Fans still in love with ‘secular’ Sasha
At the height of her dancehall music career, Sasha decided to answer God’s calling. The singer, known for the collaborations with Sean Paul and Turbulence on ‘I’m Still In Love With You’ and ‘We Got The Love’, respectively, decided to start Sister Sasha Ministries. And although it has been a decade since her conversation, Sasha says fans still expect her to perform the dancehall singles that first introduced them to her.
How does she handle this? Well, Sista Sasha told THE WEEKEND STAR, “I just have to express myself and let them know I am on a different mission, something that is more entwined to the soul.”
She continued: “Nine out of 10 times I find myself having to do that, because persons do not think anything is wrong with me performing secular songs as a Christian and gospel recording artiste.”
Sasha said that she travelled to Dubai last year to perform gospel music and had to face the same expectations of music lovers there, with people shouting “we want to hear I’m Still In Love and Dat Sexy Body”. The gospel singer, who turns 44 on November 25, is the single mother of three children who are musically inclined – but interested more in taking on the secular scene.
“I would prefer them to do gospel, but having been exposed to reggae and dancehall music, they are in inclined to doing some of their own,” Sista Sasha said.
The gospel singer said she is considering sampling or recreating some of her dancehall tunes into gospel songs, but will be careful not to create anything too controversial.
“I am actually trying to get artistes from the secular world to help me with my next project,” said Sasha, who recorded Real Talk with Chuck Fenda two years ago.
“A lot of Jamaica’s entertainers grow up in the church, and there are a lot of them that I think want to do good,” she added.
She has enjoyed success from her song Jesus A Di Don, featured on her debut album, Break Free, and is currently working to release another by next year. Last month, she released a single that has a bit of a dancehall flavour called Mighty, along with the music video which, she said, is also doing well on digital platforms.
It has been an up-and-down journey but she said, “Patience is definitely a virtue and I’m definitely seeing a great turnaround.”