Singjay Sheldon Campbell is poised to live up to his moniker, Turbulence, having effectively launched his solo career with the unveiling of his latest video, Notorious, at the Livity Health Food Restaurant in Kingston on Friday evening.

Turbulence. Sizzla Kolonji was my best influence

The launch of Turbulence's fifth video is the beginning of a series of projects which he hopes will catapult him from an opening act to a star in his own right.

To be released shortly are the single for the video, Notorious, and a new album called Triumphantly produced by Flava, all of which are a part of the artiste's promotional package to be taken on a five-week tour of Europe in March 2005.

The extent to which the video, Notorious is autobiographical is not known, but it does convey the transformation of a young man depicted by Turbulence from a life of notoriety to one of positive examples and uprightness.

"This new video, Notorious, produced by Amlak and edited by Luciano (Blotta), is a video about what could have been if Rastafari never come inna mi life," Turbulence told the Sunday Observer. "So the video is really about good over evil," The turban-sporting Rastafarian has said.

Moving from beneath the shadows of his mentor Sizzla Kolonji for whom, up until recently, he was the main opening act, Turbulence will be among the featured artistes on just about all of the major shows this holiday season. Sting, East Fest and Coco T's Reggae Ramjam, among others.

"Sizzla Kolonji was my best influence, yuh nuh. When mi hear Sizzla pon radio one time mi waan sound like Sizzla. People used to say yuh sound like Sizzla too much, but as the days go by yuh get yuh own form and yuh own style, yuh nuh. Now everybody can separate Turbulence from Sizzla because mi start put more singing into mi ting so as to not sound like the king, but the king is the king, yuh nuh," Turbulence said.

"We used to tour a lot, but recently I've been getting my own shows. I'm going to go to Europe in March to do a five-week tour by miself. This tour is my first personal tour; it's going to be me alone. We going to Belgium, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and England," he said.

Marketing manager for THC Muzik label Gabre Amlak Less provides further insight into the project, " The song Notorious by Turbulence is on the Scallawah rhythm which will be coming out on a Scallawah compilation album. This video is about Turbulence saying he could have been the most notorious, is really about reality, everbody has that instinct that they could have been notorious if given the chance, but he has chosen life over death."

However, there is still more exciting things in the works for the artiste dubbed as "Turbulence The Future". The video is directed by Luciano Blotta, who is from Argentina and he does work on movies in Los Angeles with a lot of Hollywood movie stars and he (Blotta) is down here doing a documentry called Rise Up that will be released next summer about the underground music scene in Jamaica," Less said.

"I'm working with him as an underground producer... because Turbulence is also in the movie. Rise Up is about four artistes who have been trying to make it to the mainstream in the music business."

"And Turbulence, the most well-known roots underground artiste," Less hastened to add, "represents the one closest to making it."

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