded: “Determination, like the song says, you have to have that. It’s not easy. You have to push. You have to know what you want no matter what anybody tells you. You have to be strong headed and just have focus. Just go for what you want. There’s a whole heap of people that will distract you, saying don’t do this, don’t do that, but just go on. You have to set your goals and just fight, nonstop.” Take a page from his book, or lines from “Determination” part two, which can be found online: “Mi nah stop til dem call mi di greatest.” “One thing I’ve realized, working with Amity, the level of professionalism in terms of how consistent he is in terms of getting his work done and making it good,” producer Kenson Hippolyte told the STAR. “It was a wonderful experience just working with him; he’s that young and that committed. When he first heard the beat he fell in love with it. When I listened to it I realized the melody, lyrics and music just flowed.” During our interview Amity expressed his desire to collaborate with St Lucian artistes. St Lucian Reggae artiste Zionomi told the STAR this week: “I’m always open to working with other artistes, once it’s a good vibe and it’s a vibe that meshes with me as an artiste of my kind of persona. It has to be proper. Yeah man, Amity, of course, he has a good vibe.” The “Determination” single is available for download. Add Amity Sereavo on Facebook, click the download link and you can get the single. Amity performed over the weekend at a show presented by Slim D Entertainment: “I Love My Life” with Lady Saw and Demarco at the Gaiety Night Club.
