Jana Bent is all about looks and talent, and sometimes it is hard to decide what Jana's biggest asset is.
American entertainment executives seem to think that her looks are her best bet.

Not so, says Jana. In other words, she wants the world to respect her singing and songwriting talents as well, but she cannot deny that her looks often get in the way. So much so that she is planning to move to Los Angeles next month and go after television and commercial and movie parts she has been offered for her good looks, while she works on her writing and singing career.

In case you have not read one of the numerous articles that have appeared about Jana, she is the sister of former Third World guitarist Rupert Bent Jnr who now tours with dancehall sensation Sean Paul, and the daughter of jazz guitarist Rupert, Snr.

She grew up between Kingston, where she was born, and Canada where she lived after attending some of Kingston's most prestigious schools - St Hugh's, Campion and Wolmer's.

She later went to the University of Western Ontario to study psychology but, after graduating with a BA, she turned to music.

Since her album, Shadow Girl, was released in 2002 things have really been shaping up for her.

In January last year, after she recorded the song, No Regrets, featuring Bounty Killer on her album, they earned a contract to promote Singer products bringing her good looks to local television audiences.

That same month, she went on tour doing several shows singing back-up for Shaggy, while Brian and Tony Gold went off to promote their promising single, Irresistible. That relationship with Shaggy was cemented from the days of his success with Boombastic, when she sang back- up, danced and did choreography for him.

Last May, she signed a publishing and administration deal with The Royalty Network, Inc an innovative New York music-publishing firm which offers singers and writers all the benefits of a co-publishing deal without them having to give up any portion of their copyright.

This led to a distribution deal with French label, Nocturne, which will be releasing Shadow Girl in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg requiring her to travel all over Europe this year promoting the album.

She feels at home with the label's policy of offering a very low advance, but high royalty rates. "The upfront money is minimal, but the royalty rates that you receive from it are pretty high," she explained. The deal shows the kind of confidence that Jana has in her music.

"Well, God didn't bring me this far to make me flop and He wouldn't give me all of these opportunities if it wasn't meant to be a success," she said with confidence.

Last July, she won two gold medals at the Caribbean Championships of the Performing Arts, the first regional competition in the world championships held annually in Hollywood, California. She won gold medals - for vocal pop and vocal world (music) with her songs You So Fine and No Regrets and automatically qualified for the finals in Hollywood. There, she won three more medals - bronze in vocal pop for No Regrets; silver for vocal world (music) with Never Seen You Cry, and gold for dance with My Man Dat.
Jana writes all the lyrics for her songs with Rupert who composes the music. But she said that winning the medals was not as important to her as getting the chance of meeting the recording executives who judged the contests and who could offer her the break she needed.

These executives suggested that being Jamaican she should stick to Reggae instead of the internationally flavoured songs she writes.

"I can only do what is in my heart to do and what is in my own background, and when I put all my influences and experiences together I can only do what that leads me to do and that's what comes out in my album," she explained.

"I am not going to change the music that I do just because y'know, Joe Blow from wherever says you need to be doing this. I have to just continue being true to my art and myself until I fall into the right niche. It is for me to find that right niche."

However, while in Hollywood she met music producer Howie Hersh, who has done work with Mariah Carey and Snoop Dogg and other West Coast rappers. Jana and Hersh clicked, and as a result started collaborating on some songs. She also met rap producers Ethan Farmer, a bassist for Christina Aguilera and Kevin Randolph who plays keyboards.

These collaborations have resulted in her latest radio single Simple Moments, written by herself and Hersh, as well as a song titled Deaf, Dumb and Blind, which she co-wrote with her brother produced by Farmer and Randolph.

So now Jana has decided to just lump everything together and take off for California. Yes, to live.

"I am going to be based in LA, as of next month, and while I am there I am going to continue to write and record with Howie and all the other producers I worked with, and use that as my base to do the commercials and the movie parts that I am being offered. And I will be travelling to Europe from there to promote my album. So I've learnt that it is about looks and good songs," she admitted.

In addition, she says that the success of both Sean Paul and Shaggy in recent years has increased interest in Jamaican music.

Jana also worked with Spragga Benz, who wrote a song titled Lovin' & Thuggin' " last summer and invited her to record it with him on Freddie Kruger's Cardiac Arrest rhythm.
The song has a hot video going with it, with Ky-Mani Marley doing a cameo appearance, which is to be released next month and holds out hope of becoming a breakout in the US this summer.

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