Ode to Jamaica
SINGJAY Serani hopes his latest track, Somewhere In Jamaica, will become a cultural staple.
“My hope for this track is that Jamaicans here and abroad feel some kind of emotional attachment when this song is played. I hope it becomes a staple classic [insomuch that] when Jamaica is mentioned it becomes a must-play. For example, when landing in Jamaica from some international country, my song will be in the background,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
Released on February 5, Somewhere In Jamaica is self-produced by Serani and features Duke. It has an accompanying music video.
The artiste, whose given name is Craig Marsh, said he decided to pen the song during the summer.
“The inspiration for the song came from Chad, PP, Duke and I hanging out across the island during the summer, and as friends we would constantly post #Somewhereinjamaica on social media. All of our mutual friends also used the hashtag,” Serani said.
The singjay said he was meticulous in creating the song.
“Creating the song lyrics/ beat took me a few hours – maybe about three – but the mixing process took weeks for us to be satisfied due to back and forth testing with different speaker systems to achieve our desired sound,” he told the Observer.
He further explained that the track is a deviation from his usual style.
“Well, it’s very different due to the fact that I’m singing about Jamaica – my songs are usually directed towards women. This song had to be written in such a way that the music captures your soul; and [the] vocal melodies push you to want to sing along because of the passion and the carefully selected notes that get a rise from fellow patriots,” Serani said.
So far the project has been doing well, according to the singjay.
“The reception has been phenomenal, to be honest. I’ve gained new fans and also interest from many big names in our country. We did a video viewing with a few friends at Ribbiz and it was well received,” the artiste added.
Serani has a new album in the pipeline.
“I slightly put my live album on pause for the overall Somewhere In Jamaica project, so you can look out for my album and singles from it. [It’s called] Love On A Piano,” he said.
Serani started out as a musician. In the early 2000s he and childhood friends – Craig and David Harrisingh – formed DASECA Productions.
His hit singles include Skip to Ma Lu, Doh featuring Bugle, Stinking Rich, Study People, Romance Me, Mama Still Hungry, and the Billboard-charting hit No Games.
His albums include No Games (released in 2009) and It’s Serani (2012).