SHAWN ANTOINE GIFTED WITH TALENT AND STYLE
“Chase your dream and never give up on it because you only have one life to live,” is one thing that Shawn Antoine would like to share with youths, and right now he is living his own dream – chasing music.
“CHASE YOUR dream and never give up on it because you only have one life to live,” is one thing that Shawn Antoine would like to share with youths, and right now he is living his own dream – chasing music. An up-and-coming artiste that describes his sound as neo-reggae soul, he always had a love for music. He remembered as a youngster when his mother’s friend would leave his keyboard at the house. Shawn Antoine found himself banging at the keys until it morphed into him playing actual music. It has been a love affair ever since. Antoine has had his fair share of fun during his youth, and which young man doesn’t give a little trouble? “I would steal my parent’s vehicle out of the garage just to go joyriding through the community with friends, not to mention the competition of who can get that one hot girl in the community.” At the age of 13 years, he wrote his first song called Only Want To Be You. This is an unreleased track, and when he reflects on it he still laughs, at how far that he has come.
PURSUING MUSIC
Despite his love for music, when it became time for university, he initially ventured towards the path of medicine. He had already been playing for different bands and pursuing music on the side because it was a piece of him. When it came to medicine, he was thinking of riches, and he was good in the sciences and liked it, thus it was a means to an end. Especially because he knew that his riches was geared towards helping youth in the future, which was his aim.
But the travelling to and fro seemed to be getting in the way of his studies as his true love came to the forefront. One day, his parents decided to give him a pep talk.
“They told me that basically, if I insist on doing music I should consider doing it the right way,” he told Flair, and at that moment he changed his major and did a joint programme between the University of the West Indies and Edna Manley College, receiving a bachelor’s degree in music education and performance.
This was definitely his calling as he views music as a form of expression and it has helped him to better express himself. His music is typically focused on love and relationship, but because of his genuine love for different genres, he has found that it is hard to just stick him to one.
Having singles like I Love You and Missing You as well as collabs with Konshens on Gyallis, and most recently Mine with Lia Caribe, Antoine has started to make his mark in the reggae industry. He is now looking forward to his upcoming single with Chris Martin, whom he admittedly has looked up to for years. What’s next for Shawn Antoine? His self-titled EP set to be launched next month with a pre-released order date set for October 27 on iTunes, Amazon music, among other platforms.
Shawn Antoine plans to sing his way into the hearts of women. That, he says, keeps him motivated in seeing his dream coming through and his songs impacting the lives of others in a positive way.
With most artistes, they try to develop a style and look, but Antoine has kept it laid back. Simple and elegant is how he describes it, and if he had his own way, a T-shirt and a pair of jeans are what he would live in. He tries to keep his look seamless and no wonder – the one tool that he cannot live without is a shear, or men’s razor.