LA Lewis...Striving for mainstream recognition for close to 20 years

While the singjay/deejay who goes by the moniker L A Lewis is yet to gain prominence in the mainstream Jamaican music scene, he is a household name in the underground music fraternity, where he is better known as an upcoming act and a trying promoter.

L A Lewis, who has been knocking at the door for almost 20 years, believes that the time has come for him to reach for higher ground so that his performance skills, business acumen and organisational abilities can attract the kind of attention they deserve.

"What I'm doing now, is working to go on the top stream, to come from the underground", Lewis told the Observer.
The vehicle that he is projecting his hopes on is his Success Records label, which currently provides a launch pad for others like him, who dream of the fame and status a life of recordings and stage appearances brings.

Apart from himself, other wannabes on the label include singer Rashida Rose, deejays Minimo, Badussa, a female artiste from New York and Japanese deejay, Micky Rich. At the moment, L A Lewis' greatest passion is his latest endeavour - a remix of Michael Jackson's 200 Watts borrowed from the king of pop Invincible album.

"This is my latest project along with Bashment (a combination with Badussa distributed by Tuff Gong), but this (200 Watts) should now take me from the underground," he said about the Michael Jackson number he has piggy-backed on.

"But mi want to really elevate myself from the underground and come pon top", Lewis stressed, "because if you ask who is the biggest underground artiste right now in Jamaica, you can't find nobody else than LA Lewis. I'm the only artiste who ever talk to Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth, and the governor general (is) a personal friend too. The prime minister know me good, you can't get no bigger than that as an underground artiste", the enthusiastic aspirant insisted.
Born Horace Lewis in Trench Town on January 14, 1974, L A Lewis, who was influenced by his uncle, Winston 'Pipe' Matthews of the Wailing Souls, formed his own dance group, Home Boys Crew as a teenager growing up on First Street.

The group performed at events such as Teen Splash, Ghetto Bash, Side Line and numerous shows across the island.
After the demise of the Home Boys Crew due to migration and political warfare, Lewis became a member of the Arcade Dancers, before recording Gal Dem Fat, done in combination with Fret Dem Crew on the Alton's Sprinter Slayer Production label.

His list of tunes does not stop there. Lewis also recorded Mama Mama on the Youth Sound label, No Man, produced by Pat Bowen, Pop It Off for Cash Flow Records, Nokia for Alton "Smiley" Minott featuring Japanese artiste Yumi, and World Trade Centre for Mega Collection Music Distributor.

LA Lewis, who is also a trained mediator with the Dispute Resolution Foundation, also performed at Sting in 2001 and 2002.

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